Amy's Romance Reviews

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Can Ren’s bad boy heart be wooed and won?

Ren Moretti likes his life—and his hookups—just the way they are: fast and loose.

He only ever hooks up with someone once, and relationships? Forget it. Never gonna happen. No guy has ever persuaded him to bend, break, or alter his one date and one night rule.

Until Seth Abramson.

Seth has always tempted Ren—but it’s not a secret that Seth won’t settle for just one night. A few dates won’t cut it, and he’s not interested in playing around. He wants it all, and he intends to win Ren’s heart.

But that’s the one thing Ren’s never given up. He guards it closely and fiercely, until one day, when he realizes it’s no longer his to protect, it’s belonged to Seth all along.

“You gonna order?” Ren asked. Hoping that he understood exactly what he meant. And he wasn’t talking about sandwiches.

“Oh yeah, I definitely am,” Seth said, and Ren’s stomach fluttered.

There was something so decisive and grown up about this guy.

Like he’d throw Ren over his shoulder and cart him back to his bedroom.

“What can I get you?” Ren asked.

Me. I can get you me. And you’d enjoy every second of it. Trust me. I’m delicious.

“That’s a real good question,” Seth said.

“I’m going to get lunch,” Lennox announced, and nobody was surprised to see him head off towards Ash’s food truck.

“Well, if you want a recommendation,” Gabe said, and Ren wished that his cousin would go do anything else right now, “you can’t go wrong with the Thai meatball crunch wrap.”

“Does everything have balls or buns?” Seth wanted to know.

Oh, Ren wanted to show him.

So badly that he deployed the smile that he usually saved for closing the deal. But then, he was closing the deal right now, wasn’t he? He could feel it in his bones.

Specifically one bone in particular.

“Yes,” Ren said.

“Straightforward,” Seth said, taking a step nearer, and now Ren could really get a good look at him. He was even sexier in higher definition and he’d made Ren’s mouth water even without the close-up look. “I like it.”

“See anything else you like?” Ren decided there was no point in delaying. They were both clearly interested. “Lucky for you, I just happen to be free tonight.”

Somehow, impossibly, Seth’s own closing smile was even more devastating than Ren’s own.

Ren was unmoored. Blown away. Blown apart.

What would it be like to be under him, when he smiled like that?

What would it feel like to kiss that smile off him?

He was going to get to find out. Ren could feel it. Could nearly taste it.

“Really straightforward,” Seth said, not sounding like he hated that at all.

“Why bother pretending that you don’t just want a sandwich?” Ren shrugged. “We’re both interested. I’m free tonight, and I know we’d both enjoy ourselves.”

“What about tomorrow, then?”

Ren had learned the hard way that it was better to always be honest about his intentions. But this guy, even if he didn’t do one-night stands, was so hooked that Ren knew there was no way he’d ever turn him down.

Ren could feel the other side of the hook, buried in him, tugging him even closer, and he dared anyone to try to resist that completely irresistible pull.

“What about tomorrow?” Ren asked archly. “Why do we have to worry about tomorrow?”

“I’m all about the tomorrows,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’m not here for just the tonights. I want to know there’s going to be a tomorrow, too.”

Ren frowned. “I don’t do tomorrows. Not when tonights are so freaking great.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to make do with just a sandwich.” Seth sounded genuinely regretful, which was why Ren didn’t even register the rejection right away. He’d been so goddamned nice about it. Like he hadn’t wanted to say no.

A lifelong Pacific Northwester, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to be just as weird in Raleigh.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published twenty-three novels and seven novellas.

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Monday, November 22, 2021

RELEASE TOUR, EXCERPT, GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden

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Release Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Merry Elf-ing Christmas
By Beth Bolden

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Aidan might be a bad elf, but he’s never been naughty.

Aidan has always landed on Santa’s nice list, thank you very much. But that doesn’t mean he’s cut out to be a North Pole elf; instead of worrying about the dwindling magic of Christmas, he’d much rather be back in Tir na Nog, calculating where the next end of the rainbow is going to land.

Instead he’s freezing his butt off in Santa’s sleigh.

His situation seems grim despite all the decking the halls, until on Christmas Eve, during a milk and cookies run, he meets Dexter, an engineering student.

They couldn’t be more different, and Dexter couldn’t be more forbidden, but Aidan is drawn to the handsome human anyway. Over the next year, their emails start out as a entertaining way to pass the time in all his interminable elf meetings, but soon, hearing from Dex becomes the very best part of his day.

And when they meet up on the next Christmas Eve? Aidan and Dex discover that their infatuation is so much more than just attraction. If they believe in each other and in the love they share, together their magic might be powerful enough to save Christmas.

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My Rating - 4.5 Stars!

Merry Elf-ing Christmas is an adorable, magical romance by Beth Bolden.

In this sweet holiday read, Aidan and Dex fall in love. But the two are from different worlds. The attraction is instant between the elf, Aidan, and the human, Dex, when they meet on Christmas Eve.

What follows is adorable and tender, with magical elves, Santa. flying sleighs, and the North Pole.

Merry Elf-ing Christmas is a great combination of holiday fun, instant attraction, forbidden romance, magic, and heat. Definitely check out this Beth Bolden read when you're in the mood for a quick, fluffy read.

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Aidan was supposed to be in Ireland.

He was supposed to be counting golden coins, buffing cauldrons and helping his boss, the vice president of Leprechaun Operations, triangulate where the end of the next rainbow would land.

Instead, he was in Santa’s sleigh.

Currently freezing his balls off.

His friend Ronan had said that “weirder things had happened,” but Aidan wasn’t sure that there was much weirder than at the young age of sixty-seven discovering that he wasn’t meant to be at Tír na nÓg, but instead that he’d apparently been born under a unique northern star, under a particular set of circumstances—the same circumstances that a North Pole elf had once foretold would produce the Elf Who Would Save Christmas.

AKA the Christmas Savior.

Aidan was flattered, but the truth was, he didn’t want to save Christmas.

He wanted to find the end of the next rainbow.

Santa—no, Aidan reminded himself, Sam, as he’d introduced himself a few weeks back, with twinkling blue eyes and a welcoming smile—turned to him. “Want to stop for a snack?” he asked.

Aidan actually didn’t. He wanted to finish this interminable night and get off this sleigh and stop shivering, finally.

The magic of Christmas blah blah blah had lasted just about as long as it took for that first blast of arctic air to sneak up the back of his fur-lined cloak.

“Sure, we could get a snack,” Aidan said instead, because he was supposed to be assisting, and as Edmund, head of the North Pole elves, had told him when he’d pulled him aside for one last hissed, hurried set of instructions, that meant Santa got whatever he wanted.

“This night,” Edmund said in that annoyingly stentorian voice of his, “is for Santa. It’s Santa’s night.”

“Sam,” Aidan had responded impudently, earning him one of Edmund’s trademark frosty glares. “He told me to call him Sam.”

Edmund had sniffed, clearly unamused. “If that is what Santa said, then so be it.”

He’d learned that much during his last six weeks in the North Pole; Santa’s word was freaking law.

Even the leprechauns hadn’t wielded quite so much power.

But then with Sam, it wasn’t really power. He ruled with good old-fashioned love, inspiring an adoring crowd who would gladly trample anyone who didn’t feel the same.

The good news was that up til now, Aidan had managed to keep his apathy under wraps.

If Edmund or any of the other North Pole elves ever found out about it, he was screwed.

Sam pulled the sleigh, powered by its flying doohicky—Edmund had forwarded him the complicated plans that he’d glanced over and understood exactly zero of—down through the clouds of Chicago, snow thick on the ground.

Somehow, eventually he’d have to actually be able to take the sleigh apart and put it back together, or so Edmund had told him, but he’d been given a pass since it was just his first year. Aidan wasn’t particularly looking forward to it.

Invisibility was one of the elves’ greatest strengths, and their camouflaging magic helped keep the sleigh under wraps. It was the one thing the North Pole and the Tír na nÓg elves had in common: they were really good at making things disappear.

Still, you had to be careful, as Edmund had lectured Aidan about a dozen times. The sleigh might be invisible, but if they landed in a snowbank, the tracks would show. And if anyone ever bumped into it, the invisibility would fade, abruptly, exposing their secrets to humans.

AKA The Worst Thing Ever.

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Friday, October 8, 2021

RELEASE BLITZ, EXCERPT, GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - Wheels Down (Food Truck Warriors #5) by Beth Bolden

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Book Title: Wheels Down (Food Truck Warriors #5)

Author: Beth Bolden

Publisher: Beth Bolden Books

Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood Designs

Release Date: September 30, 2021

Genre: Contemporary gay romance

Tropes: Friends to lovers, forced proximity, found family

Themes: Forgiveness, acceptance, friendship

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 76 000 words

It is not a standalone story. It is the fifth book in the Food Truck Warriors series.

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Shaw isn’t his friend—until Ross discovers he’s so much more.

Ross Stanton is having a bad week—a bad month—really, a bad year. But the last thing he wants, after the betrayal of his friend and business partner, is for anyone else to know just how much he’s fighting for survival.

He’s struggling to keep his food truck and to maintain appearances, but what Ross doesn’t realize is that Shaw Finley, the bartender from the Funky Cup, has seen right through his charade.

Shaw offers the couch in his apartment over the bar, suggesting that saving money on rent might help salvage Ross’ failing prospects.

Even though he doesn’t really consider them friends, Ross discovers that Shaw is great to talk to, easy to look at, and he likes him. Late nights and lazy mornings and evenings with only the polished wood of the bar between them lead to an attraction that Ross can’t deny—and that Shaw doesn’t even try to.

But falling in love isn’t as easy as falling into bed together, and Ross isn’t even sure what he feels is love, until he figures out that it couldn’t possibly be anything else.

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Shaw removed his glass, replaced it with a full cup of water and ice, and then a moment later he was back, with a plate full of delicious-smelling food.

“Steak and mushroom hoagie, with horseradish aioli,” Shaw said, depositing it in front of him, “and our famous sweet potato fries.”

“They’re famous?” Ross wondered, even as he realized he had heard people talking about them.

“According to our Yelp reviews,” Shaw said. “Can I grab you anything else?”

Ross was about to ask for napkins, because the sandwich looked absolutely delicious but also messy, but then one appeared next to him, like Shaw had known he’d need it.

“I think I’m good, thanks,” Ross said, and picked up the sandwich. It had a surprising heft to it, and he had to give Jackson and Shaw credit—they’d revamped the kitchen and the work they’d put in showed. When he took a bite, he was even more impressed, half a dozen flavors exploding across his tongue as he chewed spiced sliced steak working in perfect complement to the earthiness of the mushrooms.

“You’re nodding over there,” Shaw said, his voice teasing. “Is that a good or a bad thing?”

Ross finished chewing and swallowed. “Really good,” he said. “I’m impressed.”

“Wow,” Shaw said, looking surprised. Too surprised.

“Am I really that notorious?” Ross asked, before he thought better of it. He ate a handful of sweet potato fries and they were really good too. “That picky?”

He didn’t really want to hear the answer; he really didn’t want to hear Shaw’s answer.

“Not exactly notorious,” Shaw said, returning to slicing his lemons.

“Then what exactly?”

Shaw sighed and put down the knife.

“You’re gonna get me in trouble,” he said with resignation.

“I am?”

Ross almost told him to forget it. After all, hearing the truth was probably not going to be all that enlightening and might actually make the next few months of living together uncomfortable.

Shaw smiled then, and it wasn’t the same smile he gave to all the random guys at the bar. It was softer, sweeter, more genuine somehow. Ross had never seen it before, and it hit him somewhere deep, a place where he hadn’t felt much of anything in years.

Maybe the last time had been when his grandmother had smiled at him, over pots and pans and pie dishes.

“You gotta know that you’ve got the best food at that whole lot,” Shaw said. “Objectively. The other food there is good, don’t get me wrong, but those guys? You know why they keep you at arm’s length? They’re all terrified of you, though they’d rather die than admit it. You’re brilliant. You should be working in the best, the fanciest, the most expensive restaurants, and instead you’ve got this food truck and it’s just amazing. Every time I go to Basket, I’m blown away.”

“And,” Shaw continued, leaning over, his blue eyes twinkling again, and Ross’ breath caught in his throat, “you’re gonna get me in trouble, because Jackson would have my ass for not thinking Alexis serves the best food on the lot.”

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Monday, August 16, 2021

RELEASE BLITZ, EXCERPT, GIVEAWAY & REVIEW - The Red Zone (The Riptide #3) by Beth Bolden

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Book Title: The Red Zone

Author: Beth Bolden

Publisher: Beth Bolden Books

Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood Designs

Release Date: August 11, 2021

Genre: Contemporary gay romance

Tropes: Friends to lovers, sports

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 97 000 words

It is a standalone story.

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Spencer’s deep in the Red Zone and it’s time to even the score.

Nine years ago Spencer Evans became the first player out of the closet to be drafted into the NFL. Everyone believed he had aspirations to change the world but all Spencer ever wanted to do was play football for a team that accepted him wholeheartedly. But they never would, and Spencer began to conceal all the parts that made him different.

When a terrible injury forces him to re-evaluate his life and his choices, he realizes there’s only one man who can help him.

The very first gay sports agent, Alec Mitchell has given his life and his career to making queer athletes’ dreams come true. He can’t help but think of Spencer as the one who got away—professionally and personally.

Alec thought he’d buried his desperate longing for Spencer ages ago but it turns out it was just lying dormant, waiting for the right spark. When he begs Alec to take him on as a client, everything they’ve been burying for years surfaces once again.

With Alec’s help, Spencer can change everything about his life he’s come to hate. An extraordinary future—and an undeniably extraordinary man—are waiting for him. The play has been called. All he has to do is catch the ball and score.

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My Rating - 5 Stars!

The Red Zone is a fun sports romance by Beth Bolden. The third book in The Riptide series, it's easily read as a standalone.

This one has football, injuries, and an agent falling for his client. It's sweet, realistic, and funny. Hell yes!

I love this story and everything it addresses. The topic of Alex's career and the way he's been treated is all well done. I enjoy every bit of this situation. Of course, it's always tough to read about homophobic people, but it adds even more realism to the tale.

This is a slow burn, second chance read. If you enjoy second chance romances, you will enjoy the feelings this story brings forth.

Alex and Spencer are great together. I enjoy every bit of their journey. They work well together and are certainly damn hot together. Like seriously hot!

The writing is great, the story fluid, and the storyline entertaining. There are plenty of secondary characters who add to the fun.

The Red Zone is one of those sports romances I can't get enough of. If you enjoy seeing an athlete fall in love, make sure to read this gem. You're won't regret it.

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“You should try my wine,” Alec said, gesturing towards the bottle. “You said you don’t drink wine, not that you don’t like wine. And this is an easy drinking red, real fruit forward, not too many tannins on the back end.”

“Is this how you want to do this?” Spencer asked suspiciously. “Make me try things I don’t think I’m gonna like?”

“How will you know, if you don’t try?” Alec hesitated, and slid his jacket off, hanging it over the back of one of the barstools. “Come over here. I’m not going to bite.”

Spencer shot him a look, full of heat, and Alec remembered why it was probably better not to take his jacket off and why it was definitely better not to make jokes that could be taken in any kind of sexual context.

Well, he’d done it and he wasn’t going to take it back. If they couldn’t figure out how to make this work, then Spencer wouldn’t get what he needed—and Alec wanted that more than anything else.

“Fine,” Spencer said with a sigh. He skirted around the edge of the kitchen island, approaching hesitantly as Alec tilted the half-full glass in his direction.

“Isn’t there supposed to be a special way I do this?” Spencer asked as he took the glass.

Alec raised his eyebrow. “A special way? You take a sip. Swallow it. Decide if you like it or not. Though, really, you should try it twice. The first sip will clear your palate from that god-awful beer you’ve been drinking.”

“That’s what I mean,” Spencer said. “I don’t want to do it wrong.”

“Not drinking it, that’s doing it wrong,” Alec said, even though he knew what Spencer was referring to. But all of the swirling and the legs and the aroma, all the self-important recital that true wine connoisseurs participated in was only going to confuse Spencer. Alec just wanted him to fucking try it.

“Alright, fine,” Spencer said, grumbling, and lifted the glass to his lips.

Spencer made a face, and Alec said, “Nope, not yet. Don’t tell me you don’t like it yet. You’ve got to clear your palate.”

“How do I do that?”

Alec put his hand on Spencer’s arm, stopping him from handing the glass back. “Take another drink,” he instructed. “In a minute.”

When he pulled his hand back, he could still feel the heat and solid strength from Spencer’s forearm. He was going to have to get used to all this touching and personal connection, and hopefully when he did, it wouldn’t affect him this strongly.

“Alright,” Spencer agreed. “It wasn’t . . . well, it wasn’t what I thought it’d be.”

“You didn’t hate it,” Alec guessed, leaning against the edge of the countertop.

“I thought I would,” Spencer confessed. “Wine’s just so fancy and complicated, and I’m not . . . I’ve never been either of those two things. And beer is fine.”

“Beer is fine, sure. You might not dislike it. But what if you liked something else better?”

“I don’t know,” Spencer agreed. He hesitated, and Alec watched him closely, even though it almost hurt to look at him like this. So unsure and vulnerable and wanting so hard to do the right thing, the best thing. “It’s why I asked you to do this.”

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