Willow Winters

Aubree has had a crush on her best friend's brother, Jackson, ever since she first moved to town three years ago. At the time, however, she was seeing someone else. After she broke up with that guy, Jackson was seeing someone else. There's never been a good time to confess her feelings, and now...she doesn't want to ruin her friendship with him or his sister.

They're all doing their regular Sunday night thing, drinking and watching football at The Peanut Bar and Grill, when a couple guys hit on Aubree. Jackson cuts in, and suddenly things shift between the two of them. But is it just a one-night stand or the start of something else?

This was one of the freebies given to all attendees at the most recent Book Bonanza. I wasn't familiar with either of the authors before reading it. I'm not sure whether this story is connected to anything else they've written - it doesn't seem to be, but I could easily be wrong about that.

Anyway, this was a competently written friends-to-lovers story. Aubree and Jackson seemed like nice enough characters, but 63 pages doesn't exactly provide a lot of space for both romance and character development. Aubree does graphic design, Jackson does something in finance - that's the sum total of my knowledge about their lives outside the bar they were in during this story's first scene.

Aubree's quiet, anxiety-filled freak out after her night with Jackson was good enough to make me glance through the 10 or so pages of "also by these authors" info after the story, although the only thing that even slightly piqued my interest was Amelia Wilde's contemporary Hades & Persephone retelling, King of Shadows. It's marketed as a dark romance, though, so my odds of ever tracking it down and reading it are low.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (lisätietoja)

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. A good collection for new readers to Willow Winters. This collection features a nice selection of stories that introduce readers to Willow's many series. Stories that are sweet with touches of spice.

Of the stories featured in this collection, these are the ones that I enjoyed the most.

Then You Kissed Me
Falling at First Sight
Pretend You Love Me
A Kiss to Keep
Seductive

I will be checking out the full-length books in these various series.… (lisätietoja)

Charlie and Grace were so great together and I hated seeing them both struggling in this fake relationship because Charlie has been burned before and Grace wants something real that will last. They agree to a fake relationship and through it they become closer but at the same time you can tell it is slowly hurting Grace because her attraction is starting to turn into more but Charlie is still extremely hesitant. I loved both characters and was rooting for them but will last insecurities and the need for more come in between them or can they make things work?… (lisätietoja)