Always More (Sports #1) by Nicole Pyland
Pyland did it again! I was kind of in a reading rut a few days ago, so I started this one to cheer myself up. And it totally worked!
Fair Game (Payback #2) by Charlotte Mills
Content warnings: stalking, poisoning, murder, attempted murder, death, self-harm in antagonist, blood, alcoholism, suspected cheating of minor character
This book takes place about two months after the epilogue of Payback.
Lexi Ryan (~34) now works at internet firm Shield Securities while her girlfriend ex-DCI Helen Taylor (~40) is settling down as a civilian. When Lexi feels like she is being stalked, Helen makes it her job to protect her and find out what is going on.
Payback (Payback #1) by Charlotte Mills
Content warnings: off-page arson, murder, suicides, pedophilia, rape, deaths of family members, sexual harassment; blood, cancer
I did not expect the story to escalate like this.
Dead body. Arson. Missing person. Throughout most of the story, I had trouble getting into the plot, connecting with detective Kate Wolf (34) and her boss Helen Taylor, as well as understanding their attraction. A lot of things did not add up for me, so it took me a very long time to get past the first few chapters and keep reading. Even as I was close to finishing, I couldn’t understand why everyone loved it so much. Until I did.
Spindrift (A Seal Cove Romance #1) by Anna Burke
Content warnings: depression, past suicidal thoughts, off-page death of family member, multiple mentions of animal deaths
This is the first Burke’s book I have read, and I may have found a new auto-read author.
Emilia Russo (30, of Italian descent, lesbian, depression) was a shelter vet. When her father passed away, her job of putting down innocent animals suddenly became too much. Now on leave and coping with depression, Emilia goes back to Seal Cove to renovate her father’s house for listing. She only plans to stay for a few months. When she accidentally falls into the ocean, it is her teenage crush Morgan Donovan (31) who happens to save her. Morgan, who is also a vet, is recently dumped by her fiancée and still wary of love. Off to an embarrassing and rocky start, the pair keep running into each other in the small town and gradually grow closer. After befriending Morgan’s supportive friends and falling for Morgan, Emilia finds herself reconsidering selling the house, and maybe staying for good.
Out on the Ice by Kelly Farmer
Caro Cassidy has competed in three Olympics before a hip surgery pushed her into retirement. Now she runs Girls & Goals for girls who play hockey and is very private about her personal life. When pro player and social media celebrity Amy Schwarzbach comes to coach Caro’s summer camp, the pair eventually acted on their mutual attraction and begins to date. But Amy plays in Boston while Caro lives in Chicago, and that means long-distance as hockey season begins. Can the two very different athletes fight for their relationship even when everything is on ice?
TW: homophobia, depression, brief discussions of suicide.