Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Deep End

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2025

Genre: Romance

Pages: 447

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Sports; Cover Lover - Someone in water

Where I Got It: Library

Spice Rating: 6

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...

I think I have a love/hate/indifference relationship with Ali Hazelwood. Or maybe it’s that they remind me of reality television style plots and characters. Either way, I was so excited to read this one and dove in (haha puns) immediately. But I once again found myself super frustrated with her characters and the pacing. I felt like we sat way too much in the big confusion section of Lukas and Scarlett’s relationship and not enough time in the actually figuring it out stage. And don’t get me started on how many paragraphs are focused on the technical aspects of diving and her practice regime. Seriously, at least 50% of that could have been deleted with no interruption in the story. I felt like Hazelwood got way too in depth with the sport and not enough into the relationship. At the end I was seriously left wanting so much more for the characters and story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under the Mistletoe Collection

The Under the Mistletoe Collection is comprised of 5 original short stories presented through the Amazon Original Stories program. Stories from any of the collections are available to read or listen for free with Amazon Prime.

Title: Cruel Winter with You

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2024

Genre: Romance Short Story

Pages: 73

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Amazon Prime

Spice Rating: 5

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.:

I really do enjoy enemies to lovers style romance stories. This one was short and sweet, but lots of good banter. I have mostly really loved Ali Hazelwood’s publications.

Title: Merry Ever After

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2024

Genre: Romance Short Story

Pages: 59

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Amazon Prime

Spice Rating: 5

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey writes a type of aggressive alpha male characters that I’m not a huge fan of. In this one, we don’t get enough of Luke for me to root for him. Instead, the story positions Luke in a much more creepy stalker role. Not my favorite.

Title: All By My Elf

Author: Olivia Dade

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2024

Genre: Romance Short Stories

Pages: 59

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Amazon Prime

Spice Rating: 4

Nina and William are underpaid adjunct professors at the same university, where winter break is no break at all: ’tis the season to make extra money. When their holiday side hustle has them stranded by a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing to do but cuddle up for warmth and play a hot and bothered game of Never Have I Ever to pass the time. But in the game of love, secrets never stay secret for long…

Too much silliness in this one. Riding around in a phallic shaped pastry vehicle is a little much for me. I wanted to see more actual connection between these two people instead of lots of flashbacks. It was fine.

Title: Merriment and Mayhem

Author: Alexandria Bellfleur

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2024

Genre: Romance Short Story

Pages: 58

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Amazon Prime

Spice Rating: 5

When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Okay this was absolute nonsense and I really liked it. The collection of events that led to the Everleigh and Griffin getting together was wild and fast-paced. I would definitely read more stories from Bellefleur.

Title: Only Santas in the Building

Author: Alexis Daria

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories 2024

Genre: Romance Short Story

Pages: 65

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Holiday Reads

Where I Got It: Amazon Prime

Spice Rating: 4

All Evie Cruz wants for Christmas is a nap. And maybe some ornaments for her naked Christmas tree. And while she’s making a list, she wouldn’t mind unwrapping her sexy upstairs neighbor like a present. Luckily, the building’s Santa-themed party and a surprise sprig of mistletoe give her just the opening she needs to make all her wishes come true.

Another cute story involving a secret Santa and crushes on neighbors. I was rooting for Evie to come out of her work fog, enjoy life, and possibly make a romantic connection. Such a cute story.

Next up on the TBR pile

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Bride

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2024

Genre: Romantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Includes a Wedding; She Reads Romance - Arranged Marriage

Spice Rating: 5

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

I picked up another Ali Hazelwood romance. Every time I have finished one of her previous books, I have enjoyed, but it’s hasn’t been something I recommend to all friends. Enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking. I think I feel the same way about this one. I liked it. The plot and characters kept me interested and turning the pages, but I wasn’t raving about it at the end. I will admit that Hazelwood is great at writing sexual tension. All of her books contain a lot of tension. But, I’m not as excited about the after. Misery has a snarky side that I did really enjoy. And I eventually did buy a relationship between her and Lowe. It just took awhile for me to get there. So overall an enjoyable romantasy for my week.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Love, Theoretically

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 389

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Enemies to Lovers

Spice Rating: 5

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.

Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor’s career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he’s the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but…those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she’s with him? Will falling into an experimentalist’s orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

I absolutely adored The Love Hypothesis and hoped that this one would be another winner. But, I apparently am a bit over Hazelwood’s romances. I was very annoyed with Elsie throughout most of the book. She was so oblivious to her issues that I wanted to shake her. I just really wanted to see more growth and acknowledgment throughout the book. The romance with Jack felt very one-sided. I loved Jack, but his feelings and issues were completely pushed to the back because of Elsie. I wanted more of a partnership in the romance. And I’m coming to realize that I don’t like Hazelwood’s sex scenes. They are very graphic, but not really well written and steamy enough for me. I keep reading her books and coming away with wanting more.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Below Zero (The STEMinist Novellas #3)

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher:

Genre: Romance

Pages: 124

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Hannah’s got a bad feeling about this. Not only has the NASA aerospace engineer found herself injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station—but the one person willing to undertake the hazardous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

Ian has been many things to Hannah: the villain who tried to veto her expedition and ruin her career, the man who stars in her most deliciously lurid dreams…but he’s never played the hero. So why is he risking everything to be here? And why does his presence seem just as dangerous to her heart as the coming snowstorm?

Meh. I was super excited by the plot of this novella and I jumped at listening to it. Unfortunately, I just didn’t get into this story and in fact it seemed so incredibly similar to the previous two stories. Hannah was not a likable character and I could not really understand her relationship with Ian at all. I was excited by the forced proximity trope, but that didn’t really pan out much at all. I’m really unsure if I will be picking up any future Hazelwood books or stories.

The STEMinist Novellas

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under One Roof by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Under One Roof (The STEMinist Novellas #1)

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

As an environmental engineer, Mara knows all about the delicate nature of ecosystems. They require balance. And leaving the thermostat alone. And not stealing someone else’s food. And other rules Liam, her detestable big-oil lawyer of a roommate, knows nothing about. Okay, sure, technically she’s the interloper. Liam was already entrenched in his aunt’s house like some glowering grumpy giant when Mara moved in, with his big muscles and kissable mouth just sitting there on the couch tempting respectable scientists to the dark side…but Helena was her mentor and Mara’s not about to move out and give up her inheritance without a fight.

The problem is, living with someone means getting to know them. And the more Mara finds out about Liam, the harder it is to loathe him…and the easier it is to love him.

Another pretty cute contemporary romance novella. I read this series out of order (when my library holds came up), but like with many contemporary romance novels, it wasn’t a big deal. You know Mara and Liam are going to end up together. It’s just a question of how. I loved the juxtaposition of career choices in this short story. I loved hearing all about Helena and her plans for Mara’s future. I enjoyed the romance angle, even if it wasn’t completely fleshed out like I wanted. My biggest complain with this novella is that I think I’m really over the big/tall man and short/small woman dynamic in romances. This definitely seems to be Hazelwood’s preferred pairing as it’s appeared in like every one of her stories. I guess I would like to see more average height men and slightly taller women. (Could be that my husband and I are basically the same height and it seems much more common that super tall men with super short women.)

The STEMinist Novellas

#1 Under One Roof
#2 Stuck with You
#3 Below Zero

Next up on the TBR pile:

Stuck with You by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Stuck with You (The STEMinist Novellas #2)

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Penguin Audio 2022

Genre: Romance

Pages: 112

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Mara, Sadie, and Hannah are friends first, scientists always. Though their fields of study might take them to different corners of the world, they can all agree on this universal truth: when it comes to love and science, opposites attract and rivals make you burn…

Logically, Sadie knows that civil engineers are supposed to build bridges. However, as a woman of STEM she also understands that variables can change, and when you are stuck for hours in a tiny New York elevator with the man who broke your heart, you earn the right to burn that brawny, blond bridge to the ground. Erik can apologize all he wants, but to quote her rebel leader—she’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.

Not even the most sophisticated of Sadie’s superstitious rituals could have predicted such a disastrous reunion. But while she refuses to acknowledge the siren call of Erik’s steely forearms or the way his voice softens when he offers her his sweater, Sadie can’t help but wonder if there might be more layers to her cold-hearted nemesis than meet the eye. Maybe, possibly, even burned bridges can still be crossed….

A decent contemporary romance novella. I loved the whole trope of being stuck in an elevator. Seriously a sucker for shared spaces forcing people to communicate. I really enjoyed slowly unspooling their past and the miscommunication that kept them apart. The steamy scenes were good, but not absolutely great. I would have liked more, but as this is a novella, I wasn’t going to get it. Still a good couple of hours listening while doing housework.

The STEMinist Novellas

#1 Under One Roof
#2 Stuck with You
#3 Below Zero

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Title: The Love Hypothesis

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2021

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 376

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

This one was light and fluffy and oh so cute! I love the grumpy guy - sunshine girl romance trope so much. This was just what I needed to read this week during the Thanksgiving craziness. Right away we fall in with the mess that Olive has created in her life. We get to know her and her struggles to excel at her career and create a found family for her personal life. We get to slowly see Olive open up and get to know a very great (if hidden) guy in the process. I loved Adam’s character so much. The unapproachable and antagonistic male lead is totally my catnip. I really enjoyed this book. But, I would have liked more concluding chapters and a few more steamy scenes would have been nice.

Next up on the TBR pile: