Untouchable by Talia Hibbert

Title: Untouchable (Ravenswood #2)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 344

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Forbidden Romance

Spice Meter: 5

Sleeping with the staff wasn’t part of the plan.

Sensible, capable, and ruthlessly efficient, Hannah Kabbah is the perfect nanny… until a colossal mistake destroys her career and shatters her reputation. These days, no-one in town will hire her—except Nathaniel Davis, a brooding widower with a smile like sin and two kids he can’t handle.

Prim and proper Hannah is supposed to make Nate’s life easier, but the more time he spends around his live-in nanny, the more she makes things… hard. He can’t take advantage of her vulnerable position, but he can’t deny the truth, either: with every look, every smile, every midnight meeting, Nate’s untouchable employee is stealing his heart.

The trouble is, she doesn’t want to keep it. Forbidden love isn’t high on Hannah’s to-do list, and trust isn’t one of her strengths. When dark secrets threaten to destroy their bond, Nate’s forced to start playing dirty. Because this reformed bad boy will break every rule to finally claim his woman.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical of this book going in. The nanny trope is not one that I enjoy. Usually it involved a pretty big age gap and most definitely a power imbalance. Thankfully this book does not fall into those traps. Hannah is a fun character to follow through from the first book, but it’s Nate that really pulled me into this story. I totally felt for him. The sob story with his wife, the current sob story with this mom, and the beautiful relationship with his kids coupled with the whole vibe (hello tattoos) and I was completely smitten. There were a few decisions that I wasn’t excited about, but it all ended up okay by them last page.

Ravenswood

Next up on the TBR pile:

Damaged Goods by Talia Hibbert

Title: Damaged Goods (Ravenswood #1.5)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 181

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER

Spice Meter: 5

Second chances shouldn’t feel so sinful.

Laura Burne‘s husband is a monster, her diamond ring is a trap, and her pregnancy is the push she needs to finally escape. She runs away seeking safety… and finds Samir Bianchi, her long-lost teenage sweetheart.

With his kind eyes and dirty smile, Samir’s still hot as hell—and he still treats Laura like a goddess, baby bump and all. The wild boy she spent one magical summer with is every inch a man, and he’s more than ready to care for her tiny family.

But Laura’s been keeping a secret Samir might never forgive. When she finally confesses, will he remain by her side? Or is this fairytale ending too good to be true?

CW: Domestic Violence (in past, but discussed on the page)

And here we get Laura’s story as touched on very briefly in the previous book. I really wanted to love this story of empowerment and opening up to love, but ultimate, I didn’t love it. Laura is a prickly character that I really wished had sought out therapy instead of solitude. And I must say that pregnancy storylines are really not my favorite. They’re fine, but I have lots of mixed feelings about them. Samir is great and I really fell for him over the course of the novella. But their pairing just didn’t work for me. Oh well. They can’t all be winners.

Ravenswood

#1 A Girl Like Her
#1.5 Damaged Goods
#2 Untouchable
#3 That Kind of Guy

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Title: A Girl Like Her (Ravenswood #1)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2018

Genre: Romance

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love; She Reads Romance - Reverse Grumpy Sunshine

Spice Meter: 5

Ruth Kabbah is okay with being an outcast.

Between her autism, her comic book nerdery, and the whiff of scandal her small town can’t forget, Ruth will always be Ravenswood’s black sheep. Since she prefers silence and solitude to gossip and pub crawls, that suits her just fine—until Evan Miller comes to town.

Ex-military man Evan is gorgeous, confident… and he’s Ruth’s new neighbour. Unlike everyone else, he doesn’t seem to mind her crotchety ways or her cooking disasters. In fact, if Ruth didn’t know any better, she might think Evan likes her.

But Ruth’s been burned before, and some lessons are hard to forget.

She can’t let her guard down—no matter how many home-cooked meals Evan brings over. Because affection is temporary, trust is made to be broken, and the heat of desire is a dangerous thing to play with.

So why does this man feel so safe?

CW: Domestic Violence (in past, but discussed)

After reading the third book in this series and picking it for my book club selection, I decided to circle back around and read from the beginning. This one did not disappoint. We get a reverse grumpy sunshine trope with two seemingly different people. In fact, these two people are perfect for each other, challenging and complementing each other. Ruth is not an easy person to be with and Evan may be too easy to be with. But together, we get to see them fit together to form a great partnership. The sections detailing the domestic violence in Ruth’s past were difficult, but Hibbert always the space I needed to process it and continue to read. It helps that those conversations are not in the same chapters as the spicy scenes. I like a bit of separation. (As opposed to how my previously read book, Under Her Skin, approached the conversations.) I got to the end and had that warm and fuzzy feeling to their relationship. That’s what I want in my romance.

Ravenswood

#1 A Girl Like Her
#1.5 Damaged Goods
#2 Untouchable
#3 That Kind of Guy

Next up on the TBR pile:

That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert

Title: That Kind of Guy (Ravenswood #3)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Nixon House 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Spice Meter: 5

She wants a fake relationship. He needs something real.

If there’s one thing Rae can’t stand, it’s pity. She’s forty, frazzled, and fed up—so attending an awards ceremony alone while her ex swans about with his new wife? Not an option. To avoid total humiliation, Rae needs a date of her own. And her young, hot-as-hell new best friend is the perfect candidate…

Zach Davis, king of casual hookups, has a secret: the notorious womaniser craves emotional connection, and anonymous encounters leave him feeling hollow. After years of performance, Zach’s desperate to be himself. So why does he agree to play Rae’s fake boyfriend? And why does it feel so easy?

When the line between pretence and desire blurs, Zach’s forced to face an unexpected truth: there’s nothing phoney about his need for Rae. But the jaded divorcée’s been hurt by playboy men before. Can a weekend of faking it prove that Zach’s for real?

I think I finally found the selection for dirty book month! I have previously read Hibbert and loved her inclusion of a variety of characters, not just skinny and “normal” people finding romance. This is one of her previous books, but I was pulled to it because of the older protagonist. Once I started the book, I immediately fell for Zach and Rae. I loved the idea of a woman finding her place after divorce and finding it with a misunderstood man. Their sexual tension was palpable throughout the first half of the book. I usually want to see steamy scenes earlier in the book, but this was the right balance of tension and action. And then we get to the conversations between the characters. I loved how Zach and Rae finally reveal themselves to each other and come to a beautiful understanding.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

Title: Act Your Age, Eve Brown (Brown Sisters #3)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Avon 2021

Genre: Romance

Pages: 393

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong. So she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding (someone had to liberate those poor doves), her parents draw the line. It's time for Eve to grow up and prove herself—even though she's not entirely sure how…

Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.

Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Before long, she’s infiltrated his work, his kitchen—and his spare bedroom. Jacob hates everything about it. Or rather, he should. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore... and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.

Ohhh I loved this book so much. It’s become my favorite the Brown Sisters books. I immediately loved Eve and wanted to see her succeed at life. And then she gets herself in a bit of a pickle and loved watching her blossom. I actually really liked that the book was focused on Eve and not her sisters as much. They make a few appearances, but we get a very focused story. On the other side, Jacob is a great leading man. I loved getting to know him through conversations with Mont and Eve. I loved seeing how he viewed the world and the struggles that he endured. Hibbert has definitely increased the steam and I am here for every scene. I will be keeping Hibbert on my watch list for new books.

Brown Sisters

Next up on the TBR pile:

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Title: Take a Hint, Dani Brown (Brown Sisters #2)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Avon 2020

Genre: Romance

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

When big, brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and former rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact to him, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Suddenly, half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf is secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his... um, thighs.

The easy lay Dani dreamed of is now more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

Definitely better than the first book in terms of characterization. Dani is much more interesting and exciting character than Chloe. I really enjoyed her relationship with Zafir throughout the book. And Zafir was a great leading man. Their banter was delightful and kept me coming back for more. On the flip side, there were a few deficiencies. I needed more steamy scenes. There were hardly any at all in this volume! A travesty! And I would have liked to have seen more of Gigi. Still a nice fun contemporary rom com for my week.

Brown Sisters

#1 Get a Life, Chloe Brown
#2 Take a Hint, Dani Brown

Next up on the TBR pile:

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Title: Get a Life, Chloe Brown (Brown Sisters #1)

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publisher: Avon 2019

Genre: Romance

Pages: 387

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Ebook

Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

Enjoy a drunken night out.
Ride a motorcycle.
Go camping.
Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
And... do something bad.

But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Our book club selection for July. It was a nice, light, and fluffy contemporary romance that was an enjoyable read for a few days. I liked Chloe, but Red was my favorite character in the book. He had such great comebacks and wit. I loved it. The romance was fun and steamy at all the correct points. I wouldn’t call it my favorite romance of the last few years, but this was a good one. I’m interested in reading the sequel.

Brown Sisters

#1 Get a Life, Chloe Brown
#2 Take a Hint, Dani Brown

Next up on the TBR pile: