Ernesto Vasquez might have been born in the Dominican Republic but he is a die-hard New Yorker at heart. His food truck, OuNYe’s menu expresses the special fusion of his New York city childhood, where the Afro-caribbean flavors of his heritage and that of his Puerto Rican, Cuban, Jamaican and Haitian best-friends, nourished and united them. Making his food truck a success is his driving objective because Nesto can’t live on passion alone, he needs his truck to turn a profit. Willing to try anything, Nesto has given himself six months Upstate in his mother Nurys’s new town of Ithaca, in a last ditch effort to keep his dream aflot. If he fails to find customers, he will pack it in and head back to NYC and find new dreams.

Possibly my favorite trope or character in historical romance is the science-y bluestocking. I will read all of these books because they totally play into my science vanity, not that any hot lords or ladies have sought me out for discussing groundwater flow or vapor intrusion models in public. This is not to say that I love every science-y heroine book, but I will read all of them. Before you think “she hated this one too?” I need you to know that I really enjoyed Lady Claire Is All That.

Duchess by Design is pretty much what it says on the tin - an impoverished young Duke mistakes a young New York City dressmaker for her wealthy client and is immediately "enchanted" by her. What follows is a Gilded Age romance heavy on the feminism and lighter on the romance. If you enjoy reading about fashion, like in Loretta Chase's Dressmaker series, you'll enjoy this one. 

 To start, this is a short and sweet story, and #ownvoices when it comes to transgender representation as the author himself is trans.

This book was a delight. I've been sitting here wondering how to describe something that hit all of my happy buttons... So let me tell you about the buttons!

Button #1: Neighbors/Roommates
I adore this trope. It's forced proximity, which means that the two protagonists must deal with each other. AND it means that if they want to bang, they're frequently tempted. Author Rebecca Brooks takes it even further by adding in some of those early morning "let's make breakfast together" moments. The result is both filthy and sweet.

Button #2: Enemies to Lovers/Best Friend's Brother
Now that I'm listing them out, this book is just hella tropey?! The hero is taking over a sublet for his sister, who is the heroine's best friend for decades. This means that there's plenty of history, and in this case? It's not great. When Jessie was a shy teenager, her friends had crushes on Shawn, Talia's older brother. Unfortunately... Shawn slept with one of those friends. Then dumped her. And slept with the other one. Talia and Jessie remained friends, but there's always been a very clear line - DO NOT SLEEP WITH SHAWN.

Button #3: A Hot Mess Trying to Turn His Life Around
But now, Shawn is a grownup. He's been disappointing employers and partners, himself and his family for years. And now he's ready to make a change. He has a real job, with real responsibilities and a future. He might even be able to have a real relationship with Jessie, assuming Talia doesn't find out...

Button #4: Mature Adults Talk About Things
Thank goodness the bleak moment only lasts a chapter or two. Because we knew Talia was going to find out, right? And we knew she was going to be angry and everything would blow up. But we didn't know that Talia would *spoiler* and then everything would work out. (It's a romance, we knew about the HEA.)

Button #5: Scorching Sexytimes
All this angst and drama is glued together by some really well-written sex. There's a scene with a toy and it's *flames emoji.* There's a scene in a stairwell that is get-fired-and-not-care hot.

Here's how much I loved this book - I finished it at around 1:00 am and then went to the internet to find and buy Brooks' previous books.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review via NetGalley.

When taking a break from her practise, violinist Ava Wellington runs into a very attractive woman. The two form an instant connection and the woman – Bianca – talks about her wife who died in a plane crash. Ava then has to continue her concert tour and never hears from Bianca again, but she can never forget that meeting. Two years later her manager ambushes her with the announcement that he has hired someone to write Ava’s biography, even though she has repeatedly stated that she doesn’t want that to happen. When the writer turns out to be Bianca, Ava is torn between happiness about seeing her again and fear that she will uncover the secret that’s the reason Ava doesn’t want anybody to know.

 

Nightchaser is the first entry in Amanda Bouchet’s new trilogy, also called Nightchaser. I’ve been looking forward to her next work ever since I read the last page of her fantasy romance Kingmaker Chronicles. Nightchaser doesn’t disappoint, and brings another kickass heroine in the vein of Catalia. As a warning, like the Kingmaker Chronicles, the entire series centers around a single pair of main characters, so don’t expect a happily-ever-after at the end of the first two novels (I fully expect one at the conclusion of the trilogy).

After spending several lifetimes trapped by the lusts of her succubus soul and the will of her vampire maker, Lizzie Adams did all she could to sever ties, moving halfway across the country, abandoning the satisfaction of live feedings and limiting her demon’s sexual indulgences to producing webcam porn.