Anywhere With You by Ellie Palmer (2025)
Contemporary romance. Standalone novel. Present-day Charley is a high strung intellectual property lawyer who is recently divorced and trying to stop her sister from getting engaged. Lucky timing for her, her best friend Ethan is in her driveway with his van and they go chasing after the sister together. While Charley and Ethan have never been anything more than platonic best friends, there’s definitely an undercurrent of something in the background. It’s just that Ethan is the kind of guy that is way too much for flight risks for Charley’s tastes, especially when we flashback to her nomadic childhood and her absentee father. We get all sorts of hilarious road trip adventures here with a dash of sexual tension. Solid read, but I’m not entirely sold on them making it for the long haul with their opposite personalities.
Advance ebook provided by Penguin Random House via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.
A Waltz on the Wild Side by Erica Ridley (2025)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 6 of the Wild Wynchesters series. Solid conclusion to the series, but a lot of the story could have been resolved earlier if Vivian communicated more clearly about her missing cousin’s adventures. Vivian and her young cousin always argue over his and his friends’ hero worship of the Wynchester family, with good reason, since Vivian is worried that a bunch of law-breaking adolescents will not have the same privileges as the wealthy family of a baron. He goes missing one day and Vivian pretty much lands on the Wynchester doorstep to ask for help. She’s terribly prickly and judgmental and spends most of the book getting to know each of the siblings (and their respective spouses) to learn that they really are more honorable than she originally judged. Her romance is set with Jacob, the animal trainer and poet of the group, and it’s pretty much attraction at first sight, even with her being totally closed-minded. He’s smitten from the jump and wants to do anything he can to help her. We end up with a lot of wacky miscommunication and go through a lot of hoops to find the cousin.
Advance ebook provided by Forever Books via NetGalley.
Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee (2025)
Historical romance. Regency-era England. Standalone novel. We get the story of two different women in circumstances where they need to marry and end up falling in love with each other instead. Harry is an unconventional sort of woman, born illegitimate to a brothel worker and now an actress with short hair and wears trousers. She’s got an inheritance on the line that depends on her marrying a respectable sort of man. Emily is a country girl with a history of scandal and a betrothal to a cruel much older man in her village, so she’s in London to find a better prospect for her own protection. Of course it turns out that Harry and Emily are after the same man and hijinks ensue. But as they spend more time together, their rivalry turns into friendship and a whole lot more. Fun to read these two get to know each other better and especially fun to read the brash Harry learn to express her feelings.
Advance ebook provided by The Dial Press via NetGalley. Advance audiobook provided by Penguin Random House Audio.
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