Every other month (or so), our Book Club picks a different trope or theme and we all bring a book that meets the criteria. It’s a fun way to build up our TBR piles and we thought you might enjoy their recommendations too!
This month we each brought the first book in a new (to us) series. The burning question: would you read the rest of the series? Overall, it was a resounding “yes!” to most series. If you are looking for a new series to get sucked into, here are the books we talked about this month:
Puck Me Secretly by Odette Stone
Series Name: Vancouver Wolves Hockey, # 1
I’ve never been in love.
I’ve never had an orgasm, but I’ve faked plenty.
I want to experience love. Real, passionate love.
I don’t want to die.
It’s funny what blurts out of your mouth when the plane you’re on is going down, and I didn’t hold back with my seat mate when my plane decided to crash.
My hysterical confessions didn’t faze the muscular stranger that sat beside me. In fact, he promised if we survived, he’d give me my first orgasm.
We survived.
I came.
And then he left without telling me who he was.
On the first day of my job, I stood in front of the Vancouver Wolves hockey team and called out a number. #33.
Imagine my shock when he skated forward.
Max is an incredible hockey player, whose wild, out-of-control antics have almost derailed his career. So many secrets shroud his past and continue to threaten his future.
Now he’s my secret. And that secret could ruin everything.
Puck Me SECRETLY. Some secrets are too big to keep.
Frozen in Ice by Cynthia Eden
Series Name: Ice Breaker Cold Case, # 1
Is he a drop dead gorgeous…killer?
Delilah “Lila” Darrow doesn’t belong in the world of the rich and famous, but for one night, she’s going to wear the fanciest dress she can find and pretend that she does. Her plan—get close to reclusive billionaire Archer Radcliffe and find out…is he a murderer?
She knows exactly what Archer likes. She knows how to slip beneath his guard. She knows how to make him fall for her. With the right tools, Delilah believes she can finally make Archer pay for the crime he committed so long ago.
Payback is calling…and she’s wearing a dress made for sin.
Delilah is part of a group of crime solvers called the Ice Breakers—an online team made up of individuals who have the goal of solving cold cases. Five years ago, Delilah’s sister disappeared without a trace. Since then, Delilah has made it her mission to close as many unsolved cases as possible. Archer Radcliffe will be the latest target in her quest.
Except…Archer turns the tables on her. He sees through her lies. Tries to seduce her. And, he also swears his innocence.
Can she trust him? Or is he playing her?
Now that he has Delilah at his side, Archer can finally get the justice—the vengeance—he has craved. The only problem? The beautiful Delilah will be in danger. But Archer intends to stick close to her. So close that the world will believe they are completely in love. So close that a deadly enemy will want to strike. So close that just maybe—if he’s not careful—Archer might begin to fall for the woman he intends to use…
The Little Cafe in Copenhagen by Julie Caplin
Series Name: Romantic Escapes, # 1
Welcome to the little cafe in Copenhagen where the smell of cinnamon fills the air and the hot chocolate is as smooth as silk.
Publicist Kate Sinclair’s life in London is everything she thought she wanted: success, glamour and a charming boyfriend. Until that boyfriend goes behind her back and snatches a much sought-after promotion from her.Heartbroken and questioning everything, Kate needs to escape.
Leaving behind rush hour and late nights in the office for a city break in beautiful Copenhagen, Kate discovers how to live life ‘the Danish way’. From candles and cosy nights in to the easy smiles of tall, gorgeous Vikings and eating your body weight in pastries (ok, that’s just her), the city offers her a new perspective.
Can the secrets of hygge and happiness lead her to her own happily-ever-after?
Never the Bride by Charlotte Fallowfield
Series Name: Dilbury Village, # 1
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Walking down the aisle, yet again, Abbie Carter feels the doom of the curse. With eight hideous dresses filling her attic, Abbie has more bridesmaid dresses than dates. Unlucky in love is an understatement.
However, when she locks eyes with a sexy groomsman, everything changes. Suddenly, Miller Davis only has eyes for her. But proximity is an evil villain. With an ocean separating them, a relationship is out of the question. Abbie can’t even bond well with her elderly, fat pooch Mr. Sumo. She can’t possibly make it work with a New Yorker so far away … could she? And Miller persistence makes her want so much more.
Will she find a way to make one last trip down the aisle?
Things Good Girls Don’t Do by Codi Gary
Series Name: Rock Canyon, Idaho #1
Good girls don’t steal.
Good girls don’t visit sex shops.
Good girls don’t have one-night stands.
For Katie Conners, being a good girl just isn’t worth it anymore. It used to mean getting the life she always wanted. But that was before she got dumped and her ex got engaged to his rebound. So, after a bad day and one too many mojitos, Katie starts making a list of things a girl like her would never do, not in a million years . . .
As a tattoo artist with a monster motorcycle, Chase Trepasso isn’t the kind of guy you bring home to mom and dad.
And when he finds Katie’s list in a bar, he’s more than happy to help her check off a few items. Especially the ones on the naughtier side . . .
Katie’s more than tempted by Chase’s offer, as long as they keep things uncomplicated. But as they spend more time together, she may just wind up breaking the most important rule of all: Good girls don’t fall in love with bad boys.
Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
Series Name: Knockmount, # 1
Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.
Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.
There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.
At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Series Name: Throne of Glass. # 1
In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.
The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.
Flawless by Elsie Silver
Series Name: Chestnut Springs, # 1
The rules were simple . . .
Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.
But now I’m stuck with her . . . And there’s only one bed . . .
Oh well, rules are made — to be broken . . . aren’t they?
I’m the face of professional bull riding — the golden boy.
Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face.
Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”
But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter —
especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk,
and a mouth she can’t stop running.
A mouth I just can’t stop thinking about . . .
Because Summer isn’t just another conquest.
She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run —
she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.
She says this means nothing — but I say this means everything.
She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross.
That my reputation can’t take any more hits — and neither can her damaged heart.
I say I’m going to steal it anyway.
Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage
Series Name: Rebel Blue Ranch, # 1
She’s off-limits, but he’s never been good at following the rules.
For the first time in her life, Clementine “Emmy” Ryder has no idea what she’s doing. She’s accomplished everything on her to-do list. She left her small hometown of Meadowlark, Wyoming; went to college; and made a career for herself by doing her favorite thing: riding horses. But after an accident makes it impossible for her to get back into the saddle, she has no choice but to return to the hometown she always wanted to escape.
Luke Brooks is Meadowlark’s most notorious bad boy, bar owner, and bachelor. He’s also the unofficial fifth member of the Ryder family. As Emmy’s older brother’s best friend, Luke spent most of his childhood antagonizing her. It’s been years since he’s seen her, but when she walks into his bar and back into his life, he can’t take his eyes off her. Despite his better judgment, he wants to do a whole lot more than just look at her.
Emmy’s got too much on her mind to think about romance. And Luke knows he should stay away from his best friend’s younger sister. But what if Luke is just what Emmy needs to get her spark back? Or will they both go up in flames?
In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation by Alexandra Vasti
Series Name: Halifax Hellions, # 1
The Halifax Hellions are the most scandalous, outrageous, ungovernable ladies in London. From the day of their debut—in which Matilda smoked a cheroot and Margo tied a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue—they’ve turned the ton upside down. But when Matilda elopes with a dangerous aristocrat, Margo must stop her twin before this new misadventure becomes a permanent marriage. For help, Margo turns to her brother’s best friend—because if anyone can get them to Scotland in time, it’s starchy solicitor Henry Mortimer.
Henry Mortimer has precisely one secret in his otherwise buttoned-up life: he’s been in love with Margo for seven wonderful, agonizing years. When she turns up at his doorstep, soaked to the skin and desperate for his help, he cannot turn her down. A week alone in a carriage with the object of his desires an arm’s length away? Surely he can survive that. He hopes.
But the road to Scotland is paved with disasters—caves and crashes and the bloody rain that keeps forcing Henry to hold a damp, shivering, dreadfully tempting Margo in his arms. Only an unstoppable force could drag the truth of Henry’s affection from his lips. Unfortunately for him, Margo Halifax has yet to be stopped.
