Title:  One Last Shot  
Author: Betty Cayouette        
Genre: Romance     
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

From the moment Emerson and Theo met as teenagers, they were inseparable. But just when they finally expressed their feelings to one another, they were torn apart.

Now, supermodel Emerson is nearing her twenty-eighth birthday, and she’s tired of looking for love in all the wrong places. When the calendar reminder for the marriage pact she and Theo made as teens goes off on her phone, she realizes this is it―her chance to rekindle the only romance that ever really made sense. Emerson convinces her grumpy agent to book her as the face of the fashion campaign that Theo, now a fashion photographer, is shooting. The good the campaign is being shot in ridiculously romantic Cinque Terre, Italy. The bad news? Theo might not be as happy to see her as she’d hoped.

The two embark on a four-day campaign that tests not only their feelings, but their ability to keep their hands off one another. But as roadblock after roadblock keeps them apart, Emerson starts to will this photoshoot be the key to getting one last shot at love, or will it be a final goodbye?

This was a decent read, but not anything unexpected. I liked the glimpse into modeling life (that I assume is somewhat realistic), and I actually enjoyed Emerson’s friendships with her two besties quite a bit. The miscommunication trope was, I felt, a bit overdone here. To a ridiculous degree. Come on, people, just talk to each other, already!

Betty Cayouette is an author, viral video content creator and cinematographer. One Last Shot is her debut novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

Title:  The Backup Princess
Author: Kate O’Keeffe       
Genre:  Romance    
Rating:4 out of 5

When a Texas gal punches a prince instead of curtsying, you know this isn’t your grandmother’s fairy tale.

Taking the bull by the horns is child’s play compared to ruling Malveaux. Yet here I am, a Texas girl turned princess, swapping tacos for a tiara.

Then I meet Europe’s most eligible bachelor, the irritatingly handsome Prince Alexander, and accidentally deck him instead of curtsying.

Oops.

I’d feel bad if he wasn’t such a self-satisfied jerk.

Now, I’m racing against a royal clock that ticks with the urgency of a preening peacock, trying not to let down my newfound country or my own wild heart. Alexander? He’s a walking contradiction, with a smirk that heats my blood and eyes that tell tales of a depth I didn’t expect.

Decisions aren’t exactly my rodeo, but this time, my choice could cost me my new crown—or lead to a love story that rewrites my happily ever after.

Will this Texas girl rise to the royal challenge, or is this one fairytale destined to end with the slipper never found?

This was a cute read! Maddie was funny and entertaining both as she learned how to be a princess and dealt with all her issues and insecurities. Alexander was an interesting character, with his playboy persona hiding his true personality from the world. I enjoyed this read a lot, and will be interested to read more in this series.

Kate O’Keeffe is a bestselling author. The Backup Princess is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Wild Lime Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Title: An Unlikely Proposition  
Author:  Rosalyn Eves      
Genre: Romance   
Rating:  3 out of 5

Eleanor did not come to London to be proper and boring. After the death of her husband and a year of mourning, the seventeen year old wants nothing more than her independence and to have a little fun. She’s hardly looking to remarry, despite pressures from her late husband’s nephew, who is keen on obtaining her inheritance. Eleanor quickly devises a plan that includes a fake engagement. What’s not a part of the plan? Falling for a dashing, quiet man outside of her social circle – a man who is not her betrothed. Can she survive the Season with her heart and her fortune intact?

Thalia is determined to begin afresh after a disastrous first Season in London. No romantic distractions, but only her work as a poet and newfound companion to Eleanor. Determined to get her poems published, she struggles to be taken seriously as a female writer. As the spring progresses, Thalia does not expect to take interest in a man from her past (a man who is engaged to her employer, no less!), but some feelings demand to be felt even if the timing isn’t quite right.

This was just an okay read for me. The characters felt more like caricatures or paper dolls than fully fleshed-out people, and I kind of felt like I was watching a telenovela, with the dramatics and over-the-top emotional decisions. I liked the secondary characters better than the primary ones, and would have enjoyed seeing more of them.

Rosalyn Eves lives in Utah. An Unlikely Proposition is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Macmillan’s in exchange for an honest review.)

Title:  In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation (audio)   
Author: Alexandra Vasti   
Genre: Romance     
Rating:  4 out of 5

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.

This was a cute, fun audiobook. Margo is more than a little impetuous and self-absorbed, but she’s at least aware of other people and tries not to hurt them. Henry’s naivete was charming and cute, and I loved how the two of them ended up together. I enjoyed the narrator as well, and her accents and inflections.

Alexandra Vasti lives in Louisiana. In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Shocking Reputation is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Dreamscape Media in exchange for an honest review.)