Book Review: The Ripple Effect by Maggie North
🐾🐾🐾 – A fake engagement, a feel-good therapy camp, and a grumpy ex-ER doc who can’t stop falling for the sunshiney boss she swore she’d avoid.
Review date: June 13, 2025 | Release Date: June 17, 2025
The Ripple Effect is a delightfully sharp, sun-drenched romantic comedy about healing, hiding, and falling for the very person you swore to avoid. Former ER doctor Stellar Byrd is burned out, broke, and barely hanging on when she lands the last job she wants—camp doc at a kumbaya-style couples therapy retreat. It’s only for the summer, she tells herself. Until her new boss turns out to be Lyle “McHuge” McHugh, the walking ray of sunshine she once slept with and hoped never to see again.
Maggie North’s writing crackles with wit and warmth, balancing biting sarcasm with genuine emotional depth. The fake engagement trope gets a hilarious, high-stakes spin as Stellar and Lyle team up to save the camp’s image while trying to avoid reigniting very real feelings. With rivals, secrets, singalongs, and one woman’s quest to control everything but her own heart, The Ripple Effect is summer romance at its best: smart, swoony, and sneakily heartfelt.
Book Review: The Bachelorette Party by Camilla Sten
🐾🐾🐾🐾 — a tense, twisty ride perfect for fans of moody, character-driven thrillers with a claustrophobic setting and just the right amount of paranoia.
Review date
Camilla Sten crafts a chilling, character-driven thriller in The Bachelorette Party that plays out like a modern-day And Then There Were None—with more emotional landmines and less warning.
When a group of college friends reunites for a bachelorette weekend on a remote Swedish island, the stage is set for celebration, nostalgia, and rekindled connections. But the moment they step off the boat, a sense of unease lingers. The island is isolated, the cell service is spotty, and the tension between the women crackles just beneath the surface. As old secrets bubble up and buried resentments start to poison the atmosphere, the party spirals into a waking nightmare.
Sten excels at creating an oppressive, almost suffocating atmosphere. The island isn’t just a backdrop—it becomes a character in its own right: cold, claustrophobic, and unforgiving. The pacing is deliberate, drawing readers into the interpersonal dynamics before tightening the screws with expertly timed reveals. Each character is layered and deeply flawed, which makes the unraveling of their friendships as suspenseful as the central mystery itself.
While not packed with high-octane action, this novel thrives on its psychological tension, moral ambiguity, and the way it explores how friendship can decay when it’s built on shaky foundations. It’s a slow, simmering burn that eventually erupts in ways both shocking and satisfyingly bleak.
Perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware, and locked-room-style thrillers, The Bachelorette Party asks: How well do you really know your friends—and what happens when you’re trapped with them and no one can leave?
Book Review: The Proposal Project by Donna Marchetti
🐾🐾🐾 1/2 – They’re planning someone else’s perfect proposal… but what happens when the sparks turn real?
Review date: June 13, 2025 | Release Date: June 19, 2025
When Oliver and Priscilla agree to plan the ultimate proposal for their best friends, fake dating is just part of the plan. But as rehearsal kisses start to feel a little too real, their staged romance begins to blur with something genuine—and falling in love was never supposed to be part of the script.
The Proposal Project is a fresh, heart-squeezing romance with all the charm of a wedding rom-com and the emotional payoff of a slow-burn love story. When Oliver and Priscilla team up to plan a picture-perfect proposal for their best friends, they don’t expect the sparks flying between them to become harder to ignore than the Pinterest boards they’ve made. Marchetti brings witty banter, romantic tension, and genuine warmth to a story that’s as much about second chances as it is about finding love when you least expect it. The chemistry crackles, the fake dating trope delivers, and the ending will leave you smiling like you’re the one who just got proposed to.
Book Review: Love on Tour by Lee Adams
🐾🐾🐾 1/2 – One tour, one rule: don’t fall for the talent… too bad the heart doesn’t take instructions.
Review date: June 13, 2025 | Release Date: June 17, 2025
Love on Tour is a sunshine-wrapped, wanderlust-fueled romance that hits every note like a perfect encore. Lee Adams crafts a heart-thumping love story between a buttoned-up tour manager and a charmingly chaotic indie rock star on the rise. What starts as a temporary gig on the road becomes a crash course in letting go, falling hard, and making space for love amidst the noise.
Adams strikes a brilliant balance of swoon-worthy moments and emotional depth, with witty banter, late-night confessions, and stolen kisses under stage lights. The chemistry is electric, the pacing keeps you hooked, and the backdrop of international tour stops adds just the right level of escapism. If you’ve ever dreamed of a summer fling with a side of backstage passes and found family vibes, this one’s your jam.
Book Review: Not a Fake Chance by Willa Drew
Review date: June 4, 2025 | Release Date: June 12, 2025
🐾🐾🐾 – One fake relationship, two stubborn hearts, and a second chance they never saw coming.
Willa Drew’s Not a Fake Chance—the debut in the Second Chance Billionaires series—delivers a heartfelt and steamy romance that fans of the fake dating trope will devour. Set against a backdrop of high society and tech entrepreneurship, this novel offers a compelling blend of emotional depth, sharp banter, and undeniable chemistry.
The story follows Rose Haliday, a poised heiress determined to secure her position in the family business, and Alek Orlov, a self-made tech CEO with a past intertwined with Rose’s. A decade after their college days, they enter a mutually beneficial arrangement: a fake relationship to serve their respective ambitions. However, as their faux romance unfolds, lingering glances and staged kisses blur the lines between pretense and reality, leading to an impulsive engagement that challenges their emotional boundaries.
Drew masterfully navigates the complexities of rekindled feelings and unresolved tensions, crafting a narrative that resonates with authenticity and passion. The dual timelines enrich the characters’ backstories, offering readers a deeper understanding of their motivations and vulnerabilities. Fans of slow-burn romances will appreciate the meticulous buildup of Rose and Alek’s relationship, while the sizzling moments provide ample payoff.
In Not a Fake Chance, Drew has penned a romance that balances emotional nuance with engaging storytelling. It’s a promising start to the series, leaving readers eager for the next installment.