Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham

 

Luke Edgemont doesn't believe in meet-cutes, romance tropes or Hallmark movie moments. So when he finds himself on the island nation of Skymar in the middle of all three...with a princess, no less! ...he's not sure what to do. Because he's just in Skymar temporarily to help renovate an orphanage and then he's going home to America. And there's no way he could ever be with a princess; he's a flannel-wearing carpenter who's a bit of a grumpy introvert, not the suave Prince Charming type. But the more time he spends with Ellie the more danger he's in of falling hopelessly in love with her. And that's just asking for a broken heart.

My thoughts:  I loved Basham's previous novel, Authentically, Izzy, about Luke's cousin, but I love this book even more. Luke's such a great character. I loved the banter between him and Ellie, and his sweet interactions with the orphans. His texts with his sisters are pretty funny, too. And all their movie references from Rambo to The Princess Bride totally made me laugh. This is a delightfully charming romance with humor, heart, a little faith, some fishing, a Cinderella-like ball, and a very cute happy ending. My kind of romance. 

Happy Reading!

Dedicated to the One I Love by Beth K. Vogt

 

Kylie is the best-selling romance writer, Veronica Hollins, but she hasn't been able to write a word on her next novel since her husband died three years ago. And Joe writes military suspense novels as Tate Merrick, but his books aren't selling well enough to get him on the bestseller list, and his publisher thinks he needs to add some romance to them. But Joe doesn't write romance! So his publisher suggests they bring in Kylie to help him rewrite his latest manuscript; and Kylie's agent pushes her to accept the arrangement hoping it will help get her writing again. 

Only no one knows that Kylie and Joe are already online friends; and they don't know that Kylie is Veronica, or that Joe is Tate, until they start collaborating on Joe's book.

My thoughts:  I liked Joe's and Kylie's online friendship. But their first meeting in real life didn't go well. They have some funny push and pull moments, but I thought Kylie was a little too pushy when she started telling Joe how she was going to rewrite his novel to include the romantic story line she'd come up with without even talking to him about it first, or getting his ideas. And I didn't blame Joe for getting upset about it (though all his friends did). I thought Kylie should have been a little more respectful of the fact that it was his novel they were reworking. But Joe was the one who always ended up apologizing for being too stubborn and arguing with her. 

Over time, their interactions did get better, and I liked how they each started to respect the other one, and the other's writing, too. Joe was definitely the more likable character in my opinion. I thought it was cute how he came around to appreciating romance stories and their happy endings. So overall, I enjoyed their friendship and romance. I'd give this one 3.5/5 stars. 

This also counts as my last bookish book of the year for Susan's Bookish Books Reading Challenge. 

Happy Reading!