REVIEW: "Smitten by the Brit" by Melonie Johnson (Contemporary Romance)

Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson
	Publisher: St Martin's Press Genre: Contemporary Romance Publication Date: May 28th 2019 Series: Sometimes in Love, #2 Standalone: Yes
Categories:
Love Abroad, Strong Heroine
Other Books by Melonie Johnson
#1
Description from Publisher:
DEFINITELY, MAYBE...OR LOVE, ACTUALLY? English professor Bonnie Blythe expects her life to play out like her favorite novels, especially now that her long-term boyfriend has finally proposed. So when a shocking discovery leads Bonnie to end her engagement, she decides to close the book on love. But the plot thickens when a brand-new character enters the scene—and quickens Bonnie's heart. With his brilliant blue eyes, sexy accent, and irresistible charm, Theo Wharton is like a romantic hero straight out of a Jane Austen novel. When fate places Bonnie in England for a summer—conveniently close to Theo—she realizes a hot friends-with-benefits fling is exactly what she needs to start a fresh chapter. Just as Bonnie begins to believe she's falling in love, an eye-opening revelation into Theo's life makes Bonnie feel like she's wandered into one of her favorite books. Will Bonnie have the courage to risk her heart and turn the page with the dashing Brit to find her true happy ending after all?
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
So I have to start this by saying: I LOVED Logan in the first book, and liked Theo as his friend. They had an excellent bromance going. But more Theo has me loving the Brit as well! He is a sweetheart of a guy, and strong-willed, loyal, with the perfect amount of cheeky. Bonnie was a nice match for him. She's a mix of strong feminist and old-fashioned, loving Jane Austen and Shakespeare. I admit that, at first, some of her "Don't treat me like a weak female" hangup felt over-the-top, but it paid off well with the arc of her character. Her vulnerability really helped to round her out, especially towards the beginning half. The inclusion of the characters from the first book was great, and I felt like they were worked in pretty seamlessly. I would still recommend reading Hot for the Scot before this one to get backstory, but that isn't exactly a hardship since both books are fantastic! I'd say that my favorite thing about this book, and the first, was that the issues felt like genuine issues with a bit of serendipitous whimsy to make it interesting. The characters' problems and interactions feel almost like real life. In case you can't tell, I am loving this series! Keep 'em coming, Melonie! :)
My Source: I received a digital ARC from the publisher to voluntarily review. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and my 100% own.

About the Author:
A Star Wars junkie and Shakespeare groupie who quotes both Yoda and the Bard with equal aplomb, award-winning author Melonie Johnson—aka #thewritinglush—is a two-time RWA Golden Heart® finalist who loves dark coffee, cheap wine, and expensive beer. And margaritas. And mimosas. And mules. Basically any cocktail that starts with the letter m. She met her future husband in that most romantic of places—the mall—when they were teenagers working in stores across the hall from each other. Today, they live happily ever after in the magical land midway between Chicago and Milwaukee with their two redhead daughters, a dog that’s more like a small horse, and a pair of hermit crabs. After earning her Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago, Melonie taught high school English and Theatre in the northern Chicago suburbs for several years. Now she writes smart and funny contemporary romance and moonlights as an audiobook narrator under the pseudonym, Evelyn Eibhlin.

REVIEW: "The Unhoneymooners" by Christina Lauren (Romantic Comedy)

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
	Publisher: S&S/Gallery Books Genre: Romantic Comedy Publication Date: May 14th 2019 Standalone: Yes
Categories:
Enemies to Lovers, Fake Dating, Love Abroad
Other Books
Description from Publisher:
Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man. Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs. Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.
My Rating:	Heat Rating:
This was cute, and had a good amount of humor. I liked the characters, and the lucky/unlucky aspect. The way that Ethan and Olive went from flinging insults to bantering felt organic and was a great slow burn. The surprises long the way, and their reveals, were nicely unexpected and those twists and turns added a lot to the story. Though I do have to say that the way that the conflict was resolved bothered me some, and felt a bit too easily done. Overall, I would say this is a great book to get lost in at the beach, on a flight, or maybe by a fire as you pretend to be in Maui. It is light and fast-paced.
My Source: I received a digital ARC from the publisher to voluntarily review. This in no way influenced my review. My opinion is unbiased and my 100% own.

About the Author:
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writing partners/besties/soulmates/brain-twins Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. The coauthor duo writes both Young Adult and Adult Fiction, and together has produced fourteen New York Times bestselling novels. Their books have been translated into 30+ languages. (Some of these books have kissing. Some of these books have A LOT of kissing.)