Last Days of Summer Reading

I have officially gone back to work and the kids will start school on Thursday. While I will certainly find lots of reading time while hanging out at the dance studio four nights a week, the fun days of staying up all night reading with nowhere to be in the morning are drawing to a close.  I wrapped up the summer with more Kindle Unlimited reads- all having the mixed reviews we have come to love about this diverse portfolio of writings.

Title	Author	Rating	Review
Until You	Catharina Maura	✩✩✩✩✩	While this book featured a popular trope of “brothers best friend” it went way too hard on the “troubled past” sub-plot.  The premise was pretty good, and the background of the hacker collective could have been fun, but in the end it just didn't work for me.  The whole “ I am a manly dominant who uses that to cover up a refusal to go to therapy but you have to just forgive me because a bad thing happened to me once” thing is not my style.  Spiciness was middling, plot was heavy furniture and I didn't feel the chemistry to drama ratio made it worth it.  These are popular on BookTok though, so other readers may find it is 100% their bag, in which case, go wild in the aisles! All reading is good reading if you enjoy it.
The Chasing of Eleanor Vane	Sierra Simone	✩✩✩✩✩	I adore Sierra Simone and her ability to write a steamy romance really shines in this short-story/novella.  I looked it when I first read it in Duke I’d Like to F%$* anthology and I was just as enthralled this time around.  Very in the vein of the Robert classic Your Dad Will Do sometimes the answer to a terrible boyfriend/fiance is just one step up the family tree.
Her Virgin Duke	Nicola Davidson	✩✩✩✩✩	A fun and fast read that features insta-love/lust in a plausible way.  Our fair protagonist owning a sex-club fast tracks a lot of the backstory and lets the couple get down to the good stuff ASAP.  The conflict is realistic and resolves in a way that doesn’t require the sudden out of character behavior of any major players.  Both characters show actual growth in their character arcs and the HEA is paved with Davidson’s signature spice.
Once Upon a Promise	Nicola Davidson	✩✩✩✩✩	Another great read from Nicola Davidson.  This one features one of my favorite tropes: “already married re-seduction.”  I like when the couple is established and the character arc is finding a way back together.  This features just enough tragic backstory to explain the sequence of events and the HEA requires everyone to show some growth.
Tease	Melanie Harlow	✩✩✩✩✩	This was definitely a BookTok recommendation that could have really gone either way, but Harlow carries off the premise in a fun and believable way.  The blending of friends-to-lovers and fake-romance plays well here.  Add in my favorite match up (walking human disaster meets tightly controlled geek with a dominant side) and this one was a really enjoyable read. The representation of mental illness, and more importantly the work required to manage it) was a nice bonus on a way to a classic romance HEA.