REVIEW: By the Bootstraps by Alexa Martin

 

OUR REVIEW:

This is my new favorite Alexa Martin novel. From the minute I picked up Luna Starr's quest to outrun her miserable past, I was hooked. I loved Luna and her funny internal monologue, her friendships with Gabby and her new friends in Celestial, and the continual hope that this new place gave her. I loved this idealized small town and the people in it. I loved the way she navigated things with Tate and Silas. And I loved that everything worked out in the end. I see that this is the first book in a series and I cannot wait for the next book...and I hope that there are many, many books in this series because I can already tell I'm not going to get enough of these characters and this small town romance. 

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SYNOPSIS:

A cowboy romance enthusiast discovers that everything’s bigger in Texas—even love—in this swoony novel from beloved author Alexa Martin.

Fueled by a love of romance novels, Luna Starr was destined for a life with her head in the clouds. Her delusional tendencies serve her well…or at least they used to. When life throws her a curveball, she decides it’s time to turn her cowboy fantasies into reality and purchases a tiny farm in Celestial, Texas. After all, don’t all heroines try to outrun grief?

Tate Jacobs hates cowboys, which is a small problem, considering his family happens to own the largest ranch in Celestial. Life might not have gone the way he wanted, but as head coach at his old high school and the town’s best (and only) handyman, he’s figured out how to stay busy and keep his head down—until the new girl in town shows up. Luna’s new property is a bad accident waiting to happen unless someone helps her with her DIY home renovations.

As Tate and Luna spend more time together fixing up her house, unexpected feelings and undeniable chemistry bubble to the surface. Luna might’ve moved to Celestial to make her cowboy dreams come true, but somewhere beneath the vast Texas skies, she discovers that love in the real world can be far better than she imagined.

REVIEW: How to Sell a Romance by Alexa Martin

 

OUR REVIEW:

I first fell in love with Alexa Martin when she published her football series and I've followed her from book to book ever since. In How to Sell a Romance we get to know the hilarious and delightful Emerson-a kindergarten teacher, animal shelter volunteer, and all around good person. As most teachers know, teaching is a profession that doesn't pay, no matter how good you are. To stave off the poorhouse, Emerson finds herself in a MLM situation that makes her finances worse instead of better. She also finds herself involved with one of her students' fathers, inadvertently, because of one night stand prior to school starting. That one night ends in anger, but eventually Emerson and Lucas find themselves in kahoots...and then in love. Throughout her teaching and spying, we get ton know her and her hilarious inner monologue, her inability to ask for help, which actually ends up putting her in the path of Lucas time and again.

Fun and funny, How to Sell a Romance is a good time.

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SYNOPSIS:

Emerson Pierce loves everything about being a kindergarten teacher except the painfully low salary. It isn’t until she hears about Petunia Lemon—an opportunity to sell makeup products, make some extra money, and meet a group of skin-care aficionados—that she begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, it sounds a little too good to be true, but what’s the worst that could happen?

Investigative reporter Lucas Miller didn’t always have a chip on his shoulder…until his wife joined Petunia Lemon, drained their savings, and filed for divorce. Now he’s a little bitter, a lot single, and determined to expose the company. After infiltrating their largest convention yet, the last thing he expects is to lose sight of his mission for one night with the gorgeous woman at the bar.

When Emerson and Lucas learn that she’s his daughter’s teacher, they decide to ignore their scorching chemistry. Until things with Petunia Lemon turn downright diabolical and Emerson turns to Lucas for help. They work together to bring the company down but can the two come out on top in this pyramid scheme of love?

REVIEW: Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin

 

OUR REVIEW:

I've read everything by Alexa Martin and I know I can always count on smart and funny romance. In Next-Door Nemesis, we meet Collins, recently relocated to her parent's house due to an unfortunate viral video, and Nathaniel, her former best friend and now someone she thinks she detests. From the very first chapter, Collins and Nathaniel's run ins are hilarious and full of snarky vitriol and they keep running into each other because Nathaniel is living right down the street and part of the board of the HOA. As things escalate between them, they find themselves running against each other for HOA president. Interestingly, this is the turning point. They begin to rediscover their friendship, heal past hurts, and start to actually enjoy each other and even though they're running against each other, the friendship turns into love that the entire neighborhood delightedly follows--you can practically see the neighbors in lawn chairs and popcorn, watching them fall in love.

As always, both the primary and secondary character provide a lot of hilarious moments, a lot of heartfelt moments, and they make it hard to want to put the book down. Another excellent read from Alexa Martin.

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SYNOPSIS:

After years of hustling, Collins Carter has finally made it...back to her parents’ house. Between tending to the compost with her newly retired dad and running into her high school nemesis at the only decent coffee shop in town, Collins realizes this subdivision from hell she swore she’d never return to is her rock bottom.

Then the homeowner’s association complaint arrived.

Nathaniel Adams always dreamed of a nice, quiet life in his suburban hometown. Or at least that’s what he thought until Collins moved back and sent his quaint, organized life into a tailspin. He thought Collins was infuriating ten years ago, but when she announces she’s running against him for HOA president, all bets are off.

From secret board meetings to vicious smear campaigns whispered over backyard fences, Collins and Nate sink to levels their sleepy suburb has never seen before. But as hate turns into lust, these two enemies are forced to reckon with the feelings they’ve ignored for years. If only there were bylaws for real life.

REVIEW: Better Than Fiction by Alexa Martin

 

OUR REVIEW:

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a huge Alexa Martin fan. Huge. I've read everything she's written and I'm constantly scoping out her social media to see what she's writing next and when it's going to come out. No lie. The second I see anything of hers on NetGalley, I'm hitting that request button like it's my job. 

In Better than Fiction we have Drew and Jasper. She's a bookstore owner who doesn't like to read and he's a writer. Match made in heaven, right? Welllll, eventually, yes. but there was a little work getting there. For one, Drew is grappling with some pretty deep grief with the loss of her grandmother, the prior owner of the bookstore and one of Drew's favorite people in the entire world. Not only is she grieving, she's also grieving the loss of her dream, while trying to do a job she never really wanted. And if that's not enough, she's also dealing with one of the worst dad's ever. He's truly awful. That's all yuck, right? Enter Jasper, an Adonis of a writer who is doing a book talk at her store, due to some wonderfully meddling Dirty Birds (her grandmother's friends, master meddlers, and book clubbers). He's the kind of guy who causes the room to stop and stare and ....drool. 

After he book talk, he's encouraged to ask Drew for some help with research for his next book, which is right up her alley, so while she's hesitant, she decides to do it. There's one condition though. If she's taking the time to do this for him, he wants to do something for her. So he decides he's going to try to help her find the joy of reading; her excursions may be for book research, his will be to compliment the books he chose for her to read. Best set up ever. Their excursions allow them to get to know each other, connect, and fall for each other and we get to watch it happen in real time. 

I loved how much Drew loved Colorado and now that I've read this book, I'm definitely going back to explore it more. I also loved the love story of Drew and Jasper. But I especially loved how Alexa Martin wrote the friendships between the women in this novel. It never fails that she not only gives us a love story between a couple, but also shows us a love story of friends. She always captures the banter and lives of women so well and it's one of my favorite things about her novels; Better than Fiction continues my love affair with the friends she writes. As a matter of fact, I'm hoping that she gives Daisy a book because I'm not ready to see these women go yet.

Better than Fiction blends grief, romance, and humor; you'll love Jasper and Drew and their journey of finding each other and love. 

BUY IT HERE.

BLURB:

Love isn’t always by the book in this charming romantic comedy about a bookseller discovering how to be the main character in her story.

As a self-proclaimed book hater and a firm believer that the movie is always better, Drew Young didn’t anticipate inheriting her grandma’s bookstore, the Book Nook. She’s in way over her head even before the shop’s resident book club, comprising seven of the naughtiest old ladies ever, begin to do what they do best—meddle.

Bestselling author Jasper Williams is a hopeless romantic. When he meets Drew at his Book Nook signing event, he becomes determined to show her the beauty of reading. He curates a book bucket list in exchange for her help exploring the local Denver scene for his current manuscript. From going river rafting to trying local restaurants, Drew begins to connect with Jasper in a way she only thought happened in fiction.
 
When messy family ties jeopardize the future of the Book Nook, Drew is caught between a bookshelf and a hard place. She’s reminded that real life isn’t always big dreams and sweeping romance. But Jasper is the plot twist she never saw coming and he’s writing a happily ever after just for them.

REVIEW: Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes by Alexa Martin

I've been enamored with Alexa Martin's writing from the first novel I've read of hers; her novels contain a great mixture of humor and emotion and friendship and romance. While Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes focuses more on the friendship aspect, there's definitely a nice dose of romance that is threaded throughout. 

As noted in probably many other reviews, this novel is really an ode to female friendship. Lauren and Jude, lifelong best friends, become roommates for a variety of reasons, we come to learn. Lauren needs to escape her overbearing parents and has some financial constraints and Jude needs to escape her overbearing mother and also has financial constraints. Naturally, it stands to reason that they would room together, despite the obvious differences in their lifestyles--Lauren is a single, working mom working on some issues with her ex and Jude is a social media star, working through some issues with her formerly famous mom. Despite those differences, as it often does in real life too, their friendship works with and through these differences and makes for a sweet living arrangement. Until it doesn't.

One of the things I really appreciate about this novel is that it doesn't idealize friendship. It shows the challenges and strains that exist and the worries and concerns we all have when our friends are in trouble. It shows Jude and Lauren love each other and struggle with each other and how even best friends have challenges that aren't easily overcome. Rather than write a novel that romanticizes best friends, Martin shows the strength that a true friendship has, even with all of the missteps and dumb things we do to sometimes sabotage things. 

I also enjoyed the ode to the repeated image of how powerful and wonderful being a woman, having strong female friendships ,and lifting up other women that this novel had. Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes was a slight shift from the novels Alexa Martin has written before and I enjoyed the experience. 

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SYNOPSIS: 

Two best friends say "I do" to living together, for better or worse, in this bold women's fiction novel from Alexa Martin.

Jude Andrews is famous. Well, at least on Instagram. Her brand is clean eating, good vibes, Pilates, and casually looking like a sun-kissed goddess. In real life, however, she’s a total disaster. She has a strained relationship with her fame-hungry mom and her latest bad decision emptied out her entire savings account.

Lauren Turner had a plan: graduate medical school and become the top surgeon in the country. But when she became unexpectedly pregnant, those plans changed. And when her fiancé left her, they changed again. Now navigating the new world of coparenting, mom groups, and dating,  she decides to launch a mommy podcast with all the advice she wishes someone had given her.

Jude and Lauren don't have much in common, but maybe that's why they've been best friends since the third grade. Through ups and downs, they've been by each other's sides. But now? They’re broke, single, and do the only thing that makes sense—move in together, just like they talked about when they were teenagers. Except when they were younger, the plan didn't include a five-year-old daughter and more baggage than their new townhouse can hold.