Reckless Miles by Claire Kingsley

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

With a little more free time, I had to continue my Claire Kingsley binge of the Miles Family series! The third book is Reckless Miles. I used this read to cover the prompt Small Town for the first board of Winter's Kiss. Also, my favorite romance podcast, Smart Women Read Romance, did an episode on this book as well! I was also able to use this for the prompt Lady Love for the Heaving Bosoms' 2022 Reading Embrace.

Cooper is still trying to get used to Chase and Brynn being together and losing the two people he hung out with the most. When he's at the local tavern, he runs into Amelia. She was just left at the alter and is hanging out at the tavern trying to figure out what she's going to do. Having been raised pretty much in boarding schools, she's a little bit of a fish out of water. They connect and Amelia asks Cooper back to her honeymoon suite. They have a magic connection and Amelia decides to stay at the winery for a Cooper-moon instead of taking her honeymoon. When everything just seems to fall into place for them both, Amelia questions if it's really what she wants and if she's just letting life happen to her.

Oh my gosh, this book was magic. I loved Cooper even more and he's so freaking swoony. I loved that he tried to hold back and not be his Cooper self as much in confessing to Amelia when he was in love with her and wanted her to stay forever. I also loved that we get a normal conversation about Amelia being a virgin. It's not a really made a big deal, but Cooper does acknowledge that he does feel a little bit of pressure to be her first and make sure it's good for them both. I just loved the way it was discussed and she wasn't put up on a pedestal or treated weird for not having experience. Also, Amelia is plus size which also done really well.

Honestly, their connection really made this book for me. I was swept away by Cooper along with Amelia and loved that they both had overactive brains and could really understand each other. I loved that most of the other Miles Family were flabbergasted that Amelia "spoke Cooper." It was just so good. I didn't like it when Amelia left for the "3rd act conflict," but I understood why she needed to get a little bit of space. I also loved though that it didn't take long for her to feel like she left her home and just wanted to go back to Cooper and the winery. Also, I hate their father. The Miles patriarch needs to just go the freak away and leave our family alone. I hated him in this book and really hope he gets his comeuppance in the next book.

There are two books left, Leo is the next. The last book in the series is more novella length and Shannon's 2nd chance at love (she's the mom). I can't wait to finish the series and continue getting through the back list of Claire Kingsley! I'm also excited because she mentioned that Levi's book (the last in the Bailey Brothers) should be out this year and she also has plans to do another spin-off that's based on the Havens that's also set in Tilikum. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Have you read Reckless Miles?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Reckless Miles, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 2 days, eBook, 362 pages, published in 2018, indie published

Forbidden Miles by Claire Kingsley

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The first book I picked up in 2022 had to be the continuation of Claire Kingsley's Miles Family series! The second book is Forbidden Miles. I was able to use this for the Winter's Kiss prompt meant to read in 2021. I also applied this to the Heaving Bosoms' 2022 Reading Embrace prompt Prelude to a Wet Hump.

We pick up shortly after Broken Miles. Chase is Cooper's best friend since kindergarten and the local large machinery mechanic. When he stops for dinner at the diner, he mentally comments on a couple making out in the back booth. When he sees that it's the youngest Miles, Brynn, something in his head flips. Growing up he had always put her in the off limit zone and almost saw her as invisible. Unbeknownst to him, Brynn had the biggest crush on Chase growing up. Now that Chase cannot stop seeing Brynn as more than just Cooper's sister, he's come to the realization that she's the one girl to stop his party boy ways.

Oh my gosh! I just feel like I'm going to go on Claire Kingsley binge and say the same thing over and over for each of these reviews, but I love Claire Kingsley. The way that she writes is so sweet and heartwarming and I adore her to pieces. Chase is kind of the stereotypical party boy with Cooper, but once he sees Brynn in a new light he immediately recognizes that this is different. He knows it's her and nobody else and doesn't stop. What's nice is that Brynn had to assess if this was just her childhood crush on her end, but once she realizes it's more she's also all in. All of the conflicts were external and I loved how much they just wanted to be together. They were constantly saying how even if it was just to sleep next to each other, they wanted to get together every night. And by sleep they really just meant sleep (although let's be honest, Chase can get it).

I was a little frustrated with how long Cooper wasn't on board, but once he was he was in 1000%. I know that Cooper's book is next and I can't wait. He is such a loveable goofball, especially with Chase. I loved that this wasn't just Chase and Brynn figuring out their relationship, but also Chase and Cooper. They are the ultimate bromance and I loved seeing the struggles between them to figure out how their friendship was going to look now that Chase's #1 was changing. It was just so touching and lifelike to show that not only do you have to work at and be open in a romantic relationship, but also for a true friendship. It was beautiful all around. I do have one little nitpick, I wish that the conflict with Chase's ex just didn't happen. I feel like there was enough emotional conflict for our boys with what happened with the Miles's father. Which he better get his comeuppance pretty soon. I trust Claire, but I'm sick of him coming in and ruining our character's lives.

Forbidden Miles was such a great choice to start 2022 with and I'm happy my first read of the year was a 5-star! I can't wait to pick up the rest of the series and get through the rest of Claire's backlist. I'm so happy to have rediscovered her a couple months ago and can't wait. Just as a little side note, she announced in a newsletter recently that there will be a 3rd spinoff series about the Havens set in Tilikum (where the Bailey Brothers is set). I can't wait to see the other side of the feud! If you haven't read Claire Kingsley yet and enjoy small town contemporary romances, definitely pick her up ASAP!

Have you read Forbidden Miles?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Forbidden Miles, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 316 page, published in 2018, indie published

Broken Miles by Claire Kinglsey

🍎🍎🍎🍎

The last book I read for 2021 was the first in Claire Kingsley's Miles Family, Broken Miles! I was able to apply this to the Winter's Kiss prompt on Shelby's tbr.

Roland receives a phone call from his younger brother Leo. Their family owns the Salishan Winery and he has found out that they are in financial trouble thanks to their father's poor management. When Roland comes home from San Francisco to the small town in Washington he grew up in, it's more than just reconnecting with his family that he hasn't seen in 18 months. Zoe, Roland's ex-wife and high school sweetheart, works for the winery as the event manager. When the Miles family implodes and Zoe and Roland finally hash out their feelings and divorce, they start to reconnect. It's hard for them both to restart a relationship, even more so Zoe since she already had her heart destroyed by Roland once.

Oh my gosh, this was such a great read and way to finish off the year. I read so much contemporary romance in 2021 and found a lot a good authors. I was able to rediscover Claire Kingsley and was immediately sucked back into the world. It was also fun to see Grace (from the Bailey Brothers) from the Miles family point of view. There's something about Claire Kingsley's writing that's just so comforting and draws you into the families and small towns she creates.

Technically this book is a 4.5 star rating for me, but since this was the last book of 2021, I hadn't officially moved over to using 1/2 stars yet. Now, the reason why I had to dock it 1/2 a star was how long it took Zoe and Roland to get back together. I get there was a lot of set up for the family and a lot that Zoe and Roland had to work through. It took too long for them to even "bang it out", and that was at almost 60%. They didn't officially start dating again until like 70ish %. Once they got together we had a couple little time jumps. I just wanted to see them happy and together in the present more. I still loved it, but it bothered me enough that I had to do a little dock.

I loved getting back to Claire Kingsley and finally starting the Miles Family. I have a little bit of time in the new year before picking up some book club/readalong books, so we'll see how many I get through! I am so happy to read more and just find it crazy that I'm ending 2021 and starting 2022 with contemporary romance. How things have changed!

Have you read Broken Miles?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi Apple

STATISTICS: Broken Miles, Claire Kingsley, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 296 pages, published in 2018

Chasing Her Fire by Claire Kingsley

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

With a little extra time before the start of the Black FaRoFriday Readathon, I was in the mood for another contemporary romance. I decided to pick up Chasing Her Fire by Claire Kingsley. This is the 5th book in her Bailey Brothers series and the most recent to come out. I applied this to the prompt outside photo cover for the second board of Fall in Love.

Throughout the series, we've seen Logan and Cara butt heads. They can't really stand to be around each other and usually have a lot of banter and quips back and forth. At Skylar's book launch party that Cara threw, they both ended up drunk and sleeping together. Despite them both being heavily inebriated, they both remember the time and are torn on wanting more. Their relationship starts to evolve and soon we find out that Cara is pregnant. Logan steps up in a big way and they both work to figure out how to do it together without constantly fighting. When Logan starts to see behind the façade Cara puts on, he wants more than to just co-parent.

Oh my gosh. I was slightly nervous coming into this. I had a feeling that Cara and Logan would be paired together and it felt like it was going to go heavy on the enemies to lovers vibe, which isn't my favorite. If anyone can get me to like it though, Claire is one of the few. Thankfully, we don't really get much "enemies" content outside of their few little quips. We get both POVs though and can see even more than before that they are both just fighting the attraction between each other, even more so after sleeping together. I loved Logan more than expected and really enjoyed how he stepped up and was so perceptive about Cara. I loved how he started really paying attention and learned to read her so well and knew when to push her and when to back off.

I wasn't expecting to really connect with Cara as much as I did. While her specific life and family situation isn't something that completely matched my personal experiences, the feelings she was dealing with at times were so on the head. I don't know how Claire does it, but I have seen pieces of myself in all of the heroines in the series so far. I don't have to have that connection to enjoy a book, but since I'm an emotional reader my higher rated books usually do. I just wasn't expecting to connect with her as much as I did. I just loved how Logan really grounded her and helped her be comfortable in dealing and was so supportive. Another thing that I loved about this book, there wasn't really a third act conflict and I loved it. Cara does get in an accident and that leads to giving birth, but she and the baby aren't injured. The only thing that I didn't like about this book is that we don't get a resolution on some questions about her accident. I had a feeling that it might go down that route, but when it wasn't resolved I was left with questions. I sure hope that it gets addressed in the next book.

I am loving this series and am now caught up! The next book to come out is for the final brother and Logan's twin, Levi. We do get an epilogue that is a teaser for the next book and it looks like he's going to get paired with who I was thinking (and hoping) it would be. I'm also thinking that we'll get some resolution with the mystery that's been going throughout the series as well as the Montgomery treasure. I will definitely jump back and read the Miles Family next from Claire and can't wait to read more from her. My contemporary author list is really starting to grow this year.

Have you read Chasing Her Fire?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Chasing Her Fire, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 396 pages, published in 2021

Rushing In by Claire Kingsley

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

With a little bit of time to mood read before needing to get to some readalong or book club books, I knew I wanted to get back to Claire Kingsley. I thought about going back to her Miles Family series, but decided after the epilogue in Unraveling Him that I wanted to get caught up in the Bailey Brothers first. Rushing In is the fourth book in the series. I was able to use this for the Fall in Love prompt cover model is smiling.

Gavin, the wild child and youngest Bailey is working a nearby wildfire. Things happen and he ends up needing to deploy his fire shelter. After getting rescued, he crosses the street without looking and gets hit by a car. The driver, Skylar, is the fire chief's daughter and back in town. She is a thriller and suspense novelist, but needs to take some time for herself after being dropped from her publisher and broken up with by her agent and live-in boyfriend. With his broken leg Gavin is side-lined while he recovers. Needing not only a friend, but a guide to Tilikum, Gavin befriends Skylar.

I really loved this book. While it quite didn't hit me like Unraveling Him did, I really enjoyed getting into Gavin's POV. I could tell from the previous books that he doesn't feel like he's taking risks like his brothers think he does, and it was nice to get that confirmation. He has an almost physic power that helps him figure out the risks of whatever situation he's in. I loved that even though they all thought he was a little too extra, when it came to being a fireman if he said something they trusted him. They ragged on him later, but in the moment they trusted him. I also loved the way their 2nd meet cute.

We also get a lot of good representation of anxiety and mental health situations with Skylar. I also loved that she was almost immediately open with Gavin. I loved the connection  between them and how even though there was an attraction there, they really pushed being friends. I loved the evolution of their relationship. A couple times Gavin made some weird choices, but I also loved that we saw immediately how bad or off he was feeling after the issue occurred between them. Another fun aspect is we get more of the family pranks. Since Gavin is one of the more active pranksters there was a lot of good brother time in the book as well. 

I can't wait to read more of the series and have one more left to get caught up. The epilogue gives a hint as to the next couple in Chasing Her Fire and I'm certainly intrigued. We kind of get hints about them from book 2 though. Now I know and I can't wait. As soon as I can get some more mood reading in I definitely want to pick it up soon. If you are looking for a good small town romance, definitely check out this series. Also, I love this cover. The water and mountains in the background are just so pretty. Plus the cover model is smiling. It looks and feels like Gavin to me. Absolutely perfect!

Have you read Rushing In?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Rushing In, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 4 days, eBook, 460 pages, published in 2021

Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

The October book for the Smart Women Read Romance exclusive Patreon review was Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley. This is the third book in her Bailey Brothers series. Also, I should mention this was chosen for the prompt of small town romance. I was able to use this for the Fall in Love board 2 prompt new mc in town.

Evan is the reclusive and loner of the Bailey brothers. He owns a cabin outside of town and also has a shop where he rebuilds and makes custom cars. Fiona is the daughter of a repair shop and helps track down cars for purchase as well as hard to find parts. When she finds out her father is getting back with his former dealers that have criminal leadings and finds him sleeping with her friend, she has to get out of there. However, her clutch is going out on her car and she needs a place to fix it. In exchange for allowing her to use his shop and tools, Fiona offers to help find Evan a new car.

Oh my gosh, guys this book. It hit me on so many levels and is one of my favorite books of the year. First off, Evan is one of my top book boyfriends. He is the grump we all need in our lives. I absolutely love that he is all or nothing with Fiona. He's also very possessive and it hits all of my buttons. Fiona is such a sweet and relatable girl. I could connect with her in a lot more ways than I expected going in. She's an admin worker at a family run repair shop (same here, although it's not run by my dad and we do lawn equipment not cars). She struggles with being taken advantage of by her family and whom she considers her friends. She talks to her houseplants and is such a happy and optimistic person.

I'm just getting emotional thinking about how much Fiona and I have in common and these are the kinds of books that really show me why I read romance. I haven't been to open about it lately, but I've been struggling a lot emotionally since about mid-September and this book really helped me. I read romance because I love that it always has a happy ending. Whatever characters go through, they make it out the other side. Guaranteed. This book really gave me a lot of hope and really made me start to consider the relationships I have and how toxic they are, whether family or not. Now, the biggest difference is that I had a great relationship with my Mom. Since she passed away 6 years ago (I can't believe it's been 6 years), that's been a big piece missing in my life. In that way I can connect to her. It honestly just made me grateful that I had those good memories to look back on.

So, this book hit me differently than it probably would others and I don't want to get too emotional with my review. We're already here though and I'm an emotional reader. I love Claire Kingsley writing and I can't wait to read more. The way that the relationship evolved between Fiona and Evan was so well done and felt so natural. Plus I loved his dog Sasquatch and how he immediately took Fiona into their "pack." Even before Evan accepted his feelings. This did feel a little long as well, but I was so wrapped up in their story that while it felt a little long once we hit the 60% mark, there was still so much happening with the plot. None of it felt unnecessary to me.

If you like small town romances and/or the grumpy sunshine trope. I feel like you do get the best enjoyment if you read the Miles Family and this series in order, but enough is explained that you could read it by itself. Before I finish wrapping up, there's one scene I really want to mention. Fairly early on when Evan and Fiona are on the road trip to get his new car, they end up having to share a hotel room and bed. He starts out on the floor and when he hears her trying to settle in the bed he thinks it's odd that his instinct is to ask if she's okay and wants to hold her. That scene made me pause and if I was someone that did highlights and quotes, it would be number one from this book. Seriously, read this book. I already bought Unraveling Him in paperback!

Have you read Unraveling Him?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATSTICS: Unraveling Him, Claire Kingsley, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 460 pages, published in 2020

Fighting for Us by Claire Kingsley

🍎🍎🍎🍎

As I've mentioned a couple times recently, the October book that was chosen for the Smart Women Read Romance Patreon live review was Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley. That is the 3rd book in her Bailey Brothers so I had to pick up the first two books. Unbeknownst to me when I first picked them up, the first two books are kind of a duology focused on the same couple. Book two, Fighting for Us, is the true HEA. Fighting for Us was able to work for the cursive title prompt for the second board of Fall in Love. I also was able to apply this to the #squadgoal prompt for Bang in the Night Bingo.

We pick up 7 years after Protecting You. Asher is getting out a year early from prison after the governor's daughter exposes that she was assaulted by the same person that went after Grace and he pardons him. Grace has been waiting 7 long years to get Asher back and trying to survive in her own way.

This was such an angsty book, which I expected going in, but oh boy. I understood how Asher was going through a lot and I guess a form of PTSD from his experiences in prison. He's had to completely shut down emotionally just to survive. He had a plan to start preparing for release when it got closer to the end of his sentence, but being let go early has screwed up his plan. Grace was so sweet and did such a great job being patient with Asher. 

Where this went a little wrong for me is a couple of things. It took a little longer to address Grace's trauma and what she went through both in Protecting You and when Asher was gone. What bothered me is that it wasn't even really addressed earlier when it was just Grace and Cara or Grace and the other brothers. I did wish I had read the Miles Family series first since we got discussion of her half-siblings. It was fine, but knowing that I was missing the fun extras about their stories is what bothered me. I absolutely love the addition of her best friend Cara and hope that she gets paired up with one of the brothers. It feels like it might be Logan, but I'm not sure. I don't want to spoil anything in the future so haven't really looked at the other blurbs outside of which brother is next.

It was interesting seeing the boys all grown up and dealing with the loss of Asher for so long and the struggle for everyone to adjust to the new normal. I liked the chemistry between Grace and Asher. I really love Claire Kingsley's writing and she really sweeps me into her stories. Because it was more angstier than I prefer, the book did feel a little long to me. Especially when paired with the first book as their complete story. I'm not the biggest fan of time jumps, but wouldn't have minded if there was a small one where Asher was trying to find his footing.

I'm excited to see Asher and Grace in the background of the rest of the series and see their HEA continue. Hopefully one of the future books will show their wedding. I can't wait for the next book which focuses on the reclusive brother Evan. I can't wait to continue the series and definitely need to get her Miles Family series at the top of my contemporary tbr!

Have you read Fighting for Us?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Fighting for Us, Claire Kingsley, 4-stars, 3 days, eBook, 443 pages, published in 2020

Protecting You by Claire Kingsley

🍎🍎🍎🍎

As I've mentioned before, the October book for the Patreon Exclusive Review for the Smart Women Read Romance Podcast was Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley. It's the third book in the Bailey Brothers series. I usually try to read things in order, so I had to pick up the first book in the series, Protecting You. I was able to apply this to the prompt starts with P for the second Fall in Love board. This can also cover the prompts PSL vibes and #squadgoals for the Bang in the Night Bingo.

Grace is home for the summer. She grew up and is best friends with the Bailey brothers next door. There's a special connection between her the oldest brother, Asher. They used to be the closest of friends but have grown apart over the past few years. Now, things are about to change as they find themselves ready to reconnect and maybe move past the friend zone into something more.

This was a really sweet shorter book. Now, I didn't look too much at the blurbs before jumping in, just enough to see that Unraveling Him was book three and that Protecting You had a note that they need to be read in order. So, in case you didn't know, the first two books are a duet, but I believe the rest of series will focus on a different brother each book. Also, this series is connected to her Miles Family series. I've had that on my tbr for a while, but have moved it up my contemporary ideas after Smart Woman Read Romance did a episode on one of the books and Jessen binged the series recently.

So, I'm not the biggest fan of duets, but it made sense here. We get to see the connection grow from friends to lover between Grace and Asher. Not knowing it was a duet, I kept noticing things that were mentioned and thought that they had to be a hint for what's to come. Also, I should say there is a big trigger for assault and attempted rape in this book. I don't usually do trigger or content warnings too much, but I was surprised that it was mostly in 1st person POV. That was a little tough to read.

Before we got to that point though this was such a sweet read. I loved getting to know the brothers and the dynamic between everybody. So this is a little bit of a spoiler, but since it's part of the blurb for the next book I want to chat about it. Asher ends up harming the person assaulting Grace and when things come down he ends up going to prison. There's a lot of discussion about how he got in trouble for fighting in highschool and that made his current charges that much worse. You could totally see how even though it was in defense of Grace how things just spiraled out of control for them both. Of course Asher "tries" to break up with Grace when he goes to prison.

Oh boy, did this book take a dark and angsty turn. I have to say, I'm nervous on how angsty the next book is going to be. I trust Claire's writing and have enjoyed previous books I read from her, but I don't do well with angst, especially in contemporaries. Based on the author's note she had this idea before either series but didn't have Grace's full backstory until she realized she is related to the Miles Family. I definitely want to pick up that other series and will probably jump back it after reading Unraveling Him before continuing on in this series. We do see a little epilogue that has what I'm assuming is all the couples from that series, so it was a little info dumpy since I didn't know who any of them were (except Cooper). I can't wait to read more from Claire Kingsley! Also, I remember that Jessen picked up the Miles series when Claire's husband suddenly passed away as a way to support her. If you are into small town and/or contemporary romances, certainly give these a try.

Have you read Protecting You?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Protecting You, Claire Kingsley, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 186 pages, published in 2020