Taming Hollywood's Baddest Boy by Max Monroe

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Continuing with my contemporary binge before February, I wanted something a little more romcom feeling. After reading Max Monroe last year and loving their books, I decided to pick up another one of their series. I went with Taming Hollywood's Baddest Boy, the first in their Hollywood series. I was able to use this for the prompt Shelby gave 5-stars for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss. I also used this for the prompt forest bed for the Heaving Bosom's 2022 Reading Embrace.

Billie is a PA, producer assistant in Hollywood and is hoping to be chosen as her boss's only mentee moving forward. When she suggests Luca, a actor that has been off the grid for the last 8-years, for the lead role in their new film, Billie overpromises that she can get him to come back. When Billie tracks him down to the middle of Alaska and forces herself to join him on a multi-day hike through the wilderness, they start to connect. When it's time for Billie to go back to Hollywood and bring Luca with her, he's reluctant. Luca stepped away after those that were supposed to be his support system helped keep him in situations that were harmful to him. He doesn't want to go back to Hollywood and be put in the same situation. He does come back though, but mostly to make Billie his girl.

This was fun and a different take on a celebrity romance. I liked that we came into the situation where Luca didn't want to be the "bad boy" and got himself out. He's now been able to process and move on. Now, I know that some people sometimes struggle with Max Monroe's humor style, and I think this book would be one that might bother the same people. It wasn't too much for me, but sometimes Billie did toe the line to being a little too over the top for me at times. I still did really enjoy the story overall, but I have to be honest, the first half of the book when they were in Alaska really made it for me. I loved the way they became close and how Luca kept trying to be antagonistic but really couldn't keep it up. Plus his dog Bailey love Billie too.

Now, there is a really big reason why I gave this 4-stars and not 5. When Billie is getting ready to leave Alaska, she pushes Luca to do the movie and they get into an argument. It quickly escalates and they both end up saying some pretty drastic things. Billie goes back to Hollywood and eventually Luca chases after her. Now, Luca does a lot of groveling and tries to make it up to Billie. He wants so badly for them to make up and for Billie to give him a second chance. My issue comes with that, he is the only one that apologizes. Immediately after the argument Billie thinks to herself that maybe she shouldn't have pushed so hard so quickly, but that's it. There's no acknowledgment to Luca that she was also in the wrong. It just really bothered me that wasn't even discussed.

I will definitely read more of Max Monroe, but I don't think the rest of this series will be what I pick up next. I will read them eventually, but I'm just not quite as intrigued compared to some of their other works. I will get through their backlist at some point though.

Have you read Taming Hollywood's Baddest Boy?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Taming Hollywood's Baddest Boy, Max Monroe, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 336 pages, published in 2020, indie published

Grumpy Cowboy by Max Monroe

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Finishing my contemporary binge of the weekend was the final book in Max Monroe's Single Dad Collection, Grumpy Cowboy. When I had posted my story update on instagram for Single Dad Seeks Juliet, Shelby (the runner of Summer of Swoon) let me know that she loved this book in the series more than Hot Stuff. While I enjoyed it, it didn't quite live up to book one. I was nervous but excited for Grumpy Cowboy. Update: I applied this to the prompt of book Shelby read for the 3rd board of Summer of Swoon.

We shift from Southern California to Utah and a cattle ranch. Our single dad is Rhett, a former rodeo bronco rider and working to take over the family ranch. He has an adorable 5-year daughter Joey. He is with his cousin one night and stupidly decides to ride a bronco bareback. This leads to a pretty back injury on his leg and our grumpy cowboy gets grumpier. After fighting his doctors orders, his father collects on a favor and one of the orthopaedic doctors for the local basketball team is sent to help him rehab. There's some misdirection from her boss and they quickly butt heads.

This was such a sweet change of pace from the the first two books in the series. Rhett is the bull-headed cowboy trying to do everything himself, even at a detriment. I loved that Leah wasn't the stereotypical city girl. Does she like pretty dresses and heels, yes. Does she not want to get covered in cow and horse poop, yeah. Is she more than willing to put in the hard work to get the job done. 100%.I feel like a lot of the time city girls that show up on a ranch/farm are too overdone and take too long to adapt to their situation. This is not the case here. The only thing that Leah complained about out loud, was how grumpy Rhett was with her. And she told him to his face. Did she cringe on the inside when her shoes were covered in poop and fight the urge to visibly wipe it off on the, yeah. Who wouldn't?

Joey was really well done again, but she was a lot younger and didn't play quite as much of a role here. She was so cute though and reminded me a lot of the little girl I see at work everyday when she's not in school. Another thing I want to mention is how vivid their writing is. I didn't really mention it in my previous reviews, but their writing is so descriptive and I can really see and picture the landscape and events in my head. Maybe it was more vivid for me here since I've grown up farm/ranch adjacent for most of my life, but it was so well written. 

This didn't quite hit me as much as Single Dad Seeks Juliet, but did have some funny moments. I feel like it was more situational than banter in this one, but I did still chuckle a few times. I also thought the 3rd act conflict was a little predictable. It also took a while longer than I expected for them to get physically intimate, even just kissing. I'm okay with the timing of the full steam, but I would've like a little bit of kissing earlier. Or even little touches or other ways to amp the the tension.

I don't know if they play to write any more in the series, but this is the last book as of now. I am super happy I finally got to read some of Max Monroe's books and hope that I enjoy their other books just as much. I can't wait to dig into their backlist and will definitely be adding them to my contemporary author list. Always excited to add a new author to my small contemporary list!

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Grumpy Cowboy, Max Monroe, 4-stars, 1 day, eBook, 346 pages, published in 2021

Hot Stuff by Max Monroe

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After flying through Single Dad Seeks Juliet, I of course had to immediately jump into the next book in the series. Book two in Max Monroe's Single Dad Collection is Hot Stuff. I was able to apply this book to the Summer of Swoon board 2 prompt orange on the cover. 

We start with Garrett. He's Jake's best friend and we're a few months after his divorce. He's has 12-year old twins and is a local firefighter. A bit part of his divorce was his ex not being able to handle the schedule of a firefighter. His house also does a lot with wildfires, so there are times where he's gone for days or even weeks at a time with little contact. The youngest daughter of his chief, and new doctor is Lauren. She's moved back to town after working in New York. They first meet at his physical, then bump into each other a couple other times over the next few months before finally Garrett says enough. He cajoles Lauren to go on a date with him just to see if there's something to the chemistry between them.

I really liked this book. While the banter wasn't quite as on point as Single Dad Seeks Juliet, I still really enjoyed their connection. I also loved that while Lauren was also awkward and not the most able socially, she was awkward in a different way than Holley so it didn't feel rinse and repeat. Not that Max Monroe writes rinse and repeat, but I have read authors before that can get like that. This was also a lot more steamier and I feel like Garrett and Lauren really enjoyed their physical relationship. I can't quite decide if I wanted more emotional connection between them, not that I feel it's lacking, or if I want Jake and Holley to have more steamy scenes.

I once again loved how the kids were written. They really both had their own connection with Garrett, but also Lauren. I know this is the  point of the series, single dads, but Max Monroe just wrote the kids both so well in this series so far. It felt like a family unit through and through and I could really relate to the doubts about adding in another adult to a divorcee with kids. I also loved how Lauren got a pet fish via Garrett and how she starting talking to him all the time.

This was more a 4-star for me because her dad got a little overhanded for me. I also wished that Lauren didn't want their relationship to stay secret as long as they did. I really felt for Garrett when Lauren passed out and he felt torn going to her and unveiling the secret in front of her dad. He was so upset and worried about her and couldn't act on his worry. It just broke my heart a little bit. I did love that the fact he was a firefighter wasn't really made that much of an issue for Garrett and Lauren. I've always thought that not only is there the officer, firefighter or soldier needing to be thanked for their service, but their family as well. I feel like this was such a wonderful look into what it's like for a healthy relationship that's with someone of service. While I understand it is hard and puts extra strain on a relationship sometimes it can be glossed over in romance unless it's dealing with an ex that had issues.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to moving forward in the series and Max Monroe's backlist. I'm so happy to finally get around to reading them. While I'm not usually drawn to contemporary, it's nice to have another author that I know has good humor to add to my rotation for when I'm in the mood.

Have you read Hot Stuff?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Hot Stuff, Max Monroe, 4-stars, 0 days, eBook, 330 pages, published in 2021

Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe

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Continuing my contemporary binge over the weekend, I decided to jump to one of the contemporaries that would cover prompts for both challenges I have going right now. I decided to pick up Single Dad Seeks Juliet by Max Monroe. This is the first book in their Single Dad Collection and also the first book I've read from this writer duo. I was able to use this read to cover the prompts one of Shelby's favorite authors for Summer of Swoon board 2 and reality tv for the Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo.

Jake is a single dad, in his early 40s and a former Navy SEAL. His daughter Chloe is about to enter her senior year in high school and is worried about her dad being lonely after she goes to college. The local paper is running a Bachelor Anonymous event based off of the Bachelor tv show. To pick the bachelor, participants are to submit an ad for the paper to run and readers would vote on who the lucky bachelor is! Holley is our writer for the newspaper and set to run the series of articles, despite not wanting anything to do with it. She's still getting over her former fiancé not only cheating on her, but getting the other woman pregnant and them marrying her shortly after their break up. When she meets Jake to not only convince him to join the event, but to set up the dates things they start to connect more than expected.

First off, this book is absolutely hilarious. I was laughing so much throughout this book and it really hit the spot. I couldn't put it down and ended up staying up until after one and crashing while I was still reading it. At 86% done. Holley is a hot mess and I could relate to her so much. While my hot mess tendencies tend not get that extreme, I've definitely had moments like her before. Some of my favorite scenes were when Jake was waiting for her somewhere and she's walking to meet him and doesn't realize he's watching and things just start to happen, She goes to fix her shoe and almost falls then in correcting her balance drops her bag which of course falls upside-down and things start rolling away and just keeps going. I also love how Jake kept thinking she's a complete hot mess but couldn't stay away. Their banter was on point. While sometimes the "old talk" was a little much at times, come on Holley - you're the same age as me and in an industry that uses social media, it was still hilarious.

I absolutely loved Chloe. She felt like a mature teenager for her age, but still a teenager. Being raised by a single parent and having been a more mature teenager myself, she felt so real and relatable. I also loved the relationship between her and Jake. It was such a great father-daughter relationship and made Jake even more swoony (as Holley pointed out). I can't say how much I loved this book. It really hit the contemporary feeling I was looking for, but brought the rom-com elements that I feel are hard to hit, especially with a lot of the newer releases.

I'm so happy to finally read a Max Monroe book. They've been on my tbr for a while now and why did I not read them earlier? This series is definitely added to my tbr and I'm going to continue this series and get to Max Monroe's backlist for sure. I know that humor is subjective and I'm a little easier to make laugh than others, but this book really had me laughing and chuckling so many times. The romance was so nice too. I also liked the way the bachelor-esque feel happened without feeling as weird as the show does. I also loved Holley's dad. There's so much I love about this book! I could keep talking about the things I loved, but we should probably just end it here.

Have you read Single Dad Seeks Juliet?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Single Dad Seeks Juliet, Max Monroe, 5-stars, 1 day, eBook, 330 pages, published in 2020