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sarah_oliver's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute delight!
Oh, I had forgotten what fun 'Evie and Kelly's Holiday Disasters' were. I love this series so much. The group chat between the friends made while stranded at the airport is priceless, but the shenanigans going on in the lives of Jonathan and Tristan is hilarious, frustrating and magical. I particularly loved Jonathan's second chance romance. His 'fiancée', Tanya, is so over the top and outrageous, I couldn't imagine what was going to happen next, and his connection and chemistry with the bold and gorgeous Juliet was breath-taking and swoon-worthy. We then get Tristan's lovely HEA, but the journey was nerve-wracking and oh so cringe-worthy - thank goodness for a large dose of witty banter and tantalising steam. Great fun!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Oh, I had forgotten what fun 'Evie and Kelly's Holiday Disasters' were. I love this series so much. The group chat between the friends made while stranded at the airport is priceless, but the shenanigans going on in the lives of Jonathan and Tristan is hilarious, frustrating and magical. I particularly loved Jonathan's second chance romance. His 'fiancée', Tanya, is so over the top and outrageous, I couldn't imagine what was going to happen next, and his connection and chemistry with the bold and gorgeous Juliet was breath-taking and swoon-worthy. We then get Tristan's lovely HEA, but the journey was nerve-wracking and oh so cringe-worthy - thank goodness for a large dose of witty banter and tantalising steam. Great fun!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
retrogirlreads's review against another edition
5.0
“Cookout Carnage” is the second book in volume one of Evie and Kelly’s Holiday Disasters, and it was just as hilariously perfect as the first one! The first story in this book features Jonathan and Juliet, who are high school sweethearts who find their way back to each other amidst a whole lot of chaos. The second story features Tristan and Sherilyn, work colleagues who fall in love despite all the barriers between them. I really enjoyed both of these stories, I thought the romance was sweet and the steamy scenes were perfection. There were so many laugh out loud moments, and I loved the text banter between the six friends. I highly recommend!!!
mycatismybookmark's review against another edition
4.0
Up in Smoke by Kelly Kay featuring Jonathan and Off with a Bang Evie Alexander featuring Tristan from our handful of random strangers that became fast friends while stranded at the airport.
Fun, zany, sweet and steamy short stories that are a blast to read. The off the wall situations these characters find themselves in are laugh-out-loud hilarious, and the heat is steamy goodness.
Up next: Christmas Chaos, coming November 18th featuring Rory and Zoe from Evie Alexander's Kinloch series (I'm so excited!!!) and Tabi and Bax from Kelly Kay's Five Families Vineyard series (I need to move this up my TBR list).
Fun, zany, sweet and steamy short stories that are a blast to read. The off the wall situations these characters find themselves in are laugh-out-loud hilarious, and the heat is steamy goodness.
Up next: Christmas Chaos, coming November 18th featuring Rory and Zoe from Evie Alexander's Kinloch series (I'm so excited!!!) and Tabi and Bax from Kelly Kay's Five Families Vineyard series (I need to move this up my TBR list).
mssarahbni's review against another edition
4.0
I received this as an arc from one of the authors and I’m voluntarily leaving my honest review.
This was two very different rom coms with a overlapping set of characters. I loved “Off with a Bang”. It had a great and funny storyline and I loved Tristan and Sherilyn. They had such great banter going on and I couldn’t get enough of them. Unfortunately I didn’t feel the same way about “Up in Smoke”. The story was a bit all over the place and I didn’t connect with the characters. I’m probably just more into Evie’s style of writing.
This was two very different rom coms with a overlapping set of characters. I loved “Off with a Bang”. It had a great and funny storyline and I loved Tristan and Sherilyn. They had such great banter going on and I couldn’t get enough of them. Unfortunately I didn’t feel the same way about “Up in Smoke”. The story was a bit all over the place and I didn’t connect with the characters. I’m probably just more into Evie’s style of writing.
donnareadathon2021's review against another edition
4.0
The story
Six strangers meet at the Chicago airport in February. There is a power failure and the airport goes into lockdown. The six - three Americans and three British - become firm friends with a running group chat. In this story we hear Kelly Kay’s story of Jonathan, a Kentucky farmer and his fiancé Tanya and true love Julia. Evie Alexander’s Tristan (based in London) meets his colleague Sherilyn (based in Chicago) through plenty of virtual calls and instant messages. When he takes a chance and comes to visit her at Valentine’s Day, she goes into hiding. Now Tristan is back for Jonathan’s wedding in a neighbouring town to her hometown. It’s a 4th of July to celebrate!
My thoughts
After reading a few of both authors’ stories I can appreciate just how well matched their styles are. Both write warm, caring characters and their stories don’t hold back on the steam. I really enjoyed hearing Jonathan and Tristan’s stories and joining in their finding their happily-ever-afters. Both are the sweetest characters, who aren’t afraid to show their true feelings. The two stories are busy, slightly chaotic but so entertaining!
I read an eARC copy courtesy of the authors.
Six strangers meet at the Chicago airport in February. There is a power failure and the airport goes into lockdown. The six - three Americans and three British - become firm friends with a running group chat. In this story we hear Kelly Kay’s story of Jonathan, a Kentucky farmer and his fiancé Tanya and true love Julia. Evie Alexander’s Tristan (based in London) meets his colleague Sherilyn (based in Chicago) through plenty of virtual calls and instant messages. When he takes a chance and comes to visit her at Valentine’s Day, she goes into hiding. Now Tristan is back for Jonathan’s wedding in a neighbouring town to her hometown. It’s a 4th of July to celebrate!
My thoughts
After reading a few of both authors’ stories I can appreciate just how well matched their styles are. Both write warm, caring characters and their stories don’t hold back on the steam. I really enjoyed hearing Jonathan and Tristan’s stories and joining in their finding their happily-ever-afters. Both are the sweetest characters, who aren’t afraid to show their true feelings. The two stories are busy, slightly chaotic but so entertaining!
I read an eARC copy courtesy of the authors.
cacruse2012's review against another edition
3.0
Kelly and Evie know what they are doing when it comes to writing a book. This book consists of two novellas that can be read as standalones. Both stories start out with how they all met at an airport and bonded over wine. Kelly and Evie are great about opening both stories with this scene because if you haven’t read book one you still know how all these characters know one another.
The first novella Up in Smoke follows Jonathan and his not wedding. In this novella we read about Jonathan and how he realizes he is still in love with a woman who is not his fiancé. The whole time you are laughing because of all the crazy shenanigans that are taking place.
The second novella Off with a Bang follows Tristian and how he is in love with a girl he hasn’t met. I personally loved this one because both of them have so many insecurities that they don’t want the other to know about so they don’t tell the whole truth. The hoops that Sherilyn jumps through to keep Tristan from finding out who she really is will keep you on your toes.
I personally enjoyed both stories I just wish we got a little more, I don’t feel like we got to completely enjoy the characters as a whole. I love that the whole time they are back and forth texting in a group chat everyone from the airport because then you get to see into their lives as well. This is the perfect read for Fourth of July.
I received an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.
The first novella Up in Smoke follows Jonathan and his not wedding. In this novella we read about Jonathan and how he realizes he is still in love with a woman who is not his fiancé. The whole time you are laughing because of all the crazy shenanigans that are taking place.
The second novella Off with a Bang follows Tristian and how he is in love with a girl he hasn’t met. I personally loved this one because both of them have so many insecurities that they don’t want the other to know about so they don’t tell the whole truth. The hoops that Sherilyn jumps through to keep Tristan from finding out who she really is will keep you on your toes.
I personally enjoyed both stories I just wish we got a little more, I don’t feel like we got to completely enjoy the characters as a whole. I love that the whole time they are back and forth texting in a group chat everyone from the airport because then you get to see into their lives as well. This is the perfect read for Fourth of July.
I received an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.
sassy_kass's review
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! It was the perfect comfort read to start off summer reading. I enjoyed the mix of romance, spice, and humor that came to life in this book. I became very enamored with both stories as well as the characters. I haven’t read the first book in this series but I will be picking it up very soon after reading this one. I did enjoy that it was easy to follow even though I had not read the first book of the stories. I always enjoy series and I am really looking forward to more of these stories. They are fun and lighthearted without being cheesy or cliché and I enjoyed Cookout Carnage thoroughly! I received an ARC and this is my unbiased & honest review.
gsnorto's review
4.0
I was legit wheezing reading during some of wedding storylines sooo funny like the first. I liked J&J much more than Tris & S surprisingly though.
amgibson2's review against another edition
4.0
Cookout Carnage includes two novellas. In Off with a Bang, we see Johnathan, a vegetarian farmer, break up with his fiancé and reconnect with his first love, Juliet. Up in Smoke follows Tristan and Sherilyn, co-workers who live in two different countries and fall in love through emails, texts, and video conferencing. Both stories are a bit over the top, but they are definitely entertaining. I wish I would have read Cupid Calamity first to get a better understanding of how the airport friendships started. The texts among the group of airport friends were an enjoyable addition.
lisaluvsliterature's review against another edition
5.0
I loved the first two stories in this series, Cupid Calamity, that were set at Valentine’s Day so I couldn’t wait to see what kind of crazy shenanigans these authors would bring about for the 4th of July. Once again there were two stories, both hilarious as can be!
First was Up in Smoke by Kelly Kay. This story had some of the best moments with the pig who was an escape artist and in love with a pig on a neighbor’s farm. Not to mention the bride-to-be that Jonathan was planning to end his engagement to, yet she wouldn’t take his “no” for an answer and kept on with the plans in some of the most hilarious ways! I mean, she wasn’t a good person, so I didn’t feel bad at all for her. I mean she was cheating on Jonathan, even up to the day of the wedding at the church! And she really just wanted the money she was going to get from her father when the two married and she could sign Jonathan’s farm over to him. So many scenes in this had me laughing out loud, and there was one that had me gasping, with the minister in the church!
Second was Off With a Bang by Evie Alexander, and oh my gosh this book took me on a bit of an emotion roller coaster from the very beginning! It started off a little sad, but then I was rolling with laughter as I read this one in bed before trying to go to sleep. First of all, I LOVED the banter/chat/text messages between Tristan and Sherilyn. The fun of them is what got me sad at one point, but then had me rolling with laughter later. The different terms used by British and Americans were some of the funniest parts. Tristan’s punny jokes also were my weakness. I love a guy who can give good pun! His “ex-girlfriend” the geologist was my favorite.
There was one text exchange between Tristan the rest of our “main” characters of this series from the airport layover that really got me giggling. It was when he asked Jonathan, who lived in Kentucky where Sherilyn was from, if he knew of the town where she was from. Tabi then asked him since he was from the UK if he knew Prince Harry. I mean, yeah, knowing one person in a state might be crazy to ask, but just knowing the name of a city? lol. Tabi was so funny.
And that leads into the third part that is woven through both of these stories, and the first two, and that is all the text conversations between these six people from that fateful night stuck in an airport together. Of course I adore Rory from one of the author’s own book series. He’s hilarious and grumpy. And they all are so funny and perfect bantering in these text group things. It was also fun when Tristan was helping Jonathan with his whole wedding cancelling debacle in the first story too.
If you like a funny, yet steamy, rom-com, with British characters as well as Americans too, you need to check out this series! I’m now anxiously awaiting the third set of stories!
Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.
First was Up in Smoke by Kelly Kay. This story had some of the best moments with the pig who was an escape artist and in love with a pig on a neighbor’s farm. Not to mention the bride-to-be that Jonathan was planning to end his engagement to, yet she wouldn’t take his “no” for an answer and kept on with the plans in some of the most hilarious ways! I mean, she wasn’t a good person, so I didn’t feel bad at all for her. I mean she was cheating on Jonathan, even up to the day of the wedding at the church! And she really just wanted the money she was going to get from her father when the two married and she could sign Jonathan’s farm over to him. So many scenes in this had me laughing out loud, and there was one that had me gasping, with the minister in the church!
Second was Off With a Bang by Evie Alexander, and oh my gosh this book took me on a bit of an emotion roller coaster from the very beginning! It started off a little sad, but then I was rolling with laughter as I read this one in bed before trying to go to sleep. First of all, I LOVED the banter/chat/text messages between Tristan and Sherilyn. The fun of them is what got me sad at one point, but then had me rolling with laughter later. The different terms used by British and Americans were some of the funniest parts. Tristan’s punny jokes also were my weakness. I love a guy who can give good pun! His “ex-girlfriend” the geologist was my favorite.
There was one text exchange between Tristan the rest of our “main” characters of this series from the airport layover that really got me giggling. It was when he asked Jonathan, who lived in Kentucky where Sherilyn was from, if he knew of the town where she was from. Tabi then asked him since he was from the UK if he knew Prince Harry. I mean, yeah, knowing one person in a state might be crazy to ask, but just knowing the name of a city? lol. Tabi was so funny.
And that leads into the third part that is woven through both of these stories, and the first two, and that is all the text conversations between these six people from that fateful night stuck in an airport together. Of course I adore Rory from one of the author’s own book series. He’s hilarious and grumpy. And they all are so funny and perfect bantering in these text group things. It was also fun when Tristan was helping Jonathan with his whole wedding cancelling debacle in the first story too.
If you like a funny, yet steamy, rom-com, with British characters as well as Americans too, you need to check out this series! I’m now anxiously awaiting the third set of stories!
Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.