books_with_frankie's reviews
39 reviews

Frisco by Tijan

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️

Tijan is one of my comfort authors so no matter what book she writes I will be reading and most likely will enjoy. Frisco is another one for that list. 

Shane King was not a good guy. He went by the name Ghost with his motorcycle club for a reason. When him and his club arrive in Kali’s town, they owed her a favour for reasons she didn’t know. Kali knew Shane from a past life and seeing him again brought back feelings she didn’t know existed. What happens when Shane has to pick between her and the club? Can he be both a villain and a hero?

This story had such a fun yet dark plot involving motorcycle clubs, the cartel and of course romances. I loved Shane and Kali as individually they were both so strong and loyal but strengthened each other when together. I loved witnessing Shane soften for only her but be tough and ruthless with everyone else 

But… and it pains me that there is a but, there were just so many side characters I literally could not keep up with who is who and what role they played to the point I kinda just merged them together as a few key characters. It took away from the book as I was constantly trying to remember who they were. 

Overall, I really did enjoy the story and as always I love revisiting towns and characters from previous books/series. It didn’t end in any cliffhangers but there are a few unanswered questions, future books in this world maybe? I will forever recommend Tijan to anyone and everyone as she was an author who made me fall in love with reading.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Tropes include: 

• Brother’s Best Friend
• Motorcycle Club
• Anti Hero
• Protective MMC
• Touch her & die

The Plays We Fake by Brooke O'Brien

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

4/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️

My first advance listening copy and first Brooke O’Brien book and I thoroughly enjoyed both! This is the second book in the Braysen U series but could be read as a standalone (like what I’ve done!)

The Plays we Fake follows Hayes Carver, a god on and off the football field. Everything changes for him after a game that destroys his image where he can't seem to escape the constant scrutiny. When his limits are tested, he turns to Everly for a way out, to play along as his fake girlfriend. The rules are set in stone but what happens when things no longer begin to feel 

I loved listening to the audio for this book! It was so easy to listen/read along and the narrators, Stefanie Kay and Lee Samuels were great! The story itself was fun and lighthearted. Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes and Brooke wrote a great addition to it. Hayes and Everly from the get go had a spark and listening to that connection grow was so good!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and definitely will go back and read the first/continue with this series! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes Include:
* Fake Dating
* College Football
* Opposites Attract
* A cinnamon roll hero with a bad reputation
* A virgin spicy romance reader/aspiring author heroine.

Thank you Brooke and The Author Agency for picking me to receive this ALC!🫶🏼

Bright Lights and Summer Nights by Kat Singleton

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

5/5⭐️ 3/5🌶️

I don’t even know where to begin with this book review and kinda sad this is the last book in the series. I have loved Emma since Black Ties & White Lies and was so excited for her to get a happy ending. And Miss Kat Singleton, you saved the best for last! 

Emma is escaping her messy life by spending the summer in the Hamptons to find herself and what she wants from life. What she didn’t expect was to meet Preston Rhodes, a stranger at a party she was gate crashing. Preston isn’t just handsome but he’s also a billionaire and quarterback to the Manhattan Mambas, who just so happens to introduce Emma as his girlfriend. Now Emma is pretending to be Preston’s girlfriend from the week for his sister’s wedding. Although, they’re not very good at pretending and instead of finding herself, Emma is thinking about Preston.

This is hands down my favourite from the series and exceeded so many expectations! I’ve never not loved a MMC with the surname Rhodes and Preston joined that list from the moment we met him. This book literally had me laughing out loud, blushing and needing more to the point it was 2 am without me realising! 

Emma truly is the a character you would want as your best friend and I’m jealous she isn’t mine! She’s so funny, carefree but also has a sense of vulnerability. The way her and Preston instantly had a connection through their banter was so good to read and kept me hooked the whole way through!

Overall, this is series is easily one of my favourite billionaire romances and I’m so sad it’s come to an end. Kat Singleton will forever be one of my favourite authors and I think this is her best book yet! Can’t wait to see what’s next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes include:

• Billionaire Romance 
• Fake Dating
• Age Gap - 12 Years
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• Pro Athlete MMC

Crimson River by Devney Perry

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Jasper Vale by Devney Perry

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Garnet Flats by Devney Perry

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️

Unpopular opinion, but I loveeee a second chance romance. I always love reading the backstory of the relationship and how they break up and then them coming together. And this was no different, but I had to knock it a point and I’ll explain. 

Garnet Flats follows Talia, Quincy’s resident doctor and all round town sweetheart. She’s finishing up her shift at the hospital when non-other than Foster Madden, middleweight Champion, and Talia’s ex from 7 years ago walks in. Managing to avoid him at the hospital, she was shocked to see him at her front door where he tells her he’s no longer married (TO HER EX BEST FRIEND) and he wants a second chance. What happens when Foster explains what happened 7 years ago? 

Now I know what you’re thinking, girlie he married your best friend, and believe me I was the same. Like if this was real I’d be running around with a red flag in my hand. BUT it’s fiction and we’re all colourblind when it comes to books. And Foster Madden is the definition of yummy, I’m sorry!! The reason for the lack of the last star is simply I wish this was a slow burn with lots of grovelling! We had a good 25% before she gave in to the temptation. Can’t blame her to be honest.

We’re onto the next and I’m so excited as the plotting of Jasper Vale has me so excited!! I hope Lyla is okay though! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes include: 

• Second Chance
• Small Town Romance
• Secrets!
• Grovelling
• Athlete MMC

Juniper Hill by Devney Perry

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

4/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️

Second book in the series, and I’m still loving it! This one didn’t have as much suspense as you we didn’t have a murder but there was still secrets and I still ate it up! 

Juniper Hill is where Knox Eden lives. It’s his sanctuary, his quiet place away from the gossiping small town of Quincy. But that’s disturbed when the new housekeeper of his family’s hotel moves into the apartment of his garage, which her screaming new born. Memphis and her baby boy, Drake, have moved to Quincy for a fresh start but little did she know she was now neighbours with the grumpy chef she’ll be seeing everyday. What happens when Memphis needs support from Knox? 

Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book but something about the first book made this not on par with it. I loved the single parent trope aspect of this book and the secrets surrounding why Memphis needed a fresh start. Grumpy Knox turn caring Knox was incredible and honestly made the book 10 times better. Not many men would be willing to let strangers live with him AND step up when needed. 

Overall, I’m in love with this series and shall be binging the rest until I no longer have an Eden sibling story to read. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes include:

• Single Parent
• Small Town Romance
• Secrets
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• No Third Act Breakup

Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

5/5⭐️ 2/5🌶️

So I went into this book with high expectations after a friend (Dione) suggested it when I let her pick my next read. I just want to say a massive thank you to her because I loved it!! 

The book follows Winnie, the new Chief of Police in small town Quincy, Montana. Winnie is new to Quincy and let’s just say the welcome committee was extra friendly when she has a one night stand with a tourist. Although, Griffin turns out to be an Eden. Very much not a tourist but a member of Quincy’s founding family and a local. When a body is found on Griffin’s ranch at the bottom of Indigo Ridge, Winnie and Griffin begin to spend time together trying to solve the mystery of what really happened. What happens when they begin to spend more time together?

I loved this book so much! So much more than I thought I would! It’s a romance but it also had the perfect amount of mystery in it! It allowed me to gush over Winnie and Griffin and their budding romance but also kept me so enthralled on what really happened to Lily Green! 

Devney Perry, this series is about to consume my life (as I’m writing this review I’m on book 4) and I’m not mad about it one bit. I can’t wait to see what happens to each Eden sibling!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes include: 

• Small Town Romance
• Romantic Suspense
• Grumpy x Sunshine
• “Only one night”
• Badass FMC x Protective Cowboy

Never Have I Ever by Stephanie Alves

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.5/5⭐️ 3/5🌶️

This was a cute story and the second half of the book was much better than the first for me. I really wanted to enjoy it a lot more but I think the tropes to begin with aren’t my favourite. 

Never have I ever, a well known drinking game that gets you drunk fast. Unless you’re Rosie, who finds herself not drinking to a single question. Rosie realises she has missed out on all things teenagers her age should have experienced by that point in life. So she takes it upon herself to ask campus bad boy, Grayson to be her “life coach”. To show her what she’s missed out on. Grayson agrees but has 1 rule, he will do go through her bucket list apart from anything sexual. They are just friends. But for how long? 

The concept of this book intrigued me and I thought the “lessons” were fun to read. I kinda felt like I was learning along with Rosie. 

However, I hate myself for saying this, I thought this book was beyond unrealistic at the beginning that it set the tone of my reading as a let down. The girl didn’t speak a word to this boy, and then magically turned up at his door as if that’s normal. Like how did she know where he lived? I don’t know, maybe I’m being picky but it was weird. 

I did enjoy the book regardless and I think I’ll like the second book a lot more so we’ll carry on with the series. It just didn’t quite click with me as I had hoped. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Tropes included: 

• Friends to Lovers
• Spice/Life Lessons 
• Bad Boy x Good Girl
• She fell first, he fell harder
• He buys her flowers 🥹

Wild Love by Elsie Silver

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5/5⭐️ 3/5🌶️

Hands down this is my favourite Elsie Silver book. It made me laugh like no book has ever made me laugh and I need more. Either more from this book or more from the next, like yesterday please.

Wild Love follows Ford Grant Junior, nepo baby and world’s hottest billionaire according to Forbes Magazine. One day, a 12 year old child turns up at his door claiming he was her dad and she needed to stay with him until her mum got better. And as any responsible Elsie Silver man, he takes her in and gives her the temporary home she needs. But he can’t do it alone. In walks in, Rosie Belmont, sister to Ford’s best friend and the girl he’s always wanted but can’t have. What happens when unspoken feelings begin to surface?

I can’t not describe how much I loved this book! The witty and sarcastic humour that poured out of this book was incredible, like every character was funny in their own kind of way. But mostly the sweet sentiments that Ford did out did this book for me. He’d do things that he didn’t even realise he’d be doing and like Rosie, we all fell hard for this man. 

I’m really excited about this series and it’s definitely made me want to finish off the Chestnut Springs series and read some of her other books!

 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes include: 

• Single Dad
• Frenemies to Lovers
• Brother’s Best Friend
• Small Town Romance
• Secret Pining - He Falls First 
• Billionaire Hero