Sophie Reads YA: Sarah Adams

ARC Review: The Rule Book (The Cheat Sheet #2) by Sarah Adams

11:00

The Rule Book
Series: The Cheat Sheet #2
Author: Sarah Adams
Published April 2nd 2024 by Dell/Headline Eternal

Goodreads Synopsis
College sweethearts meet again years later, in this highly anticipated romance and companion story to the viral TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.

Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it’s come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he’s holding a grudge.

Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved—she won’t quit easily.

Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship be the thing to save their careers?
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Nora Mackenzie's day goes from bad to worse when she realises that her first client as a sports agent just happens to be the one man she ever loved, and whose heart she broke all those years ago. Derek Pender may be one of the NFL's best tight ends, but his accident last season has left him worried about his future. Maybe a new agent would be good for him, but not the woman he planned on marrying. Nora convinces him to give her a chance, but he's not going to make it easy for her, no matter how much he still loves her.

I loved The Cheat Sheet when I read it a few months ago, and when I heard that there would be a companion novel released, I knew I needed to get a hold of a copy, so was buzzing when Headline approved my review copy. From the first chapter, I was hooked. Nora was a wonderful FMC, one of only two women working at her agency, in a very much male dominated world. She had worked her way to becoming an agent with grunt work, and was now given her first solo client. The fact it was her ex was just a minor stumbling block. She wanted to clear the air straight away, but Derek wasn't ready for that, and they created a "rule book" of what they wouldn't do. Obviously, these were all broken at some point in the book.

The action really picked up after Nora was sick of Derek's shit, and forced him to go to Vegas for a photo shoot, with a new endorsement deal in the cards. They grew closer on the set, and after a few drinks, found themselves married, with an Instagram post telling the world. Rather than denying it and ruining both their careers, they decide to make a go of it, using their connections to pretend to be happily married. But now the lines between fake and real start to blur, and Derek realises he wants to make a real go of it, and he wants to give Nora the engagement ring he's been hiding for all these years. The guys on the team were as great as they had been in The Cheat Sheet, and seeing Bree and Nathan so happy was great. Sarah is definitely an author on my auto-read list, and The Rule Book just cemented that!

Dates Read:
April 13, 2024

Rating
4 Stars

2023 New Release challenge

ARC Review: Practice Makes Perfect (When in Rome #2) by Sarah Adams

11:00

Practice Makes Perfect
Series: When in Rome #2
Author: Sarah Adams
Published May 9th 2023 by Headline Eternal

Goodreads Synopsis
How hard can it be to find the perfect match?

Florist Annie Walker is determined to find someone who complements her life. But after overhearing her latest date describe her as 'so unbelievably boring', Annie wonders if the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favourite romance movies? Maybe she only needs some practice . . . and Annie has the perfect tutor in mind.

Sexy and tattooed Will Griffin is temporarily back in Rome, Kentucky, providing security for pop-star Amelia Rose in the build-up to her wedding to Annie's brother. He also has his own agenda: stay away from Annie Walker and any attachments to this sleepy town, which becomes difficult when she enlists him to help fix her love life.

Amid steamy practice dates and strictly 'educational' tutoring lessons, the lines of their friendship blur and Annie reconsiders what her 'dream guy' might look like. Maybe her love life doesn't need to be perfect - it just needs to be real.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Annie Walker has always been the quiet sister, the one who everyone in town trusts, and has never stepped a foot out of line. However, her friends and family don't know how much she longs for romance, and when she overhears her bling date calling her boring, and trying to get himself out of the date, Annie knows she needs help. Who better to help her than Will Griffin, the tattooed bodyguard who Annie has had more than a few dreams about, and who is in town just for Amelia and Noah's wedding. Will would rather eat his arm than settle down, and he can't wait to escape Rome, Kentucky, for a new career in the big city. Definitely not someone who Annie could fall for, or who would find himself considering a quiet life with a beautiful florist, right?

I felt a sort of kinship with Annie during When in Rome, and that was definitely true in this book too. As the younger Walker sibling, she had always had her brother and sisters as her champions, and losing her parents so young, she barely remembers them. The entire town see her as angelic, someone who could never put a foot out of line, and that has been true for so long. She's someone who will never rock the boat, or really do anything for herself, if it may impact on others. She's even running the local flower shop, as her mother was a lover of flowers, though it's not even her dream really. Being on the date where everything goes wrong, and she needs to be somewhat rescued by Will, causes her to decide that enough is enough, and she needs to take a hold of her life, before it's too late. As someone who loves romance books so much, she should've seen the fact that she and Will were bound to fall for one another, but the process of it all was a hoot. Will was such a grump, though with Annie he bolstered her, and empowered her to take action, and grab what she wanted. The fact that he even read her romance books to understand her more, and see what she cared about, was perfection. The pair had some real heartfelt moments together, and their romance was as powerful as Noah and Amelia's! I hope there's more in this series, as I need the other Walker siblings to find their happiness too.

Dates Read:
August 22-23, 2023

Rating
4 Stars

2023 Beat the Backlist challenge

Review: When in Rome (When in Rome #1) by Sarah Adams

10:00

When in Rome
Series: When in Rome #1
Author: Sarah Adams
Published September 20th 2022 by Headline Eternal

Goodreads Synopsis
Rome is where the heart is.

Amelia Rose is burned-out from years of maintaining her public image as pop princess Rae Rose. Inspired by her favourite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is.

Running the pie shop his grandmother left him, Noah Walker is busy enough as it is. But after finding Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he decides to let her stay in his guest room - on a very temporary basis, of course.

As the two of them grow closer, Noah starts to see a new side to Amelia - kind-hearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. Amelia may have to go back to her other life someday, but for now she's perfectly happy falling in love with the cozy small town she's found herself in . . . and her grumpy tour guide isn't half-bad either.
Goodreads

Review
Pop sensation Rae Rose is burnt out. About to start her latest tour, Amelia Rose takes off for a break, and inspired by her hero, Audrey Hepburn, she heads for Rome, though the Rome that's in Kentucky, not Italy. Arriving in the dead of night, literally crashing into a garden, she has no choice but to accept the help of handsome bakery owner, Noah Walker. He knows exactly who she is, but is not impressed by the fame, and lets her stay - temporarily - until she fixes her car, and gets to go back to her glittering world. But being in Rome, with the townspeople who accept her as one of their own, and growing closer to Noah, Amelia starts to wonder whether her life is as good as it could be, and whether she wants to continue with her career after all.

Wow, this was fantastic! I'd heard about this book and author for a while, but it was only when I accidentally requested Practice Makes Perfect, and realised it was a sequel, that I got around to reading it. I loved Amelia! She was a phenomenal heroine, who had found fame quite young, and had lost her true self in a way. She was so used to being 'Rae Rose', and going from talk show, to red carpet, to concert, and so much more, than she never really had any time for herself, and she barely had a relationship with her mother anymore. When she snapped, she needed to escape, and Rome was the making of her! Meeting Noah, his sisters, and the rest of the town, helped her to see how she could be both Amelia, and Rae, and that her manager had had too much control over her life, for too long. Being off the grid, with no signal or internet connection, was so cathartic for her. Noah was a grumpy sweetheart, who had been burnt in love before, and had hardened himself too much. His sisters and grandmother were the most important people in his life, and he wasn't ready to let anyone else in, though Amelia quickly broke through his walls. I was so happy with how their romance progressed, as it was completely natural, and never felt forced at all. Sarah is definitely an author I'm adding to my auto-read list, and I'm so happy that Practice Makes Perfect will be Annie's story!

Dates Read:
August 22, 2023

Rating
4 Stars