by: Karen Booth
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Comedy
Release Date: May 21, 2024
Publisher: Afterglow Books by Harlequin
In this deliciously tender, steamy romance, a burned-out musician swaps city life for cottage country only to find that slowing down means a racing heart, thanks to the grumpy guy next door…
When Willow Moore’s lifelong dream of music stardom goes bust, she’s burned out enough to need drastic change. As in, she’s trading her Brooklyn apartment for two months in the Connecticut countryside. Soon she’s baking bread, spending Saturdays at the farmer’s market and stopping to smell the roses, but some things in her new #cottagecore life aren’t so pleasant. Like her landlord, former chef Reid Harrell. As grouchy and reserved as Willow is chatty and outgoing, Reid is an annoyingly sexy keep-out sign. If only Willow was good at staying away.
Something about Reid, a sliver of pain poking through that flinty facade, makes her wonder if they’re more alike than she thought. Reid once chased success, too, and found it—at a price. Now all he wants is to be left alone to garden, but Willow's not giving up so quick, especially when one of their heated arguments sparks an idea for a song. Her renewed creativity awakens them both, hurling them into a passionate vortex neither expects.
As the summer winds down, Willow is forced to confront her needs, wants and desires, not to mention Reid, the hardest puzzle of all to figure out. Maybe it’s time for the city girl to stop dwelling on dreams dashed and start following her heart—no matter where it might take her…
Swap and Smell the Roses is classic Karen but better. I know that’s hard to believe. The story is longer than her Harlequin Desire books. There is just a little more heat and possibly intensity, and a lot of funny moments. Whereas the Desire line tended to be serious or drama-filled. And the character development seems to be deeper.
I love me a Karen Booth hero. Reid Harrell is unlike any Karen Booth hero I can remember. He’s grumpy and has himself in self-imposed isolation. I love him so much. Reid’s trying to punish himself for working too hard to be the best chef around. He feels bad that while he was chasing his dream of being the best and burning himself out, he didn’t know his father was sick and only had a few weeks left to live. Reid has left his chef career behind and is now back in his hometown of Old Ashby, Connecticut, living a slower, simpler life growing produce. He does however, work overtime to not be friendly or converse with the residents in town. His solitude comes to an end when Bailey Briggs, who rents the cottage on his family’s property decides to swap cities and living arrangements with her best friend Willow Moore for two months to attend a coveted screenwriting class in New York.
Willow is Reid’s opposite in every way. She’s friendly, outgoing, and loves to talk. She has this deep need to have people like her. Her whole life, she’s dreamed of being a singer and songwriter. Unfortunately, things aren’t working out for her and she’s about ready to let her dreams go. While Bailey takes her tiny apartment in Brooklyn, Willow moves into her small cottage in what seems to be the middle of nowhere, Connecticut. Willow knew Bailey’s new landlord was grumpy, she just didn’t realize how grumpy he was and she never imagined that he would be so hot.
Willow and Reid’s first meeting isn’t all that great and things really don’t get any better. When Willow accidentally floods the cottage, they’re forced to live together and things really heat up and start to change.
I loved Reid and Willow. Okay, honestly, Willow’s pushiness got on my nerves a little bit. But she meant well. I loved that these two were able to let their walls down and get to truly know each other, care about each other, and become friends/lovers. Swap and Smell the Roses was so much more than just about the romance. It’s about friendship, discovering yourself, giving yourself grace, being open to love, and more importantly, finding where you belong.
The story strongly hints and implies, who the next book will be about. I’m looking forward to seeing how Karen brings these two together and exactly what the circumstances and fallout are going to be.
~ Favorite Quotes ~
“We all need help sometime.”
“Sometimes you just have to jump in headfirst and figure out the rest later.”
“The people we love don’t ever really leave us.”
“We all need a break sometimes.”
**Received a copy of the author and voluntarily reviewed it.**
Rating: 5
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When she’s not creating hunky fictional men and the women who test them, she’s listening to everything from Otis Redding to Duran Duran to Superchunk with her college-age kids, honing her Southern cooking skills (she makes some mean collards), or sweet-talking her astoundingly supportive husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails.
Karen is co-founder of the 4500+ member Seasoned Romance Facebook group, devoted to the promotion of romance with characters 35+. She has been a finalist for RT Magazine’s Series Romance of the Year, RT Magazine’s Gold Seal of Excellence, the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award (NERFA), the Booksellers’ Best Award, and the Holt Medallion. Her books have been translated into seventeen languages.
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sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI was good. I love Karen's writing. She's one of my favorite authors.
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