Love and Other Secrets by Christina Mandelski

Alex Koviak or as his lacrosse buddies call him "Kov" appears to have everything. He is popular, rich, but he has no idea what he wants to do with his life once he graduates high school. He never thought he would met his challenge at the express check out lane at Publix. Bailey pushes him to be a better man. Challenges him at every turn. But no one knows they are friends. She visits his house after work to watch movies and eat dinner together. It is the best part of his entire day. But at school, he is the popular super jock and she is the nerdy A/V girl who is trying to win a film scholarship to NYU. 

Bailey enjoys her little moments with Alex even if he has an overly inflated ego that Bailey enjoys deflating. Bailey is a planner. She has a goals board with the next five years of her life planned out. She encourages Alex to make plans for his future even when he is sabotaging himself by throwing large parties at his house for his parents' attention.  His parents love Bailey since she is such a positive influence on their son. Bailey is uncomfortable around them and Alex's lifestyle since their family lives in a McMansion complete with a ballroom and a room filled with formal dresses from Alex's grandmother. 

Their relationship is put to the test when Bailey asks Alex for help with a promposal for her film documentary about Prom traditions. She wants Alex's help since he is constantly being promposed to in very elaborate ways. Ironically, Alex has never needed nor wanted to prompose ...until this year. He had planned out how he was going to ask Bailey to the prom. But not in an elaborate promposal way since that is not something Bailey would want. But yet she is asking him to help her do just that for Tex--another lacrosse player. Is she asking him for the film documentary or for a long term boyfriend? Alex has a reputation for being a player. Bailey doesn't deserve someone like that which is why Alex is re-thinking everything about his life. 

How can Alex help plan her promposal while also sabotaging it? Can he really sabotage Bailey's dream? If she follows through with the promposal where does that leave him? 

A Thousand Letters Staci Hart

A Thousand Letters  is one of my re-read novels. I realized a week or so ago that I haven't left reviews for the novels that I actually bought! I felt that is a HUGE disservice to the authors. In between my ARC reviews I'm going back to re-read the novels that I've bought. I'm starting my my re-read list. Perhaps in another post I'll give my entire re-read listing. It is a bit long. But my all time favs!! I continue to go back to them over and over. 

Staci Hart is slowly becoming one of my favorite contemporary romance authors--I own two of her novels with two more in my wish list on Amazon. This novel sealed the deal for me. I will automatically add a Staci Hart novel after reading this novel. Ok, onto the actual review of this fabulous novel. Like I said this is one of my all time favs. 

Elliot has been in love with her best friend Sofie's older brother Wade since high school. They were high school sweethearts. Sofie and Wade's family was Elliot's salvation from her own self serving father and sisters. Elliot has always been a people pleaser and peacemaker--some might say a bit of a wallflower. She blends into the background and sacrifices for those that she loves. She had to make the hardest sacrifice her senior year of high school. Wade had enlisted in the Army. Their plan was that he would go to BASIC training and get situated in his first duty station and come back for her after her high school graduation. They would get married and run off into the military sunset together. 

Wade was scared. He thought that Elliot would forget him or worse that Wade would be killed while deployed in Iraq. He wanted to ensure that Elliot would always be taken care of. He asked Elliot to come with him--now instead of waiting until her graduation. Elliot's father and Wade made Elliot decide between her family and her heart. 

Seven years later, Wade has returned. His father had a stroke and was has cancer. He only has weeks to live. Wade comes home to take care of his younger siblings, Sofia and Sadie. Sadie is a senior in high school. Rick, Wade's father is Elliot's mentor. He encouraged Elliot to get her literature degree and to write. Only Elliot is a nanny for her older sister and doesn't publish any of her poetry. When Wade sees Elliot all of his buried feelings surface--anger, love, empathy--all he can think about is holding her again. His pride gets in the way. He's still hurt. Sofie and Sadie need him so he will need to find a way to be around Elliot. Even when Elliot reads his father poetry and soothes his younger sister. The more he's around her the more the ice is melting around his heart. The more he understands why she made the decision she did. 

But can Elliot finally get completely through to Wade or will he continue to hurt her? Will Elliot finally be able to stand up for herself or allow her family to railroad her?  

Author Website: https://www.stacihartnovels.com/a-thousand-letters/

Wrath Emily Blythe

Wrath

Emily Blythe

Seven Vices Series

Chloe Walker has lived in Falcon her entire life. She still lives with her father and works at his coffee shop cafe. The cafe is her life. She never dreamed of doing anything else. Someday running this cafe with her father has always been her dream. Until her father had a heart attack and died. Now her high school ex-boyfriend Harvey wants to buy the cafe to tear it down in order to build a bowling alley. The town busy-bodies have also made numerous comments that Chloe should just sell it since she isn't management material or knows how to run the business. Chloe ignores those remarks as hurtful as they are. She is going to continue to run the cafe as her father Rob did. At least that was the plan until the accountant told her that her father was in the red and had been talking to an investor. An investor, she hates--her high school crush and former best friend Will Lewin. 

Will returned to town to pay his respects to his mentor and only father figure he had growing up. His mother brought a slew of men in and out of their house--but none of them cared about him or his brothers. His mother always put her boyfriends before her boys. Rob took Will under his wing even after Will's stepdad ran off with Rob's wife. The last few years, Rob has called Will to talk. The last few conversations they discussed Will investing in the cafe. But now that Rob is gone will he still invest in the cafe? Investing means working closely with Chloe--the only girl he ever cared about and the only girl to shatter his heart.