Christine Miles (2)

I admit - when I first saw the title I was a little hesitant, but the cover drew me in, the blurb intrigued me, and the story blew me away. I haven't read the first book in the series, but I didn't feel lost while reading this, it works pretty well as a standalone. Honestly, I loved getting to know Tanith and Luke, they're great characters, and clearly perfect for each other! Miles did an excellent job of keeping me engaged in the story, and keeping everything moving along smoothly. I found myself smiling and giggling a few times while reading this, it really embodies the RomCom tag. Of course, there's tension and speed bumps along the way, but I won't give any spoilers. If you enjoy romances that will leave you feeling good, with characters that you'd love to spend the day with, then you'll want to grab this!… (més)

Passion Under the Microscope by Christina Miles
Smart is Seriously Sexy series #2. Romantic comedy. Can be read as a stand-alone but the couple from the first book are secondary characters in this story. STEM.
Tanith Kerrigan is a high school biology teacher. When she tries to get a photo of a two birds, in a naughty moment for some levity in her next class, she trips instead and ends up with a sprained ankle. A friend calls Dr Luke Caldwell to help and he and Tanith are finally talking. He’s been interested in Tanith for months, but she didn’t seem to reciprocate. Now he’s helping to paint her house and their time together has them opening up and sharing pieces of their lives.

“Laughter is the best medicine” is a famous line that is used in this story. I agree with this wholeheartedly. And I personally love laughter in my reading and especially in a romance. Lots of grins and smiles and laughter in this story from both the hero and heroine. Luke is a self professed “quipster” and it’s kind of adorable. There is added depth as they get to know each other and daily life intrudes but their established banter and openness remains.
Love, laughter and swooning characters. What’s not to love?
4.5

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.… (més)

Off-the-Charts Chemistry by Christine Miles
Smart is Seriously Sexy #1

Romance is in the stars for the brainy chemistry teacher and new head football coach at Brigid Vista High School.

What I liked:
* Stacey: high school chemistry teacher, bright, believes chemistry is important for and used by all, unlucky in love, has good friends, hates football, rather taken with Reece Caldwell
* Reece: divorced, had to quit playing football after an injury, father a famous college football coach, believes in teamwork, others in his department want him gone, rather taken with Stacey
* Connie: principal, sister of Reece’s ex-wife, supports her teachers, believes in education first
* Stacey’s friends that will probably get books of their own
* That both main characters had supportive loving families, common goals, respect for one another, communicated maturely, and seemed perfect together
* The issue of bullying and how it was handled
* It was an easy somewhat predictable story with a message and no real drama

What I didn’t like
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about the damage bullying, lies, etc can have on youth

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? I think so

Thank you to NetGalley and Sealed with a Swoon for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars… (més)

I really loved this book. It's the first one I've read by Christine Miles but after getting through the first two chapters, I took a pause and went to get the other three books in this series. I didn't feel as if I was missing anything by jumping into this fourth book in the series, so I think anyone else would be fine if they were reading it as a standalone as I did. I'm actually surprised that I hadn't come across Christine Miles before as her tone of writing is right up my alley! I'm always a sucker for romantic suspense.

There were a lot of ways I felt like I related to Felicity and I really loved her character. She is independent and not really into the dating scene, just fine with living on her own and loving her dog. Plus, she is a wedding planner, which I used to think about as a kid all the time! But Felicity took a lot of pride in her work and really cared about what she was doing, even when the bridezillas or demanding families were driving her crazy. And Felicity is clearly very good at her job and it's why she's so successful. But with that job comes some threatening notes.

Enter Ian! As a detective, he sees a lot of gruesome and terrible things. So he could really use some sunshine in his life. And I just knew it was going to be Felicity. The sparks between them were electric, mostly in anger and agitation at the beginning. But that quickly changed. I loved the way being with one another evolved the characters. There was a definite pull between them that neither of them could continue denying.

I was also pretty sure I knew who the culprit of it all was. And then thought it might be someone else. So the author really takes you on an adventure trying to figure out who is sending these threatening notes to Felicity and why. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I'm excited to go back and read the other three in the series and for what Christine Miles has coming next! I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.… (més)