Small Town Secrets. Katrina Jackson. 2018. 153 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I’m a sucker for small-town series, and Katrina Jackson has me completely sucked into Sea Port. I was first introduced to this quaint southern town in From Scratch. I fell further in love through Inheritance, and Small Town Secrets is another in a series of eyebrow-raising looks at the citizenry. Small Town Secrets further introduces Sully, the owner of the town’s coffee shop. For the past year, she’s pined after Bria, who works in the town’s new bakery. Surprise, surprise – Bria has eyes for Sully, too. Much of the story follows them getting to know each other; they have a cute courtship, mostly devoid of drama. As Bria and Sully get to know each other, Sully is struggling with her closest friendship. She and Willie, the town mayor, have been drifting apart for nearly a year, inexplicably. The truth is that Sully has her own secret obsession with Bria, and is harboring a secret that’s getting harder to keep to herself. Small Town Secrets captures the complexity of the relationships and politics of small-town life that Jackson has highlighted in her other books. I enjoyed this one because…

Inheritance. Katrina Jackson. 2018. 155 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] I already knew I was in for a treat with Inheritance, because From Scratch set the bar high. Jackson’s series featuring a lazy southern town looking to inject some new energy into its population. The newest arrival is a librarian, Lorraine, who will be at the helm of a newly reconstructed library. At nearly thirty, Jonah is Sea Port’s prodigal son. After his father’s sudden death, he reluctantly returned to town to settle his father’s affairs; but instead of just handling business and returning to his life in Atlanta, Jonah decided to stay and take over the construction company his father intended to run with his son. Lorraine and Jonah have an immediate and potent sexual chemistry, with a side of exhibitionism (it’s actually ridiculous and humorous how little restraint they show). They fit right in with other newcomers to Sea Port, in that regard. I thought their emotional connections were interesting. Jonah was raised to deal with his emotions head on, while Lorraine clearly is still working through abandonment issues caused by her mother. Usually, you see the woman coaching a man to confront his emotional baggage and communicate better,…

From Scratch. Katrina Jackson. 2017. 160 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] What’s a frustrated academic to do when the tenure they’ve worked so tirelessly for is denied? Find a new recipe for success, obviously. In From Scratch, Mary Woods has landed herself in the middle of Sea Port. It’s small town living at its finest, and she’s the new baker in town. Aside from the pressure of launching a business, she’s also trying to find her place in a town where relationships and secrets run deep. Along the way, she meets the town’s new fire chief and police officer, Knox and Santos, respectively. Both are newcomers to town and are using the new setting as a reset on life just as much as she is. They’re also fine as hell, and clearly attracted to her. From Scratch is a mix of new and familiar to me. I love a good small-town, easy going romance. A little sexual angst and town drama is all it takes for me. But what is new for me was that the love triangle that one often reads about isn’t just with Mary at the center. She, Knox, and Santos are all enamored with each other, and…

f*ck and fall in love. Nicole Falls. 2019. 71 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] Ugh! I loved everything about this novella, except that I’m not still reading about Jane and Nigel. Jane has the (un)fortunate task of serving as a local marketing rep to her parent company’s quarterly meeting. While there, she has the lucky fortune of meeting Nigel, a bouncer at a rooftop bar. Throwing most of her caution to the wind as a result of some highly impressive cocktails, they have a quick fling before she hops a plane home. But then she has to fly back to New York. Again, and again. This is a short and mostly sweet story about some out of town d*ck, essentially. But it’s cute, funny, and enticing all in one. I very intentionally did not read anything about the f*ck and fall in love before it, so I could avoid projecting my own expectations and assumptions on it. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was not disappointed. Frankly, with a title like f*ck and fall in love, I was sure I’d be treated to some sexy scenes. And while it definitely has the characteristics of a romance, it also offers…

I Think I Might Need You. Christina C. Jones. 2019. 135 pages. [Source: Kindle Unlimited.] The Love sisters are back, and this time Joia is front and center, literally and figuratively. She’s a social media influencer whose focus on a fit and nutritious lifestyle has garnered her a significant following of folks invested in her knowledge and life. That increases when she gets a bombshell on a livestream that throws her life into a tailspin. Joia is living her best life, unencumbered by things that don’t serve her well; that includes dating. She’s done with men who aren’t capable of giving her the respect she deserves, and is working on building her own empire. The last thing she needs is her ex, Teddy — as fine as he may be — popping up trying to get that old thing back after 8 years. So while he tries to assert himself back into her life, she’s trying to figure out how to adjust to her new normal and all the uncertainty that comes with it. The story itself is messy, which makes it all the more entertaining. Joia has to grapple with a major life change that she’ll live out publicly….