Author: JoAnn Ross

Blog Tour | Review: Summer on Mirror Lake

Posted June 3, 2019 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments
Blog Tour | Review: Summer on Mirror Lake

Review I was itching to return to Honeymoon Harbor – one of my favorite small-town settings! I fell right back in love with it from the first couple of chapters. I was worried that I’d forget the previous books (I seriously read too many cute small town companion series; I thought I would mix them up), but Ross did a nice job of reintroducing me to the town. It’d be easy to start in the middle of this series if you were unable to start at the beginning, that’s for sure. This story centers around Gabe and Chelsea. Gabe, one of the infamous Mannion brothers of Honeymoon Harbor, returns home to the Pacific Northwest after a health scare in NYC, where he has been working himself to the bone on Wall Street. Chelsea, a local librarian, begins caring for two foster children, and begins a wonderful summer romance with Gabe. I loved how honest they were about their attraction and nervousness on their first “date” – that’s always my favorite kind of romance. Miscommunication and lack of openness can lead to the black moment in romance too often and it’s refreshing to read something else. Chelsea was a great character – I loved that she was definitely not afraid to be herself and stand up for her opinions. The early scene where she talked about romance books with Gabe was perfection. (I may just have a soft spot for bookish /  librarian MCs!) As I alluded to before, the romance […]

Holiday Reviews: The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily, Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane, and Snow In Love

Posted December 21, 2018 / Book Reviews / 0 Comments
Holiday Reviews: The Twelve Days of Dash and Lily, Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane, and Snow In Love

Story I’ll keep it real – I did not love Dash and Lily as much as everyone else (and any good feelings that led me to rate it four stars have definitely faded over time for some reason). I like to eventually finish things I start though, so I decided to give the sequel a shot. It’s a short book and therefore a short audiobook; I thought it’d be the perfect one to listen to during the Tis the Season-a-thon in early December. I really loathe Lily because of her immaturity and Dash is so pretentious. It’s hard to ship a couple when one of them feels like they’re 10 years old and shouldn’t be in a serious relationship. Speaking of which, how is it possible that after a year of dating, they’re in the exact same place they were in the previous book/year? They did not communicate at all and it’s frustrating to see that they were still dancing around things. I would hope dating someone for that long would open you up a bit. Aside from that, they were constantly running to catch up to each other (so to speak). They were never on the same page. Wintry Setting & Holiday Feels The story was mostly depressing with some holiday feels involved? It happens in the 12 days before Christmas, which should bring about the most Christmassy feels possible. While being in NYC for Christmas is the last thing I want to do because of the crowds, I absolutely […]

Blog Tour | Review: Herons Landing

Posted May 29, 2018 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments
Blog Tour | Review: Herons Landing

Review As you know, companion series involving cozy towns always make it onto my TBR. I love meeting everyone in the town, exploring the local small business, and picturing the scenery. HERONS LANDING was already ticking off a lot of those boxes. In this series, you can also add in a Romeo and Juliet-style “warring families” kind of feud that runs deep throughout the town. The Harpers and the Mannions have been at odds for years and now many of the family members are starting to comingle. There’s a lot of history to unpack and many characters are introduced in this first story, which makes me feel like this will be a nice ongoing thread throughout each upcoming book. This story stars Brianna Mannion, a hospitality specialist returning home to revamp an old building into a B&B, and Seth Harper, operator of the town’s best construction company. Brianna always had a crush on Seth when they were kids, until her new best friend Zoe moved into town and swept him up. After Zoe’s tragic death in the line of duty, Seth has been simply going through the motions until Bri comes back into town with her project. There’s a loooot of tropes here and they’re all ones I love! The warring families, “second chance” unrequited love, childhood best friends, and (one I haven’t dealt with before) the best friend’s widower. Bri and Seth had a pretty open and easy relationship develop throughout the story (until the inevitable moment where things […]