Dearly Unbeloved by Sophie Snow | Book Review

[ad/gifted - I am a member of Sophie Snow's Street Team and received an eARC copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

Title & Author: Dearly Unbeloved by Sophie Snow 

My rating: 5/5

Publication date: 1st July 2025

Blurb:

She needs a wife to secure a promotion. Her roommate needs a wife to claim her inheritance. A marriage of convenience is the perfect solution—if only they didn’t hate each other.

Rose Cannon might not be thriving, but she’s doing her best. Her relationship with her family is rocky, she’s not great with people, and sometimes she can’t make herself get out of bed. Work is the one place she’s perfect—until she lies to her boss and pretends to be engaged to the messy roommate she loathes.

Sierra Hayashi has bigger problems than her stuck up roommate. The deadline for the inheritance she’s counting on is fast approaching, and she still hasn’t done the one thing she needs to do to claim it: get married. Easier said than done, considering she ends every relationship after three months.

When a drunk night in Vegas presents Rose and Sierra with an answer to their problems, they face a new challenge: can they survive staying married when they despise each other? Or will pretending to be in love unravel everything they think they hate about each other?

Review:

I absolutely adore Sophie Snow's books and as soon as I delve into a new one, I instantly know it's going to be a hit.

Dearly Unbeloved is the third book in the Spicy in Seattle series and it is a sapphic romance featuring Rose (Jazz's sister from False Confidence) and Sierra who works for Cal (from Legally Binding). If you haven't read the first two books, I highly suggest you do because they are fantastic and it really helps if you know the background for Dearly Unbeloved.

This book is enemies to lovers and we really FEEL it, getting drunkenly married in Vegas and staying married as a convenience. It is spicy - Snow can write a fantastic scene - but also focuses on some really deep topics such as depression and family issues.

The family issues especially hit me hard and I feel like they were written so well and believably. I love a book that pulls as your heartstrings as well as having you fall for the characters.

Rose and Sierra's little notes to each other made me laugh and I loved the snippets of what's happening with the other characters in the series. Bring on the next one! 

Among The Willows by Jennifer L Strand | Book Review

[ad/gifted - I received an eARC of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

Title & Author: Among The Willows by Jennifer L Strand 

My rating: 5/5

Publication date: 21st March 2025

Blurb:

He’s a cage fighting cowboy who never stopped loving his best friend, but all she’s ever done is run.

Romy Miller is a laid-off teacher who hasn’t been home in twelve years. Not since she hooked up with her best guy friend and ran off to college. She has cut all ties to Willows, including her narcissistic father, but when she receives a collect call from her older sister in jail asking for help, she decides there is no choice but to return home.

Since his childhood crush, Romy, broke his heart, Jude Larsen hasn’t been home to the family ranch. Instead, he channeled all his frustration and self-worth into a championship MMA career. That is, until he receives a call from his uncle the ranch is now a crime scene and Romy’s sister is behind bars.

Now both are returning to Willows. While Jude brings his training camp to the ranch in preparation for the biggest fight of his career, Romy embarks on a relentless quest to clear her sister's name. What neither of them knows is that someone else isn't happy that she's returned and will stop at nothing to ensure she doesn't find the truth.

Review:

I was a thriller girlie first and foremost before discovering my love of romances (cowboy romance in particular!). I have read my fair share of cowboy romances and sometimes they can either feel a bit samey or just miss the mark. Among The Willows is like a breath of fresh air. As I was reading I had that feeling of "I will read anything this author writes. I am now obsessed". 

Romy is a teacher who has recently been laid off and has also discovered that her boyfriend has been cheating on her for the last four months. As if things weren't bad enough, she receives a call from her sister Hazel who is in a penitentiary after allegedly shooting and killing her boyfriend. Romy then returns to her hometown, somewhere she hasn't stepped foot in in the last twelve years.

Rhys Larsen is a big shot MMA fighter who used to work at the ranch in Romy's hometown. He also hasn't been back in twelve years, since the morning after he and Romy finally spent the night together at the age of eighteen, then she ghosted him.

This book is just everything. You have small town romance, second chances, a male main character who has been pining for the last twelve years but also that thriller/crime element that I love with regards to Romy's sister. 

It is a spicy read, and those scenes are incredible, but the plot is so full that you don't want to put it down. Perfection.