Switch Bidder, Will You Be Mine, Love Game

Sometimes I have the attention span of a fly but still want to read. That's where handy little novellas come in!

Today, I bring you quick reviews for three contemporary romance novellas: Switch Bidder by Sarah Ney, Will You Be Mine by Rizly Adams and Love Game by Emma Scott.

Switch Bidder by Sara Ney

Piper has been crushing on Ryder Williams for years..

What better chance to make her move on him than when he’s sacrificing himself on an auction block for a squealing mass of fans at a charity event? Too bad she’d rather hide in the bathroom than raise her paddel; what girl actually bids on a guy who doesn’t know she exists?

Not. Piper.

But that's what friends are for...

One meddling best friend, and an overpriced bid later, and Ryder Willams is Piper's for the taking. Too bad that she has no intention of collecting on his debt.

Too bad Ryder is determined to find out why.

This was a super short story that ties into Sara Ney's Jock Row series.

I loved what I read but it was too short.

Yes! I knew it was a short story when I started reading it BUT I expected it to read like a short story not the beginning of something so much bigger.

It was 5 chapters long and the first three chapters read like the beginning of a really awesome college sports romance and I was all in to get to know these two characters and watch them fall in love... I lost myself in the beginnings and totally forgot it was a short story and therefore the wham bam wtf of the final two chapters was jarring and annoying. The actions of Piper (and I guess Ryder) seemed forced and out of character. To go from too shy to talk to someone to - well. I won't spoil it in case you decide to read it.

It's sweet, it's fun, it could have been awesome but it was just too short to fully explore the characters or give them a proper story.

Will You Be Mine by Rilzy Adams

JT Johnson has been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember. Hallie, however, seems clueless or deliberately obtuse. When she asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend for her ex-best friend's wedding, JT hesitantly agrees. Will their escape to the Caribbean be Heaven or Hell in Paradise?

Will You Be Mine was an impulse purchase (brand new to me author) after someone shared the cover on twitter - can you say hot?! - and, even better, I found out it was a friends-to-lovers and fake dating romance. Winner!

The book was flirty and fun with Hallie and JT's chemistry lighting up the pages. They were a couple I was rooting for despite the fact Hallie's blindness to JT's feelings occasionally got on the nerves!

I was expecting a light-hearted romance but what the story actually delivered was an emotional punch alongside dramatic fireworks surrounding Hallie's ex-best friend's wedding. It gave the characters depth and the way JT handled everything made me adore him even more than I did already.

Will You Be Mine is book two in a series featuring JT's siblings and I think I'll be checking the others out... Especially with the tease of an ending obviously intended to launch the next brother's book!

Love Game by Emma Scott

Sikai Solomon is a tennis prodigy.

A mega-talent.

A legend in the making.

Kai is also the official, undisputed, bad boy of the “gentleman’s” sport with more smashed rackets than trophies; more penalty fines than prize money. The temperamental Australian sells out every match and the crowd loves his unconventional style of play, but when his fuse gets lit? Game. Over.

With the Australian Open only a few weeks away, a Grand Slam win should be a no-brainer. Instead, Kai’s self-sabotage has him on the verge of being banned from professional tennis for life. As a last-ditch effort to help save his career, his agent hires Daisy Watson to spend two weeks with the hotheaded superstar.

Daisy is a specialist in the healing arts. Or she will be, someday. Right now, she’s a broke receptionist at a Reiki Wellness Center in Maui, Hawaii, trying to make ends meet and heal her own emotional wounds from a dark episode in her past she’d rather forget.

Kai and Daisy are fire and water, but her compassion could be the perfect balm for his hot-blooded temper. His fearless, take-no-prisoners approach to life could be just what she needs to rediscover her own power…or they might end up with nothing.

Because in the sport of tennis, love means zero.

 Love Game was my first Emma Scott book and it won't be my last! I loved her writing style and how I was sucked immediately into the story. For a novella, the characters were well fleshed out, their story was emotionally engaging and the ending incredibly satisfying.

One thing I really appreciated about the characters was that they both had baggage but they helped each other carry it. Kai could be an asshole as a result of his damage but when he verbally lashed out at Daisy he knew he'd messed up and he apologised and, more importantly, his apologies weren't pretty words or empty promises. He worked hard to be a better man for her and she worked hard to be there for him. I loved their connection and their banter and I wish they'd had a full-length novel to erase that warp-speed novella feeling but irrespective of this Love Game is definitely worth a read for contemporary romance fans.