The DNF Report #32 – August 2024

Posted August 28, 2024 by Lisa Mandina in Review, The DNF Report / 9 Comments

Love Lessons by Sidney Halston

I received this book for free from Goodreads Giveaway, the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The DNF Report #32 – August 2024Love Lessons by Sidney Halston
Published by Avon on August 6, 2024
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
Source: Goodreads Giveaway, the publisher
Format: ARC
My Rating: DNF
Goodreads

A spicy enemies-to-lovers rom-com about rival kindergarten teachers, perfect for fans of Abbott Elementary !
Quirky, free-spirited Valerie Marquez likes to make sure her kindergarten class has fun while learning. Uptight, by-the-book Andrew Wexler is allergic to fun, and loud music gives him a migraine, which makes sharing a wall with the other kindergarten teacher who loves to blast music all day his worst nightmare.
But during the end-of the school year party, their shared tension morphs into a night of wild sex. What neither expected was the surprise consequence of that night.
A baby.
And, if sharing a wall with her nemesis was hard, sharing a classroom with him, while she’s feeling hormonal and hungry, is much harder. Turns out that co-teaching isn’t the hardest thing they’ll have to overcome. Trying not to fall in love with her baby daddy is much harder. 

My Thoughts:

I was really excited for a book about teachers. But it started off rough for me with being in 3rd person. Then the characters didn’t have the greatest chemistry, and I just didn’t get how quickly they ended up together before what happened to lead on to a surprise pregnancy. So after reading other reviews saying the same things I was feeling, I ended up DNFing at about 11%

Puck One Night Stands (Chicago Racketeers #1) by Emma Foxx

I received this book for free from Home Cooked Books Tours in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The DNF Report #32 – August 2024Puck One Night Stands by Emma Foxx
Series: Chicago Racketeers #1
Narrator: Penelope Rose, Sebastian York, Winston James, Zachary Johnson, A.M. Elizabeth Kay, Victor Quixabas, Aryann Michele
Published by Blake Wilder Books on June 12, 2024
Genres: Adult Sports Romance, Reverse Harem
Length: 09:43
Source: Home Cooked Books Tours
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: DNF
Goodreads

Chicago Racketeers Book One
I don’t do casual hookups, so I have no idea what to expect when I meet not one, but three hot guys who are into me.
I’m an introverted, failing-book-shop-owning, romance-writer wanna be.
But after my dating disaster at a hockey game—all caught on the jumbotron—I somehow have the attention of three men.
Nathan Armstrong is the hot, older, sophisticated billionaire owner of the team.
Why does this man want a night with me? I’m baffled…but I’m not saying no.
I should also say no to the romantic, suave, brilliant team doctor, Michael Hughes.
And the team’s new hot-shot all-star player Crew McNeill.
But I don’t.
And I’m loving every minute. Especially the minutes they decide we should all spend together. Golden Retriever Crew is all in, bossy, broody Nathan is reluctant (to say the least), and sexy, confident Michael knows what we all need. They’re all here, promising to make every one of my fantasies come true.
And they do. Night after headboard-banging night.
But it can’t last.
Good thing I was okay with a short-term fling because as soon as the fans find out what we’re doing, our lives–and my heart–are going to be all pucked up.

Puck One Night Stands is a steamy, fun why-choose rom com! No cheating, a guaranteed HEA, and the guys are all about her. If you like Lily Gold, Emily Rath, and Lauren Blakely, welcome to the world of Emma Foxx!

My thoughts:

So, I have been wanting to read one of these reverse harem hockey romances I’ve been seeing around, and when I saw this was available for a blog tour review, I signed up. Unfortunately, and I don’t know if it was just the audio for me, although the writing itself was kind of simple. I know that this author is actually a pen name for two authors. And one of them is someone that I think I’ve had that issue with their books before. Also, the male narrator for the team doctor’s voice just creeped me out for some reason, like a creepy older guy. Not sure why, probably just me. But I DNFed after listening to him for a longer part of the story at about 24%.

Morbidly Yours (Love in Galway #1)

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The DNF Report #32 – August 2024Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks
Series: Love in Galway #1
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on July 25, 2023
Genres: Adult Contemporary Romance
Pages: 356
Source: the publisher
Format: E-galley
My Rating: DNF
Goodreads

Callum Flannelly would rather dive into an open grave than take a stranger to dinner and a movie. But he can only inherit the family undertaking business and carry on their legacy under one condition: He must marry before his 35th birthday. So it’s out of the mortuary and into the dating scene.
Lark Thompson would rather get crushed by a falling anvil than stay next to a funeral home during her stay in Galway, Ireland. The vivacious American cartoon creator and animator came here to embrace life, not be reminded of losing her husband.
When Lark learns of Callum’s dilemma and aversion to marrying out of necessity rather than love, she agrees to help the introverted mortician. Although sworn off love herself, she is optimistic that Callum can find The One and secure his inheritance.
But as the dating project progresses and their friendship grows, so does a mutual attraction. The more time she spends with serious, sarcastic Callum, the more she dreads finding him a match. And the more disastrous dates he endures, the more he dreads Lark’s imminent return to the states.
If they think it’s possible to ignore their connection, they’re dead wrong.

My thoughts:

Honestly, I can see a lot of people liked this one. I just had a hard time keeping my attention on it. The Irish language made a little bit of it difficult at times, but there were other things. Like when she had a southern drawl at some points that just seemed out of nowhere. And I am not sure I liked the relationship, or that it worked for me from what I read. I got to 24% before I DNFed. I think other people liked it, so you should still give it a try if you think it sounds good!

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9 responses to “The DNF Report #32 – August 2024

  1. Too bad that one about teachers didn’t work, that does seem fun to read about teachers. Although I am not a fan of the surprise pregnancy trope and with not feeling the chemistry and them getting together quickly, I can see why you DNF’d it.

    I have read some reverse harem books I enjoyed, but not many contemporary romance ones and no hockey ones yet. It’s hard to enjoy a book when you don’t like one of the narrators.

    • Lisa Mandina

      I just find I have to DNF when I’m not enjoying. Especially when I back up too many review books in a month!

      • I agree it’s better to DNF when you’re not enjoying a book. I used to really struggle with that, but nowadays it’s a bit easier to DNF.

    • Lisa Mandina

      Yeah, it just didn’t work for me, especially being in education some of it was so out there I couldn’t deal, lol.

  2. Have you tried Olivia Dade’s teacher-centric books? I enjoyed them. I had to laugh, I didn’t know that “reverse harem hockey romances” was a thing these days!

    • Lisa Mandina

      Those are on my TBR, and I really need to get to them! Yeah, I thought I’d enjoy the reverse harem hockey romance, but it just wasn’t working. lol

    • Lisa Mandina

      It’s like sometimes I can get over firsthand knowledge if the story is good too, but this one just had such unrealistic aspects and unlikable characters that I couldn’t finish.

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