Book Review: Diamonds in the Rough by Jodi Payne and BA Tortuga

Diamonds in the Rough by Jodi Payne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A sweet story of a cowboy needing a bit of help after gaining custody of his brother's three children. Sorta like Sound of Music, but less kids, there is no war, and it's MM.

The family aspect of this book I think would appeal to many, especially as Sebastian is just such a sweetheart dealing with the grief of his niece and nephews. He's simply at a loss until Ash comes along and helps be the grease that the grieving family needs.

This book felt very true to life in that the romance came second to taking care of the kids, however I did find their romance to be a bit unbelievable. The relationship moved incredibly fast for me, and although it was not insta-love, it felt like that since the two MCs were focused on the kids a lot and then out of no where, their talks turned into dating, serious relationship and more.

The spice was not frequent, but there were stolen moments as any adults with children can attest to, spending time together when the kids went to bed, or were in school.

This book although sweet and I love the plot, just didn't do it for me. I felt like their chemistry was a bit off, their conversations didn't flow, it was a bit choppy and jumping all over the place. It didn't feel like there was a smooth transition from one scene to another, even within the same chapter, and I found it hard to follow at time with the third person narrative. I had to keep checking who "He" was, but maybe it's just me who has trouble keeping track.

Sammy also seemed like she was 8 going on teenager, she spoke so succinctly... I suppose girls mature faster, but she was just a little too mature to be believable as an 8-year-old. I'd rather if she was like 12-13, then her antics would totally make much more sense.

Overall, I wanted more romance from their story, but all I got was them trying to work through Sammy and her relationship with Bastian.


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Waiting for You Oolong Time by F.A. Ray

                                                     

Book 5 of the Boyfriend Cafe

Release date: April 16, 2024

Get your book here : Amazon

Rating:

Spice 🌶🌶 🌶 🌶 

Overall star⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Waiting for Oolong Time by F.A Ray is the first book of the series that I’ve read by the author. Although it works as a standalone like how I read it, looking back, I would have liked a bit more detail backstory to how the boyfriend Cafe worked. I guess it didn’t matter as much in this story really since Jack didn’t work as the face of the cafe, but only in the bakery parts and this book took place at another bakery. 

What drew me in was the title of the book, I love play on words and love Oolong Tea, but what made me stay was their second chance romance, or rather second chance friendship turn romance. 

Jack and Soren grew apart due to losing someone they loved and nine years later that grief also brought them together. At their bakery where Soren is head baker and Jack is intern, they steal moments to be with one another and one day they couldn’t hide their secret relationship anymore and both their livelihood is on the line, so how will they get out of this situation?

Read this book if you like, childhood friend turn lovers, brother’s best friend, hurt/comfort, spicy stolen moments, and of course bakery romance.

“He kisses me like a storm set loose. His passion batters me around, leaves me swaying on my feet, but with his large frame boxing me in, I don’t have to worry about falling. I just have to hang on and let this happen.” 

Now that I’m done with this book, I’m looking to read up more on the boyfriend cafe starting with book 1, A Matcha Made in Hell.