Review Briefs: By Proxy and The Christmas Wish by Katy Regnery


I read these books last winter after receiving copies from the author for review and am just now getting reviews posted. The first book, By Proxy, is on sale for $.99 right now. 


By Proxy (Heart of Montana, #1)By Proxy
(Heart of Montana #1)
by Katy Regnery
Adult Romance
September 24th 2013 by Boroughs Publishing Group

Summary

A favor for friends...

Stubbornly small-town Jenny Lindstrom has misgivings when she promises to stand proxy in her best friend's wedding - misgivings that are fulfilled when tall, handsome Sam Kelley walks into the courthouse an hour late. In order to keep her promise, an afternoon favor turns into a weekend of startling but undeniable attraction, threatening the well-ordered world that keeps her heart at arm's length from any more pain.

...turns into a whirlwind romance!

Sam's plan is to fly to Livingston, Montana, take wedding vows on behalf of his favorite cousin, and return to Chicago as quickly as possible. But his plan is turned upside-down when he must spend a weekend with Jenny in Gardiner in order to keep his promise. He doesn't want to fall for the prim, proper schoolteacher whose small-town life seems to him like selling out, but the more time he spends with her, the harder it is to say good-bye.

When a city boy and a country girl come together for a double proxy wedding, the unexpected gift is true love.

 

My Brief Review

I enjoy reading a good Adult Romance once in a while, especially when it is written well and clean. I did appreciate that By Proxy was much cleaner than what is normally found in the genre, but it still contained a lot more innuendo and suggestive content for my taste. That is really the only drawback I had with By Proxy. Otherwise, I enjoyed the characters and the story definitely kept my attention. I especially liked when the two main characters first meet and their interactions afterwards. There is plenty of tension and snark, which I love in my characters. The story is overall really cute.

If you generally enjoy Adult Romance, then I would recommend By Proxy.

Content: No descriptive scenes, but lots of innuendo and kissing.

Source: From the author, which did not affect my review in any way.



The Christmas Wish (Heart of Montana, #1.5)The Christmas Wish
(Heart of Montana #1.5)
by Katy Regnery
Adult Romance
October 27th 2013 by Boroughs Publishing Group

Summary

Waitress Tess Branson has earned a bad reputation, and the nickname “Fast Tessie,” as result of her poor judgement where men are concerned. She learned from a young age that men – of all ages – were only interested in one thing, which has made Tess distrustful even though she yearns for love.

Lucas Flynn, the short order cook at the restaurant where Tess works, has just been released on parole. After committing a terrible crime and losing someone he loved, he’s trying to get his life back on track. The last thing he needs is to get tangled up with a kind, pretty waitress who has problems of her own.

Tess makes a wish on a star one wintry night, but it's going to take a heap of Christmas magic to help it come true!

 

My Brief Review

For some reason, The Christmas Wish, wasn't as clean as By Proxy. There was more suggestive content. I also didn't like the characters as much. I felt the quality was also not as good as the other book. This is a novella, so obviously there isn't as much room to really build the story. It just wasn't the right book for me. I think others who read mainly Adult Romance may like it more than I did.

Content: No scenes, but lots of innuendo and kissing.

Source: From the author, which did not affect my review in any way.


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8 comments

  1. Sorry you didn't like the second one just a bit more. I really appreciate your honest reviews!!

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  2. Well, I find Christmas romances a bit more intriguing than normal contemporary romance, but it is hard to find good, clean romance books these days. Thank you for your reviews!

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  3. I don't think I quite get the proxy part of a wedding. Does that really happen? Is it even possible? hehe!

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  4. Novellas are hard for me to appreciate. On the one hand, they are short and easy to get through, but on the other hand, they usually feel unfinished. Or under-finished.

    It's too bad these weren't cleaner books. :(

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  5. It really is, if you can believe it! These two MC's, who've never met each other, stand in proxy for their friends. I think the basis of the story is really fun for a chick-lit.

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  6. I think that novellas can be really hard to pull off sometimes and normally if it's really good I always want more.

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  7. They were definitely cleaner than the usual in the genre, just not as clean as I was hoping.

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