Review copy was received from Publicity team. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Shelf Awareness by Katie Ashley Series: Green Valley Library #4
Published by Smartypants Romance on November 19, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 256
Format: eARC
Source: Publicity team
Goodreads
Amazon
After catching her husband in a compromising position, the last thing that Finley Granger wants is to enter the insanity that is the dating world. She’s dealing with enough upheaval: she’s quit her job as a journalist in Atlanta to start over as a librarian in the backwoods town of Green Valley, Tennessee. But her grandmother has other ideas. When GramBea teams up with her sister, Dot, and their best friend, Estelle, Finley finds herself surrounded by a trio of well-meaning yet incredibly bumbling matchmakers.
In spite of their efforts, there’s only one man she’s curious about, and that’s Zeke Masters, the library’s volunteer IT specialist. Sure, he’s 6’4”, impossibly built, ridiculously good-looking, and gets her nether regions tingling. However, it’s the tingle of her journalist spidey-senses that holds her attention most as she wonders why he’s on sabbatical from Seattle. Is he on lam, or on the run from a bad relationship? As Finley finds herself reluctantly drawn to the gorgeous IT guy, she can’t help but wonder: should she indulge in a little rebound fun with the mysterious Zeke – or has she finally met her match?
Here we are in the final book of the Green Valley library series, for now. They are all in Kindle Unlimited. These are set in Tennessee in the town where the Winston Brothers grew up and the library is where Bethany Winston worked. Finley and Zeke both come to town and work at the library.
Finley has spent lots of time in Green Valley with her grandma and has retreated here after the breakup of her marriage. Surprisingly, she finds a great job which allows her to do the things she has always wanted. Finley also finds herself, a great group of family and friends, and an attractive guy.
Zeke has taken this summer as a sabbatical of sorts to find his birth parts. He is happy with his adoptive parents in Seattle, and even works in his father’s company in IT. He is volunteering at the library while doing his family research. He’s easily found his mother and is getting to know her. His father is a bit of a mystery to them both. He’s a biker with only a first name, which probably isn’t a real name.
Finley and Zeke are attracted to each other, but start as friends. After all, Finley’s divorce isn’t even final at first and Zeke is only in town for a short time. They enjoy each other’s company, and interests, and just have fun together. Shortly, it becomes more.
Shelf Awareness is a lovely romance with both character’s experiencing a lot of personal growth and development. I love how kind and supportive they are for each other as friends first, and as they continue to more in their relationship.
About Katie Ashley
Katie Ashley is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Proposition Series, Runaway Train series, and several New Adult and Young Adult titles. She spent the last eleven years teaching both middle and high school English, but is now a full-time writer and currently lives outside of Atlanta.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- 🎧 Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan @DervlaMcTiernan#AoifeMcMahon @HarperAudio #LoveAudiobooks - January 18, 2025
- Read-along & #Giveaway:On the Edge by Ilona Andrews @ilonaandrews @ilonaandrews.bsky.social @reneeraudman @AceBooksPub @acebookspub.bsky.social @TantorAudio @tantoraudio.bsky.social #Read-along #GIVEAWAY @victoria7401.bsky.social - January 17, 2025
- Thrifty Thursday: Jodi Burnett edition @Jodi_writes #JodiBurnett #ThriftyThursday #KindleUnlimited - January 16, 2025
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Releases
I am so looking forward to this one, but I need to finish the Winston Brothers first.
The Winston Bros are amazing. I like these Smartypants Romance books too. I like the Donner Bakery series just a bit more but they are both good.
After reading some of Penny Reid’s stuff I’m excited for these but I’m also nervous since they aren’t Penny. How well does the writing hold up in her worlds without her?
That’s an excellent question. But it’s subjective since we all like different things. In my personal experience, Penny Reid’s books are a 4-10 heart. She’s the real deal, like an Ilona Andrews, who always writes books I enjoy. The Smartypants romance books are written by a variety of different authors and are 3-4 hearts. I like the ones in the Donner Bakery series the best so far. Since many of them are in KU, and it should be easy to get a deal or trial, I would just try a few and see if you like them.