Nadine's Obsessed with Books: Book the Month by Jennifer Probst ~ Book Review with Excerpt

Does heartbreak equal a bestselling novel?

Book of the Month, an all-new steamy, swoon-filled grumpy/sunshine, fake relationship standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst & Blue Box Press, is live!

She’s desperate for another bestseller… and she’ll go to any length to get it. Even if it means sacrificing her pride to chase the hottest bachelor in town and get him to break her heart…

Once the literary world’s golden girl, Aspen Lourde can’t seem to produce another successful book, and the pressure’s on to prove she’s not just a one-hit-wonder. But there’s a catch: her bestseller was a heartbreak hit, straight from her own love life disaster. Without any fresh romantic turmoil to fuel her pen, Aspen needs inspiration quick enough to create a book her agent can sell to her publisher. So she escapes for the summer to the Outer Banks with a plan to live a story worth writing.

Brick Babel is a romance novelist’s dream: a local heartthrob with a reputation as wild as the horses running free in the town. He’s everything Aspen needs for a muse kickstart—gorgeous, moody, and notoriously unattainable. His affairs are legendary in the small town, and every woman warns her off, including her sister.

Too bad a good heartbreak is exactly what she needs to meet her deadline.

But Brick refuses to play the game, rejecting all of her advances. When Aspen hears his tour company is on the verge of bankruptcy, she offers him a deal: fake a whirlwind summer romance, then ditch her, drama guaranteed.

Desperate to save his grandfather’s business, Brick agrees to the ridiculous deal. What starts as a contractual fling spirals out of control as lines blur and real feelings emerge. Brick’s falling hard, and Aspen’s rethinking her plot twist. The novel might be her ticket back to the top, but at what cost?

Because Aspen’s finally found her muse, but some stories may be too true to share.

Book of the Month isn’t just about finding love where you least expect it.
It’s about finding yourself in the pages of life’s unexpected chapters.

Start reading today!

Keep reading for a look inside Book of the Month!

Aspen made her way to the water, where the sand was firm and damp. Crabs popped up and scurried for cover. She began walking and let her mind wander, allowing random ideas to play out so she could sift through some good ones for her book.

Unfortunately, her mind kept getting stuck on one topic.

Brick.

She wondered if the blonde had tried to seduce him and if he’d let her. She wondered what made him want to go through women like tissues. Had something happened in his past? Or was he simply a player who liked to take advantage of his good looks? Sometimes, there was no reason for certain behavior, but many women loved to tame a bad boy. Who wouldn’t get off on the magical vagina theory? It was a bestselling trope for a reason. Feeling like the woman who finally turned a player into a committed male was a heady thing.

Aspen had experienced that with Ryan. She’d known many students had a crush on him, but Aspen was the one who’d finally caught his eye and kept it. At least, she’d thought. That type of feminine power was like a drug and could easily blind anyone to the truth. God knew that’s what’d happened with her.

The fallout was awful, and though she had no desire to repeat the actions that’d brought such devastating heartbreak and betrayal, Aspen held on to one secret.

She missed being in love. She missed the seduction and the closeness. She missed a man’s smell and the look in his eyes when he wanted her. It had been too long, and Aspen was beginning to understand that her writing had suffered after cutting herself off from relationships. A writer couldn’t bring angst and love to the page when they were living in a safe bubble. If she didn’t do something bold to mix things up, she was destined to be a one-hit wonder and never publish again.

A summer affair could fix everything.

The thought skipped like a pebble over water, then lingered. She could ask her sister to help her man hunt for an appropriate candidate. Someone who was available, interested, and attracted her. She needed to rediscover all those giddy, nervous emotions when around a man she wanted.

That’s what her stories were truly missing. She was writing about them but in a more cerebral way. She’d lost the talent of creating a connection and belief with her readers, dragging them into the heroine’s heart and mind. Writing Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover had been a catharsis; she’d bled on the page. With her second and third books, it had been all craft and careful thought. She’d lost the guts.

Aspen needed to experience a blistering love affair that broke her into pieces.

Then, she’d write another book of the month.

With her focus suddenly clear, she brainstormed ways to make it happen as she walked the beach.

I found this book both delightful and insightful to read.

Aspen Lourde wrote a bestseller after a rough breakup, but her last two books haven't done well, and her editor is pressuring her to write a sequel to her Debut Book, which is the last thing Aspen wants to do. So she decides to take the summer and visit her sister in the Outer Banks, NC, and figure something out. Her answers come in the form of one Sexy Tour Guide with a reputation for breaking women's hearts.

Brick Babel inherited his grandfather's tour guide business, which has been failing, but he has a deep desire to make it a success; all he needs is a large enough loan to get things rolling. So when he is approached by Aspen and her ridiculous idea, he can only give one answer, and he's not happy about it.

I loved this story, not only because of the relationship between Aspen and Brick but also because of Aspen's career. We all know actors and actresses are only as good as their last project, or at least that's what we hear constantly, but I never related that to an author as well. Sure, we have all read books from authors we LOVED and then were disappointed by some of their future work, but that doesn't mean it's not good; it just means our tastes have changed. I, for one, can tell that I have given a book two or three stars in the past and absolutely love the author's work now, and that's because, at that time, those books weren't right for me, but they are now. To see that Aspen was constantly being asked about her first book and not her more recent ones told me her editor and publisher were probably not targeting the correct audience with her newer projects. It also made me think about how often this happens to Jennifer Probst herself. Do people still ask about books she wrote over ten years ago, even though she has published many more since then?

Brick and Aspen work great together. I love how they see things so similar yet different and their chemistry—chefs kiss!

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy STEAMY Contemporary Romances, Grumpy/Sunshine Romances, or Fake Relationship Romances.

Happy Reading!!!

**I have voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book for my Blog, Nadine's Obsessed with Books**