Thursday 2 September 2021

🍺 THE SPEAKEASY TAPROOM 🍺 #7 + #8 + #9 🍺 The World of True North 🍺

 ©  Bianca ✰ Janeane 




The Speakeasy Taproom Series is a complete standalone series, but it is part of the new World of True North Series and slightly connected aka a spin-off to Sarina Bowen's True North Series!
So if you're weird like us - read #Bittersweet first ☺



• Book #7 in the Speakeasy Series
 • 2 September 2021
• Standalone Sexy Small-Town Romance


★★★★
4.4 Stars

He doesn’t trust women. She only trusts dogs. Why can’t they keep their paws off each other?

Darren Reade builds stone walls in Vermont--and around his heart. Women don’t stick around, so it’s better to put up No Trespassing signs and focus on raising his adopted son. Darren is willing to do whatever it takes to help the boy cope with his mother’s death. But doing it alone is a challenge.

Grace Hollings indulges her love of old-school jazz by singing nights at the Speakeasy Taproom,  and spends her days training service dogs, connecting small humans with smart pooches. Of course she’d planned to be married already, but a failed engagement has taught her that dogs make better company than men.

One evening, Grace and Darren don’t exchange names, but they do engage in a single night neither of them will forget. Is once all there is? Or can they train their hearts to trust what they’ve built under the starlight?



ARC received for an honest review
 
Yaaaaass b*tches! We're back in the True North-verse, and I can't get enough!
 
Grace + Darren + kiddo + puppers = happy Janeane!

Starlight is full of heartwarming, sweet and sexy moments.
And there are some heartbreaking and anger-inducing moments

I love a single dad story, and Kolton will break and steal your heart all in one go.

I loved the connections between them all from the moment  we meet each and every one of them.

But don't get me started on exes and oh-nos that had me wanting to throw my kindle across the room.

Another wonderful addition to the Speakeasy Taproom series - I wish this series would go on forever.





Grace + Darren

Darren is a mason and a single dad of his adopted 10 year old son Kolton.
But Kolton has a bunch of problems that they just can't solve on their own. The school suggests a service dog for the poor boy.
Enter Grace. She runs the service dog training facility in town. She's also singing two nights a week at the Speakeasy Taproom. And she's also the one-night stand Darren can't forget.

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN! 



 
Adorable!
Such a sweet and heartbreaking love story!
So full of cute puppies and adorable moments. And sparky and sexy moments.
I just loved reading this.
Those three plus the dog are just the perfect family.
But of course Darren already tried this happy end thing twice and it ended tragically both times. So he's not really very hopeful and trusting of this thing with Grace.
I loved reading this. Beautiful love story!

And like I say in all my World of True North reviews ... I could read these kinds of books every day for the rest of eternity!

I also wouldn't mind seeing this whole world on Netflix one day!

Can't wait to get more Vermont soon!

STARLIGHT was such a beautiful + adorable + moving romance! I loved reading it! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Darren - he'll be sold out in no time!



 
 LINKS TO THE BOOK
 

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• Book #8 in the Speakeasy Series
 • 2 September 2021
• Standalone Sexy Small-Town Romance


★★★
4.5 Stars

Randall Dickson is coping. Sort of. An upcoming medical eval, one that could end his military career, has him stressed and making bad choices. So when a concerned friend issues a strongly-worded “invitation” to Vermont, R.D. is all in for a change of scenery, a temporary job as a bartender, and the opportunity to shake himself out of his self-destructive routine.

Then he sets eyes on his seriously sexy new co-worker…

 Lily Reynolds, an artist by day, Speakeasy’s favorite bartender at night, works hard to stay positive, unlike her surly new coworker. He may be a treat to look at, but that grumpy attitude and terse manner are not her type. So when Lily finds herself in desperate need of someone to share expenses, she convinces R.D. to rent her vacant room. There’s no way she’ll find herself falling for him.

 She’d like to find the secret admirer who’s leaving her secret love notes around the bar, though. But he won’t reveal himself...

 This standalone contains: opposites who definitely attract, a workplace romance, and an opinionated French bulldog.




ARC received for an honest review
 
I am headed back to the Speakeasy Taproom, want to come and people watch and have a cider with me?

Yes - the only correct answer is yes.

Randall and Lily's story is full of lustful looks and beautiful friendships between two people who have been broken by their pasts.

They really don't make much sense together, but that is why they make so much sense together, if you know what I mean.  The artist and the Marine are just perfect for each other.

Speaking of the artist, I want a piece of her artwork, desperately!

I loved how they work together, bringing out the best (and the worst in each other). Even when they hurt each other, they like each other.

Adored the whole thing in this visit to the Speakeasy.
And want more. I know the series is coming to an end, but I am hopeful that we can keep coming back in the future.





Lily + R.D.

R.D. has been in a motorbike accident a year ago and he's still not ready to go back to his old military life. To help him stay away from the pain killers, his old buddy Griff Shipley has him come to Vermont to take a job as a bartender at the Speakeasy Taproom.
Lily is working there too and her life is just as complicated. Idiot boyfriend. A dad and a stepfamily where she's not welcome. A mysterious note-writer. A huge crush on her new roommate.

R.D. and Lily are so not each other's type but it's kinda also insta attraction...

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN!! 



 
Adorable!

I liked reading this. It was a cute but also a bit of a heartbreaking story. Two lost and broken people finding their happily ever after with each other. Really adorable.
I loved the dog moments and the workshop moments. I want one of those beautiful tables too please!!
Great love story!

And like I say in all my World of True North reviews ... I could read these kinds of books every day for the rest of eternity!

I also wouldn't mind seeing this whole world on Netflix one day!

Can't wait to get more Vermont soon!

STARGAZER was a sweet + funny + heartbreaking + sparky and just adorable romance! Run to your nearest amazon for your own R.D. - he'll be sold out in no time!




 LINKS TO THE BOOK
 

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• Book #9 in the Speakeasy Series
 • 2 September 2021
• Standalone Sexy Small-Town Romance


★★★
4.5 Stars

The worst kind of heartache is the kind you can’t walk away from.

 

Jilted. Living in a glorified closet. The world’s worst bar waitress. I just need to keep a roof over my head and make tuition payments until I can finish graduate school. Then my real life will start. But right now, long nights at the Speakeasy have me burning the candle at both ends and the wax melting all over my fingers.

 

When a bar manager offers me a job taking care of his adorable five-year-old daughter, it seems like the perfect solution. I get a quiet place to study. Matteo gets a reliable sitter.

 

There should be no complications. Except that I like my new boss a little too much. His gorgeous dark eyes humble me, and the long talks we share fill me up inside. I can’t possibly fall for him.

 

But the undeniable pull between us leads to a scorching kiss I can’t ignore or forget, and suddenly I’ve fallen for them both, father and daughter.

 

And now three hearts are at stake.



ARC received for an honest review
 
Gah, I just loved everything about Matteo and Melanie's story.

Add in a precocious and precious little girl who will steal your heart, and what else is there to say?

I have liked Matteo from the minute I left him - I mean, can we say DILF hahaha! And his story was everything and more I could have wanted,

I adored that Melanie was doing what she needed to do to move on from what happened. The return of someone into the story was pretty uneventful when it could have been all kinds of drama.  But yay for not going that route, I get a bit sick of drama for drama's sake in my stories.

Melanie + Matteo + Lauren = adorable instant family.

I love the extended Speakeasy family, and now I want to head to Vermont to meet them all.





Melanie + Matteo
 
Matteo is a single dad to five year old Lauren and he's the night manager at the Speakeasy Taproom bar. They left New York to find a happier, easier life in Vermont.
Melanie grew up in town and is now back to finish college to become a teacher. She's also the new waitress at Speakeasy. But she's not made for the job - but she is made for babysitting Lauren. Which Matteo hires her for. 
Both are hugely attracted to each other ... but nothing should happen between nanny and daddy, right?

LET THE FUN TIMES BEGIN! 



 
That was cute!
Such an adorable little family in the making! They're so perfect for each other!
It was a tiny little bit too long and uneventful for my tastes. I expected something more. And even the expected arrival of this one person was way too unexciting. Which is okay - I don't love over the top drama, but a tiny little bit more drama would have been good. But it was cute and adorable. I liked reading it.
  
SAFEGUARD was a sweet + adorable romance! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Matteo - he'll be sold out in no time!



 
 LINKS TO THE BOOK
 

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Books by Sarina Bowen:

🍎🍏🍎 True North Book #1 🍎🍏🍎


🏳️‍🌈 Wes & Jamie 🏳️‍🌈

Good Boy


The Company Book #1
  


Hockey #5

  


YA Rockstar Romance-ish

   





Sarina Bowen writes steamy, angsty Contemporary Romance and New Adult fiction from the wilds of Vermont.

She is the author of The Ivy Years, an award-winning series set amid the hockey team at an elite Connecticut college.

Waiting for more Ivy Years? You can read more about upcoming volumes in the four book series at http://www.sarinabowen.com/theivyyears

Also, the Gravity series.

Sarina enjoys skiing, espresso drinks and the occasional margarita. She lives with her family, eight chickens and more ski gear and hockey equipment than seems necessary.

To be kept abreast of new releases, please feel free to sign up for the mailing list at http://www.sarinabowen.com/contact.

Or visit the her Facebook page, or tweet her @sarinabowen.