Laura Moher

In this book, the curvy heroine moves to her new house that she wants to renovate it. The grumpy hero is working on the heroine's house and trying to not let his attraction to her distract him. As the two become closer to each other through the home renovation, they began to fall in love with each other. But there are secrets and issues from their pasts that they must confront before they could have their happy ending.

This is my first Laura Moher romance book that I've read. This book has a grumpy hero and a sunshine heroine in a small-town setting. This book also has some content warnings in the story that readers may find triggering. I did like the community vibe, though I found it hard to tolerate a certain secondary character due to their so-called advice to the heroine. The heroine is my favorite character in this book, and the hero needed a bit more growth to make him likable in my eyes. The book did need a bit more details that could help the story, especially when the book tackled a lot of situations. Overall, a nice book with a mostly good set of characters to start this Laura Moher series.

** Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions and thoughts in the review are my own. **… (mehr)

Curves for Days by Laura Moher
Contemporary romance. Alternating POV. Grumpy Sunshine, friends to lovers, slow burn.
Rose has had a working class life. Often exhausted from hard work, with some trauma in the past that makes her a bit skittish to open up and make friends. With constant harassment from people about her newfound wealth, she leaves her apartment under cover of night and ends up in the small town of Galway, North Carolina.
Angus served in the military, has PTSD as well as the need to help people to pay a debt. He spends time both as a counsel for military vets and construction work. He agrees to help rebuild the new home that Rose buys and is intrigued by her sunny disposition though he doesn’t understand it himself.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook copy and an audiobook narrated by Michelle Price and Paul Bellantoni. The ebook helped with transition between Rose/Amy and Angus. I was glad to have the ebook copy because the first time hearing his name I didn’t get it and backed up a couple of times to try to hear it clearly enough to understand. I then referred to the book to find “Angus” with an “oh, that’s what he said”. Don’t get me wrong, the narration was well done between the two and easy to listen to. The author used both chapters to change POV as well as mid way POV changes within a chapter, so having male and female narratives was extremely helpful listening to the audiobook.
I listened to this at 1.5 which is my preferred speed.

Entertaining and heartwarming. Two souls in need of love, find happiness in each other.
The heroine has curves and some body insecurities. The hero is a big man with PTSD and needs to contribute. Together they learn to be happy as they are with their best selves.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley, the publisher and Dreamscape Media.… (mehr)

I loved this fun, lighthearted, small-town romance! The grumpy/sunshine trope worked really well in this book. The banter between Rose and Angus made me laugh so many times. Rose is such an amazing character – intelligent, honest, sassy, determined, and strong! I loved seeing her become more confident and learn how to love herself throughout the story. Their relationship felt genuine, and I rooted for them from the very beginning of the book.

I didn't enjoy the last third of the book as much because Angus's reaction upon discovering Rose's secret was a bit disappointing. It bothered me that Angus let his insecurities affect their relationship, and Rose seemed too quick to brush it all off. The underlying message seemed to be about people finding compromise despite their flaws, but Angus didn’t try to make things right until Rose started crying in front of him, which conveniently made him the 'hero' again. I still had fun reading this book, but the whole miscommunication trope was completely unnecessary and a bit predictable.

Thank you, NetGalley, the publisher Sourcebooks Casablanca, and author Laura Moher for the ARC! I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Curves for Days by Laura Moher is due to be released on August 22, 2023.… (mehr)