Call it mild curiosity, I suppose, but I requested the Romance Fiction Sampler. Nine times out of ten, I avoid reading romance. The thing is, I love stories with romance. But I do not love stories whose entire focus is the romance and the sex. I just can’t get behind them. So, generally, the few romance books that I do read tend to have much more interesting plots than just whether or not the main couple gets together. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by some of the ones available here.

I have to admit, I laughed my ass off at the short sample I got of The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams. It was enough that I may genuinely find myself reading this one at some point down the line. The idea behind this story is so beautiful that I was honestly thrilled to be reading it. Plus, it’s got a gorgeous cover.

I was really back and forth on The Blacksmith Queen by G. A. Aiken initially, but reading the sampler was enough to make the decision for me. I can definitely see myself loving this story. Though not exceptionally well written, it is such a fun read so far.

I really didn’t even need to read the sampler for Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher to know I wanted to read it. A gender-bent How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Sign me up! I’ll say, unfortunately, the sampler itself did drag a bit. And, in all fairness, that’s to be expected when you begin your entire story with a summary of one character’s past relationships. I feel like I’ll probably still pick this up, but I am feeling a little reluctant to do so now.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn was okay. I don’t think it’s really my kind of book, though, and I wasn’t blown away by the story or the writing. I could see myself watching it if it were a film, but that’s not really saying much since I’m fully capable of watching certain stories that I would never, in a million years, spend hours of my time reading.

Ha, a part of me wishes I were interested in reading Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore. On the one hand, I enjoy reading stories from this time period. On the other, I just couldn’t get into it. The plot just wasn’t intriguing enough.

The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson is just so unrealistic that I’m kind of turned off reading it. How likely is it that two single people return home after a date and both find themselves now set up as guardians for three kids. That’s six total? I just don’t know if I could suspend my belief enough to read a story like this. Especially when the writing wasn’t’ anything substantially special.

I have to say, the cover on Sabrina Jeffries’ The Bachelor almost makes me want to not even pick it up. It’s just too much and I have too many negative associations with books that have covers like this (e.g. I hated the books when I read them). But the bow is a nice touch? Fortunately, the plot isn’t all that intriguing to me and the writing not enough to make me change my mind, so…

Yeah, I have no interest in reading The Princess Plan by Julia London. Nothing like a murder to turn me entirely off reading a book. Also, I’m sorry, but this plot is so…irritating? I don’t know. I just can’t see myself getting into it.

I have one word to describe The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin: boring. And that’s not to say that everyone would find it dull, but rather that I definitely did. Like I said, for me to read a romance novel there has to be something really exciting to the plot and this book, unfortunately, had nothing that grabbed me.

Ugh, no. I do not want to read a story about an almost divorce where the guy suddenly changes all his ways that led to the pending divorce to woo his wife back. Sorry, but that kind of story is just a) kind of ridiculous and b) too close to home re: my parents. I’ll be skipping Kelly Rimmer’s Unspoken.

A Royal Christmas Wish by Lizzie Shane is some kind of weird Cinderella-esque you get to live your life married to a prince until midnight on Christmas Eve novel. And honestly? I just can’t. Maybe, if this were a movie, I’d be willing to give up an hour of my time on trashy guilty pleasures…but I just can’t seem to justify it when it comes to a novel. That’s just too much of my time wasted.

The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm has the same problem that The Little Bookshop on the Seine has. I just find the plot rather dull. I think, very much so, that this could be a great book for some. But for me? Yeah, I’d just rather not.

And ending this review is A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon. I almost want to read this one. I hate the cover and I hate the title, but the amnesia winning back your true love plot is one that I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for. I ultimately let the sample decide this one for me and it’s more or less pushed me on a back and forth I don’t know if I want to read it path that’s leaning fairly close to the I’ll just read something else side.

I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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