e-ARC, 288 pages
Release Date: November 26, 2024
Published by: Afterglow Books by Harlequin
Read from: November 13-21, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this e-book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Child Abuse, Adult/Minor Relationship mentioned, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Assault, Infidelity (from an ex), Religious bigotry
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Adult, MC POC (Black), Black Romance, Contemporary Romance, Family Diversity, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Netgalley ARC, Own Voices, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Religious (Preacher’s Kid), Religious Diversity (Still Believes, but wants to leave the church behind)She’s a preacher’s daughter, a runaway bride and now the (not quite) qualified nanny for a sexy tattoo artist with a beautiful daughter—and a dirty mouth.
What’s a bad boy to do with a woman like her?
Everything…
Aaliyah Montgomery isn’t just ditching her wedding. She’s also fleeing her suffocating small town and her family’s expectations. She’s got plans—for college, for finding herself. But landing a job in Chicago that fits her schedule isn’t easy. Good thing Von Howard is desperate to find a live-in nanny. Bad thing that he’s a gritty, grumpy, gorgeous tattoo artist carrying as much baggage as he has ink.
Von’s new hire is inexperienced and a fire hazard in the kitchen. She’s also all thick curls, thicker curves, and a distracting mix of innocence and sensuality. After the upheaval of a divorce, he just needs a nanny, not a sneaky link. Meanwhile, Aaliyah is bonding with his seven-year-old and showing an unexpected flair for tattoo art. Who could resist?
Yet deep down, Aaliyah’s still running—from her feelings and her fear of losing herself to someone else’s expectations again. Even as their pasts return to haunt them, their undeniable heat says maybe it’s time to stand and fight for a love they didn’t see coming.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was a little worried about this since I’m not the biggest fan of religious themed books, but this one wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Her parents are heavy in the church, but she barely escaped in a way that I can admit never crossed my mind lol (Make sure you read the synopsis y’all smh lol)
Ok so the romance in this was SO REAL. Von was down BAD since he saw her, but the part that made it real was his inner monologue about her. He kept saying he couldn’t think about her but his thoughts always wondered. And as someone who has done this before, I know for a fact that this is something real people do lol The whole thing with the truck tho? He was doing too much lol But like I said, he was down bad from the beginning and I loved it. Now Aaliyah had some stuff to work through, so I could understand why she wasn’t with it right away. She had a lot of deconstructing to do, but I applauded her because that in itself is a lot. And the way she handled that AND her feelings for him was a boss move. Let’s not forget that she also felt some type of way about his daughter too! She was a bad b and I loved that about her. And if you’re wondering if the smex is weird, since this was titled Church Girl, but it wasn’t at all lol
Von had some shit going on tho. And I was glad she gave it some more depth. Like the way he felt about what his ex had done to their marriage. But I do wish she had done the same with his daughter. I wish we got more information about how they fixed things and how he basically made that damn lady simmer down about going to court. I know that that wasn’t exactly a huge part of the plot, but the way he talked about his daughter and how she meant everything, I just wanted to see more of him as a dad I think.
I’m also very happy to see that she will be writing another book for the cousin because she was a major key in this story. I need to know why she was shunned but still the bad ass she was. And to still accept her cousin after she was also one that did that to her? Yeah I liked her character a lot and I still have so many questions. I can’t wait to see them get answered.
Overall, I give this
