Posted by Lara

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/the-paris-match-by-kate-clayborn/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=171450

I reached 28% before I couldn’t take this story for a second longer. Doesn’t seem all that far in, I know, but it made me think and feel A LOT in that 28% and I want to talk about it. The Paris Match might be the perfect example of ‘your mileage may vary’.

I picked this book up for the gorgeous cover. I was so enamoured of the cover and what I assumed the feel of the book would be that the blurb, which might have made me pause, didn’t even bother me.

Physician Layla Bailey has spent over a year telling herself she’s moved on from a painful but amicable divorce from her college sweetheart. Staying friends with her ex seemed like the mature thing to do, but when Layla is invited to her former sister-in-law’s destination wedding in Paris—where Layla once spent her own romantic honeymoon—she knows her commitment to maturity might be her worst enemy…especially since her ex isn’t attending alone.

The only thing that could make the week more difficult is getting through it without the distraction of the wedding…. But when what Layla thought was a harmless conversation about the choices of her younger self leads to the bride getting cold feet, Layla finds herself facing down the groom’s mysterious, taciturn best man, Griffin, who will do anything to make sure this wedding happens.

Since she broke it, Griff demands she help him fix it. Going along with his plan to alleviate the engaged couple’s doubts seems like Layla’s best chance at maintaining a good relationship with a family she once called her own. But as she learns more about the past heartbreak that’s driving Griff to help his friend, she gets closer and closer to confronting the true depth of her own pain…while finding herself more and more willing to risk it all again for Griff.

Yup, you read that right: she’s going to her former sister-in-law’s wedding. I have never, not once, not ever had an amicable break up, nevermind stayed in touch with the family of my ex, so the very idea of going to a wedding like this is beyond me. But the cover was gorgeous and I was curious if I could enjoy a book that diverged so strongly from my personal views and experience (viz. Don’t remain friends with exes) so in I dove.

The book opens with Layla, a hospitalist, flying to Paris and responding to a call for medical personnel by the flight crew. A teenager had fainted. I forget why she fainted but she was going to be fine. (Side note: this was the first divergence from my experience. I fainted on a flight when I was younger and travelling alone. The cabin crew just told me to go back to my seat and stop drinking alcohol. Reader, I hadn’t been drinking. Anyway)

During the interaction, Layla used her doctor persona: calm, engaged, reassuring. This is the first of several masks that Layla puts on, or, more accurately, masks that she feels she should wear. Right from the beginning and throughout the quarter I read, Layla very consciously dons masks to fit the occasion. On the one hand, this is a totally normal thing to do. I’m certainly not the same with my boss as I am with my partner, but there are still similarities between those versions of myself. Both expressions are still authentically me, just with some aspects highlighted or hidden as the case demands.

With Layla, it felt like a conscious donning of a persona that is not authentically her. In this particular instance, it’s entirely appropriate that she act calm and professional during a medical crisis, but as the book unfolds, she continues to mask her true feelings and always focuses on what she feels she should portray. Even down to choosing a wardrobe for the trip that will reinforce the masks she’s wearing. I assume the resolution of the story will involve Layla learning to be more authentically herself. Anyway, that aspect of her character made me think about masks and authenticity.

Incidentally, the only person who notices that she wears these masks rather than sharing more of her true self is Griffin and it irritates him a great deal. Griffin is the groom’s best man and the man who witnessed the incident on the plane. Griffin wants her to tell the truth which is a bit rich coming from him because he is not at all honest or open about what’s going on inside of himself. He’s rude, abrupt and a bit cruel instead of admitting to how he really feels – even with his alleged best friend, the groom.

Griffin clearly has a lot going on based on the hints and glimpses behind the abrupt, confrontational and aloof exterior. He is heavily scarred and lives a reclusive life and has chronic pain, but that’s all I knew when I stopped reading. He has microscopic flickers of humanity when he, for example, holds out his hand to help Layla out of the car. And then when he tries to intervene in what looks like a fraught conversation, but those are the only two times he does it. Is that enough? Maybe? Combined with everything else going on, he wasn’t compelling to me; he was frustrating and opaque, giving me little reason to become invested in his potential character growth.

I also really struggled with the setup: it seems so cruel and immature to ask so much of Layla, even if she agrees to all of it. After months of no interaction, Layla’s former sister in law, Emily, is asking her to attend a destination wedding with a full week of events for a very small group of people – including Jamie, the ex, and his new girlfriend, Samantha – in Paris, where Jamie and Layla celebrated their honeymoon. Again, Layla agreed, a decision I question, but also: YIKES.

And when Emily begins to doubt the wisdom of her impending marriage, she leans on Layla, excluding her best friend and maid of honor, Rosie.

While there isn’t a lot going on with Rosie as a character, it still felt cruel to snub her in this way. She’s a caricature of a ditzy, alternative (as in fashion/style) woman who lacks subtlety in her behaviour and her actions. There is little indication in the first quarter of the story that Rosie and Emily are close, so I was mystified at her choice of maid of honour.

The writing is strong, if a little bogged down by (in my opinion) unnecessary detail when describing interactions between the characters. That detail makes scenes lose their dynamism and impact when every eyebrow twitch gets a paragraph. Okay, maybe not a paragraph, but still too much detail. The writing mostly effectively conveyed the many emotions that Layla was feeling. It made it a tough read because there are clearly very big, very vulnerable emotions at play here for Layla.

Then we have Samantha, the new girlfriend. The moment she was described as looking young and scared, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I couldn’t take it for a second longer and stopped reading after that. Taken by itself, a young and unsure new girlfriend isn’t too much to handle, but it was the culmination of everything that had happened so far in the story that made it too much. I felt a tremendous amount of empathy for Samantha and that was too much emotional yikes after the previous chapters of emotional yikes. I kept wondering how must Samantha feel about the situation, or even Jamie? I honestly felt terrible for her. Samantha’s maybe-one-day sister-in-law so strongly prefers Layla over her and even over Jamie.

Ultimately, the plot, the characters, and the increasing tension became too much for me and my anxiety and discomfort that I had to stop reading. I couldn’t stop wondering why Layla agreed, why she was unable to say no to anyone in her ex’s family, and asking myself if Emily’s inviting Layla to the event was as cruel as it seemed to me. I found Griffin irritating, and Layla just as confusing. I spent so much time fretting over the characters and how the story made me feel that I couldn’t continue.

Although this is a DNF for me, I am very curious about how others will feel about it. If you finish the book, please do report back.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/the-paris-match-by-kate-clayborn/

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Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/sign-up-for-quarterly-book-recommendations-7/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=171851

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/sign-up-for-quarterly-book-recommendations-7/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=171851

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/a-murder-mystery-magical-bookshops-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=171841

Catch Her If You Can

Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey is $4.99! This is book five in the Big Shots series. It came out in January. Bailey’s romances are always a big release, so if you’re still in line for a library hold, this may be worth the sale price.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey is back with an all-new marriage of convenience, friends-to-lovers sports romance about a baseball catcher and the burlesque club owner he can’t get out of his head.

Madden Donahue, the newest catcher for the Yankees, has been in love with Eve Mitchell since high school, but for some mysterious reason, the burlesque club owner always turns him down. That never stopped him from being her self-appointed protector. Case in point, now that Eve’s sister has left Eve with her two children indefinitely, Madden steps in with a proposition—marry him for the much needed health benefits.

Eve has secretly harbored feelings for Madden all along, but there’s one problem—her best friend Skylar called dibs on him when they were fourteen. Eve has always put their friendship above all else, and she’s not willing to risk losing Skylar over a man. Raised by the local strip club owner, Eve is woefully short on friends and treasures the ones she has. But with Skylar happily paired off, Eve finds herself accepting Madden’s proposal—on the condition that their marriage remains strictly private. She’s not about to let her unique profession and maligned reputation destroy Madden’s shiny new career.

Madden won’t let Eve get away that easily, though. What starts as a marriage of convenience soon ignites into something much hotter, and now it’s up to Madden to convince Eve that their connection is far more than a business arrangement. As the passion builds, can their fake marriage become the real deal?

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

The Bookshop Below

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers is $2.99! This is Summers’ sophomore novel and I was pretty interested in it when it came out last November. Did any of you pick this one up?

Below the streets of London, a secret network of magical bookshops has existed for millennia. But they’re slowly disappearing, and no one knows why. Only one dishonored bookseller can uncover the truth and rewrite her story—in this spellbinding standalone fantasy novel from the author of The City of Stardust. 

If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of powerful bargains and deadly ink magic.

For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys and unscrupulous collectors.

Then Chiron dies under mysterious circumstances. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s the bookshop must always have an owner.

But she’s not the only one interested. There’s Lowell Sharpe, a dark-eyed, regrettably handsome bookseller she can’t seem to stop bumping into; rival owners who threaten Cassandra from the shadows; and, of course, Chiron’s murderer, who is still on the loose.

As Cassandra tries to uncover the secrets her mentor left behind, a sinister force threatens to unravel the world of the magical bookshops entirely…

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Without a Clue

Without a Clue by Melissa Ferguson is $1.99! This is part murder mystery, part romance. This was released by a Christian publisher, but according to Goodreads reviews, there’s nothing about faith or Christianity in the book. My assumption is that the content is less illutrative, if you will (no graphic depictions of sex or violence, perhaps little to no cursing, etc.).

A laugh-out-loud rom-com wrapped in a whodunit, this high-seas adventure proves that sometimes the best love stories start with a little murder.

Penelope Mae Dupont has one keeping her cool. Which is essential when you’re the personal assistant to renowned mystery author Hugh Griffin. But when Pip organizes a luxury book cruise featuring The Fabulous Seven–a glittering cast of seven bestselling authors known for both their brilliance and their drama–her trademark composure starts slipping. One boat. Seven egos. Hundreds of fans. What could possibly go wrong?

Well . . . murder, for starters.

On day two, Hugh is found dead–and the cruise security team proves to be utterly incompetent. Stranded in the middle of the Atlantic with no help in sight, Pip realizes if anyone’s going to solve the case, it’ll have to be her. And so, with her friend and ally Nash, the dreamy Western author who’s just as rugged as the cowboys he writes about, she puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test.

As Pip and Nash navigate an ocean of secrets, shocking twists, and one too many red herrings, she’ll have to decide whether she’s meant to stay behind the scenes–or finally step into the spotlight . . . and maybe, just maybe, find love along the way.

In the world of mystery and love, sometimes you have to risk going overboard to find the truth.

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You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

Failure to Match

Failure to Match by Kyra Parsi is 99c at Amazon! This is the second book in the Bad Billionaire Bosses series. The heroine is a matchmaker living with the hero to help find him a match.

He’s the arrogant, grumpy billionaire bane of my existence… and now I’m his full-time, live-in dating coach.

I’ve never failed to match a client—until him.

Jackson Sinclair has dragged me through eight months of matchmaking hell, and I have the carnage of broken hearts to prove it.

But I refuse to get fired from my dream job because of some infuriatingly gorgeous billionaire and his absurd criteria for a wife.

The plan is simple.
All I have to do is infiltrate his penthouse, pretend to be his blind date, and figure out what the actual f*ck his actual f*cking problem is.
It’ll be fine. He doesn’t know what I look like.

Except I nearly drown in Satan-clair’s massive pool, he figures out who I am, and now I’m forcibly glued to his side for the next 30 days.

It’s a nightmare, until it’s not.
I hate him, until I discover everything he’s been hiding.
We fight, until the tension boils over into sizzling temptation.

Jackson Sinclair may not believe in soulmates, and he may not believe in love, but little does he know, he’s finally met his match…

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

 

 

 

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/a-murder-mystery-magical-bookshops-more/

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Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/habo-her-parents-were-activists-in-the-70s/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=171815

This HaBO comes from Chioma, who wants to find this romance:

I read this African-American romance novel as a kid, and I am trying to find the title and author. It was likely published between 1995 and 2005. It is a standalone book set in the USA, and the cover was definitely an illustrated style—not a real photo. I vaguely remember it having a rose on it, but I could be wrong about that part.

The story opens with the biracial female lead bathing and grooming herself for a date. The book describes her braids and the yellow jumpsuit she was planning to wear. They hit it off immediately on that first date—they don’t work together, and they were never enemies. Even though she normally doesn’t do things like this, they end up having sex on his carpet that same night. Both main characters are Black, in their 30s, and have strong careers. The female lead (whose mom is black and dad is white) is a successful black woman. The male lead—whose name might be Richard or something similar—is a successful black man (he is definitely not a billionaire). I also remember the male lead has a white best friend, or his best friend married a white woman.

The female lead has a very specific family backstory. Her parents were activists during the “afros and fists pumping” era; her mother was a Black activist advocating Black rights, and her father was a white activist who joined her. Because of this, she didn’t grow up with them. Actually, they died. She was raised by her grandmother in her hometown. She has a gay uncle, a female best friend, and a family full of nosy aunts and cousins. At some point in the story, her grandmother passes away.

The major plot revolves around the male lead building a house completely from the ground up. Knowing her professional expertise, he asks her to decorate the house under the guise that it is for a secret “client.” She even visits the house while it is being built, completely unaware that it is actually for her. In the end, they get married and move into the home he built and she designed.

These are the details I remember, because I read it as a young girl (I snuck, but I am an adult now lol). Please help me. I have searched for years and I want to read it again. Thank you.

I know we can find this one!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/04/habo-her-parents-were-activists-in-the-70s/

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