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BOOKWORM REVIEW: Cookout Carnage by Kelly Kay and Evie Alexander

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
STEAM: 🔥🔥🔥.5

If you need a good laugh, this is a great book to pick up. It had me in tears from laughing so hard.

The book consists of two shorts. 

In Up in Smoke by Kelly Kay, Jonathan is stuck in an engagement that he does not really want. Turns out that his true love has been in front of him all along. A fantastic and steamy friends-to-lovers story, this packs a comedic punch that includes disastrous wedding planning and adorable pet pigs. The side helping of spice is definitely on point. All I can say is two words: Tractor. Sex. 

Evie Alexander's Off with a Bang may be a little more refined, but it holds its own in the steamy department. British hunk Tristan and his American co-worker Sherilyn have been flirting over virtual meetings, but when they make plans to meet in person, could it be love at first (real-life) sight? Well, no one mentioned anything about an identity crisis, but these two are about to find out. 

What I've really enjoyed about these duet series so far is the right amount of cry-your-eyes-out humor balanced with the spicy scenes. Kay and Alexander did a phenomenal job in taking us along for a wild ride with their characters until we reached happily ever after.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Kelly Kay and Evie Alexander for providing an ARC. **

ABOUT THE BOOK

One Fourth of July, two couples, complete carnage. These hot and hilarious stories are the perfect romcom recipe.

Off with a Bang - by Evie Alexander 
Posh Brit Tristan has fallen for his American work colleague over Zoom. When she invites him to spend the Fourth of July with her and her family, he leaps at the chance to meet face to face. Maybe they can be more than just friends?

Sherilyn is in big trouble. She’s in love with someone she’s never met, and he’s just accepted an invitation she was sure he’d turn down. Tristan might think he’s about to meet a cute girl and her cookie-cutter family, but she’s Sherrie-Lynne, not Sherilyn. And when he discovers her family are lawless rednecks, he’s going to run a country mile.

Now, Sherilyn has to produce a fake family and put on a show bigger than her small town’s Fourth of July celebrations. Can she pull it off, or will she end up driving both Tristan and her family away forever?

Up in Smoke - by Kelly Kay 
Cute farm boy Jonathan is about to get married to the wrong person. He’s clinging to an ideal of love, but his bride-to-be seems more interested in his best man, and wants to eat his pet. Jonathan’s heart has always belonged to his friend Juliet, but she left town years ago.

Now, the day before his nuptials, Juliet’s back and Jonathan’s had an epiphany. Can he get the right girl and find real happiness? Or is everything about to go up in smoke, including his pet pig?

Evie and Kelly’s Holiday Disasters are a series of hot and hilarious romantic comedies with interconnected characters, focusing on one holiday and one trope at a time. No cheating, no cliff-hangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after (HEA).


MEET EVIE ALEXANDER

Evie Alexander is the author of sexy romantic comedies with a very British sense of humour.

Evie takes a method approach to her work, believing her capacity to repeatedly fail at life and love is what has given her such a rich supply of material for her writing. 

Her interests include reading, eating, saving the world, and fantasising about people who only exist between the pages of her books. 

The first novel in her Kinloch series; Highland Games was released in 2021. Hollywood Games, Kissing Games, and Musical Games are releasing in 2022.

Connect with Evie

MEET KELLY KAY

I used to create "dreams" with my best friend growing up. We'd each pick a boy we liked, then we'd write down a meet-cute that always ended with a happily ever after.

Now I get to dream every day, although it's a little steamier these days. And I've discovered I can and will write anywhere I can. Keep tuned to Instagram to see all the times I fit in a sentence or two.

I'm a writer, married to a writer, mother of a creative dynamo of a nine-year-old boy and currently a little sleepy. I'm a klutz and goofball and love lipstick as much as my Chuck Taylors.

Good things in the world: pepperoni pizza, Flair pens*, wine, coffee, laughing with my friends until my stomach hurts, a musician at the top of their game, getting lost somewhere I've never been, matinee movies on a weekday, the Chicago Cubs, a fresh new notebook full of possibilities, bourbon on a cold night, Fantasy Football, witty men, walking through the local zoo in the rain and that moment when a character clicks in and begins to write their own adventure. I'm just the pen. 

Connect with Kelly

 

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