Review: Hearts on Hold

The subtitle of Charish Reid’s latest book, Hearts on Hold, is A Librarian Romance. Is it any wonder I needed to read it? Happily, the content lived up to the title and I had so much fun reading this novel.

Here’s the synopsis:

What happens in the stacks stays in the stacks… 

Professor Victoria Reese knows an uphill battle when she sees one. Convincing her narrow-minded colleagues at the elite Pembroke University to back a partnership with the local library is a fight she saw coming and already has a plan for. What she didn’t see coming? The wildly hot librarian who makes it clear books aren’t the only thing he’d like to handle. 

When a tightly wound, sexy-as-hell professor proposes a partnership between his library and her university, children’s department head John Donovan is all for it. He knows his tattoos and easygoing attitude aren’t quite what she expected, but the unmistakable heat between them is difficult to resist. 

And then there’s the intriguing late fee on her record. For the Duke’s Convenience… A late fee and a sexy romance novel? There’s more to Dr. Reese than she’s letting on. 

John might like to tease her about her late fee, but when he teases her in other ways, Victoria is helpless to resist. Mixing business with pleasure—and oh, it is pleasure—always comes with risks, but maybe a little casual fun between the sheets is just what Victoria needs.

I love that Reid flipped the script in her novel. Victoria, the heroine, is the professor whereas John, the hero, is the librarian. This shouldn’t be such a big thing but it honestly was. Even I initially assumed, based on the title and before I read the synopsis, that the librarian referenced in the title would be the heroine. Plus, he’s a children’s librarian. Not an area of the library you’d typically find men and that was also refreshing.

Not only is John the librarian, he’s not at all threatened by Victoria’s successes and her demanding job as a professor. Personally I haven’t dealt with any men who would be threatened by a woman like that (so either I’m surrounded by very, very good men, which is true, or some of the more casual acquaintances I have are very good at hiding their idiotic feelings). (That’s not to say I haven’t dealt with men who cannot seem to comprehend that a little woman, such as myself, would have thoughts and expertise on anything.) ANYWAY. The point is, I see men like John in my own life and it was nice to see that reflected in a romance novel.

Victoria, on the other hand, is quite the prickly character. She’s dealing with a ton of stress at work (her work environment is infuriating with an old, white, male boss who can’t handle her competence) and now she has this good-natured librarian teasing her about a romance novel that he says is overdue. I don’t think she’s used to men like John so she gets her back up a little bit which makes her even pricklier. I’m sure some people have said they didn’t like Victoria but that would only be because she wasn’t seen as…soft enough, I guess? I don’t know. I don’t get that because I adored her. She was intelligent and an incredibly caring friend and someone I would love to get to know.

You (should) all know that I love me a good romance. I like that I’m going to have a Happily Ever After and knowing everyone will be in a happy place by the end of the novel doesn’t bother me one bit. So, it pleases me to no end that Carina Press (an imprint of Harlequin) has a Carina Press Romance Promise, which they say is all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. We’ve all read books where we’ve expected one outcome only to have the rug pulled from under us and all of a sudden there is Much Sadness. Not what I want in a romance! I don’t care if the end is for all time or just for the moment, the emphasis is on happy.

Hearts on Hold was the first Charish Reid book I’ve read but it won’t be the last. I loved the characters she created – especially the smart, sassy, wonderful females – and the way she wrote this story. It was sweet and sexy and a whole lot of fun. If you’re like me and falling down a romance rabbit hole during this pandemic, I definitely recommend picking this one up!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Carina Press/Harlequin, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*