So That Happened: A Romantic Comedy (Donovan Family) Paperback – May 31, 2022

Totally love the crazy beginning and the constant banter between grumpy Liam and sunshine Annie. Her spunky spontaneous-ness and his straight laced demeanor came with some crazy thick chemistry oozing off the page. Loved it! And the bonus chapter you can download was highly enjoyed as well ;)

Super cute! I'm someone who will read all heat levels when it comes to romance, but I've gotta admit that there was something so soft and wholesome about the vibe of this strangers to lovers rom com. With a very slow burn and only some sexy kisses, the story focuses on the feels and the emotional connection - and it's got an exceedingly low angst vibe that made the whole experience easygoing and entirely light. No major drama, no major issues; just a lot of playfulness and an adorably sexy grump of a hero. It's grumpy/sunshine, with an opposites attract dynamic that worked and a strangers-turned-boss/employee situation that was a lot of fun. I loved the humor, and it was the perfect introduction to this new-to-me author, with nothing big holding me back from enjoying the experience.The story follows Annie, a hot mess of a woman who is uprooting her whole life because an office romance went all kinds of wrong. She's moving out of state and starting up a new job, but she'll need to get through the trip there first. When Annie is seated next to a buttoned-up grump, the two don't make the greatest first impression on each other. So when a series of events leads them to sharing a cramped hotel room for the night (with only one bed, of course), it's not the ideal situation for either of them. And when Annie walks into her new workplace on Monday morning, the situation goes from bad to worse when that buttoned-up grump turns out to be her new boss. But it's not long before Annie realizes that she may have misjudged Liam; he's an introvert who seems to get a little sweeter every time she sees him. There's something about Annie that livens Liam up, and he loves the way he feels when he's around her... but he'll need to tread carefully if he hopes to start something up with an employee.After reading a couple of angsty books in a row, I was looking for something light and funny - and this is exactly that. It had me smiling right away, and I loved how Annie throws Liam off-balance within minutes of meeting him. Having that forced proximity early on was great, which paved the way for their unusual office dynamic. I also found it so refreshing that Liam wasn't a stern alphahole or anything of the sort; he's actually a really nice guy who simply doesn't give a very good first impression. He was also super respectful of Annie and understanding of the power imbalance between them (though his meddling family members were not), so the slow burn worked well. I wouldn't have minded some steam (they only share a few kisses and cuddles), but having Liam be such a gentleman was also fun. Really, the only thing that holds me back from calling this a 5-star read is the fact that a few things could've been developed a little better. I kinda felt like I was reading the second book in a series (with Liam's brother going first), but that doesn't seem to be the case...? There were other things that felt underdeveloped too, but some of those would've detracted from that soft and easy vibe. I wouldn't hesitate to check out more from Bailey in the future, this was very solid overall.

2.5 ⭐️this was just slightly below a "meh" level rating for me. I thought the writing wasn't great, the pacing was kind of off, and I didn't really care for any of the characters.there were a few scenes that I thought were cute, but other than that I was just kind of annoyed the whole time.Liam was the stereotypical CEO business man, and there really wasn't anything interesting about him or his personality until the author decided to throw out a couple of random things that made it seem like he was a better person. but it didn't fit very well in my opinion, because while I am here for a character transformation arc, this wasn't it. and it wasn't good.I related to Annie a little in the beginning, but the farther into the story I got, the more annoyed I became with her character.but the thing I disliked the most was that this felt like it should have been a slow burn, but there was no real build up. nothing that had me sitting on the edge of my seat going, yes let's go I want you two to end up together. and this is supposed to be a rom com? I think I may have half-laughed like twice.I didn't go into this with high hopes, yet I was still somehow disappointed.

"He’s really going to pretend we’ve never met? Or does he truly not remember me? I mean… there’s no way, right? We spooned. Spooned! Although, maybe he’s a serial spooner who has so many spoonees that he can’t recall them all."I'm going down Katie's backlist and I haven't read one I haven't fallen in love with!! And seriously, I always laugh out loud reading them!! (Also, my dad thinks lol means lots of love too!!)"I mean, have you ever rewatched Twilight as a grown adult? Forget bloodsuckers, and hellooooo Charlie Swan eye-candy, I say."I love a good pop culture reference and I'm here for the Charlie Swan eye-candy!! The characters are so relatable you can't help but root for them to fall in love!!“To quote my dear friend, Courtney… what in the name of Kim Kardashian’s surgically enhanced ass is going on here?”It's so fun seeing characters from previous series!! I highly recommend you read ALL of Katie's books!! You can thank me later!!

Super cute opposites-attract romance between a bubbly, whirlwind of a FMC and a secret cinnamon roll of a MMC.Sweetness: 🍭🍭🍭🍭🍭Spice: 🌶️ (Kissing only)***Spoiler Warning***:Perfect for fans of the “only one bed”, boss-employee, opposites attract, and cute niece tropes.