Can you write a romance where the male main character is in a long-term relationship with another woman ? These romance authors give it a shot. Warning: Your Mileage Might Vary
The Ex-Mas Holidays by Zoe Allison

The Ex-Mas Holidays is a quaint holiday romance that pretends to be enemies-to-lovers but is more a second chance romance but also best friend’s brother…and I guess sister’s best friend ???
Maya is one in a long line of young millennial heroines suffering from late twenties ennui. She’s been pressured into a high-powered career path she’s not feeling and dreams of leaving it behind and becoming a ski instructor. Now that she’s in between jobs, she returns to her small town and reunites with, Sam; her first crush and heartbreak.
I really liked that this was a book about Scottish characters set in Scottish Highlands. It made the character’s appreciation for the setting feel authentic. For once there wasn’t some random British or American character saying something out-of-pocket about their accent.
Maya is biracial and her first-generation Middle-Eastern father is behind a lot of the anxiety she feels to go back to her big job in the city. There is a fair bit of tension and conflict derived from this. I feel like everyone tells Maya she needs to stand up to her father but I think he should get a tiny bit of grace since his actions are informed by his own experiences.
This book has a teensy bit of emotional cheating. Sam has been in a long eight-year relationship with his emotionally abusive girlfriend and hasn’t finalized his break-up when he starts falling for Maya.
Maya and Sam’s relationship reminded of that TikTok where that girl’s boyfriend and best friend fight like siblings. Sam and Maya are constantly teasing each other and laughing at their own little inside jokes. I think this sold their chemistry and spark.
In the book, Maya and Sam are described as millennials but they haven’t spoken since they were eighteen-years-old 8 years ago. Which makes them 26 at the oldest. Wouldn’t they technically be Gen Z ?

Goal by Alexandria House (St. Louis Sires #1)

Professional hockey player Maleek Jones has everything; a starting position on the only black-owned NHL team, a new mansion and he just proposed to his longtime girlfriend.
But something just doesn’t feel right.
Then Maleek’s estranged father dies, leaving him to care for two young siblings. When unemployed teacher, Nuri Knox, arrives to be the full-time nanny– she has the recently engaged Maleek quickly reassessing what he wants in his future–and it’s Nuri.
House’s Stickland series really worked for me but I am just not vibing with her newer releases. I joked in my Flagrant review that the book felt like a Kennedy Ryan book on speed mode and this book is the same way. There is sooo much drama but it doesn’t have room to get fully developed. I also really dislike the mean girl / slut-shame-y based drama and “not like the other girl” vibes. Especially since the hero (in this book and Flagrant) cheat on their pre-established partners.
I don’t know what more I can say about Jakobi Diem, he’s always a solid pick for an audiobook. I heard Nicole Smalls in Reel, where she has a cameo and she is good in this. There is an oldhead uncle character (who I think reoccurs in House’s series) and the narrators were cuttin’ up narrating him.
