3.5 stars
*Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with the arc.*
This was an average read. I loved most of Melissa Brayden's book and I love her writing but this one wasn't up to my expectations. Their chemistry wasn't strong enough and I wasn't a fan of the whole plot either.
But if you are a fan of newsroom romance then you might like it.

Melissa Brayden has created another truly amazing romance novel with her newest creation, Exclusive. This story has all of the elements I look for when I’m searching for a great romance, including some of my favorite tropes.

This book takes place in gorgeous, sun-filled setting of San Diego, California. Skyler Ruiz has a huge break in her journalistic career when she is hired to be a roving reporter by the local station in San Diego for the 5:00 and 10:00 PM news programs. Not only is this a big jump in her career, the news anchor she will be working with is Caroline (Carrie) McNamara, a woman she has been looking up to and secretly crushing on for years. Unfortunately, what you see on television may not always be what or who you see in real life.

This is a great age gap, enemies-to-lovers romance. This author is very good at creating memorable and loveable characters in all of her books. Skyler is one of those people you just want to have as a best friend. She is beautiful, intelligent, upbeat, and driven to be the best she can be at her job. Caroline is older than Skyler, and therefore further along in her career, but just as memorable. A lot of the conflict comes from the higher ups in the network pitting the two against each other, but even with all that, the chemistry between the two characters is off the charts. The book is written in third person limited so we only see things through Skyler’s eyes. This means we have to use what Skyler sees in Carrie’s actions, facial expressions, and speech to understand what she is thinking and feeling. The author did a good job with this.

One of the things I love about Ms. Brayden’s novels, she often puts little Easter Eggs from her other books into the tale, creating her own little universe for her different stories. For this tale, she has set the story in the same world as her former book, Heart Block. For those of you who have read this tale, Emory, Sarah, and her daughter Grace are all fairly important secondary characters here. In fact Sarah and Skyler are cousins. I totally enjoyed seeing these folks again.

This book takes you on a romantic journey with lots of ups and downs in the overall story. The author even made me cry, but don’t worry, there is always a happy ending, and I loved this one. I recommend it to all contemporary romance lovers.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I love Melissa Brayden and I've read most of her works. One thing that I love particularly that she does is that she's got on big universe it wich every story takes place and it gives you a sight into previous characters' life after their stories. In this one, Skylar, our main character, is Sarah Matamoros' cousin, and Sarah was the main character in Brayden's previous book, Heart Block (2012). There are also references of the vinyard in wich Brayden latest serie, A Tangle Valley Romance, takes place. I love those little winks to previous stories that I loved reading.

Now about the book, I loved it, too. I'm used to Brayden and her stories' structure so I knew to expect some sort of seperation at some point. I'd say this story's seperation is what had me take one star off the rating, because it's felt kind of... I don't know, immature ? Coming from a 30-or-so years old woman, it felt a little bit dumb et definitely something that could have been fixed with good communication. So yeah, not my favorite, but I loved the writing and the banter between the characters.

It's a solid read, very enjoyable, with lovely characters and an ending that made me super happy.

Breaking News!

Skylar lands the opportunity of a life time as a reporter where her celebrity crush, Carolyn McNamara is the lead anchor. Excited and taken away with getting the scoop of stories that will hopeful progress her career, Skylar also finds herself developing an interesting relationship with Carolyn. However, it isn’t without consequence, especially when the ultimate goal for Skylar is the very position Carolyn holds at the station.

A story about dreams coming true. Loved everything about it I am fast becoming a big fan of Melissa Brayden’s romances because each and every one I have read so far is just perfect! Exclusive is a bit more special though, and when you read it I hope you’ll come to the same conclusion I did. It is not just the story and the characters but something about the way it has been written, without having that news article feel, it has that vibe and completely fits the whole theme of Skylar and Carolyn’s careers in a way that just captured my imagination and had me beyond excited to know how their story would play out.

I adored the story and couldn’t put it down. There was a lot of drama, some heart-breaking moments (I sobbed so much), and some more fun moments, bits of comedy that just made it all the more exciting. Carolyn is this influential character, the type that could be labelled Ice Queen but she couldn’t be further from that. She has this air about her that just means you can’t ignore her, she’s flawless, and it is easy to understand why Skylar is so taken with her. Skylar was infectious and the moment we met her, I wanted her to succeed and have the fantastic career and opportunities she deserved. Put Skylar and Carolyn together and it was electric, there was just something amazing there always and how they dealt with all they faced was just admirable.

I was so excited to read this, the pace, the story, the characters were all perfect. I hope Skylar and Carolyn will have future stories as I have just not had enough of them yet and their future is exciting. A must read that I cannot recommend enough.

Melissa Brayden is a must-read, whenever a new book is released I can't wait to read it. But I try and wait a bit, savour it if you like.

I always enjoy Brayden's writing and this book is no exception. The first 80% just Brayden at her finest. We get to revisit some old favourites and get to know two fun new characters. Any story about news anchors has me thinking about The Morning Show, I can never help but wonder if the author found some inspiration in the show. Even though it doesn't resemble the show in the slightest. Anyway, I liked reading about Emory, Sarah and Grace from Heart Block. Always nice to check back in with beloved characters.
Skyler and Carolyn (Carrie) make for a fun couple, it seems like they would challenge each other. I did have some issues with some of the writing choices for these women. The book is written in first-person POV from Skyler's perspective. I feel like we are missing out on Carrie a bit here, especially in the beginning when she is a bit prickly.

Where Brayden always shines is in the humour, the banter was on point again and I think the characters have great chemistry. I just have some issues with the last 20% of the book. I do understand the choices there but I didn't like them much. The story had been surprising me at several points up until that point so I was hoping the formulaic lesfic drama moment wouldn't be there, or not in this way. As said I do understand the story choices, but I was hoping for another surprise there. For me the epilogue does redeem it to some extent.

This is another enjoyable Brayden read, not my favourite, but still good.

4/5 stars

This was everything I hoped it would be. A workplace romance with off-the-charts chemistry, fantastic tension and a pinch of our favourite trope, enemies to lovers. Melissa Brayden has to be one of the most consistent authors I have read. While she writes a wide range of romances, they are always very enjoyable, with loveable characters and great chemistry.

I particularly loved our setting in this book, it felt so new and exciting to me. Skylar is an up-and-coming news reporter who is full of ambition and hard-work. Carolyn, on the other hand, is one of the most recognisable figures on the San Francisco on-air news scene. When Skylar comes to work at the station that Carolyn is at, there is an immediate tension between the two (in more ways than one) when the network positions them in competition with each other. I absolutely adored exploring the behind-the-scenes workings and politics of a news station. It was so intriguing to me as someone so far removed from this world. The ambition and competition between reporters, the way networks treat women (especially as they age) as replaceable and the difficult hours had me hooked. I especially enjoyed exploring how Carolyn and Skylar tried to navigate the misogyny of their workplace, and remaining ambitious in their careers while falling in love. I think there was a perfect amount of angst, intrigue and light-heartedness in the storytelling.

While I enjoyed the setting, it is obvious that the romance was my favourite part of this book. Skylar and Carolyn had so much chemistry from day one. The tension, the heat and the witty banter had my heart fluttering. It was so enjoyable to read and it felt like it progressed in such a natural way. I loved the getting-to-know-each other stage just as much as I loved the deeper romance and emotional stage. It was such a great romance, and I cannot stress that enough. Skylar and Carolyn might be one of my new favourite of Brayden's couples, and I have read a lot of her books.

Not your classic MB book, and I’m completely fine with that. So much I want to say but I don’t want to give away the plot, and let the reader enjoy the discovery. What I can say is that no one does journeys of conflicts of the heart better than MB. I really like this couple, the age gap, and a peek from past characters. Thank you so much for writing another winner. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars. This book had a couple of nice surprises, but it wasn’t completely without bumps either. This is not my favorite book by Brayden, but still a good read that I think many people will enjoy.

When Skyler starts her new job as a reporter at a big network she couldn’t be happier and on top of that she’ll work in the vicinity of her idol Carolyn (Carrie) McNamara. Until she discovers that Carrie is not so welcoming.
Skyler has a warm and easygoing personality, but it was Carrie that was most intriguing to me even though I didn’t really get the feeling to know her all that well. This is caused by the fact that the book is written in first person from Skyler’s POV. Carrie has some sharp edges at the start of the book, which makes you wonder what goes on in her head and exactly that is what I like about a first person 1 POV book, the mystery part. Carrie quickly won me over though and Carrie and Skyler together had good chemistry going on.

As can be expected there were several references to previous books with the biggest one the secondary roles for Sarah, Emory and Grace from Heart Block. They were a highlight in this book for me as they even had their own storyline which was not merely a backup for the main storyline. I enjoyed their storyline so good that I wouldn’t have minded more.
Brayden’s writing is always good, it has a good combination between humor, lightheartedness and angst, and it flows nicely. The humor comes from the banter and quips of the main characters and this style is so typically Brayden and so easily recognizable. Unfortunately, that is also becoming my problem lately. Most characters in the last couple of books seem to have the same type of humor and speech and they all start to blend together for me.

As I said this story surprised me a couple of times, the biggest one was that I saw some things coming from a mile away and I was already anticipating what would happen only to find out that my expectations were incorrect. I liked the turn the story made and eventually it leads to a dark moment. What I didn’t like so much was the resolution. To be fair, I sort of understood both sides of the problem and it was a situation that had no ideal outcome, but the resolution seemed very one-sided and it just didn’t feel right. The epilogue does largely make up for it though and left me with a happy feeling and isn’t that what it is all about? All in all, this was a good entertaining read as can be expected from Brayden.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved 80% of this book and yelled in my head for about 15%. I’m a huge Melissa Brayden fan. I’ve said it often, I was lucky enough to translate two of her books and I loved it, loved every word. I know I’ve overrated some of her books in my reviews because I want to love them so much, but in recent years, they haven’t worked for me as well as older ones. That’s why I found a lot to love in Marry Me, despite the second part ruining the first one for me. Because there was something new, something exciting. With Exclusive, I found that feeling I love when reading Brayden’s books. For about 80% of the book, I was in Brayden heaven, then the requisite breakup occurred and from then on, it felt off. I’m still a Brayden fan however, I’m still cheering for her and rooting for her, and if that means yelling at characters for part of the book, so be it.

When Skyler Ruiz leaves her small local TV station for a much more exciting job as a reporter in San Diego, she’s intent on proving herself and making the most of the opportunity. That the desk next to hers belongs to her all-time idol Caroline McNamara only adds to her motivation. Even if, at first, the older woman isn’t as welcoming as Skyler could have hoped. But when Caroline finally lets her guard down, Skyler’s entire world seems to suddenly shine more brightly.

I knew it was going too well. Skyler stole my heart immediately, Caroline – Carrie – intrigued me, and getting to know her through Skyler’s eyes, I had no trouble imagining how sexy she is. I need to mention that all through my reading, my Twitter TL was full – even more than usual – of photos and videos of Cate Blanchett, because of the César Awards, and now Caroline and Cate look very much alike in my mind. There’s also a Morning Show feel to this story and she could have looked like Jennifer Aniston, with Skyler as Reese Witherspoon, but my brain rejected the possibility, which means I have no idea what Skyler looks like. That’s not on the author at all, I almost never “see” characters. I feel their personality, their actions, their energy, their emotions, but as I wrote in a recent review, physical descriptions are lost on me.

So anyway, I was very happily basking in the getting-to-know-each-other giddiness and of course, it couldn’t last, because that’s not the kind of romance stories Melissa Brayden writes. And when it happened, Skyler lost my heart. To be honest, for a big part of the book, I could completely understand why Skyler was head over heels over Carrie but I wasn’t sure why Carrie felt the same way about her. This might be because the story is told in the first person from Skyler’s point of view, which gives readers a lot more insight into what she loves about Carrie than we get about Carrie herself and what she feels.

By then, however, Carrie had completely won me over, I trusted her and if she could forgive Skyler, maybe I could too. And that’s what I love about reading, I can get really angry at someone and no one gets hurt. Yes, I have real feelings, strong feelings, about fictional characters. And in this case, I feel Carrie is treated very unfairly. Skyler isn’t completely in the wrong, I understand where she comes from, and she did try to meet her halfway, but in an impossible situation, there are no right choices. You do your best. Then you do your best to make that best work. And in a relationship, both parties have to try.

That said, Brayden writes beautiful chemistry. Every time these two look at each other is hot, and they do a lot more than look. That’s probably my favourite part of Exclusive, this chemistry, this palpable connection. As usual, the banter is excellent, but this Brayden trademark is also one of her flaws, as it makes her characters sound similar. Skyler’s personality is very different from Carrie’s yet what they say and the way they say it is at times interchangeable.

I was happily surprised to see Sarah and Emory from Heart Block as secondary characters, even if they gave me a scare. And can you believe Grace is sixteen? I feel old… There are also a couple of Easter eggs from the Tangle Valley series and Strawberry Summer.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

I was given and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Sometimes you get the chance to meet your tv crush and they turn up to be better than what you’ve dreamt (after you get past their barriers, even if you need to barge into a counter to do so). While people can fit perfectly together, life has a way to throw obstacles in your way. Sometimes your left with a choice between your head and your heart. Will Skyler and Carrie be able to overcome those obstacles and manage to make a choice with their hearts that their heads will accept?
Another master work by Melissa Brayden that always has the power to warm my heart, Characters you can fall in love with and whose connection you can feel. Without a doubt another great read that will allow you to escape reality to romance land

Melissa Brayden is one of my favorite sapphic authors, so I was extremely happy when I got this ARC (thanks to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley)!

Skyler Ruiz is a reporter who’s bored to death at her job, talking about the same old stories every single day. So when she hears KTMW is hiring, she jumps at the opportunity that could make her life a thousand times better.

At the new job, she meets her TV crush, Caroline McNamara, someone she’s always admired. But Caroline is different from what Skyler expected, and the two of them don’t get along very well. After a while, they start to get closer, developing feelings for each other.

I guess I could say I enjoyed almost everything about this book. Skyler is great and Carrie is someone I’d definitely have a crush on. The only thing I didn’t really like was the fact that they got together quickly and I’m a slow-burn kind of girl. I also felt like it was a bit rushed, but I still loved them together!

Another thing I absolutely loved was seeing the characters from Heart Block again, since this was the first Melissa Brayden book I’ve read. The Braydenverse is truly incredible!

I also enjoyed seeing Skyler’s journey as a reporter, and how supportive Carrie was, even though things weren’t as good for her at first.

This was a very enjoyable read!

Kudos to Melissa Brayden for writing another winner! This time she takes the reader into a San Diego newsroom where a rookie reporter and seasoned anchor learn what truly is important in life. Skylar and Carrie’s romance started from the first moment they met, though neither one realized it. These two lovely, smart, motivated, and hard-working women came together with zero drama or angst. Neither doubted what they could be and certainly didn’t dance around one another for endless pages. They were both confident in their sexuality and didn’t let an age-gap deter them. Carrie’s support of Skylar’s career boost was admirable; not many women in her position would be capable of that. The last 1/4 of the book was brilliantly written. It was heart wrenching and showed how truly fragile life is. The epilogue was simply perfect. Revisiting Tanner Peak and some of our favorite mains from other Brayden books as well as Tangle Valley mentions made my heart soar. Bravo!

If you know me, you know how much I adore Melissa and her books. I think she may be one of the only authors I have on auto read. I started in on this one a little burned out on romance in general, but about halfway through I couldn't put it down. LOVED all the nods to other books and series. As for the book itself, it follows Melissa's formula, so wasn't super surprised, although I assumed it would be just slightly different (don't want to spoil it). And the epilogue? Melissa I think you and I need to talk. I am dead.

This is one of the best Melissa Brayden books in a very long time. I love all her series, but boy does this one-off knock it out of the park.

Some great things about this book -

The two MC's weren't in the closet, even though they were in the spotlight. The book didn't touch on the somewhat cliche "staying in the closet because it will ruin my career" trope that is super common.

All the side characters were fantastic, so whenever Carrie and Skyler weren't in scenes together, I was still interested and entertained. Especially loved Ty. And Skyler's dog Mickey!

And speaking of side characters, Sarah and Emory from "Heart Block" are back. It's been awhile since we've seen them, so Grace is also all grown up. Pretty great idea to bring them back into the fold, and I really loved what story they had in this book.

Sizzling chemistry with Carrie and Skyler, but they were also cute too. Or as Carrie would say, adorable.

Last thing, big thumbs up on a very solid epilogue. When the book finished, I didn't feel like anything was missing at all.

Overall, loved it. I'll be re-reading this one again.

It's rare that I don't like a Melissa Brayden book, but even having said that, some of her books are better than the others. This is one of the good ones.

I loved the story, and I loved the characters. Both were mature, intelligent women that were easy to like and to relate to. By now we know the formula of a Brayden romance (which I'm a big fan of) and this book didn't disappoint.

There was a tease throughout of the author's wine country series, and I would love to see the Exclusive characters pop up in that series or their own.

Fun, quick read (a two day read is super-speedy for me)

I am really happy that Brayden's heart keeps pumping and we got to read Exclusive.
The world is very tough on women and aging and this book touches on the subject.
Lack of communication is something that usually bothers me a lot when used in the building of a conflit in a romance, it did bother me here, but only slightly, as a understood that skyler's bagage was stronger than her.
Some people don't like when you only get one POV and I tend to agree on the part that usually the other part lacks in depth, but I did not feel like that in this book.
Carrie and Sky are great together.

Skyler Ruiz has had enough of covering small town news After years of flailing, her big break finally comes in the form of a reporter position in San Diego. She gets to be close to family and friends and she will be working with her idol and crush, Caroline McNamara. Carrie isn’t exactly welcoming to the new reporter but when she realizes that Sky is more than just a pretty face, their relationship takes an unexpected turn.

My love affair with lesbian fiction started with Melissa Brayden. I devoured all of her books and haven’t looked back. Whether it’s the love I felt for Brooklyn and Jessica in Kiss the Girls or the empathy I felt for Isabelle Chase in Eyes Like Those, her characters always find a way into my heart. And I can now add Skyler and Carrie that list. I adore Skyler. She has such an intense drive to succeed but isn’t willing to compromise her ideals to make that happen. She is goodness personified and can’t understand Carrie’s aloofness when she first arrives at the station, considering how kind Carrie is to everyone else.

When Carrie starts opening up, Sky, couldn’t stop herself from falling if she tried. Carrie isn’t just her crush, she’s someone Sky admires professionally. This story is told from Skyler’s point of view, so we know a lot more of what she is feeling as the story progresses. I would have liked to have gotten more about Carrie’s backstory but through her interactions with Skyler, we are witness to her insecurities and vulnerability but also to how kind and compassionate she is. Carrie and Skyler are wonderful for each other and I really enjoyed their story.

I enjoyed Ty and Grace and Skyler’s aunt, who provides her the love her mother has always been too busy to give her. And what a treat it was to Emory and Sarah from Melissa’s book, Heart Block. Melissa Brayden’s books have always been a source of comfort, like seeing a friend you’ve lost touch with but can pick right up where you left off. They have always made my heart happy and this one does the same.

An ARC was received from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

I'm a Brayden fan and did a happy dance knowing I get to read an advance copy. First I love that Brayden includes a couple of easter eggs for her readers. Brief mentions of the location of one of her series (Tangle Valley) and actually visiting the town of another book and featuring previous mains as side characters is a gift to her readers. It lets you believe you share geography and the universe with the author. (If I missed others hidden gems I will try and discover on re-readings.)

Skylar Ruiz is a small town California television reporter who is hungry for something more. She gets her break by getting hired as a new reporter in San Diego a top 30 market. She knows she has to work hard to keep her job. She is thrilled that it allows her to work with her tv crush/ idol anchorwoman Caroline (Carrie) McNamara. At 39, Carrie is very successful, but hitting the wall where station managers blame ratings on her aging. The friendship between the two is sweet and picks up steam fast. Brayden's banter is spot on. I love her "Hi" check ins and cute playful interactions about everything from food to dates. I want to know more about Carrie but I got enough to be happy as the story is told from Skylar's POV.

When the angst comes it is realistic. Sometimes jobs can be obstacles to relationships. I didn't love Skylar's reaction to the situation. My heart broke and I was genuinely in tears when Sky lunches with her distant mother so I understand her insecurity. But I didn't give Sky a clear pass and thought she owed Carrie her own apologies and discussion for her part of what happens. But Skylar's grand gesture is fabulous and the epilogue made me equally happy.

Brayden always has good friends as side characters and the cousins, Grace and aunt are wonderful. Micky the dog gets his own jaunty shout out. The book isn't perfect. But this is already my 100th review of the year and it is one of the few books I would gladly reread. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Melissa’s latest is about Skyler Ruiz, a small-time reporter with dreams of making it big and breaking into a bigger news market. She gets offered a gig at a popular news network, also the network featuring her long-standing crush, Carrie McNamara. Their relationship starts off cold and standoffish, later blossoming into flirting.
I really liked the premise of the book. The whole news network setting works for the story. We get an insight into Skyler since the book is from her POV. There were instances where I felt disconnected from the other MC, Carrie.
If there’s one thing you can expect from a Melissa Brayden book, is an engaging story. The plot kept me engrossed till the last page. I did not expect the tragic event that happens in the second half. Skyler learning to cope with grief and moving on was nicely depicted.
All in all, a very enjoyable read.

I've read most of Melissa Brayden's books and they're very consistently funny and enjoyable books. And while Exclusive fits right into that, I don't think despite the fact it has a very original premise in having news workers as its protagonists, it's one of the strongest of her books either. That's not to say its bad- it's a lovely book. But an author as great as Brayden comes with some high expectations and this just isn't my favorite by her.

Exclusive follows Skylar Ruiz who is cutting her teeth as a television reporter but in markets where she knows she can do a better job. So when she lands the job as a reporter in the San Diego market where she grew up, and working with anchor Carolyn McNamara, her teenage crush it seems like a dream come true. And when Carolyn (Carrie) and Skylar meet, there's some clashes but once they work it through they become a powerful news force together and it leads to more. But the station notices and it might inspire some changes.

One thing interesting about these characters is that why the book is told entirely from Skylar's perspective, I was really more interested in Carrie and her life and choices. It's not at all that Skylar wasn't lovable but I was suuuuper into Carrie and found her more interesting overall. I wanted to know more about her life and interests and what led her back.

I'd be remiss to not mention the side characters in this book. Brayden is one of the best at giving winks to her other books, I can barely think of a book in the last couple years that doesn't have at least a short reference to another work. But having the mains from Heart Block feature so heavily in this was really great. I loved seeing Emory, Sarah, and Grace again, as well as seeing Emory's character progression from that book to this one, and then even more in this one. That was honestly one of my favorite parts of Exclusive.

I'm also a lush for a touching resolution and this book has it in SPADES. God the last 10% of this book had my heart beating fast.

Unfortunately I do have to bury some complaints under a spoiler tag as they're plot related. I've had to do this several times recently and I apologize for that. My main issues stem from how the separation was handled. I totally understand how Carrie's leaving triggered Skyler's insecurities with her mother. But I don't understand why professional women haven't talked about this. I've referenced in other reviews that I work a behind the scenes job in politics (that's as far as I'll say in public lol), and my partner is a lawyer. It is not impossible one of us has to move states at some point in our careers, and we've both discussed what would happen in this case. I know that Skyler and Carrie were in a newer relationship overall, but this is something you discuss. So it just didn't sit well with me. After that happens, with the separation I didn't have a problem with that narrative wise at all. Just the act of the sudden move with no plan from either to what they would do stuck out to me.

This was an enjoyable book, with classic Brayden humor and characters. While it's not my favorite of hers it's in no way bad either, a lot of people will enjoy it! 3.5/5