Vanessa Jared's Got a Man by LaQuette is a delightful read perfect for fans of lighthearted, emotional, and romantic stories about self-discovery, second chances, and the thrill of finding love again, set against the charming backdrop of a small town, with a dash of humor and a strong, sassy heroine at its core.

When I got this book from the read now section, I was very excited by this beautiful cover. After acquiring it, however, I have decided that I will not be reading and reviewing it because I found out that this author supports genocide and slave master/slave romances. Being that so many slaves were repeatedly RAPED by slave masters, and I won't even discuss how slave masters ate us, used our skin for furniture, and fed our children to alligators, there is absolutely NO room for romance on a plantation. And the author’s thoughts on that have made me decide that I will not be reading and supporting their books.

Great book. I enjoyed Reading it. The characters and plot were interesting life like and easy to connect with.

Vanessa Jared is just getting beyond her catastrophic divorce to her ex, Carl, with the help of her friends, when Matt, the local sheriff from her friend's hometown shows up on her doorstep. His little sister is engaged to Vanessa's disastrous ex and wants her help to untangle his sister. What neither expect is how soon they learn to like each other and how to handle their like and still handle the plan.

I found the whole plot of this story fascinating. It was like something you'd sit with a bag of popcorn and watch on tv. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Matt and Vanessa. It felt very real and interesting how they slowly got to know each other and tried to navigate their situation. Vanessa's friends were such a great addition to this story too.

Thank you for the ARC!

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. The author did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Spoke was so interesting in how Vanessa felt this family pressure to be in a relationship. It’s when she finally was happy with herself, and her life that love found a way into her life. The romance and relationship was at the perfect pace, and I really enjoyed all of the banter in the book.

September 20, 2022
NetGalley widget from publisher
St Martin’s Press
Romance, fiction, arc, digital
272 pages
10/23/22-10/23/22

Vanessa Jared is trying to move on after her divorce from her abusive husband, Karl. She attends a support group for divorced women over 40 where she makes friends with Janae Sanders and Cree Brenan. Two years after her divorce, Vanessa is approached by Sheriff Michael Park who is concerned about his sister's engagement to her ex-husband. Initially, Vanessa wants nothing to do with her ex-husband until she sees a newspaper article of his engagement and her grandmother's ring on the woman's hand! She is livid that he stole her grandmother's ring that she agrees to help Michael help separate the couple. Will they be successful in breaking them up? Will Vanessa be able to get her grandmother's ring back? A refreshing story about starting over and finding love after 40 and divorced.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for sending this book for review
consideration. All opinions are my own.

LaQuette Twitter: @LaQuetteWrites
LaQuette Instagram: @la_quette
SMP Romance Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @smpromance
St. Martin’s Press TikTok: @stmartinspress
#VanessaJaredsGotAMan #LaQuette #SMPRomance

4 stars!

Something I have now learned about myself is that I love romance stories with older main characters. There was something so refreshing about this book and I loved every single thing about Vanessa Jared. I was rooting for her to fall in love so hard! There were also many great conversations about emotional abuse and the impact that has on an individual, and I enjoyed how supportive Vanessa's friends were towards her. Where I had to knock a star off was actually in the love interest. I can't get entirely behind a cop romance unfortunately, but the cover is just so gorgeous!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

4/5 stars

LaQuette's debut was great,
I loved that the characters were older than. & the writing really showed that.
I liked the smalltown elements to it.

I have attempted to read this book multiple times and in multiple formats, but I've realized it is just not for me! Unfortunately, I just am not pulled into the story. I would still be open to reading this author's other books.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF or not finish this book. The premise caught my attention, but overall this romance lacked the chemistry and writing to keep me engaged. I will say that Vanessa was the bright light in this story, as I did read the first fifty percent. She is a resilient woman, who had to overcome abusive and difficult situations to find herself again and rebuild, and that's something to root for. I have no problem with insta-attraction, but the romance in this book felt really flat for me and I did not care for the male lead, which makes it hard to connect in a romance book. I thought this would be a fun quick read, but the pacing dragged and while the cover is absolutely gorgeous I found the story within to be lacking. I would still consider reading additional works from this author in the future.

Synopsis:

Vanessa Jared, a 40-something divorcee, decided that the best way to pull herself out of their post-divorce slump was to form The Savvy, Sexy, Singles Club and start the "Do Me" portion of her and her friends' lives. On the two year anniversary, a sexy sheriff shows up on Vanessa's doorstep wanting her to help him keep his little sister from marrying her no-good ex. Vanessa is not down for this at all. She wants nothing to do with her ex...until she spots a photo of her ex's new fiancee wearing her grandmother's ring--which he clearly stole from her. What she does not expect is to fall in love along the way.

Review:

I loved following a FMC who is black and in her 40s along in this story. It's also such a unique storyline with a brother asking his sister's fiancee's ex to break down a relationship. That being said, I found it a bit far fetched in terms of storyline, but at the same time, enjoyed the chemistry between Vanessa and Michael as well as some of the real and hard issues that were touched upon throughout the book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for my eGalley!

Vanessa Jared's Got a Man by LaQuette is a book with a strong theme of empowerment that brings the spice. This one would make a great movie.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Tried listening to this one and just couldn’t deal, so I picked up the ebook and I STILL couldn’t deal. This book has a main premise of divorce, which is important to note as to how a character acts based on their past, but I had a hard time relating because we got it, you’re divorced! But, she is older and so that’s a pretty large life changing event. Enter in the sheriff, along with instalove, and you have a book! Struggled with the instalove because I need chemistry, exploration, and getting to know one another before I can see the characters fall for one another and be immersed in the storyline. I do appreciate the opportunity to review, though! Thank you!

This book was very cute and an easy read, but the love story build up was a little slower than I like. I loved the humor and quick, smart dialogue of the characters and the representation both in the story and on the cover! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book for an honest review.

The vibes in this book were immaculate, let’s start with that! I can only imagine how difficult it is to write an interracial romance because of all the research and sensitivity it requires. This was a cute story and I look forward to reading more from this author. (Also, can we talk about the book cover?! Swoon!)

Definitely a Lifetime Movie type of book. I mean, seriously, a man goes and hunts down the ex wife of the man who is about to marry his sister because he is a bad dude and needs her to convince his sister...
Unbelievable! Like, seriously.
But I enjoyed reading it. Not too heavy.

I've never read one of LaQuette's books before and I do think this is a good introduction - she has a great cast of characters, Michael and Vanessa sound very hot, and it's steamy! Still, I was far more interested in everyone else *around* Michael and Vanessa than in their relationship. I'd like to read more about their friend group, but this book was just so so for me.

This is a story about a woman coming to terms with her divorce and her abusive ex-husband. Not so by change she meets the love her life who is wrapped around being the brother of his ex-husbands new girlfriend (victim).

This book was cute when it had to be and tough in the touch parts. I loved it.

When can I have part two so I get Cree or Janae’s stories??? This book was absolutely enjoyable. First a slow burn then to a hard, fast spicy romance! 🔥🧯Vanessa’s character was incredibly relatable for me, and her strength was absolutely inspiring. I was so curious around the 60% mark whether the reason Vanessa was in Monroe would become resolved and then BAM it resolved…great story telling, great characters, loves the diverse character cast.