I really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. Something about the writing just didn’t hook me. Maybe it was the way the characters seemed so consumed with their attraction to one another - it got in the way of their growth and development.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and for the advanced reading copy of Vanessa Jared's Got a Man, receipt of which does not impact my review.

It's been two years since Vanessa Jared's divorce from her cheating ex, Karl, was finalized, and she's ready for the next phase in life. She has wonderful friends and a great place to live - but some things are missing, professionally and personally. The last thing she expected was to be pulled into her ex's orbit again, by Monroe Hills' handsome sheriff Michael - because Karl's at it again, and this time he's targeted Michael's younger sister. Oh, and Karl told people she's dead AND stole her grandmother's ring to propose to his new fiance!

LaQuette's novel was such a delightful read, full of passion, heart, and fun moments, too. Vanessa's journey was a joy to read and follow. The chemistry between her and Michael was fantastic. Plus, the epilogue appears to set us up for a book two - I can't wait to be back in Monroe Hills!

ugh look how stunning that cover is

this book dealt with people in their 40s which is not something i’m used to but refreshing to see!

i honestly had no idea what this book was about when i started it but it was a fun time!

the friendships >>>

it was very insta lovey so if that’s something you enjoy…

DNF @ 30%

Thank you so much to SMP Romance and Netgalley for providing an e-arc and ALC of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I am unbelievable sad to be DNFing this book. It was one of my most anticipated fall releases (I mean have you seen this cover?!) but sadly this one just did not work for me.

I want to start with what I did like first though. I LOVED our heroine. I thought that her personal journey was beautifully handled and I liked watching her be both strong and broken at times. As much as we'd all like to think that healing is a linear upward trend, I think that Vanessa's ups and downs were a much more accurate depiction of PTSD and abuse.

But the friendships!! The friendship between the 3 female characters nearly kept me reading this story. I loved them all so much. Their friendship was ride or die and watching them support each other through some really difficult stuff, no holds barred, is what everyone deserves out of their friends.

And I thought the concept of the plot was fun and made a great meet cute.

However, I was 30% into a 270ish page book and we still hadn't actually gotten to the plot. We were still in the setup stage and my focus was starting to wane.

But in the end it was the actual writing style that made me decide to put this down. This book is SO descriptive and wordy. Every single detail is described in excruciating detail - I literally know where in the hero's kitchen his utensils are stored. And in the end, I just couldn't keep pushing through for such a slow moving plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: death of parents (past), grief, toxic/emotionally abusive relationship (past)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romance
-small town romance
-insta attraction
-roommance
-dating in secret elements
-just a hookup
-great female friendship

This was a great read. Vanessa is divorced and figuring out what her life is now that she's away from her toxic ex. But walks in Michael, protective older brother, asking Vanessa to help break up his sister and her ex. Add in a storm and a broken down car and these two are stuck together.

Great sexual tension and sex scenes that were hot and built the intimacy. I really enjoyed Vanessa's journey as she figured out what she wanted from her life. She pushed back against Michael, both figuring the other out. A messy situation, I really enjoyed their push and pull. The third act was a perfect piece as they both fought for the other.

Fingers crossed this one ends up being a series, very much hoping Vanessa's friends also get their HEA.

Steam: 3.5

Liked but didn't love. This was a life and love after divorce romance featuring a diverse cast of characters. There's so great steamy scenes (man knows how to please his lady!) but the overall plot/story wasn't super compelling. Just an okay read for me but I do LOVE the cover! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my review!

I really enjoyed reading this book! I loved watching Vanessa rebuild herself after her divorce to her emotionally abusive and cheating ex-husband of 20 years. She is healing and setting her boundaries, which is so refreshing to read. I also really loved the Savvy, Sexy, and Single club friendship of grown women who are embarking on their next chapters of their lives. And, my god, Michael was such a dreamy hero who was committed to the people who mattered most to him.
For me - what kept it from being a 5 star read was that the third-act breakup was very frustrating to read and then it wrapped up so quickly at the end, I didn’t feel like there was much resolve. However, this was a very fun, sexy book and I would definitely recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man follows the title character, Vanessa, a few years after her divorce, when she finally is free in her 40s to live her life away from her cheating and abusive ex-husband, Karl. The two of them were together for over twenty years, so Vanessa is trying to move on, which involves joining a support group for divorced individuals called Savvy, Sexy, Singles Club. A more mature MC plus the enticing cover made me want to read about Vanessa’s journey.

Vanessa’s world becomes more complicated when sheriff, Michael Park appears before her to ask a favor. Cindy, Michael’s younger sister, and her guardian is now engaged to Karl, and Michael wants Vanessa to talk to Cindy. As it turns out Karl stole Vanessa’s grandmother’s ring and has given it to Cindy and Vanessa is determined to get it back. This was an interesting concept to bring them all together. Once Vanessa and Michael begin interacting, their chemistry was apparent. The small town setting was a great atmosphere was a great backdrop as their story unfolded.

I loved the relationship Vanessa had with her friends and hope there will potentially be more novels added to make this a series where each can be explored. I love that she had a great support group around her. As for Michael, he was a great big brother trying to do the right thing for Cindy. After the tragic death of their parents, it was nice to see the relationship between Cindy and Michael. I enjoyed that both Vanessa and Michael had their own journeys along with the two of them trying to make a relationship work between them. Their story was sweet with a mix of romance and deeper topics and I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Griffin, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

Let's hear it for romance in your 40s!! Vanessa is in her 40s and recently divorced. Through a support group, she meets new friends and they form the Savvy, Sexy and Singles Club. I loved the friendship they formed. These were grown, strong women supporting one another. When Michael shows up on Vanessa's door looking for help with his sister and her fiancé, Vanessa is wary. When she learns that the fiancé is Vanessa's abusive ex-husband, she can't resist Michael's request for help.

This is definitely a classic tropey romance. There is insta-love, a bachelor auction, a small town where the hero is the sheriff and the heroine is stranded for the week in said small town with no room in the hotels so of course she has to stay with the hero. All of this leads to a fun, enjoyable read. While I'm admittedly not a massive fan of insta-love, this one is so well written it was tough not to like. I really liked Vanessa and Michael and thought that the author handled their journeys well. While the confrontation with Michael's sister and Vanessa's ex-husband was definitely part of the story, it played such a small role that the romance really was at the forefront the whole time. These two had major chemistry and scenes that could make you blush.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a steamy banter-filled romance with a small town feel. I had not read anything by LaQuette before but hope to read more in the future.

I loved the diversity of the characters. However, something in the story missed the mark for me. It felt disjointed; something about it didn’t quite get its claws fully in me. Maybe it’s that most of the characters seemed one-dimensional (despite the attempt to give them depth) or that the pacing of the story felt off to me. Overall, an enjoyable story.

3 stars

The author has potential but I didn’t connect with this book. I thought the characters were under developed and I didn’t feel the chemistry between the two main characters and the shipping of the other two friends was way too obvious and neat. But, I also have to recognize that this isn’t my normal read and part of the reason I didn’t enjoy it is because it was about a 40 something divorcee who I had absolutely nothing in common with. I would still give her other books a try.

Vanessa Jared has been put through the ringer! After divorcing her abusive husband of 25 years Vanessa goes to a divorce support group and meet Janae and Cree and they form a friendship over their past. They vow to come back better than ever and help each other in the process. Two years later, a sheriff pulls into town asking for Vanessa's help. Her ex has his claw's in his sister and wants help getting her out. She is reluctant to help, but when she realizes her ex proposed to Michael's sister with her stolen grandmother's wedding ring, she decides to help in order to get it back. What she doesn't expect is to fall in love with Michael the small town sherif and have her life flipped upside down again.

This was cute, fun and an easy read, but I don't think I was the target demographic for this book. I found myself more excited about the situation between Michael's sister and Vanessa's ex than the romantic connection between Michael and Vanessa. It was suspenseful and a ticking time bomb. I also found myself skimming a lot. It did do a great job of showing life after divorce and how to open up after heartbreak in a beautiful way.

Overall, I'd rate this a 3.5 but rounded up. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 9/20

Thrilling read! I was able to connect with all of the characters and throughly enjoyed the story the author painted.

A rom com! Vanessa has rebuilt her life after her divorce from Karl. She's happily 40 something and single. with good friends and fun. Then Sheriff Michael Parks shows up and asks her to stop his sister from marrying Karl. That's the hook to start the romance between Michael and Vanessa. It's a bit trope-y but it's also fun. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A light read.

Loved This fabulous story of learning to love again. The slow burn romance pulled me in quickly. I enjoyed the level of spice and that there was good representation. Can’t wait for the Author’s next book

This is a really easy, fun, steamy read with a healthy dose of depth. The conflict and stakes were well-developed and resolved and I adored the friendship aspect of the Savvy, Sexy, and Single club! Vanessa and Michael are a great couple, and I was excited to see what looked like a hint of another book with Adam and Janae at the helm.

CW: emotional abuse by a spouse (off the page)

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for allowing me to give my honest thought on Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man!

Vanessa Jared is a newly single woman who just divorced her manipulative husband. She also took him for everything he had. While working on herself she goes to a divorce class where she meet two ladies Cree and Jane and they decide to ditch the class and head to a bar. The form a bond and a club.

Every year on the anniversary they met the ladies have a nice outing. On the day of their two year anniversary Michael Park the sheriff from a near by town that Cree and Janae live in stops by and ask that she help him stop his sister from marrying her ex husband.

I loved the story and I loved how it taught Vanessa that there was life after her divorce and to stop and look around especially in a small town.

Great Debut novel from the author!

Vanessa Jared, a woman in her 40s who has been divorced from an abusive husband for two years, is trying to get her life back on track. When small-town sheriff Michael Park asks for Vanessa’s help by talking to his sister, who is engaged to Vanessa’s ex-husband, Vanessa wants nothing to do with the situation. But Vanessa knows helping Michael is the right thing to do, and when she hears that her ex proposed with her grandmother’s ring, Vanessa makes a deal with Michael. She will go with him and talk to his sister, and he will get her grandmother’s ring back.

After 20 years of marriage to an emotionally and verbally abusive man, she doesn’t have much confidence and is struggling to find herself. She’s trying to find her purpose, and she learns so much about herself and what she wants over the course of the story. I love that the story realistically portrays her journey in healing from the abuse in her past while highlighting her strength, determination, and perseverance. I also love that the protagonist is a woman in her 40s. In many of the romance novels I read, the female protagonist is younger, and it’s great to see a more mature woman in the lead role.

The romance between Vanessa and Mike is also great, and I love how hard Mike falls for Vanessa. They have amazing chemistry and banter, and their spicy scenes are hot! Like, get a fan because the sex scenes fogged up my kindle! It was wonderful to see Vanessa and Mike find such passion and love and connection with each other.

I enjoyed the story. It’s fun and funny, sexy and sweet, and it has a great romance. The story also touches upon many relatable themes, including healing after divorce, the long-term affects of abuse, taking a second chance on love, body positivity, consent, embracing friendships (I’m talking to you Savvy, Sexy Singles Club!), and more. I would recommend it to readers who like contemporary romances with small-town charm, some touching and poignant scenes, awesome friendships, and a steamy love story.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I loved this book. It was a gem. I loved how the book is about people in their 30’s and love how the relationship between Vanessa and Michael unfolded. I love how she handled her past and not let it ruined her future. It was great to be about real struggles and how everything wasn’t just perfect.

I really really wanted to love this book but it ended up just being average for me. I felt like the relationship was more lust than actual chemestry between the characters. Vanessa had a good amount of depth to her character but Michael felt really flat. Honestly, I was more entertained by Vanessa's two best friends than anything else in the story. It does deal with some more serious topics like emotional abuse, trauma, and toxic relationships so check TW before reading. I think the romance was just rushed so I never had a chance to actually feel like I was reading a romance it felt more like a contemporary fiction/womens fiction with a side plot of romance.