I finally gave this a try, but unfortunately it’s a DNF for me. I just didn’t like the MMCs energy at all. I am ok with a little bit of a grumpy alpha man but he came across more as rude and controlling. Since I don’t like these types of books, it’s a no from me. However if you love the “alphahole” trope, this might be for you!

DNFed at 20%.

Thanks Netgalley and Victory Editing for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and definitely need to have a re-read! Romance is my favourite genre and I loved the characters and relationships in this book!

The grumpy hero with the savage heroine, this one makes you laugh out loud with the banter. The male lead was a bit rude for my liking and James and Winnie seem a bit rude and irritating in general.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you love:
🍺 Small town vibes (Cheesy name too 😅)
🍺 Boss + Employee (was to be temporary)
🍺 Grumpy vs. Sunshine Trope
🍺 Enemies to Lovers
🍺 Brewery and Poker Nights

The Bluff is the second book in the series of Graham Brothers by Emma St. Clair in a town called Sheet Cake, Texas.

We have Winnie, in a position where she accepts a temporary position to help James, the grumpiest of all men, open his brewery and help with the website. It comes with all the challenges of the world as this stubborn (and I capitalize STUBBORN!!) man wants to conquer all without anyone’s help. Winnie doesn’t have much to lead from but is determined to prove how good of an asset she can be. And we enter this cat/dog fight between our characters. The tension is undeniable and the attraction gets harder to prevent by the day.

…”Because, despite the popular opinion about James, he is not an unfeeling, grouchy caveman.” We see the parts of him that touch your heart and you grow to love him through the pages. He struggles with public attention, sharing feelings, and accepting help. You learn more about him just like you do about Winnie and in the end, you see how they both fit like a glove in each other's puzzles of life.

Overall an enjoyable story! I have to follow along with the rest of the Graham brothers. Love the family dynamics in this one. Super funny with lots of laughable scenes!

Favorite quote:

“Words aren’t always my thing, but to put it in terms I understand, our kiss was like beer that’s been barrel-aged and complexly developed. Not something new. Not a first. It was like working for months or years refining a recipe, letting it age and develop to perfection.”

I finally got to read this book, and I was let down. Even just starting off I wasn’t really hooked. I had to push myself through the book and didn’t really enjoy it as much as I wanted to. The writing was good, I did find the characters a bit annoying.

The 2nd book in the Graham Brothers series and I just love Emma's fluffy reads! Her closed door romcom's are the perfect palette cleanser.

The book is about James and Winnie. James is the dictionary definition of grumpy sunshine and he only likes her.
This slow burn was absolutely perfect too!

I am falling more and more in love with the Graham family and this author's writing! A big thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the arc version in return of a honest review!
Who doesn't love a good Grumpy/Sushine romance? I can't resist and this book is a great specimen of this trope. A super fun and hard to put down romance with amazing characters and a lovely small town that is so easy for me, a person who lives in a village, to relate to, all the gossip and drama, it's nice to follow when you're not a part of it ahahahah The couple in this second book, Winny and James, start, like many couples in this trope, by not being able to stand each other, or at least pretending to.... 😏 But gradually they begin to realize that the animosity is actually an explosive attraction that they still try to counteract, now this makes for some good funny moments that provided me with some good laughs! These two exude chemistry and the development of this relationship is very pleasant to follow. Especially when the families of both and even the people of the small town get in the way... 😂 The only thing I have to point out is that the plot sometimes becomes repetitive because not much else happens besides the development of the relationship and I would have liked to see a stronger subplot like what happened with the 1st book of the saga, The Buy-In.
A book, saga and author that I highly recommend and think deserves more recognition! I've already added more of her books to my ever-growing wishlist... 🤭 What are you waiting for?! You really need to meet Sheet Cake!
PS: Someone tell James that I found and seized the orange cat! 😂😂😂

Plot | 3⭐
Characters | 5⭐
Ease of Read | 4⭐
Quality of Writing | 4⭐

Overall | 4⭐

Review to be soon published on my bookstagram account @direadsomebooks!

I was so happy to be back with this family and in the wonderful town of Sheet Cake! I enjoyed this one, but not as much as The Buy-In. I was a bit worried to read James' story honestly because he wasn't super lovable in The Buy-In, and I was hoping that we'd quickly find him to be just as wonderful as Pat, but I just didn't get that. He's kind of a jerk, and I struggled to really get over that. I was honestly so happy to be back with this family though that I did enjoy the story, and I look forward to future novels in this series!

It took me a while to understand what exactly this trope is called but once I did, I understood that Grumpy x Sunshine is my kryptonite. Literally put this trip in any romance/fantasy/thriller and you will have me salivating over the book!

So I didn’t even know about this “Schitt’s Creek style” series, but when I saw this book available on Netgalley for review request - I just couldn’t resist.

And I am so freaking glad that I did. Because James Graham is the most adorable grump ever! He is stubborn, rude to the point of being an a*hole yet somehow finds his own vulnerable side with the woman who gets on his very last nerve.

Winnie is a genius; but somehow still finds herself adrift - so finds temporary employment at James’s upcoming brewery.

And it’s instant explosion - both Winnie and James push each other’s buttons perfectly; Winnie more so. And their instant hate-lust attraction is just *chef’s kiss*

This was an all round, pure perfection - from hilarious banter, to familial wholesome moments to the town’s foolery - The Bluff was pure enjoyment from start till the end.

This is such a wonderful rom com. I’m obsessed with Emma’s writing style. Definitely getting all her books. I have a feeling she will become my auto read author. I loved the characters development in this story. Quick read and you won’t be able to put it down.

Another winner. 👏🏻 I’ll read everything and anything from Emma St. Clair. Quality closed door romances are few and far between now and I’m so excited I have her to fall back on and she gets it right every single time.

I am in love with this perfect rom com! Rom coms are my favorite genre and she knocked it out of the park with this lovely romance. I felt connected to the characters instantly and loved them, I didn't want this book to end but I couldn't stop reading! I loved every second of it!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

And honest it will be. The suggestions for ARC reviewers is to lead with the good stuff but I can't think of any to lead with. There isn't anything good about this book and I don't write that to be hateful. The writing is as if it came straight from watpad or whatever that low-key porn sight for teenage girls is. The MMC is written not as grumpy but as actually emotionally abusive. I thought it was going to be revealed that he was autistic and that was why he had such aggressive and unacceptable rage outbursts. If this man was dating a friend of mine I would sit her down to talk because I would fear for her safety. This is not a 'grumpy' character. This is a deeply irredeemable character that never should have been written that way. The author REALLY leaned into the cheesy writing and that can be fun but if you took a shot every time they mentioned 'bluffing' in this book (because it's the name of the book- get it??) then you would be drunk by the end of it. I also kept thinking 'ok maybe all this horrible treatment will be worth it because the steam will be the steamiest steam to ever steam' AND IT LITERALLY NEVER STEAMED. YOU HAD THE ONE ROOM TROPE AND NO STEAM??? That was a bigger let down than I care to admit. I am not attached to a single character in this book and that is honestly a pretty impressive accomplishment since there is almost always some random character I cling to to get me through but nope- not this time.

It also felt like the author just kept adding stuff to see what would stick- cheating boyfriend- check. one room trope? check. quirky family dynamics? check. misunderstood best friend? check. and by the end of it it was too much because nothing ever got enough.

Thank you Netgalley and Emma St Clair for the copy of The Bluff in exchange for my honest review.

This is my second Emma St Clair book. After really enjoying Pat and Lindy's vibes in The Buy-In I jumped straight on the second Graham brothers story. But this one hit differently for me and it all comes down to the two Graham men. I found Pat endearing and adorable while I found James just plain rude, sometimes cringe worthy rude.

Totally not all bad. I loved the continuation of the gorgeous small town setting in Sheet Cake (still the best small town name ever), the forced proximity situation of working together to fix up the brewery, and the feistiness of Winnie. Plus the cats 🐈 😆 Sadly though I think grumpy sunshine men are not really my thing.

Love Emma St. Clair for a good closed door rom com! The characters were on point and I loved both of them. The story was entertaining and the romance was perfection.

Thank you Netgalley and Emma St. Clair for the gifted book!

Winnie is a woman who is comfortable in her own skin. But how she feels about her work life is a BIT more complicated... Her best friend got her a job with her grumpy BIL and when I say grumpy, I mean the king of the grumps. But unfortunately he is as attractive as he is unbearable.

James just wants to brew his craft beer. He was happy with his backyard operation, but then his dad bought a town and now he's opening a huge brewery with his family. And he has to deal with Winnie, whose help he doesn't want, but who he finds distractingly appealing.

Both Winnie and James have to contend with the feelings of their pasts if they want to move forward in life and maybe in a potential relationship. Will those emotional hurdles be overcomeable or will they be a stumbling box in the way of happiness?

This is an enemies to lovers, workplace, one bed (but keep it sweet) romance that checks all the boxes. It's funny, charming, and oh so irresistible! Emma St. Clair has not disappointed me yet. She is an auto-read author for me now.

This is a closed door romance. It's the second in a series but can be read as a standalone.

This was a very cute read. Winnie and James start off as enemies and I can for the life of me understand why James dislikes Winnie as much as he does. But as we dive into the characters and see what makes them tick. I start to understand the personalities.

James wants to do everything himself and doesn’t like help from anyone. Winnie's job is literally to help. So this doesn’t make for a great start to their relationship.

Winnies starts to understand and uses her understanding to help James in ways that he didn’t even understand that he needed.

I really enjoyed these characters together they complimented each other so well and helped the other when they faltered.

This was a very tame, sweet romcom. There wasn’t much spice, but there was character development and that is always a plus for me.

I love learning about the characters and why they behave the way they do and then seeing over time the changes that happen.

Winnie fit James so well and showed him how things could be with the brewery that he was opening. She also showed James what small town living is all about and how everyone pitches in to help.

I loved the gossip mill and how everyone was in their business this always makes for a fun time for me.

And I absolutely loved the family dynamic in the story. Their relationship was so priceless to me, everyone was ready to help and be there for the other.

This was my first book from this author and I will definitely be reading more from her.

If you looking for a sweet cute romcom that will make you laugh this is the one for you.

Such a well crafted novel, compelling enough to pull you through and very quick read. I enjoyed it so much from the first page till the end. A good story like this needs a quiet afternoon, a sofa and a warm blanket. Moving and heartfelt! Enjoy! Whimsical but never frivolous, sweet but not sugary, deeply kind rather than merely nice. I loved it. The story itself was also even more interesting than I had anticipated. I went into it expecting a romance story and got so much more.

I had to DNF this book and I hate DNFing books. I felt like this book took me a long time to get through and like it took a long time for it to get to any good parts. Although I did enjoy it once the romance actually started, I feel like it was a bit dragged out when introducing the 2 main characters and their backgrounds as to why they hate each other so much. I loved enemies to lovers, but this book was just not for me

This is the second book in the Graham Brothers trilogy and let me tell you… when this book was released early I recommended it to everyone I know!

This book follows James and Winnie, they are definitely the spot on definition of grumpy sunshine and he only smiles for her. However, I did fine james to be unnecessarily mean and sometimes really cruel to winnie, which definitely didn’t go in his favour for me as far as book boyfriends go.
I loved their text exchanges I think that showed a really light and bubbly and playful side to their relationship and I think it was a really good bit to put within the story.