Jessica Jae-un Miller came to Peach Blossom, Georgia, for a visit, not a breakdown. But when her rental car dies on the outskirts of town, mechanic Lavenia “Vini” Williams provides a tow—and a very welcome jumpstart to Jessica’s heart. It’s been a minute since Jessica’s last fling—her relationship specialty—and Vini checks all the right boxes. If only the sexy car whisperer seemed interested…

Vini knows herself and what she wants. She loves her job, her family, her hometown—but she’d love to fall in love. Jessica stirs up all the right feelings, but the city girl has no intention of staying in Peach Blossom. Why sign up for a broken heart?

But the temptation is real as Vini goes out of her way to drive a carless Jessica around town. The pair can’t seem to keep their distance—or their hands to themselves.

I picked this up for the gorgeous cover, plain and simple. Unfortunately, the story fell flat for me, and I didn't really connect with either of the characters. It was a quick read, but unfortunately one that won't stick in my memory very long. 3⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

This was a really cute read. I’m always for a meet cute that leads to an even cuter live story. I enjoyed reading about Jessica and Vini and I hope we get more love story’s in peach blossom

The Relationship Mechanic is the very cute second installment in the Peach Blossom series by Karmen Lee. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Jessica and Vini. Karmen knows how to write tension between two characters. The small town setting provides a charming background for their love story. This romance is more insta-lust than a slow-burn, but it's done very well.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a sweet Black sapphic romance with a little angst.

Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books (Harlequin Romance) for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance for this ARC!

Relationship Mechanic felt so real. I enjoyed a woman in a man’s field standing up for herself, the southern hospitality and how it can make things worse accidentally, and the real-feeling portrayal of a lesbian situationship. I found myself rooting for Vini and Jessica and my heart breaking for them in moments where things didn’t go perfectly smoothly. This book felt like home to me and I would highly recommend you pick it up, too!

I'll start this by saying, this is not a bad book. However, it was not what I was expecting. The story is very firm in the contemporary romance genre for sure and is enjoyable for fans of the genre. I did enjoy parts of the story but also found myself skimming or skipping parts as well. The book focuses very strongly in on the FWB, situation-ship of our two main characters which in itself is fine, I just felt there was more smut and not enough story to go along with it. So if you are into that, you will enjoy this book very much! I just found myself wishing there was more to the story. Overall, the story was well written and I would recommend it to some, but it wasn't for me.

First let me start off by saying I think I liked this one more then the first one!!!


From day one the chemistry was there between Vini and Jess. So ofc they had to see where it takes them.

Jess is just passing through small town Peach Blossom after a big media scandal that had her running for the hills. What she didn’t expect was her car breaking down on her way to her bestie Grace’s house. And she also didn’t expect the sexy ass shechanic she met. But oh was she so not disappointed!!!

Vini being the baby of the family always stayed to herself never really branched out. Has one friend. Simple career. Nothing else. So when Jess’ car breaks down she decides to be a helping hand not knowing they would be spending much time together with her being her sisters girlfriends bestie. But she won’t let this opportunity go to waste.

But ofc it was some drama sisters are always going to be damn sisters man.

They were my fave couple hands down, idk something about them just did it for me very well! Yes they were cute ass hell. I loved this so much I def ate it up any chance I got!! I can’t wait to get my hands on the physical!!!

I was so hoping that this book would be wonderful. I enjoyed the writer's voice in the previous book, but had issues with the communication between the two leads. I was really hopeful that this book would be better and make it so I could also enjoy the third book in the series. However, this book was laden with the same deep lack of communication and incredibly unbelievable fighting as the last book. Plus, the reveal of the main characters' relationship/hookup situation lead to the main characters from the first book having the same absolute nonsensical fight as in their book. The lack of growth didn't inspire me to be confident about reading book three. I really wanted to like this one. I think that with another 100 pages, this could have been a really fun book. However, with the Afterglow page count, it feels like this book was just 5 sex scenes and a bunch of characters who are unwilling to have conversations where anything slightly difficult is discussed.

DNF at 20%. I like Karmen Lee, but I don’t know if her books with Afterglow are for me. This one got steamy super quick, before I even really cared about the characters, and that’s always a turnoff for me,

We are back in Peach Blossom!

Cute and spicy sapphic secret romance.

Vini is a car mechanic and meets Jessica (her older sister’s gf’s bestie) and sparks fly! Lol insta love, some spice and some cute personal growth!

Enjoyable.
I hope we get the last sisters romance soooon.

Thanks to netgalley and harlequin romance for an eARC.

🌶🌶🌶🌶

Welcome back to Peach Blossom, Georgia, in this spicy Sapphic romance between mechanic Vini and visiting Jessica.

Jessica is laying low after a scandal and decides to visit her friend Grace. Grace's girlfriend Ava has a younger sister who is just Jessica's type. Sparks fly between these two even with an expiration date looming over them.

If you like spicy, this is a good one. The two characters had a lot of chemistry and really good dynamics with their families. There was not a lot of depth, and very little talking about their feelings, but I feel like the resolution was appropriate. I would have loved more from Jessica, especially as a Korean-Black character.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

I love this book so much!

They dynamic between Jessica and Vinny was so wonderful. I loved how this story unfolded, but I can be a sucker for a friends with benefits to lovers storyline. The spice was phenomenal. I have really grown to love Peach Blossom. This is book two in a series of interconnected stand alones, and while I personally highly recommend the first book in this series, you can start with this book, or even only read this book.

The only slightly negative I can say about this book is that it was a touch predictable and cheesy, but I personally love that in a book.

This was such a fun, quick, and easy read that left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

Fun, enjoyable, very sexy romance for folks who like family dynamics, small town charm, and are looking for main characters who work in the trades. Vini and Jess have amazing chemistry right from the beginning even if Vini's sister, Ava, doesn't want them to be together (and is honestly super annoying throughout the book).
Perfect fun read for a vacation or any time.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Jessica and Vini! This was a fiery insta-lust to love story where we got to see growth in both main characters. Jessica, a commitment-phobe nomad, is on the run after getting caught in a sticky situation hooking up with not one, but two of her mother’s co-stars. She escapes to her friend’s place in the quiet small town of Peach Blossom to let things cool off.

Enter Vini, the gorgeous local mechanic and introvert who’s lived in Peach Blossom her whole life and runs a successful business. When Jessica’s rental car breaks down, it’s Vini who comes to the rescue, and their undeniable attraction quickly turns into a situation-ship that’s off the charts!

I will say the pacing felt a bit off it seemed like everything moved really fast in their relationship, and I would have liked a little more development. That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed this story. It’s such a cute, quick sapphic romance, and can we talk about that cover? It’s absolutely STUNNING!

I really admired that both Vini and Jessica were portrayed as strong female characters and both had jobs that aren’t typically thought of as popular for women (mechanic, and voice over actress). Vini and her petite, cute, and introverted personality, was the perfect balance to Jessica’s outgoing, always on the move, forward personality. Both also being women of color was an added bonus. Their sexual chemistry was off the charts hot, way spicier than Grace and Ava’s relationship. Their ongoing banter and flirting was super cute, especially when they started going on “not so real” dates. I will say since a lot of their relationship did focus on either eating or eating each other out, we didn’t get a whole lot of depth from them or meaningful conversation, especially on Jessica’s side. I wanted to see more interactions with Jessica and her family and know the background of how her and Grace met and became friends.

As for the actual plot, it unfortunately fell way flat because the only thing happening is Jessica and Vini having to figure out where their relationship stands. There is no subplot, no suspense, no actual conflict, besides the fact that the sister drama felt so forced that the actual argument didn’t make any sense and came off super immature and petty. Ava especially was super annoying throughout the whole story, thank God for Dani is all I have to say. Dani and Aiden were my favorite side characters because of their humor and love and support for Jessica and Vini. I also really liked the conversation between Vini and her dad was such a feel good heart to heart moment. From the very beginning it was clear that Jessica and Vini were eventually going to hit a major roadblock given Jessica and her jet setting, never wanting to settle down personality, and Vini having built a life for herself that she enjoys in Peach blossom. I was happy with the final turn of events and both being able to come to an actual compromise, but I’m still unsure of whether or not they have what it takes to make it all the way. Overall, I enjoyed Vini’s side of the story, the sexual chemistry, and the moments involving Aiden, Dani, and Vini’s dad, but wish there was a bit more substance and plot involved other than the inevitable third act breakup.

Thank you NetGalley, Afterglow Books by Harlequin, and Karmen Lee for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! First off, the cover is GORGEOUS and is the main reason I requested this one. Sadly, though, I couldn’t really get into it… I think other readers would like it more, but at the time I didn’t finish it. Still pick it up though, especially if you’re looking for a Sapphic romance!

This book is so sexy and moving! I love Karmen's charming town of Peach Blossom and her sapphic characters. Vini is authentic and driven whereas Jessica is a flirt and still figuring things out. They make a perfect pair and have some steamy chemistry. I could hardly put this down!

Thank you to NETGALLEY for an ARC of this copy. All thoughts and opinions on this title are my own.

Tropes:

- Sapphic Romance
- Small Town
- Friends w/ Benefits
- Hopeless Romance x Can’t Settle Down
- Overprotective Big Sister

This is the second book of Peach Blossom, an interconnected series that follows multiple characters starting with the book “The 7-10 Split.” In all honesty, I did not read that book before reading this one (didn’t know they were connected) and believe you should before reading this one! You don’t have to, everyone’s links to each other are easy to pick up, but it will most definitely enhance the reading process.

I very much enjoyed the small town of Peach Blossom. The setting gave me a warm feel & I like that the side characters (while nosy) were not like other small town romances where they get too involved in other people’s businesses.

Out of the two main characters, I enjoyed Vini the most. A petite mechanic, she was a bit grumpy but was fun to be in the POV of, especially since her family was in the mix and they brought forth a good amount of comedy to her love life. Jessica, on the other hand, while okay felt like she could’ve been a bit more fleshed out. I feel like with Vini we got to see and know practically everything about her, whereas by the end of the book a lot of Jessica’s personality & interests remain a mystery.

The main conflict revolves around Vini’s older sister not wanting her to mess around with Jessica, and if I’m being honest, I’m not a fan of that trope. But I did enjoy the talk they had at the end and how her older sister realized why she was behaving the way she was and made an effort to squish it in the bud.

Lots of sex scenes. I feel a lot of Vini & Jessica’s relationship was built off of sex, but they still had cute date moments that helped sell the relationship. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next book they’re broken up! I kid, I kid.

Very cute. Super short and easy to read. Kind of hallmarky, which is a compliment! Definitely the sort of book you’d pick up when you want something simple to cleanse your palette / to get back on track with your reading goal!

3⭐️
I liked but didn’t loved it
I don’t know why but it felt like it lacked depth in both characters there was so many opportunities for the book to get better but it just didn’t.
It wasn’t bad overall but not great either.
If you’re looking for a short sapphic read it’s a good choice.

This book is cute but I was expecting more. The characters are not fully developed and the romance felt flat, a little bit too instant love and based more on their sexual attraction than something more. Yes, they’re kinda cute together, but they are way too old for this kind of drama. I’d mid this book was a young adult, it should worked more.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I was pulled in by the cover. Like lady mechanic give me it. The story follows a rich free spirit fleeing a scandal Jessica and a hopeless romantic Vini. I didn’t realize going into this book that it was part 2 in a series all based in the town of peach blossom. Overall I thought that the story was cute. This story felt like instant love atleast on vinis part. The spice was ok. The family dynamics was a nice touch but it took away from the romance. There wasn’t really any growth or character development. I think seeing both characters grow even in just 6 weeks would have made the story better