First impressions are everything when it comes to business, but what about when it comes to matters of the heart? Blow Me Away pushes all the right buttons to brighten any day. Hovland spices up the bookshelf by appealing to the heart. Jase and Heather turn a relationship of convenience into a humorous meeting of the heart. Awesome.

As the second book in this series, this one did not disappoint! It was fantastic! Baboushka was my favorite! I want to see more of her. Maybe Anna’s story?

Three and a half stars.

Jase Dvornakov was a bomb disposal expert until a tragedy sent him home to his family's flower shop where he hides away making bouquets and prom corsages. Heather Reese owns a cookie shop opposite Jase's floristry shop, after a shocking break-up she has sworn off men, instead spending her time at the local senior centre. She's volunteered to organise a Seniors Senior Prom for the residents of the senior centre and is trying to drum up interest and donations from local businesses, including the Dvornakov's florists.

Jase's well-meaning but interfering family are constantly on his case about getting a girlfriend so he tells a little white lie, he tells them that he and Heather dated, she dumped him and he's heartbroken. We all know what happens with little white lies don't we? Suddenly Jase's crazy Russian grandmother is exacting a very expensive vengeance and Jase has to promise a whole load of favours to stop Heather getting his grandmother Babushka put in jail.

Heather is all about finding the one, she wants the dog, the picket fence, the family car and the kids. Jase had all of that, then his wife found another husband and took the dog with her. Now he's all about the temporary. Can their explosive chemistry overcome Jase's misgivings?

If you thought the best part of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels was her crazy family then I think you would love this book. Babushka blackmails her family by threatening to die at any minute, she dates multiple unsuitable guys, she throws her money around like confetti, she cooks amazing cookies and does her own thing in spectacular style. This is definitely a romantic comedy - so many things I don't want to spoil for you but I chuckled quite a lot at Jase's crazy Russian family and their antics and the shenanigans at the seniors centre.

I very much appreciate Christina Hovland sending me a NetGalley widget after I was refused an ARC.

I received a free copy of this book from the author via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

​​​​​Christina Hovland authors another winner with Blow Me Away. This is a funny and sexy read that I could not put down. The well-defined characters blew me away with their genuineness and humor. This is the second novel from Ms. Hovland's Mile High Matched series, and it can be enjoyed as a standalone. The first book in the series, Going Down On One Knee, is wonderful as well.

Erotic cookie baker Heather Reese, and florist Jase Dvornakov, are neighboring business owners. Their prior romantic relationships turned out bad, so as a result, they prefer to dwell in their singleness. Then Jase's eccentric grandmother, or Babushka in Russian, decides to play matchmaker and all bets are off. Heather and Jase fall madly in love and find their forever together, despite a couple of fibs, some family interference and a purposeful (no injuries) van wreck.

This is a humorous romantic read! Heather and Jase are easy to get to know and their sexy times are hot both in and out of the bedroom. Although Jase's former life disarming bombs for the Navy causes him heartache from time to time, Heather's presence has a calming effect. Jase's Babushka steals the show and I could not get enough of her shenanigans. Don't pass on the opportunity to read this book!

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

4 - "Sometimes avoidance is key to survival…" Stars!

The second book in the Mile High Matched series by Christina Hovland is the first I have read by the author, and Blow Me Away can absolutely be read as a standalone(although I feel like I need to read its predecessors now just to be fully up to speed with everyone).

This is a weird one for me to review to be honest, because I spent a large portion of the book trying to decide whether I was actually enjoying what I was reading even though said reading was no struggle at all, and if I did or didn’t like the main characters, of which there are three, if you count Jase’s Babushka as she has almost as much page time devoted to her as he and Heather do.

I’ll admit it was the unique blurb that piqued my interest enough to want to read the book in the first place, and as sometimes happens in life, when you are introduced to someone new, you don’t necessarily warm to them straight away, but over time and with the interactions you have, you begin to feel more amenable towards them. My feelings for Jase and Heather are akin to that. I grew to like them and their families and friends as their story progressed.

"This whole thing between us is just so… I mean. I wasn’t doing this again, and you weren’t… And now we are."

Low stress/angst, plenty of secondary characters and banter, a few laughs and an easy-going story-line, I will definitely look too read more from this author in the future.

This was a netgalley book: Fun romance that reminded me of the Stephanie Plum books. Centred around two business-owners who become caught up in a comedy of errors when interfering family, well, interferes. A wide cast of friends and family, particularly a very determined grandmother, made the story for me. The cookie bakery was a great idea, although I'm not sure I'd eat some of the biscuits aimed at hen nights. I don't know who came up with the tagline 'he's the florist your mother warned you about', but I shall be laughing at that for some time.

Great story. Enjoy reading Jase and Heather’s love. There’s an instant attraction between the two. The secondary characters are a good addition to the story. The grandmother is hilarious. Engaging read. Recommended read

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, sexy romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

Overall a fun and snarky story of flower seller Jase and cookie maker Heather. Did I mention she makes pornographic cookies? His mother didn't find it funny. With the antics of Jase's grandma, and the back and forth of the side characters the book trips happily along. Fun read, and one I highly recommend.

An unexpected delight!

I read the blurb and was a little skeptical about a male ex-navy-man-turned-florist, but thought I'd give it a chance as it was a unique character. I'm so glad that I did. This story was so funny and engaging that I read it in one sitting. As many others have said, Babushka stole the show in this story and made it work.

Heather has been burned one too many times and has sworn off men and Jase is still recovering from his divorce even after several years, but their "breakup" at the beginning of the story sets up a roller coaster ride that you just hold on tight and see through to the end. Delightful and unexpected secondary characters help flesh out the story.

I look forward to more books by Ms. Hovland.

Needless to say, we all need a Babushka to defend our honor. Jase's grandmother stole the show and I was laughing out loud by her crazy antics. Besides that key character, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the series and was overjoyed with the unique concept. Jase is desperate to avoid his family meddling and proposes a fake relationship breakup with his cookie penis maker extraordinaire business neighbor, Heather. Soon after word spreads that she “broke his heart”, she's been Babushka'd and finds herself a new employee, roommate and new potential in-laws. When the pretend breakup becomes the real romance neither was expecting, together they’ll have to decide if it’s finally time to light the fuse on love or let it all fall to pieces. Christina Hovland's “Blow Me Away” is a heartwarming tale about how opposites attract and is the perfect blend of sweet, sexy and downright funny. Moreso, you can't go wrong with this book.

When a florist and a baker share a fake break-up---what could possibly go wrong? This novel is filled with fun family drama, romance, and a lot of crazy shenanigans. However, the real star of this novel is Babushka. If you have ever wanted a crazy fun Russian Babushka that does whatever she wants and meddles in all of your business with hilarious results---this book is for you.

Jase's grandma is a little crazy. Who knew what it would lead to. Blow Me Away, is hilarious. I had to wipe my eyes several times from laughing too hard.

5 stars!
Christina Hovland where have you been hiding? Because this book is one of my favorite reads ever and YOU might be my new favorite author! I read this book in one day because I was so in love with it, I didn't want to put it down. I laughed so hard that I almost cried! The writing is brilliant. The plot is adorable. I loved every second of. I loved it so much I went and bought Going Down On One Knee and read that one today!!

Christina Hovland, you now have your new biggest fan right here!

Loved it!
Christina Hovland is now one of my go-to authors.

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Babushka
The humor
Friends to lovers
Part of a series: Mile High Matched
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

I look forward to reading the next book in this series.