Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man is a story of love’s redemption for both for Vanessa and sheriff Michael. While they come together for a mutual goal of hopefully saving Michael’s sister, Cindy from the evil and conniving hands of Vanessa’s ex-husband, an insta-attraction fills both Michael and Vanessa that becomes harder to deny.

When Vanessa’s one day stay turns into what would be a weeklong stay, she finds love and a whole lot of lust in the arms of the towns most eligible and sexiest bachelor’s, Michael. Warning: STEAM is present, and I love steam, but for readers who don’t—prepare yourself. To me, this added to the goodness of the story!

This book spoke volumes about redefining your life after tragedy for both characters, and wiping out the fear of loving and living life to the fullest.

I must say I listened via audiobook, and I do think that took some of the luster away. The selection of the narrator did not fit, and I must say the delivery was lackluster and underwhelming. This book definitely would’ve benefited from the dual narration (male & female) that it called for, or at least, a female narrator who could inflect where sexiness and sass where needed. The tone throughout sounded more like senior citizens (70+) rather than 40 year old people.

It also took a while to sink into this one as the first few chapters felt a bit redundant. But once we moved past that, the story took off. Michael and Vanessa grew in such a short time individually and as a potential couple. It left us rooting for them while also enjoying how they embraced their differences and tackled their inner demons. Their friends were a breath of fresh air adding the right amount of support and comic relief. In the end, all parties got exactly what they deserved—bad and good. There’s even a possible tease at a second book, that will leave your interests highly piqued. A well written, must read!

Thank you to OrangeSky and St. Martins Press for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but it just wasn’t for me.
I loved how diverse it was, both with POC characters and older characters, with a victim of domestic violence that honestly was done very well.
Sadly the insta-love killed it for me, there was no progression in the relationship and I didn’t care for it. It was also spicy but even those scenes didn’t feel good to me and it’s probably because I had no interest in the characters at all.

Divorced MC Vanessa, gets wrapped up in her ex's con of his new fiancée, by Michael the hot sheriff trying to prevent his sister from marrying the wrong guy. A cute read but didn't fully connect to these characters.

Vanessa and Michael's story was grown, sexy, and real. I love a mature romance with older adults and this one delivered. Listening to Vanessa's character and the growth she had was great. Her growing past her previous hurts and healing spoke to me. Michael was a wonderful lead. He was a strong, steady male lead with his own handful of problems, but it made him feel real. The personal connections and friendships were real and plausible and added some depth to the story. The sexy times were spicy and hot just like I like them! My only complaint is that I felt sometimes that the characters still weren't as fleshed out as they could be. It seems that LaQuette will have a series which was lightly teased maybe in the ending chapters. I would love to listen to that and enjoy more time with the Savvy, Sexy, and Single Club. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life and I really hope that if any more iterations are made they will be on board to narrate again. Overall, this book gets a 4/5 for me.

While the concept for this novel initially intrigued me, the actualization lost me within the first few chapters. Neither of the main characters felt well enough fleshed out in that time to follow further nor did their circumstance/the premise of the story itself feel believable enough to go along with.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. This is the first title I've read by this author. I enjoyed this mix of steamy romance and chick-lit. Vanessa is a mature woman, post divorce from a 20 year marriage. It was refreshing to see her come into herself and find a fulfilling relationship with a good man. Loved the solid female friendships she forged as well. It's definitely a refreshing change from your younger, first-love romances. I'll be looking for more from this author.

Such a fun listen. I adored the characters, i love a small town setting and this book did not disappoint. Would recommend.

This was a cute cute romance, the characters were older. Vanessa has just gotten out of a 20 year marriage. Michael Park is a small town sheriff who goes looking for Vanessa to ask her for help. Turns out her Ex is trying to marry his little sister and he needs her help to talk to his sister.
Vanessa doesn't want to get involved but she always wants to help someone not make the mistakes she makes with her ex who was the worse!

Michael and Vanessa have a instant connection and she's not looking for anything and for him his sister always is his number 1.

This was a cute romance but it was insta love for me and I'm not the biggest fan of instant love so that was a knock for me but I hope she writes more from this group especially for her best friends they are trouble in the best way.

This is Book 20 of 30 for September participating in the Bookopoly Readathon


Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Orange Sky Audio for this Audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

LaQuette's Vanessa Jared's Got a Man is a refreshing romance. Vanessa is a newly divorced woman looking for her purpose in life. She is trying to get her life on track after her abusive relationship of 20-plus years. Her ex-husband was a cheating, lying manipulative man who emotionally abused her once she started to prioritize her wants. At a group session for newly-divorced people, she ends up befriending the ladies who would start The Savvy, Sexy Singles Club with her and keep each other accountable for making progress in their after-divorce lives. Two years after forming the Club, Vanessa still feels like she has not found her purpose when Michael suddenly comes knocking. At the mention of her ex, she walks away but when Michael explains that he needs her help so that his sister doesn't fall into the same trap of marriage with her ex-husband, she feels reluctant to say no. Vanessa ends up in forced proximity with Michael as a result and he wins her over. Vanessa is able to confront her ex, help Michael's sister and make the moves necessary to move on from her past. The narrator does a great job injecting life into the story.

LaQuette knows what she’s doing! What a spicy, fun, and heartwarming story about a woman finding her groove and strength again after leaving an emotionally abusive man. The characters were cohesive, fun, and brought unique aspects to the story. I had a lot of fun reading this.

I really liked this book. I loved the characters, it was so satisfying when Carl got his. This book reminds me of How Stella Got Her Groove Back. The emotional and mental abuse were all too relatable and all too familiar. This was my first book by LaQuette, I intend to look into her other books. I love finding new authors.

Happy Birthday Week to the sexy, funny and smart Vanessa Jared’s Got A Man. 🎂🥳🎊🎉 It published September 20, 2022.

As soon as I saw this gorgeous and sexy cover I knew I had to read this book. Vanessa and Michael are a BIPOC wet dream 🥵 🔥 They heat up the pages of this book with their flirty, fun, steamy scenes.

Michael, a Sheriff of a small town, asks Vanessa, a 40 something divorcee, help to keep his little sister from marrying Vanessa's ex. Vanessa agrees to help only after seeing a picture of his sister wearing her grandmother's engagement ring - stolen by her ex. As the two plot and plan, sparks fly between them and they find themselves falling unwittingly in love.

I loved the cultural representation in this book. Michael is Korean American and Vanessa is African American and though ethnicity and culture is never an issue in this book it is not ignored.

The biggest issues facing Vanessa and Michael is her reluctance to get in another relationship after her disastrous marriage and their living in two different towns. Is Vanessa willing to let her past hurts go and take a chance on love?

I thoroughly enjoyed listening/reading this fun sexy book. I loved seeing Vanessa, find her voice and confront her ex and reclaim her power and confidence. Michael was a wonderful swoony hero that you can't help but fall in love with. He's respectful, protective, honest and gorgeous. It was so fun watching their chemistry explode onto the pages. I hope more #multiculturalromance like Vanessa Jared’s Got A Man finds its way into bookstores.

Thank you @smpromance @stmartinspress for my finished copy & @orangeskyaudio for my ALC

I went into this book having heard some mixed reviews so I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. This book was fun and heartwarming, and I loved that the characters were a little older but still going after their HEA. I can't wait to see if LaQuette will continue this series with the side characters in this book, it seems perfectly set up for them to also get HEA's and I'm excited to see what happens.

Loved the premise of this book and absolutely adored the female protagonist, she is a strong independent woman. I loved the friendship group. Such a delight to listen to.

Michael and Vanessa have an instant attraction and connection. The only problem? Vanessa is the ex wife of Michael's soon to be brother-in-law and he needs Vanessa to hopefully keep this wedding from happening. From the first chapter of Michael's POV, this man is down bad for this woman and I love every second of it. Vanessa is such a powerful FMC in so many ways. Not only does she have the money and the luxury, but she is healing from a toxic, abusive relationship and ready to stop another woman from falling into the same trap she did with a terrible man. I love the small town aspect and the friendship between Vanessa and her girls. This was such a quick read and listen (I alternated between the audiobook arc and a physical copy of the book that I bought. The narrator of this did well and kept me engaged the entire time.

Thank you #netgalley for an early listen to #VaanessaJaredsGotaMan

This was a solid read. I enjoyed the beginning of this book and everything it was leading up to, but the end left me wanting a bit more.

The relationship in this book is very insta-lust which was fine at the beginning, but I was hoping to get more substance of their relationship as they spent more time together. I also wish more time was spent on the resolution of the whole abusive ex-husband situation.

I really enjoyed the writing and concept of this story, and I'll definitely be checking out other books by this author!

Two years after her divorce, Vanessa Jared is still struggling to get back to a normal life. She discovered her husband of twenty years had been cheating on her, but that was only the surface reason for her hurt. He’d been emotionally abusive and controlling throughout their life together. When Michael, sister of her ex’s current fiancée, arrives at her door, asking her to open up those wounds so his sister doesn’t suffer the same fate, Vanessa reluctantly agrees to talk to her. Along the way, she starts to catch feelings fur Michael, but doesn’t yet trust herself or anyone else in a healthy relationship.

Vanessa Jared’s Got A Man is a humorous, deep romance, with lots of spicy scenes, a strong female main character, and lovable, endearing supporting characters. The abuse and control is not described in detail, it’s just briefly mentioned. It definitely held my interest and wasn’t entirely predictable like most rom-coms out these days. Highly worth reading!

#VanessaJaredsGotAMan:⁣
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When Toni Braxton was singing about, “and I can’t get you out of my head” she was seeing in the future to this book, Vanessa Jared’s Got A Man, because I cannot get this book out of my head! Admittedly, this is my first LaQuette book, but it will not be the last.⁣
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First off, I want to talk about Vanessa Jared herself. This women is inspiring and phenomenal. I love how LaQuette wrote her as a character. We have this strong, amazing, caring, intuitive woman, who is healing. She is a victim of emotional abuse on the behalf of her ex-husband, and she’s what many would consider an unsuspecting victim of it. The vulnerability was so realistic as EA is something no one should endure, but just like other abuse, strong, powerful women can fall prey to an abuser. I loved that Vanessa was cautious, but still understood her true worth once she was in the process of healing. Maybe it’s because the characters seemed to be in their 40s..ish, but as I grow older, I can appreciate this type of character because I’ve seen it first hand.⁣
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The many times I squealed, or hand over mouth, or hand clutching pearls were so good. This book is very steamy, but Michael and Vanessa’s connection was undeniable. I did do an audio combo, and headphones around smaller ears is definitely needed. AKA if you’re in the school pickup, you better change to Spotify. The readers of the audio were wonderful and highly recommend the audio.⁣
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I LOVED The Savvy, Sexy, Single club! They gave me Farrah Rochon’s TBP trio feels. Each woman was completely different, but they all had an understanding and caring for the other to truly have a meaningful relationship. They held each other accountable, but still gave the love and care a true friend would.⁣
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Thank you so much @smpromance @orangeskyaudio for the gifted copy! I could not put this short, but sexy, read down! Vanessa Jared’s Got A Man is out today!⁣
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*As always, if you’re a BIPOC reader and want my ARC of VJGAM, DM me and I’ll send it over, no strings attached. Let’s put own voices books in the hands of own voices readers. ❤️⁣
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#SMPInfluencer #smpromance #laquette #MilesOfPages #Bookish

LaQuette is officially becoming one of my favorite go-to romance writers. Because, damn does she know how to write one smokin’ hot smut scene - and her male main characters are the real deal (I mean, where can I find my own Sheriff Michael!?)

I absolutely enjoyed Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man as an audiobook, which was narrated by Denise Wallace. Wallace did a fabulous job with the different voices, pacing, and putting some extra sizzle into her voice during the hotter scenes in the book.

I truly loved that this was not just a romance, but a woman who was emerging from the cocoon she had built for herself after her divorce and extorting her power - her independence - in a new relationship. While Vanessa could easily have come off as a wealthy, stuck up, snob - she didn’t.

It was also refreshing to read a romance novel where the main characters aren’t fresh-faced (Vanessa is in her 40s) and with lots of diversity! Michael and his sister are Korean and that is a big part of their background and who they are.

LaQuette’s Vanessa Jared’s Got a Man publishes September 20, 2022.

Thank you to NetGalley and OrangeSky Audio for the advanced listening copy!

I will have two different (but not really) reviews, one for audio and one for the e-book. It may look like a duplicate, but here is the audio review.

Vanessa Jared's Got a Man by LaQuette, and this one wasn't doing it for me. I understand this novel is meant for the older crowd. And it makes sense to have a person in that age range tell the story of that generation. But dammit, I'm 30-something years young, and even I can admit that the narrator sounded.... seasonally aged for this story. I could not connect with the characters because of this. Try as I might, I could only picture the describer sitting in the studio reading the book. It took away from the imagination of the story, and that's where I messed up. I did end up switching back to the text to fill out what I've missed in the character's personalities, but I think the damage was done by then.

Overall I rated this book 3-stars. It was okay. I appreciate this black romance novel not being the typical ghetto love story to which most people connect black and romance, so that was a breath of fresh air.