I really loved her writing style, and was completely engrossed for the first 25%, but then I lost interest. There was just no real plot? Lots of fun, but no conflict. It was obvious they'd get together, nothing really stood in their way, and the breakup was OTT. I didn't leave a public review because I prefer to keep those more positive. Thank you for the chance!

Mixed Signals is the third installment in the Lovelight series taking place in the small town of Inglewild and following Lovelight Farms’ resident baker who we met in the previous books, Layla. Layla is extremely happy that her best friends and business partners at the farm have found love, but after a series of bad dates, she’s feeling down and wondering if she’ll ever meet her person. During a particularly terrible date, she runs into Caleb Alvarez who rescues her and drives her home. On the way back, the pair decide to start fake dating as practice since they’re both down on their luck in love. But little does Layla know that Caleb has been harboring feelings for her, and Layla starts to get attached after finally being treated well despite the terms of their one month agreement. I truly thought that In the Weeds would be my favorite book in the series after how much I loved getting to know Beckett and Evelyn, however, Mixed Signals completely proved me wrong! Layla and Caleb are definitely sitting pretty at my number one spot and I’m so thrilled that we’ll be getting yet another book at Lovelight. There’s so much to love in this series from the charming small town, to its quirky residents, to the mouth watering descriptions of Layla’s baked goods, and most especially, the romance. Watching Caleb and Layla’s feelings for each other blossom and see them ease into a relationship with their soulmate is beyond heartwarming. I have so much adoration for this pair of sweet cinnamon roll characters that it truly makes my heart flutter! I really appreciated how well these two characters communicated with one another- something that can be pretty rare in romance. Of course there is still the third act hiccup, but overall, this book was just so nice. I loved reading about two nice people connecting, caring about one another and forming a lifelong relationship. It’s also worth mentioning that I was in a huge reading slump and this book pulled me right out of it!

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison, book three in her Lovelight series, is a sweet, heartwarming and endearing story with a sunshine/sunshine trope. Layla Dupree, a bakery owner, has been unlucky in love. She is looking for a man who appreciates her, wont stiff her with the bill, and who will stick around. Caleb Alvarez, a former deputy but now high school teacher, shows up at Layla's bakery, like clockwork, ordering one butter croissant and coffee, before school. Caleb has had a crush on Layla since he first set eyes on her; but has not acted on them as he has been unlucky in love. Layla has no faith in men because of past experience so she doesn't even notice them until she actually does start noticing Caleb. After saving Layla from a bad date, Caleb suggests that they date for one month. He will renew her belief in men and dating and she will rate his dating skills.

Layla is amazing with her sense of humor, caring nature, and optimism, but she has a lot of internal self-doubts. Her family doesn't support her decision to be a baker and she questions her own judgment, especially the men she’s dated. They both wanted to find love and that right person. Their dates are sometimes hilarious and sometimes tension-filled filled due to their attraction and chemistry. Their chemistry is sizzling and off the charts. Commiserating with each other these two finally find strength, fun, light-hearted happiness, and eventually love in each other.

Mixed Signals is a community affair in many ways with wonderful supporting characters. Delivered with humor and hints of smexy, this is a story to make you fall in love with love again. I highly recommend Mixed Signals to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

As the third book in a small town romance series, I’m always a little hesitant to be excited. Oftentimes in romance novel series, the characters are similar, the story lines similar, and everything just falls flat.
Mixed Signals, however, was anything but that. I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship between Layla and Caleb. Their story line followed the age old “fake dating” but it was so genuine and heartfelt. I had butterflies every time it was apparent that Caleb fell first and fell so dang hard.
Borison writes a story that is relatable, engaging and warm. I can’t wait to read more of her books!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison!

Mixed Signals is a sweet story filled with a confection of delicious ingredients, my favorite being fake dating. Plus, added bonus a book boyfriend who is invested in empowering our MC Layla Dupree, helping her realize she is enough and worth loving.

Give me a book that features food (especially mouth watering baked goods), a partner who respects boundaries and makes the MC feel safe and cherished at the same time, I am all in.

My only stumbling with this one was the conflict between Layla and Caleb towards the end. As we get closer to when the “fake dating” ends, I was trying to wrap my brain around what was going to tear these two apart. I’ll let you experience it for yourself, but for me I didn’t completely buy it.

I haven’t read the other two books in this series, but being they’re standalones, it makes it easy to slip into the first two stories without feeling guilty. 😅

Happy Reading ~ Cece

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: contemporary romance📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Such an adorable and sweet romance between two little rays of sunshine.

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Small town romances
Friends to lovers
Practice dating
Slow burn
Daul POV
Funny laugh out loud moments
Spicy reads
Books that make you feel warn

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
All the baked goods
All the sweet and thoughtful dates
There wasn’t a miscommunication trope

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:


𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “Maybe the reason why you haven’t figured out how to fit your pieces with someone else is because you haven’t found the right puzzle.”
★ “Why are you settling for crumbs when you deserve the whole damn cake?”

Absolutely LOVED this fake dating small town romance!!!

If you want a soft MMC with a funny FMC +small town romance + fake dating? READ THIS!!!! I’m obsessed with anything B.K Borison writes!!!

Also she’s a baker and he’s obsessed with her desserts and it’s the cutest thing how down bad he is for her 😭

Layla has had to watch as her two good friends, Stella and Beckett have found love, and while she’s happy for them, she’d like her chance to find someone special, someone who will cherish her. However, her dating history has left a lot to be desired! Things are about to change when she runs into Caleb Alvarez after a date-gone-bad and he takes her home.

Caleb’s dating history has also been less than stellar, so he suggests they date each other. He’s been crushing on Layla from afar, but somehow his suggestion is taken as an experiment in dating rather than the truth that Caleb has always wanted a chance with Layla.

I’ve really enjoyed all three Lovelight romances, but Mixed Signals is my favorite to date in the series! There was just something so lovely about this couple and the drama was minimal. Layla and Caleb’s chemistry was palpable. Theirs dates fun and hilarious!

As with the first two books, B.K. Borison’s writing was beautiful and gave the story a dreamy quality! I felt like I absorbed every sight, sound, and scent! I was happy to catch up with Stella and Luca and Beckett and Evie. I love how they were so ready to jump in and help or slash a tire (a task Stella was all too eager for, lol) if needed! I’m so in love with Beckett’s utter failure to resist adopting any animal in need!

I alternately read and listened to an audio copy. Pippa Jayne’s voice is soft and rich, perfect for this series! Julio Maxwell was wonderful as Caleb. I listened at 1.75x normal speed. A definite recommend!

t's so beyond rude that caleb alvarez is just words on paper. layla deserves the whole universe. i am so beyond obsessed with this book and these characters. if you're on booktok theres a pretty strong chance you've heard all the hype around this book. this book 1000% deserves it.
its impossible not to get sucked into this story. this is the definition of a book you could read in one sitting because its impossible to put it down. the whole cast of characters is charming, it's so easy to root for these two characters to get together, and it's just such a fun read. ugh i'm so beyond obsessed.

We absolutely loved Mixed Signals! Heartwarming, funny, and charming with some excellent spice! The descriptions of the food will have you salivating...and the male lead will as well. ;) We'll definitely be stocking all of Borison's books and are eagerly looking forward to her next release!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Lovelight Farm series and this one was no exception. While I will admit it was not my favourite of the series, it was still incredibly enjoyable and the characters were so easy to love. The writing, as usual, was top tier, but I felt like the steamy scenes were just too long and too much. This is coming from someone who LOVES smut and steam, but it was pages and pages of steam trying to prove a point I felt.

Another thing that really bothered me was how oblivious the characters felt, like it was so obvious to EVERYONE except them how into each other they were. But that's also my issue with the fake dating trope, which niggled at me a bit throughout this book. Again, it seems like I didn't love it, but I did. Just things that bothered me kept me from loving it as much as the others in the series! The characters were still just as loveable, lovely and easy to fall for as all the others in the series.

I love Lovelight Farms and am so excited to see there will be more stories.

Layla Dupree and Stella Bloom have been best friends since freshman year of college, and when Stella got this crazy idea to buy a tree farm, Layla went with her friend to help. Layla went to college for engineering but opening a bakeshop on Stella’s farm, just felt right, and she hasn’t regretted it even though she gets no support for this nonsense from her family.

Layla is so happy that her friends Stella and Beckett have found true love and are so happy but Layla might be just a little jealous since Layla has the worst luck with men and maybe finding true love just isn’t in the cards for her. When she is abandoned at a restaurant by yet another bad date with the check but no car, Layla is certain this is the last bad date she is ever going to go on.

She is more than surprised to bump into Caleb Alvarez having dinner with his family, who offers to drive her back home to Inglewild. Caleb comes into her bakeshop three times a week for coffee and a croissant so how did Layla never realize how handsome he was. That might have more to do with her “no locals” rule of dating than not actually noticing the sexy man sitting next to her.

Caleb mentions on the drive home that he too has been having problems with his romantic relationships–which is pretty hard to believe since he is absolutely the sweetest man she has ever met–and then he makes the craziest suggestion–that they date so Layla can give him critiques of what he might be doing wrong.

Caleb might be addicted to Layla’s croissants but he is more addicted to the baker herself. He hopes that he can take their month of “fake dates” and show Layla how perfect they are for one another.

THOUGHTS:
Caleb and Layla both suffer from being surrounded by people so in love and they are desperate to find that themselves. Caleb has a large loving family and his parents and grandparents tells stories of their instant love affairs. Caleb’s problem with women has more to do with the fact that he projects his feelings onto the women he dates until he finds out the hard way that they aren’t as invested in the relationship than he believed.

Layla is a disappointment to her family and has a bad habit of choosing men who are emotionally unavailable. This leads her to feel like she doesn’t deserve the type of love the Stella and Beckett have found.

Their dates and fun and romantic. Caleb leads with his big, soft heart and Layla is falling hard for him but she can’t convince herself that she is worthy of someone like Caleb.

The hardest part of this story is that Caleb’s internal monologue says everything perfectly and beautifully explains his feelings toward Layla, but what comes out of his mouth is stuttering. If he would just say the thoughts out loud to Layla, he could have convinced her sooner that they should be together for real.

I thought this was going to be a trilogy about the three friends, so I was very excited to see a preview of book 4 which features one of Beckett’s sisters. I am enjoying my time in Lovelight Farms.

Yeah, you could kinda say I've enjoyed the Lovelight series. I've read all 3 books in the series and missed the first publication of the books but not this time. I've read all 3 of them, Lovelight Farms, In the Weeds and this one, Mixed Signals. The series really is awesome, and I feel such a connection with the characters. The series really builds on each book as they all have characters from the previous books so you're familiar with the characters while adding a few newbies in as well. No worries if you don't read them all or in order they work equally well as stand alones.
This one has the fake dating that we all know always turns into the real thing as they fall madly in love. I will say it was predictable, but you know what, predictable is okay sometimes. Sensual romance that pairs perfectly with ice cream. I sure hope the series continues.

Pub Date 01 Aug 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

what is in the inglewild water!? luka was the playful possessive type, beckett was the shy and kind but gruff type, and caleb is a sweet sugary coating with a spicy delicate but gooey goodness in the middle-type!!

mixed signals was a perfect addition to the lovelight series. Caleb, the former deputy and now spanish teacher, and Layla, lovelight bakery owner, both have trouble with dating and propose a sort of fake dating deal so that they can both have a positive fun experience and Caleb wants some feedback on why he's bad at dating... but honestly, who are they kidding? these two are perfect for each other.

Caleb surprised me, i thought he was going to be sweet inside and out, but that man can be just as spicy as he is sweet... oh, but only for Layla.

“Vanilla doesn't have to be boring. It's very adaptable. You can combine it with all sorts of things to make it delicious."

"You deserve good things, sweetheart. Why can't you see yourself? Why can't you see how incredible you are?"

THE HEIRESS – Book review!

The latest from author, Rachel Hawkins, and I think this miiight just be my new favorite of hers! If stories about rich families with messed up dynamics particularly when it comes to inheritance and “what is rightfully theirs”, than this may be a book for you.

The eeriness of the story is set early on with the kidnapping and return of three year old, Ruby McTavish, in a small North Carolina town near the Appalachians. Ruby is the heiress to the great McTavish family fortune and lived quite a life until her death. In the present, Camden is summoned back to his childhood home to deal with the family he cut off all relations with and who despise him back. He brings along his wife, Jules, for support and their visit is the catalyst to unveiling long hidden secrets about different individuals and the family as a whole.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the different POVs and formats included. Not only do we get dual perspectives from both Camden and Jules, but we also get newspaper articles/ clippings from decades ago as well as more recently, and finally there are letters written by Ruby prior to her death that explain much of her past actions and why she did certain things. All of these different narratives and format did create a cohesive and engaging story that had me continually curious and wanting more. It helped that this also read SUPER quickly and was very easy to binge.

The atmosphere was also done well because the setting of the mansion created a sense of mystery where you just knew something was off. Learning about the different dynamics and drama of the McTavish family was fascinating and I like how the author used certain characters to contrast against each other to show who genuinely had good morals vs. those who did not.

There were many twists and while some were not a huge shock, I did find that others were more well done where it caught me off guard!

Overall, I thought this was a pretty solid thriller and if you love ones that you can read in a single sitting, you will want to check this out when it releases in January 2024!

This small town feel good romance with heartwarming themes was everything I didn't know I needed and was one of my first steps into small town romance

This was so dreamily romantic and sweet. I had so many highlights and adored these two so so much. It was relatable and introspective, while also giving the perfect steamy romance. 6/5 stars. Adored it so much.

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison is the third book in her wonderful Lovelight series. I loved the first two books in this series, as they were wonderful sweet romances; and happy to say I that Layla and Caleb’s story, was equally as good.

Layla Dupree, our heroine and fabulous baker, is the lead in this story. Layla has no success in dating, with so many terrible experiences; she is just about to give up. Caleb, who has had a crush on Layla for a long time, as he is a regular to her bakery; he sees her on a date, with a guy who leaves her with the check. She is frustrated, and Caleb suggests they try to help each other, to figure out what they both are doing wrong; they agree to make an arrangement to date each other for a month. One month of no-strings dating; with no pressure of feelings and expectations. Caleb was sweet, fun, and sexy; and he wants to prove to Layla that she keeps dating the wrong men, as she deserves to have someone treat her with kindness, care, and devotion. In a short time, the chemistry between is sizzling, with things changing drastically. I loved Caleb and Layla together, as they made such a wonderful couple.

What follows is a sweet wonderful endearing romance between Caleb and Layla, with us hoping to find the happiness they both deserved. Layla was a fabulous heroine, as she was sweet, caring, and a fantastic baker (loved all the desserts). Caleb was totally hooked into Layla, and was fantastic hero, who was determined to show Layla how to love. The secondary characters were all so great, which included Stella, Luka, Evie, Beckett, and Caleb’s family.

Mixed Signals was another fun, cute, sweet romance, great couple, terrific secondary characters in this continuation of the Lovelight series. Mixed Signals was a wonderful story, that was not only fun, but probably steamier then the previous two books. Even though this is the third book, I do hope Borison gives us more in this series, as she creates terrific couples. I suggest you read this series, as it’s a fun sweet story, and very well written by B.K. Borison.

I never want this series to end. I read a lot of contemporary romance, like, A LOT, but the moment a B.K. Borison book comes across my kindle I put everything else aside. Mixed Singles was a pleasure to read.