Third instalment of the Sugarlake series -I haven’t read the others. I am hoping I did not missed anything significant.

Anyway, I did enjoy reading this one and the plot line was great. It was a heartwarming and a good story.

The narrators did an excellent job.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks.

This is the third book in the Sugarlake series. Jackson is one of my favourite characters from this series and I had high hopes for his book but it just fell a bit flat. The romance didn't make sense to me and it was all a little too drawn out for my liking.
The narrators did a great job! It was one of the only bright sparks in the listening

This one was really tough for me to rate… because I loved the story and the characters individually. The character development really helped to boost my rating.
The main problem I had with the book was the relationship they had. Although there is nothing wrong with a 9 year age gap, (i too have a large age gap in my personal relationship) something about this just felt wrong. Blakely comes off as super immature for the majority of the book, and something is just off putting about a 28 year old taking an immature 19 year olds virginity. I know it’s legal, but to me her immaturity just made it feel wrong😅
I wish she was aged a little bit older (maybe 21,22) because then I would have been able to rate this a little higher.
As for the audio book itself, I really liked Blake’s narration. She played the character beautifully. On the other hand, I wasn’t in love with some of the choices made by the male narrator, but all in all a decent audiobook. 4/5 on the audio 3/5 on the story.

4.25 ⭐️, 4🎧
This is the 3rd book in the Sugarlake Series and the first one that I am reading. Actually, it is the first time I am reading any Emily McIntire books. I am so glad I took a chance on this audiobook from NetGalley. The narrators, Brooke Bloomingdale and Liam DiCosimo due a fabulous job in bringing this story to life. The way they convey the different emotions that each of the characters go through is so heart felt. It made it really hard to actually stop listening to it for the day.

This book is the story of Jackson Rhoades, the local mechanic in Sugarlake that has been pursuing his dream of heading to Hollywood and using beautiful cars on the set of movies. This was a dream that he and his father shared. When he lost his dad, he became even more convicted to pursue it.

Also, the unrequited love of his life, Alina, reconnects with the love of her life, Chase Adams, Jackson knows he needs to take his broken heart and move on with his life. While he never told Alina exactly how he felt, he thought for sure she would fall for him since Chase had cheated on her and left her for his career. Now that Chase is back and Alina is slowly learning to trust him again, Jackson knows that it is time to move on. See her with Chase hurts too bad.

As he makes his slow transition out to Hollywood, he thinks he has been hired to restore cars for Mr. Donahue. Unfortunately, his boss also asks him to keep an eye on his young daughter because she tends to be a little unruly and is very strong willed in making a name for herself.
Blakely Donahue is a force to be recokoned with. She is followed by millions on the social media platform but struggles to feel like she is truly loved. Her mother died giving birth to her and her father has completely withdrawn love and affection from her because she looks so much like her mother. Blakely feels very alone in a very demanding world that requires you to look perfect all the time.

Jackson is not convinced that Blakely is as bad as she makes herself out to be. Jackson knows that there is something deeper that Blakely is hiding from her father and the rest of the world. What he soon discovers is that Blakely suffers from severe anxiety and has an eating disorder. Blakely must control every bite that goes into her mouth along with the fact that she exercises 3-4 PER DAY. Jackson recognizes these unhealthy habits and slowly tries to help Blakely cope with them. Unfortunately, Jackson cannot help but fall for Blakely. Not for her beauty but for her sweetness and her passion for what she is trying to accomplish for herself without using her dad’s name in a very cut throat industry.

This age gap romance is everything you need it to be – sweet, hot, and a huge emotional rollercoaster. The care and tenderness that Emily McIntire takes in putting this type of mental health struggle on the page is absolute perfection. You feel every panic attack that Blakely has and you feel how deeply Jackson wants to help turn her around.

Enjoy reading - Peace ☮️ and Love ❤️ my friends!

Thank you #NetGalley and #Blackstone Publishing for the ALC of this book. I am definitely going back and reading book 1 and 2. #Beneaththe Hood is a must read.

4.25⭐️ 3🌶️

I really enjoyed Jackson and Blakely’s story. There was excellent mental health representation throughout the book. The way Jackson was always there for Blakely was sweet and heartwarming. The amount of pressure Blake was under was ridiculous. The ending was sweet and perfect!

I was so excited to finally get to Jackson's story!

Blakely Donahue is a 19-year-old influencer—gorgeous, famous, and being crushed under the weight of expectations and wanting to be perfect. Social media loves her, but its not the REAL her.

Enter Jackson Rhoades. 28 years old, heartbroken, and just trying to focus on his dead Father's dream job of restoring classic cars for Hollywood movies. Except… His real job? Babysitting his boss’s young, fake, socially obsessed daughter.

She’s too young and he’s off-limits. But they’re the only ones who actually see each other. Heartbreak, love and healing make this a wonderful read.

I was so happy to see Jackson get his HEA. I loved how the author tackled the challenge of social media and our idea of perfection. Blakely represents people with anxiety, depression and eating disorders.

I did not enjoy this book, primarily because of the age gap. I don't think a 9 year age gap is too significant, except when the younger side of the gap is a literal teenager. I did not appreciate that fact prior to requesting the book, so I will apologize because I am certainly not the target audience. In addition to the age gap, I felt there was a large maturity gap between the FMC and MMC and did not buy into their chemistry.

This book was sweet. It is definitely a good introduction to this small town for me (this was the first one I read … oops I read them out of order) and it did a good job foreshadowing (or referencing past books if you read in order) to the characters that clearly have a passionate love story.

I loved our female main characters depth and her acknowledgement to a lack of a support system and inability to see her relationship with food for what it was. It shows when you are so deep in it that you cannot see what it looks like from the outside in. The one thing I really took issue with is that this romance was so one sided because he worked for her father and their age gap that when they got over that so fast at the start of seeing each other it just felt like a relationship of convenience or a friends with benefit situation at the start. I love when romances show they can overcome anything as long as the love is there which this book does at the end but I would have like to see more internal conflict towards the beginning. That being said I will definitely be reading more from this author and more from this series if there are more because I really enjoyed the world and the character in it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story!

Blakely Donahue is a 19 year old influencer struggling with her career and the devastating impact that social media fame can have.

Enter Jackson Rhoades, 28 year old mechanic with a drive to fulfil the dream his father never got to see.

They are both off limits but they can’t fight the pull that draws them together. Jackson and Blakely have immediate chemistry both physically and emotionally.

If you like age gaps, spice, dual POVs and gritty real life scenarios then this is the book for you.

This was a fast paced romance and not without its ups and downs.

I thought Brooke Bloomingdale and Liam DiCosimo did a fantastic job at bringing Blakely and Jackson to life. I did find I was pulled out of the immersion when both had to try and do the other characters voices and at some points it did make me laugh but I appreciate voice acting isn’t easy, I sure couldn’t pull it off!


Take note of trigger warnings for OCD and disordered eating especially but I do think these were handled with care and attention by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing - Audiobooks and Emily McIntire for this audiobook ARC!

This book is for someone, just not me.

I could not feel connected to Blakely. She is an influencer, with family issues, disordered eating, and a desire to be perfect. The majority of the book she felt whiny and annoying to be honest. Granted she is 19 and does not appear to be someone who has had to act like an adult for any reason. Jax is a 28 year old employee of her dad’s company. He’s been tasked to watch out for her and the two become close. He has a lot of damage himself and a lot he hasn’t dealt with. He references sex as a way of coping, but he also has this desire to care for Blakely like no one else has. Their story dragged on and was a repetitive cycle of the same thing just with different wrapping. It was not written well and I could not stand the male narrators female character voices… it was unfortunate. The only reason this book went from one star to two is because the ending was redeemable-ish.

Also if the main character has to say “I forget how young you really are…” that may be a cue to not proceed…

If you like age gap, secret romances, heartbreaks, and lots of angst you may enjoy this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing Audiobooks for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

ALC Review~ 3.5 ⭐️

This is the 3rd book in the Sugarlake Series and I was so excited to receive this audiobook, having read everything by Emily McIntire except for this series. I wish I would’ve read the 1st and 2nd book since they are interconnected standalones, but you are still able to fully understand the plot and characters if you start with this story. I really enjoyed the narrators and the MMC’s southern accent!

When I tell you I love an age gap and this book definitely had it. Blakely, who is 19 and a Hollywood social media celebrity and Jackson, who is 28 and moves to Hollywood for a job restoring classic cars for Blakely’s dad. Jackson is then asked to keep an eye out for Blakely, who is forced to work in her dad’s shop. Blakely always had her eyes on Jackson and knew just what to do and say to push his buttons. The forced proximity and tension in the story was so good!

I really felt for Blakely throughout the story, being so young and having to deal with anxiety, panic attacks, and the pressures of the media. And Jackson! Well he was perfect in every way and deserved the world. Having moved away from his hometown to heal from heartbreak, he was always there to calm and center Blakely, but he knew that she did so much more for him than she realized. I enjoyed Blakely and Jackson’s story and think you should give this series a read or listen!

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this ALC! I’m looking forward to finishing up this series!

I’m so happy that Jax found someone. I felt bad he was tied up on Alina. The age gap was done well, I was nervous. Loved getting the audiobook

I felt extremely awkward listening to this book. A romance with a teenager that is dealing with a lot of mental health and body issues insta love with a guy 10 years older?

Not for me. Narrators did a fine job, I wish the guy didn't try to go so high on womens voices.

This is an easy to listen to romance that tells the story of two people that should not fall in love. The age-gap between them and the way they grew up is only the beginning of their differences. He has lived a lot of life and she is just figuring out who she is. They come together in a big way making it her first ever true love. This book has some depth in the issues that each one of them face. The audiobook is from duel perspectives with a male and female voice reading the respective chapters. I was not a big fan of the voices but I do enjoy when they have different actors reading the parts. If you are looking for an easy read/something easy to listen to romance with a touch of spice, this could be the book for you.

Thank you to Emily McEntire and Blackstone Publishing for the ALC via NetGalley!💌✨

Beneath the Hood is the third book in the Sugarlake Series, which features four interconnected standalones. This is my first Emily McEntire book, but I’ve heard so many great things about her Never After series, so I was really excited to dive into this one.

Please be sure to check trigger warnings, as this follows an FMC with an eating disorder, panic attacks, and anxiety!

I think the audiobook was such a fun way to experience this story! It had me laughing at times and kept me entertained, but I would have loved it more if the narration was done in duet style, just because there was a few times that made me giggle when the narrators read each other’s parts.

While I enjoyed the story, I struggled to connect with the characters and to feel their chemistry. I feel like the story was a little dragged on and repetitive at times. I was not particularly thrilled about the ending. I really try to be a girls girl, but the way Blakely acted was just so out of pocket and unnecessary.

I loved the mental health representation and feel like it was portrayed accurately, especially for someone, such as Blake, who is surrounded by the pressures of social media.

Overall, this was a decent read! I think it just was a little too immature for my liking. If you’re interested in a forbidden romance, then I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

I’m usually not into age gap romances but this one just made sense. Jacks deserved so much love. Ever since I read about him in book one, I needed him to have a happily ever after and I’m glad it was delivered. The story about Blakely and her struggles was beautifully written and executed. The spicy scenes were so good and the reunions between couples was everything I wanted. THE ENDING?!? I can’t wait to read about Lily

This was a good read, and I liked how she has represented disordered eating. I didn't feel the chemistry too much with the main characters, but still intrigued throughout on where the story was going

Beneath the Hood by Emily McIntire had me completely hooked! I genuinely couldn’t stop once I started. Blakely’s character felt incredibly honest and vulnerable, and the way her inner struggles were portrayed gave the story unexpected depth. I like that making her more relatable. She’s a young woman living under constant pressure, and watching her try to reclaim her sense of self was both heartbreaking and empowering. Jackson was the kind of character who brings quiet strength to the story—supportive without being overbearing. Their connection felt sincere, even with the noticeable age gap. The romance was tender, the tension was strong, and the story had just enough spice to keep things interesting.

This audiobook was enjoyable, however I found the anxiety and eating disorder affect of the book more annoying rather than relatable. I think it felt more superficial to me rather than something deeper but as the book went on it didn't bother me as much. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what about it bothered me. Definitely might not be good for someone if they are not comfortable with those topics as they are a big theme in this book. I'd give it 2.5 stars.

I really enjoyed this audiobook! I’ve been a fan of Emily McIntire for quite awhile and have been wanting to read this series. I should have started with the first two, but I’m excited to go back and read them now. I adored the characters in this one and I loved their romance together. The female lead especially stood out to me in this one. I loved how real and relatable she felt, despite being a celebrity. Overall, I really loved this one and would definitely recommend!