Love means wanting to share your popcorn but Ruthie can’t do it. Ruthie’s a free spirit, moving in and out of relationships faster than a Baby Yoda meme goes viral. It’s easier being the heartbreaker rather than letting anyone get close enough to be disappointed.Trev is a teacher, plodding along on his screenplay in his spare time, which he now has lots of, thanks to a recent breakup. He isn’t … of, thanks to a recent breakup. He isn’t looking for love, although his mother thinks differently, spending more time than she should playing match-maker.
Their meet-cute is more loathing than love, involving wine, a ruined shirt and enough banter to raise the eyebrows of their friends. Even though everyone seems to be finding love, neither Ruthie or Trev think it’s in the cards for them.
Except that Ruthie keeps popping up in Trev’s life, and the more he time he spends with her, the more Trev looks for ways to see her again. And Ruthie starts to worry that this time, it’s not going to be Trev’s heart that will be broken.
Pass the popcorn.
After Flora and M.K., now it’s time to fall in love with Ruthie!
Pleasantly Popped is the follow-up to Perfectly Played & Beautifully Baked
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Red wine and popcorn
After reading Beautifully Baked first, as I received a copy of it, I bought and read Perfectly Played and now I have read the third book in the Love & Alliteration series, Pleasantly Popped. This is also the last book in the series as in it Ruthie, the third friend, finds her live with Trev. Holly Kerr has done a lovely job with this well written RomCom which is a great addition to the series. Besides their story you also get some updates on both Flora and M.K’s relationships and lives. This was a fun read that was enjoyable.
Trev and Ruthie initially don’t think much of one another, after meeting under not great circumstances (though it WAS funny).
They both have relationship issues – Trev’s mother keeps setting him up with women who are totally not who he needs, and Ruthie has a history of dating men but not hanging on to them for long.
Ruthie and Trev are such different people, she’s colourful and opinionated, and he’s more structured and conservative, but maybe dating someone their opposite is just what they need.
I love a good rom-com and I really enjoyed this. Ruthie and Trev’s story was such fun to read – this was my fave of the series! I also loved that we got glimpses into how the relationships from the first two books have travelled.
Holly Kerr, ‘Pleasantly Popped’.
Apparently love means sharing your popcorn. A novel.
As a Hidden Gems ARC reader I received a free copy and promised an honest review. Here it is.
Rating: 4 stars (of 5).
In general: Different personalities attract each other.
Main characters:
– Ruthie Shaughnessy(25).
She’s a versatile woman: nurse at the family nursery, has a real estate license, an Early Child Education diploma and – almost – a Bachelor degree in Psychology. But she happily works as an esthetician at a wax salon.
She’s sassy, likes to be the centre of attention and has a string of broken hearts in her wake, but at the age of 25 she’s still a virgin.
– Trevor Cain(34).
He teaches English at United Canada College for 8 years now and is in his free time a screen play writer. Trevor is a tall very good looking man but a bit lazy in the dating scene. He lets his mom suggest his dates and then he’s surprised they often aren’t a success.
Trev and Ruthie meet at a party when Ruthie accidentally spills wine over his sweater. Trying to help him she washed it, but then ruins the thing by putting it in a dryer. So when they meet again he’s annoyed and a bit surly to her for it was his favorite sweater.
The author, Holly Kerr, then describes how the two very different personalities – with ups and downs – start to like each other and give in to mutual feelings of physical attraction after some accidental(?!) meetings. The rest of the plot is logical, the extra characters are wonderful and the dialogues are sassy and often funny. Both main characters have to overcome problems from their pasts; these are credible and created with insight and feeling. For me the novel was a pleasure to read.
R.Huiszoon.
This well written book with great characters that are well developed and engaging and the storyline flows smoothly from beginning to the end.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Clean and Funny Romance
This is a very cute and clean romantic comedy. It is the third book in a trilogy, now I need to go read the other two books. The story is cute, fairly unpredictable and Clean. It involves couples from the prior stories and stands alone perfectly. There is lots of sass and laughs. I received this ARC book for free from Booksprouts and this is my honest review.
This is a fun book and a really wild ride! Ruthie is a unique person who has no home and no job. Actually, she lives at various times with her aunt or with friends and she works at various temporary part-time jobs. Ruth and Trev meet at a party when someone bumps her and she drenches Trev with red wine. This is the start of their love-hate relationship. If you enjoy romantic comedy, this is the book for you. I highly recommend it. If you have not yet read Perfectly Played or Beautifully Baked, the stories of Flora and M.K., be sure to look at them also.
Disclosure: I voluntarily read and reviewed a free copy (ARC) and have given my honest opinion.
A really good story about opposite attraction being felt by two people that all rational thought would say could never work out on any type of permanent basis. The author did a marvelous job of keeping the interest piqued in how this was going to end with all the witty banter and overall snappy dialogue. I really liked both Ruthie and Trev and was rooting for them to get their HEA!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Wow. Both Trev and Ruthie are so much more complex than we’d been allowed to see up to this point. They’re both wearing masks to hide their tender, wounded hearts. On the surface, those masks make them seem like polar opposites. But you don’t have to scratch very deep to see that this pair has a lot more in common than they think. Past events have left them gun shy and hesitant to trust in a relationship. Trev and Ruthie have immediate chemistry. It’s not really the good kind though. They have to go through a lot in order to find their way together. One thing that frustrated me about this book is that we get tantalizing hints about their past emotional traumas, but there’s no proper resolution to them. But at the end of the book I’m still left wondering what really was the story with Trev’s former fiancée? And, can Ruthie and her mother build a healthy relationship between them?
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through Booksprout.
This is a lovely romance where opposites attract. There are definite sparks whenever Ruthie and Trev are together. I enjoyed this fun, full of sparks love story. I received an arc of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
An enjoyable opposites attract romance! The characters are well developed and wonderful to get to know and so easy to fall in love with. This is book 3 in the series but can be read as a stand alone book without being lost. Definitely a fun romance to get caught up in.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
ONE SMASHING WILD RIDE!!!
Dip diggity! Holly unleashes one side-splitting, lock-jawed, sensational, page flipping delight that hooks you from the start and reels you in for the duration, fusing this baby together seamlessly. Add drama, intrigue, undercurrents, suspense and outstanding situations, along with a boatload of mishaps, you have one exciting adventure. A throng of unexpected circumstances and surprising events blast those swirling emotions into a tizzy with fun-filled results. Illustrating incredible, well rounded scenario’s, that punch dead center with such exuberance and gusto, grounding in it’s strength and awe inspiring in it’s depth. The characters are authentic and realistic with personalities and depth that blow this baby wide open. The scenes are so colorfully descriptive it gives the illusion you were right there in the middle of ground zero with them. Incredible job Holly, thanks for sharing this bad boy with us.
Pleasantly Popped is a sweet, opposites attract, romantic comedy. Although it can be read as a stand alone, this is the third book in the Love & Alliteration series. Since I have read the first two, it is nice to get updates on couples from the other books. Beautiful, colorful, outgoing Ruthie meets said and steady school teacher Trev when she is bumped and the red wine she is holding stains his cream colored sweater. It is fun to watch these two start spending time together while denying that there could be anything between them. I enjoyed this well written romance.
“Everyone needs more Ruthie”
While Ruthie may not be everyone’s cup of tea, she sure is an entertaining heroine, and there is never a dull moment when she’s around.
“I’m very good at offending people, even though that’s not always my intention.”
With her take-no-prisoners approach to life, the universe, and everything, Ruthie is a force to be reckoned with! And while I found it not always easy to like her – in a way, I can relate to Trev’s initial prickly reaction to her – my heart was breaking for her, and I fouond myself enthusiastically rooting for her to go and get her man.
Predictable, routine-loving me found Trev to be a lot more relatable – though he sure had his judgmental and jerky moments, and his own share of hang-ups to overcome.
“Ruthie is a whirlwind; moving at tornado speed and sucking up everything in her path. But I’m not a storm chaser. I don’t even like high winds.”
I loved watching these two squabble and banter while they were slowly falling in like (and more) with each other – against their better judgment – and it was fun to reconnect with the usual suspects (Flora and Dean, M.K. and Clay, Adam and Patrick, and, of course, Reuben).
4.5/5
I really hoped we would get Ruthie’s story, but didn’t expect it. I was so pumped when I saw that my wish came true! Oh beautiful and full of life Ruthie. So much humor in this book. I love the way Holly writes!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I enjoyed reading Pleasantly Popped. This is a wonderful sweet romance story. I love the characters. They are perfect together. This book is fun and romantic.
How can two people so different connect so easily? Every time Ruthie and Trev are in the same room there is a challenge. There are spark of attraction, fighting and arguing. Can they make each other get out of their comfort zone and face their fears in order to find love and happiness? A really good love story.