The complete NYCE Girls Romance series (1 to 4) in one massive sizzling box!
Experience the lives of four New York City gal pals as they’re taken up by the Alphas of your dreams. One by one. In the steamiest way possible! A friends to lovers, a secret affair, an enemies to lovers and a soul mates story. (Should be read in order but all books are also standalone each with its own HEA)
Join … HEA)
Join Grace, Jazz, Cara and Beth, as they navigate work, life, friendship and family in The Big Apple, while each of them finds love in all the right places, AND while they have each other’s backs every step of the way…the way besties should!
A brand new series from four-time Amazon best seller, Raquel Belle.
HEA satisfaction guaranteed!
Book 1: Boss-Zoned!
Grace Peterson has been working for Nick Parker for 7 years! At this point they’re more like best friends. The girls even call her his work wife! She runs Nick’s life like a Swiss watch and he spoils her like she’s his girlfriend.
Neither of them has been on a date OR been intimate with anyone since they slept together four years ago (They were celebrating and “technically” he wasn’t her Boss at the time).
See, Grace has a rule: Don’t mix work with personal lives. She basically Boss-Zoned him. Now, they’ve been fantasizing about each other for the last three years.
When Nick takes Grace to Paris to sign a client, they end up “celebrating” again, and don’t stop!
They’re faced with a choice: Leave each other forever…or finally admit what they are.
Book 2: The Boston Wedding
As the oldest of the girls, Cara Conley is starting to think she’ll never find love. So when she goes to Boston for her little sister’s wedding, and the first person she meets when she arrives is a Hot-As-Hell construction worker with muscles like Thor and a smile like Brad Pitt, she says “Yes” when he asks her out.
Beth, Jazz and Grace even help to coordinate her outfit over a video call.
She’s super excited and has a great time on her date, ending the night with what should be a one-night-stand.
That’s until she goes to her sister’s in-law’s house the next day…and finds out that Jason Levine is her sister’s fiancé’s step-brother! Her future brother-in-law!
Book 3: I Really Love to Hate You!
As a journalist, Beth Espinoza has many rivals, but none of them quite as annoying as Anthony Preston. She tells the girls so often enough. Beth hates him more than anything in the world!
After finding themselves working the same story at rival newspapers, Anthony tries to sabotage her at every turn.
When Beth ends up needing Anthony’s help, they grudgingly agree to work a source together and share the information, soon discovering that the line between hate and love is a thin one…divided only by passion.
Book 4: Just for The Holidays?
Jazz normally spends Christmas with Beth, Cara and Grace, but this year, after a long time, she’s going home for the holidays. The girls exchange gifts early at their usual spot and Jazz flies out.
The last person she expects to see when she gets to their small, middle of nowhere town is her high-school sweetheart, Trip Tucker.
After a ten-year stint in the armed forces, Trip is eager to pick up where they left off, even if Jazz isn’t quite sure. She’s convinced that their lives are too different, though Cara advises her otherwise.
But, that’s not the only thing standing in their way. Someone’s determined to see Jazz leave, and for Trip to forget all about her. Trip’s late best friend’s widow, Trisha Martin…and she’ll do everything she can to keep the two of them apart!
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I read all four books provided as an ARC. I really wanted to like these books, but I just didn’t. The best one of the bunch was the last one. It was Jazz’s book. It was OK at best. It wasn’t nearly as irritating as the previous 3 books.
Book 1: Boss Zone
I was bored out of my mind and frustrated beyond belief. I could not wait for it to end. I didn’t like Grace with her indecisive behavior and all of the angst. I felt like she was playing a game with Nick, and when things didn’t go her way, she punished him with her somewhat erratic behavior. Nick wasn’t perfect, but Grace was ridiculously immature.
This was not cute, or sweet, or romantic, or even sexy behavior. There was no buildup of sexual tension. There was no sense of romance. there was no chemistry or connection. The sex scenes were not enticing. I had to make myself not skim through them. This was just a woman accepting whatever a guy had to give until she was dissatisfied, wanted more, and acted out.
Book 2: The Boston Wedding
I thought it was going to be so much better than book one. I was engaged in the story, even after Jason and Cara met each other in Boston. I could also understand why he didn’t tell her who he was from the very beginning.
At this point, I could sense the direction in which this was going. But, I was still good, just waiting to see how this would play out.
The book lost me when Cara made such a MAJOR deal about keeping the relationship with Jason a secret. Why?
Cara was supposed to be some hotshot attorney and NEVER asked why they were eating in an empty restaurant? She made assumptions without thought or questioning anything. I thought attorneys were a little more cynical then that.
At this point, I am really disliking Cara, who is in her 30’s and supposed to be an adult. I also disliked her sister Laura. She was childish and petty. Even after her explanation, it didn’t absolve her of her behavior or her acceptance of Jason’s offer to make amends.
I am wondering why Jason would want to waste his time with Cara. She did not come across the same way in Book 2 as she did in Book 1. She was more than a bit disingenuous.
If I had a physical copy of this book, I would have thrown it at the wall long ago. Long before the reconciliation came about, I didn’t care. I could have handled it if they told people about the relationship and kept overshadowing the wedding by being all over each other. Then Laura would have had an understandable reason to be pissed off.
I was really disappointed. This started out with such promise and devolved into some kind of high school ridiculousness. It was a struggle to finish this book.
Book 3: I Really Love to Hate You
The beginning of the book was a bit difficult for me to get through. I honestly think it had more to do with the enemies to lovers trope. That is just not my cup of tea. When some of the animosity between Anthony and Beth died down, it became a much better read for me for that reason.
Although it was an easier read, I got no sense of romance from them. Plenty of sex, but the romance seemed more like lip service. They were supposed to fall in love. They were supposed to say the words. They did. That’s it.
The story was seemed to go on too long with them doing not much but having sex that was kind of meh. I wasn’t feeling any emotion, buildup of sexual tension, or romance with Anthony and Beth.
There were no surprises in this book. I knew they were going to get together. We knew he was going to keep a secret. We knew he was going to have a hard time telling Beth about it. We knew she was going to find out and get pissed. We knew they were going to make up and live HEA.
It was interesting to me that the only part of the book where I felt any genuine emotion attached to these characters was when they were enemies.
I did like Naomi and Jess. I also liked Oscar. So far, I like the NYCE Girls a lot more when they are interacting with each other than when they are on their own.
Book 4: Just For he Holidays?
This book was the best of the bunch. It was a quick read. The pace seemed faster than the other books. There was not a ton of agonizing and angst on Jazz’s part like there was with the other women. Even with both Jazz and Trip taking so long to clue into Tricia’s motives, it didn’t go on forever, therefore it was not irritating.
The romance was not too bad. I felt Jazz and Trip had more of a connection. Felt no sexual tension or chemistry whatsoever, just a connection like they liked each other.
I did like both Trip and Jazz. They seemed to be somewhat naive considering the lives they had led, but they were both likable. Even when Jazz pulled that dumb stunt towards the end while trying to be noble, I didn’t end up disliking her.
They were a couple of things that had me confused. certain comments made where there wasn’t enough info in the book for someone to read that conclusion.
The other weird thing was her parents relationship. I felt like I was always missing something.
It also stood out to me that Jazz was not always on the phone with her besties. In Cara’s book, practically the entire time she was in Boston, Cara was calling her girls for advice. Beth and Grace barely made a move without running it by the girls. Jazz didn’t contact them to the point I thought the twist in the book might be she decided to stay in Tennessee.
I cut out large parts of my original review for each book because it contained a ton of spoilers. The other thing that bothered me about this book and the others were the characters description.
It seemed to me that they each had a feature that was mentioned often, (like Jazz’s curly hair), but I was never able to create a complete picture in my mind of what these people looked like. Maybe that is why I felt no real connection. Everyone was beautiful, toned, built, and perfect, but I could not give a complete description of one person in this book of the others.
The 4th book, I would probably rate at three stars. That would be the highest rating I would give it. The others, I wouldn’t go as high as three stars.
I would suggest you read the books and judge for yourself. I just couldn’t imagine adult women behaving like these “girls” did.
I voluntarily read and reviewed the Advanced Reader Copy of this book.