Hot honey hideaway

Book: The Hot Honey Hideaway: An utterly addictive, cozy and spicy small-town romance by Harper Graham

Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5

𝓝𝓞 𝓢𝓟𝓞𝓘𝓛𝓔𝓡𝓢
⚜️𝔻𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕠𝕗- The hot honey hideaway

𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 Bookouture Audio via NetGalley 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐢 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤.

⚜️ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤-
🗣 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5

🌡️ 𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲🌶🌶 / 5 -𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠

Which books have I also given this same rating? (𝑠𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑚𝑦 𝑠𝑡𝑦𝑙𝑒𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛)

5⭐️ Fourth wing / Bound by inked flame / Anathama / The Lies of Lena / Of silver and Curses
4.5⭐️ Bitten / The Female / Quicksilver / Bride / Lights Out / A Bargain so Bloody
4⭐️ Spellcaster / One Dark Window / From Blood and Ash / Phantasma / Butcher & Blackbird
3⭐️We Who Will Die / The Wolf King / Daughter of No Worlds / The Ex Hex

⚜️𝕂𝕖𝕪 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕠:
Genre- small town romance

🎧 7 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 48 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 (I 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚗 1.45 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚍)

📖 306 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝗣𝗢𝗩 / 𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚘 𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲-

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁 or 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 driven? 𝒜 ℳ𝒾𝓍

𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲 & 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗻𝗼- standalone but book 4/4 in an interconnected series- this is the only book I have read in this series.

𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 on 𝗞𝗨? ✅𝒴ℯ𝓈.

Grab an iced latte and fall into a small-town romance full of chemistry, quirky charm and a dreamy HEA. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Laurie Gilmore and anyone who loves cozy café vibes and spicy romance.

🍯🍯🍯

Tropes:
Summer romance
Workplace romance
Small-town romance
Steamy + cozy
Forced proximity
Found family
Family comes first
Independent and hard working FMC
MMC who fits his life in a backpack
Spicy

⚜️𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒓, 𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒕?⚜️
(𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡- 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑜𝑟 𝐴𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑜?) -I think you could do either and truly enjoy the ride!

⚜️𝔸𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕠 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨:
The narrator was Andi Eloise and she is perfect for not only small town romances but solo narration in general.
The audiobook experience absolutely elevated this read for me. Andi Eloise, who once again proves why she’s such a go-to comfort narrator, is one of my favourite voice actors, especially for solo narration. Her intonation and inflections were crystal clear and so believable all the way through. I loved her voices for the different male and female characters, I particularly appreciate the fact I could tell them apart! It makes listening to a book so much easier and far more enjoyable when you can relax into it knowing that you will always understand what’s going on and who is speaking. I found that She keeps the energy lively and engaging adding some good emotion even breathy huffs where needed, without tipping over into the irritating theatrical vibes. It was purely enjoyable.

Story review:
First I would just like to address a couple of points that seem to be repeated in many lower rated reviews-
1️⃣Yes it’s insta lust, if you don’t like that trope then move on.
2️⃣Yes they fall for each other pretty quick- but a lot of people are having issues with the speed of their feelings, first of all you all seem to be missing the big obvious point of the reason behind their speedy fall- they each have what the other has only ever dreamed of… he has freedom, travel, beauty, no responsibilities and she has a family, a home, friends and support guiding her every move, not to mention the community support and all round warm fuzzies of the life she lives. This gives them so much more chemistry which is shown in the way they understand each other and ‘click’ together in a purely perfect way!
3️⃣ the life swap training days- these were a great part of the story however, if you have 0 interest in photography or taking in the world around you then yes you may find this section less interesting. There are only small snippets of instruction behind a camera but they are 1000% necessary to create that tension, the steamy moments were their bodies brush past each other and of course, the magical and beautiful moments that being still and just watching leads too…

Ok so onto my thoughts-
The Hot Honey Hideaway absolutely transported me to small town midwestern, with lakeside living. Where nights are long, fireflies dance, and your friends are all there with you. Read this for the vibes and the feelings it will leave you with.

Picture this-
camping in a tent
Cowboy coffee over the fire
A new-in-town crush
A mystery to solve
Cute Dachshund doggie
BFF girlfriends
Hot honey margaritas
Homemade crank ice cream
Fireside laughs and chats
A small town fundraiser
Lots of community spirit
A game of dares
MMC travel photographer
FMC entrepreneur
Summer love

I don’t usually do the cozy romance genre, this is because I’ve found that there’s not enough drama and tension in it to keep me entertained, but after reading the blurb this one really intrigued me and I’m so glad I went for it because I truly loved it! Not one boring moment inthe story, all the cozy moments were full of steam and spice and tension that was deliciously thick! I went into Hot Honey Hideaway expecting drama and tension free cozy romance and got the opposite: a dreamy lakeside escape soaked in long summer nights, crackling fires, hopes and dreams, bff friendship groups, hot honey margaritas, and two people who are obsessed with each other at first sight. (I read a lot of fantasy and I would liken this to a fated mate bond)

And listen. You need to know what kind of romance this is before going in. This is not sharp-edged tension, foreboding drama, sweet love with an easy ride and no work being put in, and it’s also not dangerous attraction, emotional warfare, or “I hate you but I’d ruin my life for you” energy.
This book is soft, I’ll put in the work for you, I see you and understand you, full on green flag energy, honey-sweet and healing.

I loved the romance element of course, but I also fell in love with the community, her grandparents, the hideaway itself and the busy life she led.

One of the more standout aspects of this book is Harper Graham’s writing style. This was my first read of hers and I’ve found that she has such a warm and immersive way of writing, it makes you feel part of the story, the community and truly emotionally connected to the characters.
There was a lot of great things going on in this book, it was well paced and flowed so smoothly that it felt too easy to get drawn into the town. The vibes throughout the story along with the emotional moments, and cosy atmosphere all came together beautifully. I especially loved the mystery element surrounding the grandmother’s disappearance, and the exploring that came along with it — it added drama, adventure, history, secrecy and suspense without taking away anything from the romance.

What didn’t fully work for me was the third-act drama. It felt constructed rather than meaningfully organic, especially Krista’s dynamic with her mother. Her mother suddenly turning up after thirteen years of being emotionally absent felt unrealistic and I just didn’t believe it. Also, sister fight, all sisters fight, yet there was nothing but support in their relationship- even after she dared to do what she did there was no fallout or even a discussion let alone an argument or emotional understanding/closure.

Yes, you know a romance is predictably heading toward its HEA, but the point of reading it is always in waiting and watching how the author gets the couple there.

Overall, this was such a cosy and enjoyable read filled with romance, mystery, and a strong sense of community. I ended up truly loving this story, I’m happy to say that I loved it far more than I expected, (as it’s not my usual genre) and I would definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy heartfelt small-town romances with a serving of strong and loyal FMC’s, a spoonful of community spirit, a dash of intrigue and a sprinkle of mystery.

Read full review on ARC Library