Review & Giveaway - - The E.M.M.A. Effect

The E.M.M.A. Effect

by Lia Riley

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: December 2, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

Harriet Smythe’s AI was supposed to create sports legends—not encourage her crush on her best friend’s totally off-limits, hot younger brother. But when funding runs dry, she has no choice but to enlist Gale Knight as her test subject. The same Gale she’s been secretly crushing on for years. The player who follows her every instruction with a knowing smirk that threatens to short-circuit her carefully maintained system.

Everything changes when The E.M.M.A. determines that finding Gale’s perfect match is essential to his peak performance. Even worse? According to its data, that match is Harriet.

Determined to keep things professional, Harriet makes it search for new candidates. But as Gale dutifully endures awkward outings with pop stars and athletes, the chemistry between them only intensifies. And his willing cooperation during their sessions definitely isn’t helping her stay focused.

With her deadline approaching and The E.M.M.A. still playing cupid, Harriet must choose: trust in pure logic, or admit that sometimes taking control means letting go.

Maybe The E.M.M.A. knows something they don’t—even if they’re not ready to compute it yet.

PJ's Thoughts:

Part STEM, part hockey, and full-on best-friend's-younger-brother romance, Lia Riley has crafted a funny and emotionally complex romcom that kept me entertained throughout. 

I love the best friend's brother/sister trope. This one gave me the tried and true plus interesting twists that made it original. It was fun to watch Gale and Harriet dance around the attraction between them. Their interactions are endearing, sometimes awkward, sparkling with chemistry and at times, a bit frustrating. 

Nobody is more frustrated than E.M.M.A, the AI creation of Harriett and her team. E.M.M.A. is a shining star of this story. I loved how she gradually evolved throughout the book, gaining surprising insight and capabilities not only into Gale, the subject of Harriet's testing but into Harriet as well. She may be AI but she's a pivotal character in her own right and surprisingly believable. 

Harriet is brilliant, accomplished, and totally lacking in relationship self-confidence. She also has control tendencies, in and out of the bedroom, which have not been appreciated by past boyfriends. Hence, her current rock-bottom dating self-worth issues. But, then there's Gale, her best friend's younger brother, her secret crush, a man who, unbeknownst to Harriet, is more than willing to relinquish bedroom control to the woman he's been half in love with since middle school. Bring on the spice. And the kittens. Can't forget the kittens. 

If you enjoy STEM, hot hockey players, younger men, adorable kittens, spicy romance, humor, emotional depth, and sassy, know-it-all AI computers, check out Lia Riley's The E.M.M.A Effect. 

Have you read Lia Riley yet? 

Do you enjoy take-charge heroines in the books you read?

What are your favorite animals in books? Kittens? Puppies? Something else?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, December 15, 2025 will receive a print ARC of The E.M.M.A. Effect.

*U.S. only

*Must be 18

Review - - Puck & Prejudice

Puck & Prejudice

by Lia Riley

Publisher: Avon

Release Date: November 12, 2024

Reviewed by PJ

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a modern single man in possession of a hockey jersey may be exactly what a Regency woman needs to avoid the shackles of marriage...

Goalie for the Austin Regals, Tucker Taylor is benched due to health issues. So he decides to visit his sister in England. But an accidental plunge into an icy pond thrusts him back to 1812 where he comes face to face with a captivating blue-eyed woman who regards him as if he’s grown two heads.

Lizzy Wooddash dreams of a life surrounded by books, engaging conversation, the presence of literary icons like Jane Austen, and... nary a husband in sight. But in Regency England, only widows like her cousin Georgie enjoy freedom and solitary pursuits, unencumbered by expectations. The only way to quickly become a widow is by marrying a dying man or killing a perfectly healthy one, neither of which Lizzy desires.

A visitor from the future might just be the husband of her dreams. Once married, they can figure out how to return Tucker to his proper time, and his absence—aka death—will make Lizzy the widow she always dreamed of becoming. Yet as sparks ignite, they soon realize that matters of the heart rarely adhere to carefully laid plans. Can their love stand the test of time, or will Lizzy get exactly what she wanted...as well as a broken heart?

PJ's Thoughts:

Did I have to suspend disbelief to read this book? Yes. Did I jump wholeheartedly into Lizzy and Tuck's time-travel romance with complete and utter joy? You bet I did. 

Riley had me from the get-go with modern-day hockey pro, Tuck suddenly finding himself stranded in Jane Austen's time. Not only her time, but her neighborhood. Then she added in Jane's friend, Lizzy, a Regency miss determined to outsmart family who treat her more as a commodity than a person. It is the Regency, after all. Marriage of convenience, anyone?

What happens when Tuck and Lizzy get together is fresh, fun, endearing, and yes, believable. I laughed, I sighed, I cheered, and I was surprisingly okay with the unconventional HEA (no spoilers) which totally works for these two. This is a book I can definitely see myself rereading in times when I need a mood boost. 

If you're looking for an engaging, entertaining, slightly steamy, feel-good, time-travel romance to lift your spirits and give you a reprieve from holiday stress, look no further than Puck & Prejudice by Lia Riley. It's an absolute delight. 

Review - - It Happened on Love Street

It Happened on Love Street

By Lia Riley
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: April 25, 2017 

Reviewed by Maria Lokken

    

Why would a young, attractive, smart law school graduate leave the excitement of New York City, sell all her belongings and move to Everland, Georgia?  Why indeed? Well, it’s part one of her life plan. The town of Everland has offered her a clerkship and our heroine, Pepper Knight, believes it’s the perfect stepping stone toward a solid career and a steady paycheck. But when she arrives, nothing is as promised.  Left with no money and a lease on a rental cottage she can’t get out of, Pepper is stranded, everything she was counting on seems to have melted away into the hot Georgia sun.

However, all may not be lost, because she runs into the very sexy, very handsome, very, very, Rhett Valentine. Yeah, that was a double very because the author has created a character so swoon-worthy you need to catch your breath a few times before you turn the pages.

The opening of the book seems a bit forced but you will be handsomely rewarded once you get past the first twenty pages.  After the heroine and hero’s initial encounter there is so much to like about this book that you’ll want to get settled into your favorite reading chair, grab your snickers bar, and hope you don’t have any early morning appointments.

Let’s take the plot.  What I assumed would be a predictable story, was anything but. After the initial meeting the story opens up and breathes. Nothing is rushed and the pacing is perfect. Through the author’s deft use of dialogue, her quick wit and sense of humor, you meet a host of characters who are distinct, quirky and alive. You almost forget you’re reading and feel as if you’ve been dropped into Everland, Georgia and are a local resident watching the events of the day. It’s that seamless and that immersive.

Much of the book is concerned with Pepper’s inability to realize she cannot live everyone’s life for them, or be solely responsible for taking care of her family. As a storyteller, Ms. Riley writes movingly on the relationship between Pepper and her father. And she brings our heroine to the understanding that living one’s life is about taking a chance that each day you’ll find a way to make your own happiness. There’s nothing sentimental about this relationship, it’s honest and a perfect portrayal of what one hopes their relationship with their father would be or has been. There is a certain delight in seeing characters outgrow those things that have held them back, it gives this reader hope that all things are always possible.

So, let’s recap, Lia Riley has:

·       Created a heroine, that’s strong, beautiful, and smart.  Who in the end doesn’t give up herself to be with the man she loves.  That gets a A plus plus from me.

·       Created a hero who is a composite of every woman’s fantasy of what a caring, loving, I’m-so-into-you man should be. Whose words will take your breath away. Oh, and I forgot to mention, in the bedroom, it’s all about her. Yeah, he’s good there too.

·       A story with pitch perfect pacing.

·       A book with a sense of humor.

·       And a happy ending.

Lia Riley is a contemporary romance writer with a unique and exceptional voice.

It Happened on Love Street has a wonderful line from the heroine, Pepper Knight – “Her detour to Everland was a shortcut to forever.” I thought this was such a well-placed line encompassing many aspects of the book.  What are some of your memorable or favorite lines from books?