Book 2 of the Seven Shores series finds coffee shop owner Autumn deciding to forge a life outside her beloved coffee shop, The Cat’s Pajama’s. Meanwhile hero firefighter Kate needs to get away from the small town that is smothering her with their praise, so she hits the road for a short trip to California and some fun. When the spark is obvious between Autumn and Kate we have a classic set up for the “will she wont she” decision and another solid romance from Melissa Brayden.

Autumn is the rock of the Seven Shores gang, the most grounded and the natural mom. When she decides to take control of her life and have a baby, alone, it might seem a rash response to news of her ex, but it’s a long-term decision she knows is right for her. Embarking on the process of artificial insemination she doesn’t expect to fall for a gorgeous tourist with no plans to stay. Firefighter Kate has a tragic backstory, and the slow reveal, she is a hero who hates the limelight. Her attraction to Autumn is strong, but her home is elsewhere and she knows it will only be a short-term thing.

The ensemble cast continues to develop into a wonderful set of friends. Hadley takes the crown as the dominant secondary character in this one, but all play their roles in both the main plot and the emotional development of the whole. These friends have quickly become some of my favourite people.

Melissa Brayden is literally the master of this genre. She writes great characters with depth and feeling we can relate to… Her stories are on the one hand light and fluffy feel good romances, and we all know there will be a predictable HEA.. but they all have a twist, there is substance to the lives and histories of these women, and enough complexity to make even a jaded romance reader like me enjoy the reveal. Well written as always, with moments of laughter and a deep affection for her cast, Brayden’s books might follow a prescribed arc, but never feel rote or repetitive.

First off, I love Melissa Brayden's lesbian romance novels. I really enjoyed the first book in her Seven Shores series, and Hearts Like Hers is a good follow up. After finished this book, I sought out the third and forth books (it took me a little while to read this galley after I got it). I'd recommend this book to all fans of the genre.

I was good the dynamic of both MCs are amazing. The chemistry the attraction are heart stopping.
All in all it was a great read

*~~*ARC kindly provided to me for an honest review *~~*

- Review to come

Review originally posted on my blog with added content on Mikku-chan / A world full of words

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book, and I absolutely flew through it. You can read this book as a standalone, but I would recommend reading the first book in the series. What makes this book so amazing more so than the romance between Kate and Autumn is the friends that are incorporated into this series. The friendships are so real and amazing that you get sucked into their world, and you can see each of their individual personalities shining through. You will not regret giving this book a chance.

Good day! Before anything else, I would like to extend my deepest, sincerest gratitude for sending me a digital review copy of this book (via NetGalley). Thank you very much for the opportunity!

Unfortunately, I am sad to say that I have lost interest in this particular title, and consequently, I have decided against finishing it. Forcing myself to finish a book I am disinterested in (solely for the sake of finishing it) can only negatively impact the entirety of my reading experience, which, in turn, could result in me writing an unfairly negative review. That is a circumstance I hope to avoid. With that said, I believe that the best course of action is for me to simply not read it and to refrain from publicly posting any feedback regarding this book.

I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Again, thank you for the lovely opportunity!

This is a nice story about taking control of your life and looking for love.

I found it a little hard to connect with the charters in this story.
To beginning with I felt the story was telling me how much Autumn and Kate liked each other but i wasn't really feeling that connection or even understanding why the characters were feeling it, this nearly made me stop reading the story. However, i decided to give it one more go and really got into the story (went from 20% to 65% in one sitting and i'm a slow reader).
By the end of the story i was enjoying the narrative, understanding the charters motivation and could 'feel' their connection.

Its a little predictable but that doesn't take to much from the sweetness of the story.

"I wondered if what we had was enough to make you want to stay"

* * *
3 / 5

The sequel to Eyes Like Those, Hearts Like Hers switches focus to feature Autumn Primm, the owner of the coffee shop The Cat's Pajamas. Like it's predecessor, Hearts Like Hers is a sweet and steamy romance, but it was a little too light to be memorable.

"What can I bring?" Your awesomely thick dark hair. Your kind heart. The lips I'd go to battle for.

August Primm loves coffee. She loves her job but recently it seems like the fates are conspiring to make her feel lonely. Her ex just got married (she felt that it would be seriously rude to turn down the invitation), she just turned 34, and she's still single. Then into her life walks gorgeous Kate Carpenter, a firefighter running from a tragedy. But they're agreed - just something causal - so what could  possibly go wrong?

Hearts Like Hers is a fluffy romance at its core; it's cute and fairly typical. Autumn's down and ready for a fling when Kate struts into her life. Kate's taking a break from her job; she rescued two kids from a house fire but their father died. Her town hailed her as a hero, but Kate is full of guilt and seeks comfort in the arms of Autumn. Their romance is smouldering with a fair amount of chemistry.

"I don't think I can be who you want me to be"

In the end everything seemed a bit too simple. Hearts Like Hers gets most of its tension from external stuff: Autumn has been planning to be artificially inseminated for a while and Kate's consistently worried about the two kids she saved from the fire. But these things get resolved really easily. What also didn't work so well for me was the other members of the Seven Shore cast - like in Eyes Like Those, with the focus on the main character the other women become pretty interchangeable -  Isabel, Hadley, and Gia.

This book could stand alone, but it is also a natural continuation of its predecessor. If you liked Eyes Like Those you'll probably like Hearts Like Hers.

My thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for an ARC of Hearts Like Hers

This is the first book I've read of Melissa Brayden, but after finishing this one I'll definitely be reading more of her work!

The book was enjoyable and fun to read and the characters and their chemistry together were written brilliantly, can't wait to get my hands on more of her books

The Queen did it again! She made me stay up too late at night reading the book! I love the characters in this book and was so happy to see another chapter in their lives.

Hearts Like Hers is the second book in Seven Shore Series but it can be read as a standalone (I have not read the first book yet but I could follow this one with no problem). It might help to connect with supporting characters though, but it is not a glaring problem.

THE CAT’S PAJAMAS is a coffee shop I’d always go to. Besides the nice owner an reasonably cool (sometimes) helpers, Autumn’s talk of coffee…It’s the name. I loved it!

I am not a huge fan of insta-love to be quite honest, and here I think it was used to the extreme. It felt like they were ‘all in love and couply’ (even though they did not admit it to each other) in seconds. The whole start of the relationship was so fast I barely followed.

But at the same time, neither Autumn nor Kate are prepared to admit that they have actual feelings for each other, telling themselves it is temporary. I did like how supportive Kate was of Autumn, as well as Autumn’s friends. I mean she had A LOT of support.

On the other hand, Kate’s issues were mentioned a few times at the beginning with the nightmares but suddenly there was nothing related to that? I also admit I was surprised with the final outcome. It wasn’t as cliche as I assumed it would be.

So, all in all, this is NOT a bad book. It is a nice f/f romance for easy reading.

Autumn Primm is the proud owner of ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ a trending coffee shop that she loves but all she does is work. Time to have some fun. Kate Carpenter is a small town firefighter who need a break so she decides to spend her down time in Venice Beach, where she rents an apartment where she meets some women who are friendly and through them she meets the lovely Autumn. Ms Brayden take us along for another fun read where we again get to spend time with Gia, Hadley and Isabel, Autumn's best friends who quickly become the people Kate can also count on to be there when needed. Let’s see, Isabel has found love, now Autumn, so who’s next, Gia or Hadley. Looking forward to Brayden’s next book. Very enjoyable read.

Fun lesbian romance. If you are familiar with the genre, you know certain elements and plots will be used. However, somehow it all seems fresh with these women. Great for a summer/beach/vacation light reading.

This was a enjoyable read. I really liked the characters. They were very likeable and real. The plot had no holes and it was believable. However, it was very predictable to a point. There was a slight twist to it, but it was not a surprise ending. I did like the story and I would recommend it.

I usually find myself seeking out Brayden when I am desperate for something good to read. So I'm not sure if I built her up in my mind before I started this book but I honestly found myself disappointed. It's the second book of the Seven Shores series but I actually preferred the first one. Don't get me wrong. It's a good read, just not the best in my opinion. And before you ask... Yes I would recommend it.

*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R167OJYZFCB85U/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2320027154

This is the second book in the Seven Shores series. Although this is in a series, it could be read as a stand-alone book.

Autumn Primm is the owner of a coffee shop, the Cat’s Pajamas, in Venice Beach. She takes pride in her shop and works very long hours to continue its development. As a barista, she is always striving to brew new and delicious coffee. Now that her business is doing well, Autumn is single and longs to find a woman to share her life with and start a family.

After a very bad fire, Kate Carpenter, a firefighter, needs some time off. She hopes that sunny California will help her to overcome the nightmares and the worry about the two children who are orphaned and now a part of the foster parent system. What she finds there is a group of friends who welcome her to the area. In addition, she meets the attractive and sensitive Autumn.

I really enjoy the group of friends from the Seven Shores series. They are funny, caring and devoted to each other. The chemistry between Autumn and Kate is high voltage. The story is well developed and a very easy read.

I look forward to the next book in the series. From the way the book ended, I can almost bet that Gia, the surfer, will be the next character to find love.

I rate this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

This is the first Brayden book I didn’t binge read the day I got my hands on it. Now that I have finished I realize I should have read it sooner. I liked this one better than the first in the Seven Shores series. I am not as into the Seven Shores series as I was in the Soho Loft series. If you had asked my why after book one of this series I would have said the characters. I just didn’t enjoy this group as much. That has now changed. While reading Eyes Like Those, Autumn wasn’t even on my radar of favorites in the series. After this book, she is by far my favorite. That may change. We will see. Brayden always write a great story, and her characters are likeable and the dialogue is always top notch, this book is no different. If you are a Brayden fan you probably already picked this up. If you haven’t read her books I have no idea where you have been. Start with book one and catch up. Another great read. I can’t wait for the next.

I'm a huge Melissa Brayden fan, and while this wasn't my favourite book of hers, I enjoyed reading it. The two leads had amazing chemistry. The other characters were also well developed and I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces - however, Autumn's group of friends could have done with less airtime in my opinion. I also found the dialogue unnatural and teenage-like at times, but overall the writing flowed and it was a quick, fun read. The baby storyline was different and interesting.

Melissa Brayden does it again, Heart Like Hers is up there as one of her best.

A lovely story between Autumn and Kate, instant attraction both good characters plus added bonus of all Autumn's friends

MB has the knack of always writing a lovely enjoyable story, and I found with this one she is a natural comic genius.

Without giving away too much the scene between Autumn and Hadley has me laughing out loud.... excellent

I highly recommend this as a great read and again looking forward to MB's next one.