I’d consider this to be a 5-star read if not for a few things that started out small but snowballed along the way. The writing itself is solid, and I loved the depth of our couple’s friendship – the intimacy they share jumped off the page, and the connection was obvious. It’s got a great small town feel that’s the perfect background for a story about the playboy who finally realizes he’s in love with the girl next door. The sexy times were smoking hot, and our hero shows some tenderness that goes a long way to making his character more endearing. With all that going for it, this should’ve been easy to rate as 5 stars… but I just couldn’t do it (more on why in a minute).
The story follows Joey and Logan, longtime best friends who share almost everything with each other – except for a couple of not-so-tiny secrets. Joey’s secret is that she’s been in love with Logan for years, and she’s finally had enough of him hooking up with every girl but her (that prologue is heartbreaking). When she just can’t take it anymore, Joey leaves town for 6 months, breaking off contact and moving forward. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that’s definitely the case with Logan – he didn’t realize how much Joey means to him until she was no longer around. Now that Joey is back in town for a wedding, these two have a few short weeks to figure out the new dynamics of their relationship.
I’ve already mentioned all of the things that I liked about this – and there are a lot – so let’s talk about what DIDN’T work for me. The discussion of women from Logan’s past starts small but continues throughout the book, a constant elephant in the room that isn’t helped by how lovesick Joey comes off or the way Logan handles the “secret.” Without giving spoilers it’s tough to describe, but I can’t get behind a hero who continues to act so shady, even after getting intimate and opening up about his feelings. It kinda felt wrong to see them getting so close, knowing that he wasn’t being completely honest, and it’s also not comforting to know how well he was able to deceive everyone for so long. It just didn’t match the tone of the book, or do anything to make me like Logan, so, unfortunately, this drops to 3 stars for me – though I think a lot of the story is 5-star worthy. I received an ARC via Give Me Books PR and am voluntarily leaving a review of this friends to lovers romance.
Blurb
door who has no clue I’ve loved him my whole life, even with a front row seat
to his revolving bedroom door.
back. This time for good.
everything.
about how pissed I am that she left with hardly a goodbye.
absence left a gaping hole in my chest.
anything to keep her home, and that means finding out the truth.
so many lies.
of the Texas Nights series (Reckless/Shameless) and the Dearest series. She
writes contemporary romances, the sexy kind with lotsa angst, a whole lotta
kissing, and the hot happily ever afters. A former high school English teacher
and freelance journalist, she’s lived all over the country but currently
resides in her hometown of San Antonio with her husband and twin daughters.
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