Forever My Valentine

by Lucy Darling

Petal
Even as a little girl, Petal Prescott knew Vaugh Valentinus was her forever despite the age gap between them. But fate had other plans. In the blink of an eye, she lost her family and her link with the boy she’d always loved. Now that she's older, she's hoping the man she's loved her entire life will see her than more than the broken little girl she once was.

Valen
I’ve only ever had one goal in life—to give Petal Prescott the life she deserves. But she hasn’t made it easy, not when she thinks she’s flawed. To me, she is and always will be perfection. But how can I make her see herself how I see her? Maybe there’s only one way—by making her mine. The time has come, and now I’m going to stake my claim and show her just how perfect she truly is.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Holiday, Slow Burn

Unknown Binding

First published February 12, 2023

Reviews

[Shyralf]

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars! An ok read

[TTP]

Both Are totally obsessed with each other. Bc of age gap, hero has tried to stay away, but now h is 18 and he can’t no longer keep himself from her.

- Dual virgins
- Age gap
- Surprise pregnancy

Safety:
- h cousin causes some drama, makes h think she’s with the H and that they are getting married, but it’s a rumor she’s spreading. h sees a photo of them, but it’s when ow throw herself on H, and the H tries to be nice and peels her off him. He thinks he needs to be nice to her because h still is under their care, but as soon as H finds out how much this hurt the h, he puts her in her place. So little drama in my eyes.
- both virgins, H only ever had eyes for h

[María]

¿Tercer capítulo y la protagonista, VIRGEN, está embarazada? Creí que ya lo había visto todo, pero sin duda estaba equivocada. Esto no fue para mí.

[Debbie DiFiore]

Too short and too much cheese

This was a little cheesy. Not going to lie. I don't mind it usually but it definitely was a little over the top. The hero and heroine have known each other since childhood, have always wanted each other and she is now 18 so he can act on it. they have almost s@x and... You'll have to read the short story to find out. Lol evil cousin Tia wants him too but she was never in the running. No one was. It was always Petal. Yep that is her name. And he called her Pet! I need some crackers now to go with all that cheese!

[Serena Books]

Ella es mi vida. Mi destino.
Mi eterna enamorada.





•Mi opinión puede contener Spoilers.
•Esta destinada a ser un descargo personal no para que alguien más lea pero si lo haces y te ofende, me disculpo porque sé lo que es que te guste un libro y otros lo critiquen.




Forever My Valentine de Lucy Darling

Argumento:

Petal

Incluso cuando era una niña, Petal Prescott sabía que Vaugh Valentinus era ella para siempre a pesar de la diferencia de edad entre ellos. Pero el destino tenía otros planes. En un abrir y cerrar de ojos, perdió a su familia y su vínculo con el chico que siempre había amado. Ahora que es mayor, espera que el hombre al que ha amado toda su vida la vea más allá de la niña rota que alguna vez fue.

Valen

Solo he tenido un objetivo en la vida: darle a Petal Prescott la vida que se merece. Pero ella no lo ha hecho fácil, no cuando piensa que tiene fallas. Para mí, ella es y siempre será la perfección. Pero, ¿cómo puedo hacer que se vea como yo la veo? Quizá sólo haya una forma: haciéndola mía. Ha llegado el momento, y ahora voy a reclamar mi derecho y mostrarle lo perfecta que realmente es.



Mi humilde opinión:

Forever My Valentine es un romance muy cortito, dulce y con algo de drama.

La portada me gustó, es lo que llamó mí atención para leer algo con la temática del día de los enamorados... lamentablemente esta historia lo único que tiene sobre el día de los enamorados son los corazones rojos y las alianzas de la portada ya que los protagonistas se casan ese día en especial y ni siquiera hubo una escena de eso tampoco solo se menciona! Así que fue flojo en cuanto a la temática, esperaba algo más.

No es que la historia estuvo mal. La disfruté en su mayor parte. Pero sentí que me faltó más Valen y Petal. Estuvieron separados casi todo el tiempo, no hubo mucha interacción y solo hay dos escenas medianamente picantes. Se buscó darle algo más de drama, tensión y emoción con más cicatrices de Petal, la tragedia del accidente, la familia ambiciosa que no quiere lo mejor para Petal, la prima modelo inventando historias sobre ella y Valen pero la verdad me daban risa sus artimañas que ponerme nerviosa porque lograran separar a la pareja. La verdad quería que me contaran y mostraran más.

Petal y Vance estaban destinados a terminar juntos y fueron siempre fieles a lo que sentían, que esperaran por el otro fue lindo. Pensé que Valen se tardó un poco en hacer lo que tenía que hacer desde hace tiempo. El epilogo fue dulce con los niños y está la resolución sobre lo que sucedió con el destino de la empresa.

[Amanda Mant]

Good, but not her best

First of all, I LOVE Lucy Darling. I devour every book. But this one isn’t the level of wonderful I’m used to with her.

**** There are a few spoilers here. Proceed with caution. ****

It feels shorter. I don’t know if it is, but it feels that way. There are two spicy scenes before the epilogue and while the first one is good, the second is almost like the implied steam we got from romance novels before self publishing. Think Nora Roberts. The epilogue is closed door. Now, Lucy’s work isn’t know for being the spiciest, but this surprised me.

I loved Petal and Vance, but there was other woman drama. And it lasted too long. And there’s a PG that’s not PG rated issue. [I’m trying to avoid saying it outright cause spoilers, but she sees a special doctor] The moment that lead to the PG wasn’t even all the way. Which is possible obviously, but not particularly believable.

Then there’s her uncle’s family. I won’t even go there, but I hated them. I was supposed to, I know. But it was a lot.

Overall, it just felt subpar for what I’m used to from Lucy. If you’re a fan, give it a read. If not, I’d start elsewhere.

[Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez]

Lucy Darling is a fave author for a reason—she never lets me down! This had a crazy, sweet, funny plot about childhood friends turned lovers. The heroine was scarred in an accident that killed her parents and she has been raised by her cold aunt and uncle, with a cousin who bullies her. The hero has known that the heroine will always be his but he’s been waiting until she’s old enough to claim her and the heroine believes that the hero doesn’t have any interest in her. Into this comes the cousin, the evil OW who tries to get the attention of the hero and convince the heroine that they’ve got something going on. Unfortunately we never find out what happens to the OW, but I quickly forgot about her as I was focused on the h/H.

Safe. Dual virgins. Unwanted OW drama, which hero shuts down. No cheating or sharing. HEA with epilogue

[AvidReader]

3.5 🌟

[Babel]

It's kind of a naughty thrill when a story features a man trying to restrain himself from touching a forbidden loved one. In this sweet yet hot novella, Valen is biding his time to claim Petal, but one night he slips and crosses a line in all sorts of exciting ways.

This is a quick and romantic little story set to celebrate Valentine's Day. Rivalry, drama, true love, good hearts and a couple who is destined for forever.

I liked their first time together in an intimate way and how it sparks a chain of events. Hot and sweet like the best desserts.

[mywingscanfly_]

Hero spent a way too much time on thinking or talking to heroines cousin Tia…more than actually being with heroine..which is ridiculous because it should have been a sweet short Valentine story 🙃

[Alba M.]

Petal ha estado enamorada de su mejor amigo Valen toda la vida. Cuando ella hace un movimiento en la fiesta de año nuevo las cosas llegan un poco más allá pero él vuelve a alejarse. Pero cuando Petal se entera de que aquella noche ha dado mucho más de sí no sabe que hacer, sobre todo si el hombre que ama pretende casarse con otra... O no?

Esta historia es muy corta y muy pastelosa. Me esperaba otra cosa habiendo leído otros libros de Lucy pero bueno que está bien para pasar el ratito tiene poquito drama asi que cero preocupación.

[Colleen]

This was weird the way it kinda dropped you into the story but it was dual virgins so I still liked it. Only like 80 pages so super quick

-dual pov
-dual virgins
-small age gap
-accidental pregnancy
-owd, the h’s cousin wants the H, he is beyond uninterested but it causes some jealousy for the h because ow tries to spread rumours she’s engaged to the H but he shuts it down hard.
-no omd
-HEA
-epilogue several years later still happily married with 2 kids and another on the way

[Laura]

I think this author and I just don't mesh well because every book I've tried by her has disappointed me, with the exception of one. The writing here is decent, but I didn't like the way we were thrown into a scene with the MCs just about to get intimate for the first time. For me, there wasn't enough foundation laid out before they got to this point, especially for this specific dynamic of the two of them dancing around their feelings for each other. Then there are a few time jumps but the amount of time is only specified once, and I think we only knew about it because the heroine is suddenly back at school and saying she's missed her period. The sex scenes were very disappointing, too, to be honest.

[Fiona Fog]

Automatic one click author, Lucy manages to create a sweet and sexy read in a short story that most authors cant in a full length one.

I know going in I'm going to fall in love with the story and the characters. Her male leads are swoon worthy! Her female leads are relatable, likeable and funny.

Its always a yes from me.

[Imogen Jade]

Her name is petal yet he shorted it to pet and said she needs to be kept on a leash like a dog 🤮

Dual Virgins He is 25 and she is 18 known each other whole lives and he waited for her!

Her cousin started some drama but he shot her down but feel like it was unresolved as he just shot her down in front of FMC and then never heard from again

[Camille]

Meh. Rounded up but definitely meh

[*CJ*]

"Forever My Valentine" is the story of Petal and Valen.

Sweet tale of unrequited love, a virgin pregnancy, some evil OW drama, a smitten couple and HEA.

I love this trope!

Safe
4/5

[S]

Not bad, but feels too shallow

[Maryan Venegas]

Amig@s yo soy feliz con estas lecturas que me sacan de mis bloqueos.

Esta historia es tan pequeña, tan obvia en la trama; pero no me importa, me encantó!

Valen es un hombre protector, maduro a su corta edad por obligación y decidido en cuanto se trata de la mujer a quien quiere en su vida. Yo lo amo.

Yo, como toda "romántica empedernida", efectivamente le lloré a Valen 🥹💕

[Kiley]

Forever My Valentine was about childhood friends Petal "Pet" Prescott and Vaughn "Valen" Valentinus.
When Petal was a teenager and Valen was away at college, she, her parents, and his were in a car accident that killed her parents and injured Petal and the elder Valentinuses. Sent to stay with her uncle and his family, she didn't stay there long before she went away to a boarding school until she turned 18. Valens took over running the business that his family and Petal's started before he was born. Both of them knew they loved each other, but Valen wouldn't act on his feelings before Petal had reached adulthood and finished high school.
Petal only saw Valen during the holidays because she was rarely home otherwise. When she saw him at a New Year's Eve party at her uncle's, things got a little spicy. However, immediately afterward, Petal saw Tia, her cousin, with her hand on Valen's arm, and he was gazing down at her. Petal couldn't decipher his expression, but she was hurt enough that she didn't stay at the party.
After returning to boarding school, both she and Valen stopped contacting each other, but for different reasons. He wanted to give her space and not push her into anything too fast, and she was still working through her feelings regarding what she had seen at the party... As well as the fact she was pregnant. Since she had earned enough credits to graduate well before the end of the last semester of school, Petal decided to leave school early and go into hiding, especially since there were pictures and rumors going around saying that Valen and her cousin were engaged. She wasn't prepared to tell him about her secret yet, so using her best friend's name, she went to a motel near her uncle's place. Things moved pretty fast after that, but I won't spoil the story for others. Suffice it to say, it had enough turmoil to keep the reader's attention.
The storyline was full of angst and drama, with a touch of humor laced throughout the book. There were quite a few twists and turns, but there was way too much inner dialogue from both main characters that interrupted the flow of the story. If it had been a few chapters longer, giving the plot time to play out a bit more, it would have made for a better book. As it stands, it was worthy of a four-star rating.

[Riley 02]

*Contains SPOILERS* for SAFE readers…


Valen and Petal

SAFETY remarks
- SAFE
- Dual virgins
- cheating/sharing: no
- ow/om: her cousin trying to grab his attention
- separation/breakups: no
- possible triggers: no
- HEA: yes

Even though this is a dual virgins story (what I love), I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked. Because the majority of the book is about him staying away from Petal and her cousin (Tia) trying to seduce him, coming between them, and basically bullying Petal to the point of publishing that she was engaged to Valen. Also, it is slow to show that Valen hasn’t accepted her advances. You see Tia touch Valen’s arm in the NYE party but you don’t get to read until a lot afterward that he retrieved her arm almost immediately. And why is there a rumor rolling around that he is a playboy when he hasn’t even had a girlfriend before? Why does Petal have to have that in her mind, that he has been with other girls?

I thought I read the tip thing before. I don’t think I read this book before 🤔. Idk.

They are childhood friends, their parents were partners in a company they founded. And they loved each other since kids. Just that somehow he is older than her and abstains from claiming her before she ends high school. But in the meantime, he never shows interest in her although it’s further than the truth. Even her parents (that died in an accident) knew they were to be together.

At least when you pass the climax of the book, he comes to claim and you see the OTT. It’s just that I don’t like the love triangle books. There is none here because he doesn’t let it happen, but just him being nice to Tia and her dad (Petal’s uncle) because they are P’s family doesn’t sit well with me. He could’ve put her in her place from the start and avoid Petal being bullied by her.

[A-reader]

My reviews always contain spoilers, I write them so I can remember the story.

Petal has been in love with Valen for years, he’s waiting till she’s a little older to finally claim her. Their parents are best friends as well as business partners. When Petal’s parents are killed and Valen’s parents are hurt in an accident both their lives change. Petal is given to her paternal uncle even though she does not like him and his family, Valen’s parents were hoping she would come to them, they already thought of her as their daughter. Thankfully Petal is away at boarding school so she has very little interaction with her uncle, aunt, and spoiled cousin who is mean to Petal. At the family holiday party their emotions get the best of both of them and Valen pleasures Petal, he doesn’t take her virginity but does insert his tip and comes in her. We all know what that leads to…a baby. Petal returns to school to finish her senior year, a few weeks later she finds out she’s pregnant. With her besties help she leaves the school and goes to a hotel. Meanwhile her nasty cousin has spread rumors that she and Valen are getting engaged. This hurts Petal causing her to avoid him and his mom. When she returns to her uncle’s to get her things she has a confrontation with the cousin and Petal tells her Valen got her pregnant and he overhears. Thrilled he takes her home. They finally talk and all misunderstandings are cleared up and lots of I love yous and their first time together, dual virgins. Epilogue years later with two children and Petal pregnant again.

[Shanna]

Too short…not enough time together. They were together briefly at a party and then not again really until right before epilogue. Didn’t like that at all…

[Jamie Bee]

Way Too Much Alph-hole and Other “Ick” Factors

I'm still finding my way in reading the billionaire subgenre, as I am supporting my younger sister in her pursuit of becoming a published billionaire book author. So I can better help her understand it, I've been reading many best-selling billionaire books. My typical reading jam is more along the lines of romantic comedy and Regency romance, with a little romantic suspense as well as sci-fi, medieval, and Highlander romance thrown in to make it interesting. I genuinely enjoy reading love stories, though, so if a book is well written, with believable and likable characters and a plot showing character growth, I'm all in for whatever the romance subgenre is.

I must say, however, that I am very disenchanted by the first best-selling billionaire books I've read. Frankly, I've been appalled by the alph-holeness of the heroes and how much the heroines seem to get off on and enjoy being treated poorly! While I'm not opposed to steamy scenes, I like them to stem from character and plot, not just mindless erotic “getting it on.”

In all these ways, this book rubbed me the wrong way completely, from the very first scene where the slightly older (though I can't remember his specific age) “hero” is wildly inappropriate with a young woman who, while just 18, is still in high school. While they don't go all the way in the closet at the event, they come close—something that will have dire consequences as the book continues. Throughout the book, he acts like he has every right to possess her because of their shared past, even though she has scads of money, and therefore, lots of choices in life when she graduates from high school. That is, she does until that fateful night in the closet, which sets them on a specific, narrow path.

I found neither the hero nor the heroine likable, him because he acts like he believes he has a right to this young woman because of their shared history and her because she has far too smart of a mouth for a young woman who still has a vCard. She doesn't have a good relationship with her uncle and his family; her parents made him her guardian if they passed, which they have. She has a particularly bad relationship with her slightly older and very jealous cousin, yet the heroine believes her fantastic lies without a second thought, even though she well knows each of the involved person’s characters and how they’ve historically treated each other. I don't like stupid heroines, even if they're young!

The best thing I can say about this book is that it is very short. There's not much character development, plot, or substantial conflict to keep it interesting. What a flaccid story. As you can tell, I did not enjoy this book, but if you like billionaire alph-hole “romances” with barely legal heroines, you may enjoy this book better than I did.

I borrowed this book through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

[PeaceOfGod]

👀Me after reading this book-




⏺ PETAL AND VAUGHN ⏺








❎This is DEFINITELY not what I expected from a LUCY D. book.


❎I can't even BEGIN to tell you how DISAPONITED I was.


❎There was ONLY 3 smut scenes, ALL incomplete and TOTALLY boring.


❎The H and h started romance and got on-page time together (book was 68 pages) in the last chapter and in the 2 Epilogues.


❎Wtf was happening? This was a VALENTINES DAY read.


❎Where's the romance? Where's the sparks? Where's the sexiness and love?


❎I mean yeah love was there, but book was WAY more focused on OW drama.


❎Don't get me wrong I DIG THAT SHIT. I LOVE LOVE OW drama.


❎But not when it consumes the WHOLE DAMN book.


❎And that also, when finally the Drama is solved we DON'T EVEN come to know what happened to the OW in the end.


❎I am assuming that she was disappointed that she didn't get it on with the H, but then WHAT? Where did she go? Did she suffer for all the slut-shaming/body-shaming she did to the h for 5 years!?


🗿VERY .......







🟧Dual virgins. J/P Hero.
🟧18/25.
🟧Virgin pregnancy of h. The H is the dad , dont worry.
🅾SHIT FUCKING load of OW drama. Tia I hope you rott in hell even though Ms. darling didn't bother ending you
🅾I'd HONESTLY advice you not to read this book.
🟥Triggers- The h lost her parents in an accident and bears scars from that. She lost HER parents but managed to save Hs parents by tearing off her blouse and stopping Hs mom's bleeding.
Her scars cause her a LOT of problems. CONSTANT body-shaming from cousin Tia.
H LOVES her scars.
❣❣*2 STARS ONLY FOR PETAL*
🟩No OM drama.
✅Smut-1/10.
✅HEA.
✅No-cheating.
✅Epilogue-Married with 2 kids another on the way.

[Char (1RadReader59)]

Petal (Pet) Prescott and Vaughn (Valen) Valentinus’ love was written in the stars. Both of their parents said they were destined, to be together from a very young age. David, and, Judith Valentinus are like a second set of, parents and their son back then, Valen was like an older brother. The older, Petal got, the less she saw him as a brother, and more as a man, she has feelings for. Their parents being the best of friends, even created a company together called, ValenScott Corp. Both of their fathers created, the telecommunication services business together.

Now, Petal owns half of, the company along with, Valen, and his parents. Valen is the one that deserves all the credit, after the deadly accident that took the life of her parents, and severely injured Petal, and, Valen’s parents, too. Valen wasn’t in the car, because he was on his way home from college, only an hour away. He went from college student to acting, CEO for a company that has, over a hundred thousand employees. Because his dad ends up being in, a coma for three months. The hits, keep on coming. This is when they find out that, they are not going to be the ones, to get custody of, Petal. It would be her, dad’s brother whom she doesn't know. No, one was happy.

Especially, his brother, Connor, and his family. Not to mention, their angry when they didn't get as much money, as they hoped from the estate. Petal goes to a boarding school, to not have to spend any time with her uncle, and family. The only reason she comes to town, at all is to be able to see, Valen, and his family. See how the two circle each other and finally come clean about how they feel about one another. See how her cousin (the B-B-itch) gets, to work on the evil deeds to break the deep connection, they have. I loved the bond the two characters, have for one another. This is a very good read.

[thebadbooksclub]

Darling certainly made her deadline on this one.

Petal has always been in love with Valen, but her parents' death led to him taking over their company and her being sent off to prep school, leaving them little time for each other. Now that she's 18, Valen's ready to start their life together.

It's a good thing I like Lucy Darling's writing so much, because this was one of those books that seems thrown together to get out in time for Valentine's Day. It's not bad per se, it was an easy read. Just really underdeveloped. With any romance novella of this length it's obviously gonna be condensed, but this felt extra bare bones. I did like the main plot points, so it was worth the read.

[Lili]

I felt like it was one of the most boring novella I've read. The beginning was confusing since it started immediately with a sex scene that took me a moment to figure if it was a dream or flat out happening. Plus, it was an anticlimactic sex scene that I would've loved to never read. Add to that the fact that the heroine was claiming to be a pregnant virgin 🙄 Listen I don't know much about science, but i don't think that's possible last I checked I wasn't reading about the Virgin Marie. I understand everyone can have their own definition of "losing your virginity", however I think it wasn't it.

Anyways, this novella just needs a lot of editing because it felt more confusing than fun to read.

[Michele A.]

I was looking for a light, easy read for Valentine's Day. I though Vaughn and Petal's story might fit the bill. While it was okay, it was nothing like what I expected. She is 18 and he is older. He took over the company when her parents died and his parents were injured in a car crash. It seems that he has been waiting for Petal to become his. There was some ridiculous drama with her cousin that really didn't need to be in here. It was a short book to begin with, drama wasn't really needed. Petal and Vaughn both were horrible in communicating their feelings. I was expecting less drama and more heart felt interactions between Vaughn and Petal.

[Anovelqueen]

***3 STARS***

I am aLucy Darling fan and I absolutely love her writing but this was not one of my favorites. It’s really hard to pinpoint but for one the spice was minimal in my opinion. I realize that it is a novella but it was still less than her other books. Plus it is not instalove. The couple have known each other most of their life because their families are intertwined. I look forward to the instalove story lines from this author. Still overall it was well written just not my favorite per my preferences but still a fan.