Forever, Finally: A Heartfelt Romance Novel – A Friends to Lovers Contemporary Firefighter Story

by Susan Mallery

A firefighter and a nurse reconcile their feelings for each other in this emotional, friends to lovers romance from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Susan Mallery! Previously published as Lily's Expecting Jake Stone, a gallant firefighter, has been secretly yearning for his stunning best friend Lily. Despite numerous hurdles, from her engagement to her pregnancy via IVF, his affections never wavered. Lily, believing love evaded her, chose to become a single mother. Now, Jake is on a mission; he must charm Lily to win her heart, become her spouse, and convince her that he's ready not only to father the life growing inside her, but to also expand their family in the future.

Genres: Romance

92 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 29, 2004

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship, romance. She's best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.

Critics have dubbed Mallery "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself!" It's no wonder that her books have spent more than 200 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list.

Although Susan majored in Accounting, she never worked as an accountant because she was published straight out of college with two books the same month. Sixteen prolific years and seventy-four books later, she hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the first time with Accidentally Yours in 2008. She made many appearances in the Top 10 before (finally) hitting #1 in 2015 with Thrill Me, the twentieth book in her most popular series, the Fool's Gold romances, and the fourth of five books released that year.

Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, two ragdoll cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Her heart for animals has led Susan to become an active supporter of the Seattle Humane Society. Visit Susan online at www.SusanMallery.com.

Reviews

[Twobchelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feel good story…

[Carolee Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute fast paced , low angst, friends to lovers.

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel? More Like a Novella

It was a cute read, but I couldn't give it more than three stars for the obvious fact that it was such a short read. So why does it identify as a novel in the title?

[Harlequin Books]

Contemporary Romance, Short Stories, Romantic Comedy
Miniseries
Logan's Legacy (Book #3)

[Eliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Lily watched as Anne Marie cuddled with her husband and Teresa smiled at her spouse. Jake’s mother stood surrounded by her grandchildren. It hit Lily that she and Jake were the only two adults here who hadn’t experienced a life-changing love. She was thirty-four years old. What if it never happened? What if she lived the rest of her life alone?"

[Linda Vermillion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read

This was a very quick read. A fun and romantic book. I liked both the main characters. Friends for years and then she gets left at the altar and finds out her best friend slept with him while they were dating. Spiraling out of control she gets artificially inseminated, gets pregnant and buys a house. And the story continues.

[Ann C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a reprint under a different name. I really hate it when authors do that. However, the reader does know it is a reprint as Amazon lets one know in the first paragraph of the blurb.

The book is a novella. I did enjoy the story. It was a feel good book. I like Jake and Lily.

[Chele]

Originally published as:

[Nathalie Trinh · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Z 70 page re-release beach read

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

a Fluff read

This is a short fluff read. If you need a quick friends to married read than this will work for you

[Vicki Hathaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just ok

[Diann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forever,Finally

This was the cutest story ! 2 people who have been friends for a long time finally unite. I enjoyed the story so very much.

[Jennifer Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best friends forever, Lily & Jake don't realize they love each other until Lily's upcoming wedding falls through. I wasn't ever very engaged in this novel, but finished . ok read.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I normally love Susan Mallery books but I found this one rushed. Wish it had been longer with more details to their story

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good. It was clearly written as a novella or short story. With reworking, this could easily be a full length novel and pack more punch. 3 ⭐️ as it is.

[Bettie A Covington · Rating 3 out of 5]

characters were very under-developed and the plot was so predictable. I am guessing this is a new release of one of Mallery's early novels, because she is usually much better than this novel showed.