Colby Covington has no clue if there’s anything in the world for him beyond Briar County. His family assumes he’ll do as they do: work Covington Acres, get married, have kids. Colby doesn’t want children, and seeing as he’s never felt even an inkling of romantic love for another person, he sure as hell isn’t interested in marriage.
In his mid-forties, Vincent O’Brien is starting over in the small town of Harmony. After being cheated on, again, he’s sworn off ever falling in love. As fate would have it, Vince needs a place to stay, and Colby has a spare room.
With an immediate connection that shakes up Colby’s sheltered world, neither man expects their friendship to blossom so fast…or for a semi-public hookup to make Colby realize he’s bi. Friends with benefits is perfect. It’s easy, it’s fun, they trust each other, and neither Vince nor Colby wants anything serious.
But the more their lives intertwine, the more Colby starts to feel something he’d thought himself incapable of. Something like love, with Vince…the man who will never feel—or want—the same.
Covington Acres is a small-town, bisexual/demiromantic awakening, friends-with-benefits romance with mature characters, home-brewed beer, and secret kisses.
Riley Hart is the girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She's a hopeless romantic. A lover of sexy stories, passionate men, and writing about all the trouble they can get into together. If she's not writing, you'll probably find her reading.
Riley lives in California with her awesome family, who she is thankful for everyday.
I gave the first three books 2.5, 3, and 2 stars respectively, and this one was heading downhill fast.
Immature MCs who bicker like kids (this was supposed to be cute, but it was just annoying), too many interchangeable secondary characters, no real plot
This series was a total flop for me. Except the goats. The goats were cool.
This isn’t going to be the most positive review. I like Riley Hart’s writing a lot. I enjoy a lot of the stuff on her back list. But her most recent stuff has not been hitting the mark for me. Which is a bummer, because without fail I pick up everything that she writes, the minute it’s published and available. I was seriously excited for this installment of Briar County.
However, I don’t believe I liked this book.
For a few reasons. But the most important one is that these tropes, the one's in this book- are cookie cutter for a reason. The plot is definitely a tried and true formula. But it didn’t work in this case.
It fell super flat for me.
Will I stop reading Riley? Absolutely not. I love her, and even though this wasn’t my favorite book, or even my favorite series, I think she is a great author. I just want a lil summin’ more from the next release <3
I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to feel you're somehow broken because you don't have any romantic feelings and you don't want to follow the normal path of settling down.
So, on that front, Riley Hart did a great job in showing me inside Colby's mind and how he always felt there was something wrong with him.
I also liked how she let us see Vince's vulnerabilities, his desire to never risk his heart again having had it utterly crushed by a cheater he let back into his life.
However, the narrative as a whole for me just fell flat somehow. I struggled to keep reading at times, but then at others, I found the relationship between the two men to be really engaging and incredibly sweet.
I think it was, ultimately, just too slow for me to get fully invested, which has sadly been a thing for me throughout the series as a whole.
While I admire and respect Riley's willingness to write across the spectrum of both sexual and emotional diversity, sometimes I need a bit more involvement outside of all the back and forth of the relationship development.
Here there wasn't really any other plotline at all, which meant everything was hanging on the "will they/won't they - we know they will" element of Colby realising he loved Vince and Vince realising he trusted Colby.
Sadly, not enough to make this a compelling read for me.
#ARC kindly received from the author via Literally Yours, I am voluntarily leaving a review
Colby was pretty sure he was broken. That he didn’t know how to be in love with someone at all.
❥ Dual POV ❥ MM ❥ Small Town ❥ Queer Awakening ❥ Demiromantic ❥ Found Family ❥ Friends to Lovers ❥ Roommates ❥ Mature Romance
I don’t think I’ve read a book by Riley Hart that I didn’t love, and Covington Acres is no exception. I love this series in particular, because we’re introduced to MCs in their 30s and 40s, which is way more relatable to me than any college romance (not that I don’t enjoy those too). It’s just nice reading about these men who are still trying to figure out their lives, if they’re doing what they want to do, or what’s expected of them to do. And all finding happiness and love in the end.
Colby and Vince are roommates, and have been for about a year, and they’ve also become best friends. They’re basically already in a relationship, just without the intimacy… well, they do sometimes end up cuddling and sleeping in the same bed. They end up being friends-with-benefits, but we all know how that works out when it comes to romance books.
Colby is still trying to figure out his life, and he’s feeling lost and broken. He knows he’s different from his family, even though he’s doing everything he can to be what they expect him to be. He’s never been in love and he’s not sure if he even can. But more often than not, he’s feeling butterflies in his stomach when Vince is around. He doesn’t know what that means, and on top of everything else he has going on in his head, like what he wants to do with his life other than his family’s farm, he’s not sure what to think of these feelings he’s having for Vince, because they’re just best friends, right?
Vince is impossible not to love, just like Colby points out several times in the book. He has a way with people, and he has a way with Colby, bringing him out of his shell and making him realize that there’s more to life than Covington Acres. He’d come to small town Harmony after being hurt by the only man he ever loved, and he has found a home there, especially with the Covingtons. He loves working the farm, he loves hanging out with Colby all the time and he loves making Colby happy. Making Colby find his passion for beer, giving him the courage to travel, it’s all making Vince incredibly happy, and Colby makes him happy too. Best friends ever, right?
This is not an angsty read, it’s very sweet and the feeling of found family always makes my heart happy, and that’s what Vince has found in Harmony. Vince and Colby’s love story isn’t how people normally would go about having a relationship, but it’s what’s right for them, and that’s what’s important. I loved their story, and I loved their HEA.
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Read the full review on my blog here with edits and quotes.
Real talk: If you wanna read a spectacularly written ace spectrum or aro spectrum book, Riley ALWAYS does it to perfection. Believe me.
COVINGTON ACRES brings us back to Briar County, NC. And I'm so glad to be here, honestly. This little town has my heart, and these characters are absolutely brilliant.
Colby Covington is the baby of the Covington family. At 40, he works at his family's farm because that's what he's always done. He dates because that's what he's expected to do. But now it's "Colby’s never going to grow up." or "You should think about settling down." He tries to be everything for his family, but he doesn't really know himself or what he wants.
Vince O’Brien (yes, THAT VINCE!) moves to Briar County after a bad breakup. He is starting over for the last time. He's giving up on relationships. He's a hookup man from now on. What he doesn't expect is to fall into the friendship of his life with Colby.
Vince and Colby are roommates. Then friends. Then best friends. Then soulmate best friends. Vince SEES Colby like no one else ever has.
Things HAPPEN. Discoveries are made. Conversations happen. Thank god for Google.
If you're looking for a small town romance filled with family and found family, amazing friends, community, hard work, first crushes, big feelings, and the RIGHTNESS that comes from getting to know yourself - well, this is the book for you.
The communication is so HEALTHY.
This book was so good. As someone who spent a lot of time feeling broken, Riley really pulls the heart strings in a way that works perfectly for these mcs and also resonates with my own feelings and experiences.
Let's be real, too - the spice was spicing. So not only do we get a good romance, we get some spice too. But for me, their HEA just really hit the spot. I wanted these two to get everything they ever wanted, maybe even what they didn't know they wanted.
The scene with ----- in the kitchen at ------ ------ was so perfect. The perfect blend of big moment - meets - emotional volcano.
I love this series. Will we get a Wyatt/Sean book? 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀 👀
I love the Briar County crew and was excited for this new installment but Colby and Vince’s story just fell kind of flat for me.
Colby and Vince are friends and roommates and opposites in a lot of ways. Colby has always felt like there was something wrong with him when he didn’t want all the things other people did - a wife, kids, romantic relationships - but when Vince moves in, he starts to question a lot of things about himself and his interests. Vince is confident in himself in a way that’s endearing and incredibly attractive. He’s funny and incredibly supportive of his friends, recognizing the things that they need before maybe they even know.
These two are roommates and best friends who turn into more after a little back and forth as Colby starts to realize he’s interested in more than just friendship with Vince. I liked how their relationship developed, how Colby was so sincere about learning more about himself and Vince’s support of Colby. But, ultimately, this one felt bland to me. I wanted more from these two and wanted to see more of the other Briar County guys. Not my favorite of the series, but it was an easy read.
Rating: 4 Steam: 3 PoV: dual, 3rd person Genre: contemporary romance, MM Tropes / tags: friends to lovers, sexual discovery, small town
I loved being back at Briar County and Covington Acres was such a sweet and lovely story!
Riley Hart is great at writing friends to lovers and sexual discoveries, and I loved how Colby and Vince slowly went from being best friends and roommates to more. Vince was so supportive and encouraging when it came to Colby, which was exactly what he needed. Colby struggled with what he wanted versus the expectations placed on him by his family, and overall felt very lost. It was easy for me to feel for him and I was honestly quite annoyed by the comments made by his family about his life.
I liked the demiromantic rep and how it was written, Colby's feelings and his journey of self discovery felt realistic. The character growth was great and seeing Colby starting to enjoying life again and finding his own path. He and Vince had a strong connection and there was so much comfort and trust between them, which made them going from friends to more feel natural and just kind of right. Even if there were some hesitance from both of them at times, they were great at communicating and being open with each other.
Covington Acres was a great and enjoyable read, and the HEA that Colby and Vince got was just perfection. Be prepared for lots of sweet and swoony moments, as well as plenty of steamy ones with these two!
- Thanks to the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.
2.5 stars I love this series and the universe Hart created but good grief I disliked this book. I think the constant inner voice from both men was irritating and well it. They both protagonists were obsessed with their personal titles, oblations, and whining about not getting involved again. I kept yelling in my head - Pull up your big boy pants and live! It was endless. I’d rather have hung out with any other or the secondary characters even one of the kids.
3.5 stars rounded to 4 for Goodreads [I received a digital arc for an honest review]
Covington Acres is the 4th book in the Riley Hart Briar County series. While this includes the couples from the previous book I think it can be read and enjoyed as a standalone. I say this because I'm the special snowflake who requested an arc of the 4th book in a series I had never read before 😂
Vince moves in as Colby's roommate and they quickly become besties and attached at the hip. Vince may be new to farm life but he easily picks it up and really loves the work. Colby has always knew his life would be working at the farm but he doesn't love it as much as his brothers or even as much as Vince does. Vince gives Colby the support to explore his interests outside of the farm. "I can't believe you even have to ask. I don't think there's anything I wouldn't do with you, Colby Covington."
Relationship wise Vince and Coby act like a couple right from the start minus physical intimacy. Vince is out and comfortable in his sexuality. Colby however has been struggling for a long time and has always felt like there was something wrong with him. He's been physical with woman in the past but he's never felt the spark or fallen in love before. When he starts to acknowledge his attraction to his best friend he takes the risk to act on it. Neither one of them are looking for a relationship so what's the harm if they promise it won't ruin their friendship. The closer Closer gets with Vincent and the longer they spend together he releases maybe he's not broken , his heart just works differently. I absolutely loved the way demisexuality was portrayed in the book! The slow progress and growth of Colby's feelings for Vince melted my heart.
Overall , Covington Farms by Riley Hart is a low angst, steamy romance between MCs in their 40s. A friends to lovers romance between roommates with a bisexual/demiromantic, a cinnamon roll MC, platonic husbands, dirty dancing, hidden kisses, first times, and a HEA.
Swoon! This book gave me all the feels. Colby and Vince were just lovely. Both of them working through issues and trying to make sense of their feelings and their lives, but they did it together as best friends, and then as more. Their path to their HEA was just so sweet and caring. Their was a bit of internal musings and miscommunication but that really made sense for their story. And through all that they were always there for each other and talked about their feelings. They just fit together in every way. And being back in Briar County was fabulous. The tight knit group of family and friends just warms my heart. I hope there is more to come!
Sigh! Colby and Vince are absolutely the sweetest. Riley Hart is such a master of exploring the dichotomy of the emotions of her characters and this was so beautifully written. Both men are struggling- Colby with figuring who he is what he wants why he’s different and Vince who’s been twice bitten thrice shy. So they are both actively avoiding relationships. But they are best friends living in the same house and when they start experimenting with the benefits part of friends with benefits it seems like a natural progression for them and falling into feelings with a tiny bit of angst just feels perfect for these two. It put a huge smile on my face the way everything came together towards the end.
If you want to read a beautifully written, spicy, friends to lovers story with self discovery and healing, I really recommend checking this out.
Expect: * Slow burn * Small town * Roommates * Forced proximity * Friends to lovers * Bi awakening * Demi romantic awakening
- a MM romance! small town, friends to lovers, roommates to lovers, Demi-romantic rep, friends with benefits! - i cannot express how excited i am for this baby - when i read the other books in this series i thought Colby was like 25 hahaha - i just want to protect Colby with my whole life - they’re so proud of their beer and it’s so frickin sweet - okay getting hot and heavy in the club!!! - all the grand gesture they do for each other and they don’t even realise!! 🥹 - the planting of the garden was so frickin sweet i cannot cope - everyone has such good friends 😭 - we LOOOOVE when they can have a mature conversation with each other and express their feelings!! - i always disliked Dennis from the start of this series and i’m glad i stuck with the hate - but so proud of Colby for speaking out to family!! they never had any malicious intent but it was killing him - and the BEST love confessions omg omg - loved Holden and Roe’s wedding heheh - no the epilogue was acc perfect, and was that a hint for a Sean and Wyatt book👀 - i have been waiting so long for this book and fuck did i love it more than anything
MY RATING: 🔉🔉🔉🔉🔉 This book is the definition of actions speaking louder than words. Colby and Vince even as just best friends showed each other daily what they meant to the other.
✨SERIES REVIEW✨- Briar County by Riley Hart
Series Rating: 🔉🔉🔉🔉🔉 This is such a grown ass series dealing with real grown ass problems. These characters are in their 40s and it shows. No hate to the youngins but there’s a different vibe when you learn to communicate and not play games even unintentionally. I loved how this series showed the importance of not just family but found family as well. It’s also never too late to repair damaged relationships or speak your truths. I’m hoping for a second gen spinoff especially with that epilogue.
UNOFFICIAL SERIES DESCRIPTION Follow the men of Briar County as they find love and friendship in their small-towns.
✨My Rating System✨ 🔉🔉🔉🔉 🔉- Hit all the vibes 🔉🔉🔉🔉 - Hit some good vibes 🔉🔉🔉 - I vibed 🔉🔉 - The vibes were meh 🔉 - Barely found a vibe DNF - Zero vibes
My rating system does not equate to the quality of the books, therefore, you’re still on your own. It’s legit just about how I vibed with the book at the time.
Book 4 takes us back to Covington Acres in Briar county with the story of two characters that we previously met, Colby the brother of Roe and Vince the ex of Holden. After a traumatic breakup Vince decides to move to Briar county to be near his BFF Holden which leads to him being roommates with Colby. Colby and Vince become the best of friends and soon Colby discovers that he may not be as straight as he thought. As one thing leads to another friends become friends with benefits which complicates things for two men who have sworn off love forever. Some sexy dancing, sneaky farm rendezvous, and very spicy bisexual awakening moments top off this friends to lovers story. A very heartwarming HEA of an epilogue was the chiefs kiss to this fourth installment of one of my favorite series from Riley Hart.
I adore the Briar County/Covington Acres books, a series of men in their 40’s who are just finding love and are still figuring life out. Thank you Riley Hart for older man representation and for making us older gays hopeful that love can still find us later in life.
Colby has no idea who he really is. He’s part of a large loving family, and has always done what is expected of him ignoring what he likes/wants. Vince helps him find himself outside of being “A Covington” and they find love along the way despite the fact they both swore off relationships years prior for different reasons. Vince showed up in Briar County way back in book 1 and we learned a lot about his backstory then and it is finally his turn to find love after leaving a POS cheating ex-boyfriend.
Like the rest of the series, this is a sweet low angst story set in the beautifully sounding sleepy Briar County. Colby and Vince are a cute friends to lovers, demisexual awakening love story.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Yes, you read that right. Honestly, this book wasn't BAD, I just stopped caring and didn't stick around to the end. Also, Colby having a freak out at a special event and confessing his love for Vince was a dick move. Moreso the confession, not the freak out. Special events are for the person they are thrown for. You don't announce pregnancies, engagements, etc. This counts.
me gustó la representación de una persona demiromántica ya que no es muy común leerla en libros y me gustó el slow burn del romance de los protagonistas para darse cuenta de que se gustaban, aunque no es mi favorito de esta serie.
Love, love, love!!! I love books with characters on the aromantic spectrum and so many of Colby's thoughts fit so well with feelings I've had my whole life. I just truly loved getting to see him get his HEA with Vince who truly deserves all the good things in the world. A wonderful story!
Stilted and boring! DNF @ 28%. I really tried. I kept coming back to it because I really wanted to see where this went but it's awful. This doesn't read like Riley Hart at all.
Paren todo que este fue uno lindo, los personajes fueron buenos pero algo en la historia no me termino de cuadrar pero eso no quita que la pase bien leyéndolo.
3.5 stars. Colby and Vince's story is an emotional, nicely written friends to lovers story with all the feels. It was interesting to read from start to finish the MC's journey towards finding their happily ever after, with all the happy, thoughtful filled moments in between. Not much angst in this one, I liked reading about Colby's journey, finding out who he truly is, and how his relationship with Vince developed. Got to say though, not one of my favourite Riley stories, I just didn't feel any spark whilst reading. Mind you, I'm still a fan, and I'll definitely read her next book.
Covington Acres Briar County Riley Hart Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Spice: 🌶🌶🌶
I have become so obsessed with this series. Riley always creates amazing characters and I have fallen in love with all of them!
Colby and Vince are the MCs and they are so well written and flushed out. Their backstories were gave their actions or inactions a premise and reason. We get to see all of our favorite characters from Harmony including our favorite kiddos. I really hope we get to see where their stories go.
Aside from the amazing characters the story of Colby’s feelings of being different from his family, discovering his bisexuality, and being demiromantic were so natural and fluid. Vince’s past with Greg kept creeping back in to keep his walls up, but they worked through everything together and I loved every second of it!
This was quite boring. There seemed to be a very, very thin plot here and it stretched out about 150 pages more than it needed to be. On top the 500 names of the other minor characters and their complicated stories, the romance between the 2 characters didn’t move me because it felt a bit one sided in terms of support. Never doubted that Vince cared for Colby. He did a ton for him emotionally, helped his family, cooked for him, found ways to bring him out of his comfort zone to try new things. The most Colby did for him was fence off a part of his yard and offer to let him have the last ham and cheese sandwich. And I’m pretty sure he didn’t even make them.
Colby wasn’t mean to him or anything, but most of the emotional beats in this story were about him and his discovery that he was demiromantic. The way we kept coming back to the Greg well for Vince’s story… it was dry. It was SO incredibly dry.
Tbh, Colby’s discovery also took WAY too long. I get it takes time to find yourself, but this book had him wait until like 70% or 80% into the book to maybe try google? For someone with so many queer friend and family, I found it odd. I believe he wouldn’t know the word demiromantic; I don’t believe he wouldn’t have ever thought to research why he was so against romance.
I really struggled to finish this and I think this is one of the most boring stories I’ve read. I feel someone into Hallmark films with some time to kill might enjoy this and because I didn’t think anything was egregiously awful consent wise. It’s definitely not a recommend. I was SO bored.
Colby has won my heart and I will do anything for him! LOL! I truly enjoyed this amazing story. Colby and Vince are just so absolutely adorably cute together and I love their friends to lovers journey. Colby had me by the heartstrings from the very beginning and I adored how Vince was so free with his praise and love and comforting touches that made Colby feel so safe.
I truly enjoy any story but when the MCs are closer to my age or a bit older, I enjoy it even more. I love seeing later in life couples come together and find that one special person after all those years. Being 40/44yo isn’t OLD old so I loved how Colby and Vince still had new experiences to live for and enjoy.
Awe, a beautifully written book about a man who thinks he’s broken and a best friend/ roommate who’s had his heartbroken. Both of them becoming closer with mixed feelings and benefits . So good! I love Colby and Vince, they’re meant to be, I teared up a few times, most were happy though. The epilogue, so good, I’m so happy for Colby! I’m thinking there was a hint in there somewhere ( fingers crossed) Wyatt and Sean a story maybe?