I’m so thankful that I was selected for an arc of this book because it truly blew me away! This book is incredible! This was my introduction to Madison Noelle and to say I’m impressed that this is only her second book is an understatement. You wouldn’t know that she’s a new indie author because it’s SO well written. I honestly couldn’t put it down!
“What About Us” is book two in the Timber Forge series and it had me smiling, swooning, laughing, yelling, kicking my feet, crying… Literally ALL the feels! It can be read as a standalone, but I will definitely be starting book one immediately because I need more!
This book is a small town, single dad, slow burn, best friends to lovers dream. It tells the story of Hudson Hayes and Finnley Jameson, who’ve been best friends since high school. Up until six months ago, they’d never crossed that line. After high school, both of them married different people, Hudson moved to New York with his wife Tristen, they had a daughter named Paige and a few years later, both marriages ended in divorce. One thing was always a solid constant in their lives, though — their friendship. After a serious medical emergency with Hudson’s daughter in New York right before Christmas, Finnley rushes to be by his side to help and it leads to an emotion-fueled kiss that has them both questioning everything.
After the scare with Paige, Hudson decides to make a better life for his daughter, sells his beloved bar and returns to Timber Forge, Montana. Instead of staying with his parents, they move in with Finnley and the close proximity quickly leads to a lot of buried feelings coming to the surface, flirting that teeters on the edge of dangerous and a lot of fear that anything more than friendship could ruin their unbreakable bond.
Something that I could feel from the very first page was the deep love and respect that Hudson and Finnley had for one another. It was evident from the start that they were soulmates; no other friend, love interest, or even family member would ever compare. The evolution of their relationship was so beautiful and at times, it brought tears to my eyes! No matter what, they always showed up for each other and I loved that so much! Once their feelings started to shift towards being more than just friends, the amount of chemistry and passion between the two of them exploded into a raging inferno! They had me sweating and clutching my pearls for dear life — They’re both deliciously filthy, insatiable and not afraid to take what they want!
This book does have a third act conflict, which pissed me off AND broke my heart at the same time, but it made the HEA that much more exciting!
Overall, I loved this book so much and it has hands down become one of my all-time favorite romance reads. I’ve fallen totally in love with Hudson and Finnley and I know the rest of the romance world will too! Madison’s writing is magic, Timber Forge is magic and I can’t wait to read what comes next! There are so many great characters in this book and I know their stories are going to be just as amazing. Madison, you have me as a reader for life!
Favorite Quotes
“𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.”
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭.”
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 — 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵… 𝘥𝘪𝘥.”
“𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭; 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦.”
“𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
Tropes
♾️ Best friends to lovers
♟️ Small town
♾️ Marriage of convenience
♟️ Single Dad
♾️ My wife
♟️ Diabetes Rep
♾️ Nicknames
♟️ Gray sweatpants (In my world, this is a trope, it’s not up for debate, fight me if you want to! 😂)
🎵 This book also has an amazing playlist on Spotify — You can access it from Madison’s website!