Surrender to Love: Oakworth Love Series

by Hadley Grey

When Liz sees Luke, it’s lust at first sight. But with everyone telling her he’s not the settling down type, and her ex coming back to ask for a second chance...she’s not sure she can surrender to what she really wants.

Liz

When her friends convinced her to submit a mural at the new state of the art veteran center in town, she had no idea she’d be facing Luke Keller. Her high school crush is all grown up, and he grew up really, really well.

Luke

Money and looks mean attracting women has always come easy to him. But he’s tired of random hookups, and won’t promise anything he can’t deliver. Now he’s back home, and the only artist who’s capable of creating the mural his dream center needs, is the one girl he never allowed himself to have. Liz, the baby-faced girl with the gorgeous smile, has turned into a fully grown curvy temptress, but she could never be a one night stand for him...and he’s afraid he can’t give her what she deserves.

First in the Oakworth Love series, Surrender to Love is a spicy, small town, millionaire romance with a curvy heroine and a veteran hero.

460 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 4, 2025

Reviews

[Chapter Chirp (Jessica)]

“Surrender to Love” centers around Elizabeth “Liz” Callahan, a high school art teacher who is recently single and decides in order to get past her failed relationship that she will shoot her shot at becoming the muralist for the new veteran center building “Civ Div”. When she shows up for her interview appointment she’s shocked to see the interviewer is her old high school crush and veteran Luke Keller. Luke is a wealthy self-made man who the tabloids erroneously dubbed a “love them and leave them” type of man but deep down he had always been in love with Liz. Upon seeing each other for the first time in years, a spark is ignited but neither knows whether the spark will flame or fizzle. I enjoyed this story so much. I felt like the characters and the narrative itself had so much depth. The supporting characters were just as interesting as the main characters, which is great news considering the next book in the series focuses on two of these characters. I loved seeing a positive romance involving a veteran which you don’t see often. Author, Hadley Grey, created a believable and realistic story that I think any romance lover could enjoy. I will definitely be reading the next book!

I received this book as an ARC, all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Fillie GIbson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved meeting Luke and Liz in the start of a great series. It was very real and relatable between the different relationships and characters. There was the villinan that was written to make you dislike him. The romance and fear of messing up relationships were very valid and real feelings. I love that Liz was described as a curvy woman, and Luke had injuries from his time in the service. Overall the characters were all just real. With real trauma, and fear, and joy! I look forward to reading the next book in the series! I received this book as an ARC and these are my own opinions.

[E.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a Beta and it is a fantastic story and amazing debut!

[Kelsey Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

soo good

My goodness did I love this book. The characters were so well written and I felt like part of the friend group. I only wish the center was a real place.

[Tatiana Laureano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a reliable book. I loved the characters and the story. I'm looking forward to the next book.

[Ashley Sunderland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the main characters bicker back & forth. I would chuckle in every chapter and I always had a smile on my face. This was a 5 star for me!!

[Fiona Blades · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely read, right amount of angst, spice, romance and love.

[Tal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful debut filled with spice and an obsessed MMC and my favorite microtrope - I've always loved you. Also the most adorable chapter subtitles. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Elos_book_hoard · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was such a cute read, these characters had so much growth throughout the book with a beautiful HEA. I loved the friendships and the found family within these groups.