How to Cure Lovesickness
Today, as a bridesmaid at her best friend Izzy Oldham’s destination wedding, Brooke Snow is an enchanting, green-eyed voluptuous siren with hair that looks like spun moonbeams, but only a few years earlier she was known by the “mean girls” in her community as “Snowball”—a sarcastic homage to her name, her hair color and her body’s response to her over-indulgence in her mother’s delicious and comforting food. As the cook in Izzy’s affluent parents’ home, Brooke’s mom and Brooke shared the same address as the Oldham’s but they did not share the luxurious accommodations. Her mom was not the “lady of the house,” and it was very clear that while her mom might be the queen of the kitchen, she was the “hired help.”
But social distance did not separate Izzy and Brooke—they were best friends. And despite her parents’ on-going disapproval of the relationship, it was impossible to convince Izzy to distance herself from “the help’s” daughter, Brooke. And, their true friendship continued to the present day and Izzy’s wedding. And so, the bride, the daughter internationally recognized hoteliers for the rich and famous, had as her attendant for her wedding her best friend, Izzy, the cook’s daughter.
And just as Brooke returned the sisterly love for her best friend, she also loved her best friend’s older brother, Ben, but not as a sister. To Brooke, Ben, an ebony-haired, grey-eyed walking advertisement for GQ was her secret dream love. And, in all the years of her association with the Oldham’s, Brooke believed that she had hidden her crush on Ben—even from Izzy. And, because over the years, Brooke had developed no overwhelming passion for any man other than Ben,. And so, even in her 20’s, Izzy is still a virgin.
But Izzy has other plans for her best friend and her brother. As the bride, Izzy has decided who escorts whom, so of course, Izzy’s greatest wish for her best friend, Brooke, is to make Brooke a member of her family. Her belief is that if best friend Brooke and older brother Ben were to be forced by the requirements of the wedding to be together, then maybe, finally, Ben would recognize how perfect Brooke would be for him—much better than the friend of the family, Bette Durning, whom her parents favor as a potential daughter-in-law.
But even if Izzy’s best laid plans work, Benjamin Oldham Sr. has had enough of Brooke Snow. And, no matter how valuable her mother is as the family cook—she and her daughter are not suitable as members of the Oldham family. And so, father Oldham will watch and wait, and he is willing to pay to get rid of anything or anybody who stands in the way of his plans for his heir.
LA Pepper continues her powerful and engaging storytelling in Lovesick. She weaves a passionate and sensuous tale of love and discovery that are filled with unexpected twists, turns and tunnels around Brooke and Ben. This romance is a reading adventure well worth the reader’s attention.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review ARCS, but I enjoyed the reading experience so much that I bought a copy for my "read-again" titles.