Love or Leave

Mapleton #4

by Diana Deehan

Two fake dates. One big secret. Zero chance of keeping it casual.Cara Keller can navigate constellations better than her love life—but she's ready to shake things up. Her plan? Take up golf (badly), dive back into dating (awkwardly), and "accidentally" run into her crush at a concert. All she needs is a plus-one to make it all go smoothly.

Enter her brother’s infuriatingly hot best friend—aka the human version of a red flag.

Antonio Santori thought he had time to fix his broken marriage—until his ex announces she’s bringing a date to his parents’ anniversary party. Desperate to save face, he makes a deal with Cara. Two fake dates, no strings attached, and absolutely no telling her brother.

But secrets this hot don’t stay hidden for long. Stolen glances turn into late-night confessions, and fake dates start feeling dangerously real. Keeping it a secret was easy. Letting each other go? That’s where it gets complicated.

Love or Leave by Diana Deehan is a flirty, forbidden brother’s best friend romance brimming with secret hookups, sizzling chemistry, and all the slow-burn tension your heart can handle. It’s also the final installment in the Mapleton Series, complete with a heartwarming series epilogue featuring scenes from each of your favorite characters’ points of view.

Say goodbye to Mapleton with one last romance that’s impossible to resist.

Genres: Contemporary, Small Town Romance

377 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Claudia, Cmarie927 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to the others in this series, this book’s characters and plot were easy to connect with.

Cara is a sweet woman, who should know better than to get involved with her brother’s friend Antonio, but it’s hard being lonely and seeing others in your friend group find their HEAs. I loved watching her search for the man she’d connected with and her efforts to keep her relationship with Antonio a secret from their friends.

The engaging characters and their interconnected pasts make this series a must-read, especially in order. It was a great read; funny, steamy, addictive, and thoroughly enjoyable. I’m looking forward to reading this talented author’s next series.

My ARC was provided by Booksirens (thank you) and I happily leave my review.

[tash.bookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fun time but also a wild ride! Diana creates such lovable characters, and this book was no exception. I've really enjoyed this series, and it was nice to get one final cute love story with Cara + Antonio.
Cara is Max's sister, and Antonio is Max's best friend. I found it odd that they didn't really know each other, and had only met one time before, considering how close knit this group of friends is. Max has warned Antonio not to go anywhere near his sister, after learning of some less than favourable things Antonio has done. Antonio is separated from his wife, but it's complicated, and he wants to work things out. Cara is quirky and looking to broaden her dating horizons. They end up falling into a deal of fake dating (behind her brother's back) to help each other out. The fake part works at first, until it doesn't anymore. There were lots of ups and downs in this one.
This was the last book of the Mapleton series, so it was nice to see everything wrap up for all the characters from the previous books. I've loved being part of this small town romcom world!

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book! I’ve liked all the books in this series, but this one had some tension! I enjoyed the dynamic between Antonio - a somewhat broken man from a messy divorce - and Cara - an intelligent and caring woman who doesn’t quite yet know what a loving partner looks like - and the way their love story pushed and pulled throughout the book. I wasn’t a complete fan of the age gap, but for a small town romance that feels acceptable, especially tied into the older brother's friend trope. Cara and Max have a very close relationship and I thought the balance between protective older brother and supportive older brother was done well. I don’t quite understand how Max was so against Antonio being a good guy but was still friends with him, but it didn’t take away much from the story. Overall a nice, easy, fun read to round out the Mapleton series. So glad too we got to see all the other couples and how they’ve been fairing too! This book was spicy while self explorative!

[booksadoodle (Tammy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read each of the books in the Mapleton Series, so I knew that I absolutely needed to reach this last one! I love all these characters and their unique personalities. This one with Antonio & Cara wasn’t my favorite story of the series, but I did really like it. I struggled at times with Antonio’s indecisiveness and choices. I’m all for a morally gray MMC, but he doesn’t hit that way, just more troubled and conflicted (which I absolutely know was part of his journey!). It just made for a bit of frustration when reading at times. That being said, I still devoured this and love Diana’s writing! Still an 4-⭐️ read for me, and recommend the series as a whole - Now or Never is still my favorite! Absolutely looking forward to her next series and more of Brin’s story! Thanks so much to Diana Deehan & BookSirens for the opportunity to review this e-ARC. I received a gifted advance review copy for free and am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

[Kelsie Charbonneau - theshelvesofduchessarya · Rating 3 out of 5]

📱𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬

𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠: Love or Leave, Mapleton Series, Book 4 by Diana Deehan
𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩: Kindle via bookfunnel from booksirens
𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐⭐⭐/5
𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:

“𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔. 𝑰𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚. 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆.”

----------------

And that’s a wrap! This was the finale to the Mapleton Series. Cara the spitfire and Antonio the gentleman. They were adorable, I loved their chemistry and banter but also how easily they got along with one another.

I loved all the appearances from the characters from the other books! It really made my happy to have them all tie in so nicely. Especially the bonus epilogue where we get everyones happy endings!

I can’t wait to see what other stories Diana comes up with for us. Thank you so much for the Mapleton Series!

[Sherri Lynn Parent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderfully written story by Diana Deehan.
Returning to Mapleton was so much fun! The characters and their intertwined lives makes for a great series!
Each character has their own unique background and connects so well with their love interest.
Deehan brings the most unlikely pair together in this story.
Cara and Antonio have a roller coaster beginning to their love story but when that roller coaster begins to go off the rails it's not easy to steer it back on track.
Thank you Diana for the opportunity to read your words and connect with your characters and love the world you've created.

[Suze82 · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

I just loved Cara and Antonio, reading about all the chaos finally leading to true love was so entertaining.

[Laalmom]

Part of Mapleton box set

[Jana at ThatArtsyReaderGirl.com]

Part of The Complete Mapleton Series on Kindle.

[Booklover · Rating 1 out of 5]

Antonio Santori thought he had time to fix his broken marriage—until his ex announces she’s bringing a date to his parents’ anniversary party.

Lol, why the f is his ex invited to his parents' party? I'm out.