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Meddling Friends: Kelsie #2
The Four Proposals
Two months after the romagical events of The Wish List, winter is thawing and Kelsie and Laken's love is in bloom.
After a friendly challenge sets their relationship to a slow simmer, they look outward for something - anything - to serve as distraction, finding it in the form of Kelsie's fiercely independent mother Margo when a passing comment makes Kelsie question her mom's commitment to singlehood.
Between trying to convince Margo's long-time boyfriend Walt to pop the question, the meddling of Kelsie's friends, and the return of Laken's parents from Hawaii, these star-kissed lovers are going to have a spring they will never forget.
After a friendly challenge sets their relationship to a slow simmer, they look outward for something - anything - to serve as distraction, finding it in the form of Kelsie's fiercely independent mother Margo when a passing comment makes Kelsie question her mom's commitment to singlehood.
Between trying to convince Margo's long-time boyfriend Walt to pop the question, the meddling of Kelsie's friends, and the return of Laken's parents from Hawaii, these star-kissed lovers are going to have a spring they will never forget.
Unknown Binding
First published February 10, 2014
3 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Riley Lashea
13 books181 followersRiley LaShea grew up in an Ohio town that looks like a dust speck on most maps. It was boring and awful, so she got the hell out of there. Now, she doesn't know where she wants to be, so over the past several years she has lived in Nashville, Orlando, Fort Worth, Allentown, Columbus, Kansas City, Raleigh, outside LA and inside Manhattan.
She won a lyric contest judged by the Indigo Girls in high school and a screenplay contest judged by Creative Screenwriting Magazine once. Her first published novel became a bestseller at one indie bookstore in Oakland that has since gone out of business.
Known to take great risks in the noble pursuit of creativity, sometimes she prefers to just sit around eating chocolate yogurt and doing KenKen in pajama pants.
She won a lyric contest judged by the Indigo Girls in high school and a screenplay contest judged by Creative Screenwriting Magazine once. Her first published novel became a bestseller at one indie bookstore in Oakland that has since gone out of business.
Known to take great risks in the noble pursuit of creativity, sometimes she prefers to just sit around eating chocolate yogurt and doing KenKen in pajama pants.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 27, 2018
Gentle, funny and beautiful. Kelsie is on the receiving end of her friends meddling once again. This time they bet her that she and Laken can't remain celibate for 162 days (fortunately they only have 76 left to get through). Kelsie's mother, Margo, is also on the receiving end of the friends meddling.
They're a great group of friends and hard not to like in spite of some of their ill-conceived ideas.
There is a little bit of angst too in that Laken's brother doesn't seem to like Kelsie.
Another great read.
They're a great group of friends and hard not to like in spite of some of their ill-conceived ideas.
There is a little bit of angst too in that Laken's brother doesn't seem to like Kelsie.
Another great read.
April 6, 2018
When reading the first book in this series, I wasn’t really impressed. Some of that could have been because this series falls squarely under the romance category and, at the time, it was the last thing I was expecting from the author who wrote ‘Behind the Green Curtain’ and ‘Club Storyville.’ It was just too cutesy for my liking. That said, I skimmed the first book again so I could get to this one, reading plenty of reviews that stated books 2 and 3 were better. Book 1 remains solidly at three stars, although it did make me laugh a quite a bit.
So, that brings us here…to book two, which I did actually enjoy more than book one. It really helped my personal enjoyment that Kelsie and Laken were already in a relationship because, honestly, reading about their new relationship developing was much more enjoyable than the story of how they met and became a couple. Still, it’s important to read these books in order because they are not standalones…and the first book is worth the $2.99 to get here.
The author has set this up so the reader is experiencing certain days in the main character’s life. The first was a countdown to Christmas; this is a countdown to something else entirely, which I will not spoil. Kelsie has a great group of friends who are obviously meddlesome, otherwise the title of this series would be pointless. I loved her friends immensely and a large part of the humor in this book is derived from their actions and their need to insert themselves in Kelsie’s and her mother’s lives when they aren’t needed/wanted. I don’t want to get too terribly descriptive in how, but most of it is rather amusing and had me snickering quite a bit. The beauty of these friends, too, is that they’re also there when it counts. There was one chapter around the 45% mark that was actually quite emotional and it made my heart swell 1) to see the support system these goofy characters really are when it matters and 2) when I was really convinced that these two (Kelsie and Laken) really did belong together. There was something about the intimacy between them at the end of this chapter that really sold me on them. LaShea is pretty good that way, though. You can innocently be reading along and then a simple paragraph will sneak up and slap you in the face. I promise you it’s in a good way and it doesn’t hurt.
Overall, this is a good series and I’m glad I got back to it. LaShea is a really good writer, though a bit comma-happy, but whatever…there are worse crimes. Kelsie’s family and her friends are a hoot. This is a good book when you’re in the mood for pure romance with a decent amount of humor (and not rom-com humor, but LOL humor).
Thank you, lov2laf and Michele, for your convincing reviews. On to book 3 . . .
So, that brings us here…to book two, which I did actually enjoy more than book one. It really helped my personal enjoyment that Kelsie and Laken were already in a relationship because, honestly, reading about their new relationship developing was much more enjoyable than the story of how they met and became a couple. Still, it’s important to read these books in order because they are not standalones…and the first book is worth the $2.99 to get here.
The author has set this up so the reader is experiencing certain days in the main character’s life. The first was a countdown to Christmas; this is a countdown to something else entirely, which I will not spoil. Kelsie has a great group of friends who are obviously meddlesome, otherwise the title of this series would be pointless. I loved her friends immensely and a large part of the humor in this book is derived from their actions and their need to insert themselves in Kelsie’s and her mother’s lives when they aren’t needed/wanted. I don’t want to get too terribly descriptive in how, but most of it is rather amusing and had me snickering quite a bit. The beauty of these friends, too, is that they’re also there when it counts. There was one chapter around the 45% mark that was actually quite emotional and it made my heart swell 1) to see the support system these goofy characters really are when it matters and 2) when I was really convinced that these two (Kelsie and Laken) really did belong together. There was something about the intimacy between them at the end of this chapter that really sold me on them. LaShea is pretty good that way, though. You can innocently be reading along and then a simple paragraph will sneak up and slap you in the face. I promise you it’s in a good way and it doesn’t hurt.
Overall, this is a good series and I’m glad I got back to it. LaShea is a really good writer, though a bit comma-happy, but whatever…there are worse crimes. Kelsie’s family and her friends are a hoot. This is a good book when you’re in the mood for pure romance with a decent amount of humor (and not rom-com humor, but LOL humor).
Thank you, lov2laf and Michele, for your convincing reviews. On to book 3 . . .
April 17, 2017
I found this book to be much better than the first in the series and absolutely recommend reading it. Could it be a standalone? I *think* so but reading the first will also give you a lot more insight.
Mainly I liked this book more because we get Kelsie and Laken throughout as they get deeper into their relationship. These two are really great characters and watching a mature relationship unfold without crazy break-ups, dramatics and the like is completely refreshing and unduly gratifying.
The rom-com element is also stronger and, if you can give Kelsie's friends a pass without strangling them, their shenanigans can be kind of fun despite how inappropriate they are.
At the very least, Kelsie's reactions to it all keep us sane and Kelsie's mom and her mom's boyfriend, Walt, make a great addition to the cast as they play a more prominent role...
And, if you've read 'Behind the Green Curtain', the sensual intimacy found there is here, as well. In fact, a great deal of that is expressed, as one of the main threads of the story is Laken and Kelsie putting off having sex for the first time...It's pretty exquisite torture.
What's not torture, though, is the author yet again NOT cheapening her book with insta-love. I cannot thank her enough for that. The timing for these leads is perfect.
Like the first book in the series, there's a very minor paranormal piece that comes in that doesn't necessarily fit or isn't needed. Other than that, I had no qualms with the book whatsoever.
'The Four Proposals' is a high quality, super satisfying romance that gets a place on my favorites shelf. I tip it just beyond the 4.5 stars realm and round it up. Recommend.
Mainly I liked this book more because we get Kelsie and Laken throughout as they get deeper into their relationship. These two are really great characters and watching a mature relationship unfold without crazy break-ups, dramatics and the like is completely refreshing and unduly gratifying.
The rom-com element is also stronger and, if you can give Kelsie's friends a pass without strangling them, their shenanigans can be kind of fun despite how inappropriate they are.
At the very least, Kelsie's reactions to it all keep us sane and Kelsie's mom and her mom's boyfriend, Walt, make a great addition to the cast as they play a more prominent role...
And, if you've read 'Behind the Green Curtain', the sensual intimacy found there is here, as well. In fact, a great deal of that is expressed, as one of the main threads of the story is Laken and Kelsie putting off having sex for the first time...It's pretty exquisite torture.
What's not torture, though, is the author yet again NOT cheapening her book with insta-love. I cannot thank her enough for that. The timing for these leads is perfect.
Like the first book in the series, there's a very minor paranormal piece that comes in that doesn't necessarily fit or isn't needed. Other than that, I had no qualms with the book whatsoever.
'The Four Proposals' is a high quality, super satisfying romance that gets a place on my favorites shelf. I tip it just beyond the 4.5 stars realm and round it up. Recommend.
October 17, 2017
The story of Kelsie and Laken continues in part deux of the Meddling Friends series and it is even better than the first one. Riley Lashea does such an awesome job writing these characters and their growing love for each other. There is a bigger role for Kelsie's mom Margot and her boyfriend Walt this time and the 6 friends are causing their fair share of hilarious stunts.
The thread through this story is a bet between Kelsie and Laken and the friends that they can refrain from consuming their relationship for seventy-six days. Will they make it or will the sweet torture prove too much to bare.
f/f rom-com
Themes: such restraint these ladies have, no insta-love here and that's good, superb dialogue, Kelsie's mom is such a character, and just when I thought it wouldn't happen there was a touch of magic at the end
5 stars
The thread through this story is a bet between Kelsie and Laken and the friends that they can refrain from consuming their relationship for seventy-six days. Will they make it or will the sweet torture prove too much to bare.
f/f rom-com
Themes: such restraint these ladies have, no insta-love here and that's good, superb dialogue, Kelsie's mom is such a character, and just when I thought it wouldn't happen there was a touch of magic at the end
5 stars
July 24, 2017
Loved it!
Again a great storyline with humor, a sweet romance, cute surprises and it never gets boring. A light, captivating second installment. Now I want to read immediately the third part. Can't wait to see what is more in store for Kelsie, Laken and their crazy friends.
Again a great storyline with humor, a sweet romance, cute surprises and it never gets boring. A light, captivating second installment. Now I want to read immediately the third part. Can't wait to see what is more in store for Kelsie, Laken and their crazy friends.
January 4, 2016
Also cute and sweet like the first book. If I were Kelsie, I'd have dropped her friends. I know it's supposed to be cutesy like "Oh they screw up, but they mean well!" but they have major issues with boundaries that frustrated me enough to pull me out the story. Every interaction between Kelsie and Laken is great though, and I love Kelsie's mom and Walt.
January 10, 2018
Again, Kelsie and Laken, the chemistry is sooo good, despite several annoying disruptions from their friends, the whole wait plot is good to read to. It kind of let the audience wait with them too.
love Riley's writing.
love Riley's writing.
October 4, 2019
Nice follow-on to the first book in this series. A good cast of secondary characters help the story along. A very funny, if slightly scary, meeting of all of the parents was definitely one of the highlights.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews