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Always Will
Handsome twenty-eight-year-old Will Hallerman has finally had enough of the dating world—he's ready to find a wife and settle down. This announcement is catastrophic in Hannah Becker's world. After knowing Will her entire life and adoring him from afar since junior high school, she realizes her chance at love with him is in grave danger. Hannah's problem? To Will, she will never be more than his best friend's little sister. Determined to open his eyes to her charms, Hannah sets out to sabotage Will's wife hunt by placing nightmare dates in his path and taking his search on a wild goose chase. Her plan is risky, but she's willing to take a chance to catch the eye of her soul mate.
Despite her crazy schemes, nothing seems to be working. Hannah can't help but wonder if it's time to set aside this childhood crush—to move on and settle down herself. She's ready for a fresh start with a great guy. If only Will weren't suddenly changing the rules of the game... And how can Hannah move on when Will just won't let her forget?
Despite her crazy schemes, nothing seems to be working. Hannah can't help but wonder if it's time to set aside this childhood crush—to move on and settle down herself. She's ready for a fresh start with a great guy. If only Will weren't suddenly changing the rules of the game... And how can Hannah move on when Will just won't let her forget?
256 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
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April 28, 2016
3.5 stars, and I might decide to round up rather than down once I finish processing this mentally and get over my initial irritation with a twist at the end. Stay tuned.
When I'm in the mood for a heartwarming, humorous romance, Melanie Jacobson is one of my go-to authors. Always Will is her latest and I've spent the last 3 or 4 months waiting for it on the library's hold list (Jacobson is apparently very popular in Utah; seriously, I was like #14 on the list). So I was all excited when I finally got my hands on this book. And then a little let down by it, which saddens me.
I have to say I was a little leery of the blurb description: Hannah has been in love with Will since she was 13 years old. Since she's now 25, that's a VERY long-term crush. I had one like that that lasted 5 or 6 years, so I'm sympathetic, but Hannah's crush is so massive that it keeps her from giving any other guy a real chance. Will is her older brother Dave's best friend, and Dave asked Will to watch out for Hannah, so he treats her, mostly, like a sister. And Hannah laps up whatever crumbs she can get from Will's table of affection.
So when Will announces to her that he's going to get serious about getting married, beginning with signing up for online dating services, Hannah panics and decides to "help" Will but actually try to sabotage his efforts. It's dishonest and manipulative, and Hannah realizes that but can't help herself, I guess. The book deals with that issue, but it still wasn't enjoyable reading for me. I found it all cringe-worthy.
Anyway, after about 100 pages we're pretty much done with that part of the plot, thank goodness, and I settled down to some more interesting turns in the plot. There's a lot of navel-gazing by Hannah, but she's doing a lot of growing and dealing with things in a reasonably healthy way, and I was good with all of that. Hannah has a really excellent BFF, Sophie, who's not just a good shoulder to cry on, but also helps Hannah process things and calls her on her BS when she needs to.
And it all went really well until I hit a deeply disappointing and frankly unbelievable plot twist in the last 10 pages that just left a sour taste in my mouth. . This felt like author manipulation, and it wasn't even necessary. It didn't really fit in with Will's prior behavior: I went back and skimmed through much of the book again, trying to see if the groundwork had been laid for this, and whatever there was, just wasn't enough to satisfy me emotionally with that final turn in the plot. Equally inexplicable, to my mind, was . The novel does explain, or try to explain, her reasons for that, I just wasn't really buying it, given how long she's loved Will.
This is still a worthwhile book, if you like clean contemporary romances, but it's not going on my keep-and-reread list for when I need a romantic hit.
When I'm in the mood for a heartwarming, humorous romance, Melanie Jacobson is one of my go-to authors. Always Will is her latest and I've spent the last 3 or 4 months waiting for it on the library's hold list (Jacobson is apparently very popular in Utah; seriously, I was like #14 on the list). So I was all excited when I finally got my hands on this book. And then a little let down by it, which saddens me.
I have to say I was a little leery of the blurb description: Hannah has been in love with Will since she was 13 years old. Since she's now 25, that's a VERY long-term crush. I had one like that that lasted 5 or 6 years, so I'm sympathetic, but Hannah's crush is so massive that it keeps her from giving any other guy a real chance. Will is her older brother Dave's best friend, and Dave asked Will to watch out for Hannah, so he treats her, mostly, like a sister. And Hannah laps up whatever crumbs she can get from Will's table of affection.
So when Will announces to her that he's going to get serious about getting married, beginning with signing up for online dating services, Hannah panics and decides to "help" Will but actually try to sabotage his efforts. It's dishonest and manipulative, and Hannah realizes that but can't help herself, I guess. The book deals with that issue, but it still wasn't enjoyable reading for me. I found it all cringe-worthy.
Anyway, after about 100 pages we're pretty much done with that part of the plot, thank goodness, and I settled down to some more interesting turns in the plot. There's a lot of navel-gazing by Hannah, but she's doing a lot of growing and dealing with things in a reasonably healthy way, and I was good with all of that. Hannah has a really excellent BFF, Sophie, who's not just a good shoulder to cry on, but also helps Hannah process things and calls her on her BS when she needs to.
And it all went really well until I hit a deeply disappointing and frankly unbelievable plot twist in the last 10 pages that just left a sour taste in my mouth. . This felt like author manipulation, and it wasn't even necessary. It didn't really fit in with Will's prior behavior: I went back and skimmed through much of the book again, trying to see if the groundwork had been laid for this, and whatever there was, just wasn't enough to satisfy me emotionally with that final turn in the plot. Equally inexplicable, to my mind, was . The novel does explain, or try to explain, her reasons for that, I just wasn't really buying it, given how long she's loved Will.
This is still a worthwhile book, if you like clean contemporary romances, but it's not going on my keep-and-reread list for when I need a romantic hit.
October 14, 2015
This turned out way better than I expected, though that became an unexpected problem of its own towards the end of the book. I particularly loved Hannah, the main protagonist. She's strong, competitive, and determined, but with the one weakness of this guy she's hung up on. You can even see why, and not because Will is a paragon; he's simply the right guy for her. But I particularly liked that this story directly confronted the emotional immaturity inherent in an unrequited crush that starts in the early teens and persists well into the twenties.
So anyway, it's a fast read that held me tight far into the night with the interesting characters and Hannah's plight as she struggles to deal with her Will problem. You see her panic as he announces he's ready to find what his newly-married best friend has. And you see her struggle with the desire to manipulate and push him to finally see her for the woman she is (as opposed to the little sister of his best friend)—a desire she's not terribly good at resisting. And I usually hate that whole manipulate your love "for their own good" thing. Only this book uses it as the warning it should be, illuminating the pitfalls and dangers and essential betrayal inherent in the impulse. That was good.
And I liked most of the secondary characters, particularly that the guys Hannah dated to move past Will weren't any of them evil or bad or in any way designed to show the stellar qualities of Will by contrast to their evil selves. This was outstanding, as was Hannah's relationship with her best friend, Sophie.
Unfortunately, the book tried very hard near the end to throw it all away with stupidity and manipulation of its own.
The glitches in the ending were bad enough that I very nearly dropped my rating a whole star from a solid four to a weak three. On reflection, however, I decided that the middle range where Hannah's growth and experiences were so strong was good enough to keep the four stars, just on a much weaker foundation.
A note about market stupidity: I didn't notice that this was a Covenant title. Covenant is a small publisher with a largely LDS audience (which is at least one reason this is a chaste romance, I'm sure). The book has zero LDS presence, and is probably stronger for it. Unfortunately, it is also wildly over-priced, at least in e-book formats. I'd have never picked it up except that the Salt Lake County Library had a copy. I really hate when small publishers gimp their sales so needlessly. This is in no way a $10 e-book and I can't help but feel that it'd have a much stronger review/rating showing if they weren't so mired in market idiocy. Since Covenant is also known for their particularly abusive author contracts, I'd begrudge them even a cheaper price, but keeping their prices so high makes my moral outrage so much easier to maintain...
So anyway, it's a fast read that held me tight far into the night with the interesting characters and Hannah's plight as she struggles to deal with her Will problem. You see her panic as he announces he's ready to find what his newly-married best friend has. And you see her struggle with the desire to manipulate and push him to finally see her for the woman she is (as opposed to the little sister of his best friend)—a desire she's not terribly good at resisting. And I usually hate that whole manipulate your love "for their own good" thing. Only this book uses it as the warning it should be, illuminating the pitfalls and dangers and essential betrayal inherent in the impulse. That was good.
And I liked most of the secondary characters, particularly that the guys Hannah dated to move past Will weren't any of them evil or bad or in any way designed to show the stellar qualities of Will by contrast to their evil selves. This was outstanding, as was Hannah's relationship with her best friend, Sophie.
Unfortunately, the book tried very hard near the end to throw it all away with stupidity and manipulation of its own.
The glitches in the ending were bad enough that I very nearly dropped my rating a whole star from a solid four to a weak three. On reflection, however, I decided that the middle range where Hannah's growth and experiences were so strong was good enough to keep the four stars, just on a much weaker foundation.
A note about market stupidity: I didn't notice that this was a Covenant title. Covenant is a small publisher with a largely LDS audience (which is at least one reason this is a chaste romance, I'm sure). The book has zero LDS presence, and is probably stronger for it. Unfortunately, it is also wildly over-priced, at least in e-book formats. I'd have never picked it up except that the Salt Lake County Library had a copy. I really hate when small publishers gimp their sales so needlessly. This is in no way a $10 e-book and I can't help but feel that it'd have a much stronger review/rating showing if they weren't so mired in market idiocy. Since Covenant is also known for their particularly abusive author contracts, I'd begrudge them even a cheaper price, but keeping their prices so high makes my moral outrage so much easier to maintain...
October 9, 2015
Mixed feelings alert! I couldn't decide if I wanted to read this as fast as possible to see how it would all end up, or if I should savor each word and situation so I didn't miss anything. What a dilemma!
Hannah has found true love. With her older brother's best friend. The only problem is, he just doesn't know it. Really. Could anything be more frustrating? I love the humor, fun, heartache, and self-evaluations that occurred in this darling romantic comedy!
I love a good story about a childhood crush and this one is great! I love the witty banter and easy relationship Will and Hannah share. I know all too well how hard it is to see someone you've known for so long as grown up and capable and Will definitely struggles with this. Will is a math whiz and thinks in terms of problems and solving and equations. Hannah is similar, yet she feels things and feels them deeply. Her thinking terms are much more complex and fascinating, if a bit manipulative.
When Will decides to find a wife and uses algorithms and online dating sites as a source, Hannah is determined to undermine his chances and tries to get him to see that she's the one for him. Let the games begin!
I don't know if it is possible to feel more frustrated by Will than I did at times. He's completely clueless and just meanders along the friendship path he's always known. Yet, he's utterly sweet and adorable. I couldn't believe how sweet he was in the headache scene. I was frustrated with Hannah as times, too. Sophie, her best friend, kept telling her to come clean and she just couldn't. So much could have been avoided! Ah, the emotion is fabulous.
Melanie Jacobson is an auto buy author for me. She always delivers such great stories with fantastic characters!
Content: mild romance (kissing). Nothing else of note. Clean!
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
Hannah has found true love. With her older brother's best friend. The only problem is, he just doesn't know it. Really. Could anything be more frustrating? I love the humor, fun, heartache, and self-evaluations that occurred in this darling romantic comedy!
I love a good story about a childhood crush and this one is great! I love the witty banter and easy relationship Will and Hannah share. I know all too well how hard it is to see someone you've known for so long as grown up and capable and Will definitely struggles with this. Will is a math whiz and thinks in terms of problems and solving and equations. Hannah is similar, yet she feels things and feels them deeply. Her thinking terms are much more complex and fascinating, if a bit manipulative.
When Will decides to find a wife and uses algorithms and online dating sites as a source, Hannah is determined to undermine his chances and tries to get him to see that she's the one for him. Let the games begin!
I don't know if it is possible to feel more frustrated by Will than I did at times. He's completely clueless and just meanders along the friendship path he's always known. Yet, he's utterly sweet and adorable. I couldn't believe how sweet he was in the headache scene. I was frustrated with Hannah as times, too. Sophie, her best friend, kept telling her to come clean and she just couldn't. So much could have been avoided! Ah, the emotion is fabulous.
Melanie Jacobson is an auto buy author for me. She always delivers such great stories with fantastic characters!
Content: mild romance (kissing). Nothing else of note. Clean!
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
October 30, 2015
This has been nominated for a 2015 Swoony Award, you can vote for it here.
I ended up really enjoying this one.
Hannah has been in love with her brothers best friend for over ten years. As she's gotten older she's able to set aside her crush, but when her brother gets married and Will ends up living down the hall from her, her old feelings resurface and she realizes her feelings have never changed. She panics when Will decides he wants to settle down as well, and wants her help navigating the online dating world.
While I love a good friends-to-lovers storyline, it rarely gets pulled off to my satisfaction, which it did in this case. Usually, I'm just frustrated that a girl has been in love with a guy for years and years and is living her life on the sidelines while he dates others and never sees her as more than a friend. It seems in these books the girl is always the one doing the pursing and trying to make the guy see her as more. That always rubs me the wrong way. So, I was relieved when this story didn't follow that same path. Hannah realizes her rut and takes measures to take control of her life. Hannah is a likable character, easy to root for. There were a couple times I wanted to jump in and shake some sense into her, but she does a pretty good job of doing that herself. I liked Will, but again, wanted to shake some sense into him as well. I normally like the guy to do the pursuing, but I thought things were handled pretty well here.
Overall, this was very well written, I was sucked in and didn't want to put it down. The characters were all likable (Jay needs his own book!) and while I was reading I kept thinking of friends that I would want to share it with. Fun read!
Content
Romance: Clean
Language: None
Violence: None
Religious: None
I ended up really enjoying this one.
Hannah has been in love with her brothers best friend for over ten years. As she's gotten older she's able to set aside her crush, but when her brother gets married and Will ends up living down the hall from her, her old feelings resurface and she realizes her feelings have never changed. She panics when Will decides he wants to settle down as well, and wants her help navigating the online dating world.
While I love a good friends-to-lovers storyline, it rarely gets pulled off to my satisfaction, which it did in this case. Usually, I'm just frustrated that a girl has been in love with a guy for years and years and is living her life on the sidelines while he dates others and never sees her as more than a friend. It seems in these books the girl is always the one doing the pursing and trying to make the guy see her as more. That always rubs me the wrong way. So, I was relieved when this story didn't follow that same path. Hannah realizes her rut and takes measures to take control of her life. Hannah is a likable character, easy to root for. There were a couple times I wanted to jump in and shake some sense into her, but she does a pretty good job of doing that herself. I liked Will, but again, wanted to shake some sense into him as well. I normally like the guy to do the pursuing, but I thought things were handled pretty well here.
Overall, this was very well written, I was sucked in and didn't want to put it down. The characters were all likable (Jay needs his own book!) and while I was reading I kept thinking of friends that I would want to share it with. Fun read!
Content
Romance: Clean
Language: None
Violence: None
Religious: None
September 10, 2015
Totally biased, of course, but I've been wanting to write a falling in love with your best friend story forever, and that's what this one is. I LOVE THIS BOOK.
November 9, 2019
Not one of my favorite book styles. The friends to lovers always has a weird feel to it. This one was good and the ending was so great. The middle dragged a bit, there's just not much you can do with this story line. The writing was my favorite part. The banter between her and everyone was great. Iv'e got to read another of her books to see if I like her better with a different story line. The banter and the end of the book were amazing. This is a chaste romance with no religion in it.
September 30, 2020
Always Will was such a fun, smart romance to read. What do you do when all the girls you've dated just aren't marriage material? You con the system into finding you the right girl. Never mind the fact that the perfect girl for you is right beside you, it can't be her since she's your best friend's sister. Hannah is going to prove Will wrong though, it is her, and she'll do whatever it takes to prove it. From manipulation to some laugh out loud funny date run-ins, Will Hallerman and Hannah are going to figure out, together, what finding the one really takes in Melanie Jacobson's contemporary romance.
I loved Hannah, even if she was super pigheaded at times. She wanted Will to see her as an option so badly, but she played into all the bad dating tips. She wasn't herself, she manipulated, she dated around. Sure, she learned a lot along the way, which made her super relatable, but she certainly broke all the rules in doing so. Her friendship with Will felt so authentic, I could picture them as friends and as the battle to prove him wrong turned up the chemistry was palpable. I cringed alongside them, felt the jealousy when they did, and absolutely lit up as their potential romance finally stepped into play. Hannah's ploy may not have been her best plan, but it made for a great read and a totally perfect brother's best friend romance read.
Always Will was such a great read for me, it was just the right amount of lighthearted romance and truly believable. I found this book so enjoyable that even if it had flaws for me, I already forgot them, because I just had such a good time reading it. I highly recommend this book, especially for my clean romance friends.
ARC provided.
I loved Hannah, even if she was super pigheaded at times. She wanted Will to see her as an option so badly, but she played into all the bad dating tips. She wasn't herself, she manipulated, she dated around. Sure, she learned a lot along the way, which made her super relatable, but she certainly broke all the rules in doing so. Her friendship with Will felt so authentic, I could picture them as friends and as the battle to prove him wrong turned up the chemistry was palpable. I cringed alongside them, felt the jealousy when they did, and absolutely lit up as their potential romance finally stepped into play. Hannah's ploy may not have been her best plan, but it made for a great read and a totally perfect brother's best friend romance read.
Always Will was such a great read for me, it was just the right amount of lighthearted romance and truly believable. I found this book so enjoyable that even if it had flaws for me, I already forgot them, because I just had such a good time reading it. I highly recommend this book, especially for my clean romance friends.
ARC provided.
May 20, 2017
Melanie is one of my favorite authors, not only because she is the Queen of witty banter but also because she has a way of creating a fun, believeable story that pulls me in and holds me tight. So I guess it comes as no surprise that I finished this one in under 24 hours. This is my favorite book she's written so far. Loved both mcs, the twists and turns, and of course that banter. Can't wait to see what she writes next!
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys clean, clever, rom-coms.
Warnings: None. Well... Actually. Highly addictive writing, so block out some time for this one.
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys clean, clever, rom-coms.
Warnings: None. Well... Actually. Highly addictive writing, so block out some time for this one.
March 3, 2022
Would be five but she spends a quarter of the book complaining.
January 23, 2016
Hannah has been in love with her brother's best friend, Will, for over a decade. When she was seventeen she told him about her crush and he in turn crushed her heart by laughing at her. From that point on she loved him from afar. She refused to let him see her true feelings because her poor heart couldn't take rejection a second time.
But when Will announces that it's time for him to settle down and find a wife, Hannah freaks out and decides that she must stall him in finding a wife. She needs time to show him that she is no longer the kid sister.. that she is all grown-up and she is the perfect girl for him.
Commence derailment of Operation Find a Bride. Hannah comes up with all these off the wall ideas to sabotage Will's dates and some how makes them seem logical to him. He ends up going along with whatever she suggests. After a few disastrous dates he decides it's time to take back the dating reins. But in doing so, Hannah decides that she is going to do some dating of her own.
With Hannah's best friend Sophie and a hunky guy named Jay at her side, Hannah is able to do some self evaluation and decides that it is time to make some changes in her life. One of those changes is confessing to Will that she is still in love him but in order for her to move on, she needs space and time. Now that Will knows this, the question is, is he going to give her what she wants?
Can I just tell you that these two drove me NUTS at times?! Holy crow Batman! I caught myself growling on several occasions and wishing I could just Gibbs slap the both of them! Lol. But the journey was definitely worth it! Just be prepared for a roller coaster ride! ;)
And I just have to throw this out there... I would love to see Jay get his own book! Oh! And Sophie too! Those two made the journey that much better for me! :)
Melanie Jacobson never disappoints! She is another author that can suck me in from the beginning and not let me go until the end! And we all know how much I love that! :)
This casting was a bit tough for me since there wasn't much description but this is my Will and Hannah... :)
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
But when Will announces that it's time for him to settle down and find a wife, Hannah freaks out and decides that she must stall him in finding a wife. She needs time to show him that she is no longer the kid sister.. that she is all grown-up and she is the perfect girl for him.
Commence derailment of Operation Find a Bride. Hannah comes up with all these off the wall ideas to sabotage Will's dates and some how makes them seem logical to him. He ends up going along with whatever she suggests. After a few disastrous dates he decides it's time to take back the dating reins. But in doing so, Hannah decides that she is going to do some dating of her own.
With Hannah's best friend Sophie and a hunky guy named Jay at her side, Hannah is able to do some self evaluation and decides that it is time to make some changes in her life. One of those changes is confessing to Will that she is still in love him but in order for her to move on, she needs space and time. Now that Will knows this, the question is, is he going to give her what she wants?
Can I just tell you that these two drove me NUTS at times?! Holy crow Batman! I caught myself growling on several occasions and wishing I could just Gibbs slap the both of them! Lol. But the journey was definitely worth it! Just be prepared for a roller coaster ride! ;)
And I just have to throw this out there... I would love to see Jay get his own book! Oh! And Sophie too! Those two made the journey that much better for me! :)
Melanie Jacobson never disappoints! She is another author that can suck me in from the beginning and not let me go until the end! And we all know how much I love that! :)
This casting was a bit tough for me since there wasn't much description but this is my Will and Hannah... :)
*I received a copy in exchange for an honest review*
January 23, 2016
I ended up loving Always Will by Melanie Jacobson. At first, though funny, I thought it was going to be a little repetitive, predictable, and maybe even a bit cheesy for my taste...but boy was I wrong. I could NOT put it down. The characters were so "real" and so relatable! By chapter three I was completely hooked and absorbed every page. Such a light, fun, clean, young adult romance!
October 9, 2015
Love, love, love. That's what I have for this book. Why? This book drove me nuts! I was ready to pull my hair out in anticipation, frustration, COME ON ALREADY!
Hannah has loved Will forever. When this book starts, they are the best of friends. They know each other well. But Hannah longs for more while Will seems content to treat Hannah like a sister. Will sure seems pretty dense for most of the book because Hannah is giving off some strong signals. It was pure agony to see Hannah try so hard and get nowhere in her quest. My poor little Hannah! I loved the dialogue in this book. It was entertaining and snappy. Just how I like it.
Man, I have to say that I barreled straight through this book. I could not put it down. It was a sort of frenzied reading I was doing because I just had to get to the end before anything else in my life could happen. ha! I seriously love when that happens.
This book is so fun. I was fully caught up in this romantic comedy (clean!) and I loved it.
Hannah has loved Will forever. When this book starts, they are the best of friends. They know each other well. But Hannah longs for more while Will seems content to treat Hannah like a sister. Will sure seems pretty dense for most of the book because Hannah is giving off some strong signals. It was pure agony to see Hannah try so hard and get nowhere in her quest. My poor little Hannah! I loved the dialogue in this book. It was entertaining and snappy. Just how I like it.
Man, I have to say that I barreled straight through this book. I could not put it down. It was a sort of frenzied reading I was doing because I just had to get to the end before anything else in my life could happen. ha! I seriously love when that happens.
This book is so fun. I was fully caught up in this romantic comedy (clean!) and I loved it.
March 3, 2016
My mistake was not reading the first two pages before I bought the book to try a new author. It was a great indication of how trying it would be to continue reading. Pg 7 how sexy drinking a sports drink was-really?! His hair “tangled like unset taffy”--I am nauseous and not in a good way. Calling each other Loser, dummy-yeah real friends here. Hannah is totally self conscious and so over the top into Will it is painful to read about when he does absolutely nothing in the first 50 pages (I literally couldn't force myself to read each page after that) to explain the attraction. Pg 28 Hannah wants to “…[be] his shark cage, the person who made everything okay, who made it so he could breathe…” How is this book getting such high reviews?! The main character hit the nail on the head pg 53 “My twelve-year-long, pathetic, ridiculous crush.” Between the constant eye rolling and general nausea this book induced I just cannot recommend it to anyone. I hope it is the last time I am sucked in my a good blurb on the back without reading the beginning of the story.
March 12, 2016
I could not put this book down. I started it first thing in the morning thinking I'd read a chapter or two, but six hours later my toddler was still in pajamas (at least she was fed). Hannah is such a conflicted character, full of contrasts. She is an extremely smart, professional, together young woman, but when it comes to her relationship with Will, her emotions are all over the place. It's a fascinating study of unrequited love and the obsession that accompanies it. Balancing out the crazy is Hannah's friend Sophie, who tells it like it is and encourages Hannah in healthy ways. I loved all the mannerisms and quirks of Hannah and Will's friendship, and trying to interpret what Will is thinking since the story is not told from his POV. There are several ups and downs, twists and turns in the plot that kept me glued to the book to see how it would all play out.
(Thank you to Covenant Communications for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review)
(Thank you to Covenant Communications for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review)
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January 9, 2016What a crazy ending! Review to come.
January 12, 2016
Loved! Seriously great fun!
Content: clean
Content: clean
September 18, 2022
Oh boy. These two deserve each other lol.
This book would have been better had Hannah been honest from the beginning (I know, I know, then there wouldn't have been a book), but also if she wouldn't have doubled down on her disastrous plan (which included catfishing??). Girl was a mess.
Also, if the characters were more rounded out...literally the whole book is about this one singular focus, bouncing from Hannah and/or Will's apartment, talking about dating and occasionally baseball, with the occasional date thrown in. Did Will have any other friends (besides Dave who was not there...and also Hannah's brother)? Thankfully Hannah has Sophie but she only appeared on page when convenient. It would have been a lot better had the story/characters been more rounded out...show them at work, add a few more characters and settings and not have the entire story be about one thing. That also would have allowed readers to be more connected to Hannah and Will and have a greater sense of who they are beyond Hannah's massive crush and Will's oblivion. I was actually rooting for Jay at one point because at least he sounded interesting. I wonder too if having Will's POV might improve things because it was frustrating how he was treating her, but we only have Hannah's POV. Not sure though...that might have doubled down on the stupidity.
I've had this book on my TBR for forever so I'm glad I finally got around to it, but it definitely wasn't what I expected. Also was curious about LDS fiction but this had zero faith elements (just one mention of the Bible), and even a mention of the universe sending signs, so that was interesting.
Overall, lots of rolling my eyes and saying "this is dumb" and wishing the characters had outside lives lol.
This book would have been better had Hannah been honest from the beginning (I know, I know, then there wouldn't have been a book), but also if she wouldn't have doubled down on her disastrous plan (which included catfishing??). Girl was a mess.
Also, if the characters were more rounded out...literally the whole book is about this one singular focus, bouncing from Hannah and/or Will's apartment, talking about dating and occasionally baseball, with the occasional date thrown in. Did Will have any other friends (besides Dave who was not there...and also Hannah's brother)? Thankfully Hannah has Sophie but she only appeared on page when convenient. It would have been a lot better had the story/characters been more rounded out...show them at work, add a few more characters and settings and not have the entire story be about one thing. That also would have allowed readers to be more connected to Hannah and Will and have a greater sense of who they are beyond Hannah's massive crush and Will's oblivion. I was actually rooting for Jay at one point because at least he sounded interesting. I wonder too if having Will's POV might improve things because it was frustrating how he was treating her, but we only have Hannah's POV. Not sure though...that might have doubled down on the stupidity.
I've had this book on my TBR for forever so I'm glad I finally got around to it, but it definitely wasn't what I expected. Also was curious about LDS fiction but this had zero faith elements (just one mention of the Bible), and even a mention of the universe sending signs, so that was interesting.
Overall, lots of rolling my eyes and saying "this is dumb" and wishing the characters had outside lives lol.
October 15, 2015
Always Will is the by new-to-me author Melanie Jacobson. It is a stand alone novel, with an HEA. It is safe, and there is no cliffhanger. It's told from first person point-of-view by the heroine of the book. I'm solidly on the fence with this book, meaning it didn't overwhelm me or underwhelm me. There were things I liked about it, and things I didn't so much like.
The story itself had me amused. You have a girl who is in love with her older brother's best friend, who just happens to be her neighbor too. Hannah has been in love with Will for years. She sees his apartment door as revolving, watching women go in and out, new girlfriends and what not. After the latest mess though, Will makes the choice that he's done dating, he wants a serious relationship. It drives Hannah into a panic, someone might take Will from her. She can't let that happen.
They set Will up an online dating account, several of them actually, and Hanna plays it so that he has the worst dates ever. To throw off suspicion, she also sets up an account for herself, which Will thinks is totally fake... but then she starts dating too and he's not exactly on board with that.
From Hanna's POV it just seems like Will is being unreasonable, date crashing, treating her like a kid, while still going on his own dates and trying to find his dream women. She can't convince him that she's that person. So she gives up. Which starts a whole other parade of problems.
Typically, I'm completely enamored with friends to lover stories, second chance romances or even the whole "I'm in love with my brother's best friend." trope. However, with the case of Always Will, I think it would have benefited from dual point of views. A majority of the time it's massive communications problems, in other instances, it feels like Will's side of it doesn't translate well. There were a few times he comes off as jealous and you see that but it couldn't make up the rest for me.
I would still recommend the book to others, there are some insanely cute moments in it. I've given it a solid 3 star rating myself.
**ARC provided by published via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
The story itself had me amused. You have a girl who is in love with her older brother's best friend, who just happens to be her neighbor too. Hannah has been in love with Will for years. She sees his apartment door as revolving, watching women go in and out, new girlfriends and what not. After the latest mess though, Will makes the choice that he's done dating, he wants a serious relationship. It drives Hannah into a panic, someone might take Will from her. She can't let that happen.
They set Will up an online dating account, several of them actually, and Hanna plays it so that he has the worst dates ever. To throw off suspicion, she also sets up an account for herself, which Will thinks is totally fake... but then she starts dating too and he's not exactly on board with that.
From Hanna's POV it just seems like Will is being unreasonable, date crashing, treating her like a kid, while still going on his own dates and trying to find his dream women. She can't convince him that she's that person. So she gives up. Which starts a whole other parade of problems.
Typically, I'm completely enamored with friends to lover stories, second chance romances or even the whole "I'm in love with my brother's best friend." trope. However, with the case of Always Will, I think it would have benefited from dual point of views. A majority of the time it's massive communications problems, in other instances, it feels like Will's side of it doesn't translate well. There were a few times he comes off as jealous and you see that but it couldn't make up the rest for me.
I would still recommend the book to others, there are some insanely cute moments in it. I've given it a solid 3 star rating myself.
**ARC provided by published via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
October 16, 2015
So, I started reading Always Will by Melanie Jacobson just before my kids got up for the day thinking I'd get a chapter in and, you know, start the day off right. The problem was, I was hooked from the very beginning! So hooked that I served my kids breakfast with one hand so I could hold my book in the other! I read in fits and starts all day and was finally able to finish it that night. It was the kind of story that I couldn't put down! So much fun and yet compelling at the same time.
Hannah Becker's world comes crashing down around her when the guy she's had a crush on since her teen years announces that he's going to find a wife and settle down. (The guy's twenty-eight, so you know, it's not a bad idea or anything.) But all he sees when he looks at Hannah is his best friend's little sister which frustrates Hannah to no end. She does everything she can to help him see her as a grown woman and not the girl he's supposed to keep an eye on for his best friend, but Will doesn't really seem to be getting with Hannah's program. But it does provide a lot of laughs for the reader.
It's not all fun and games, though, when hearts become involved and Hannah has to make some tough choices. Even if they don't end up together, Hannah doesn't want to lose Will's friendship, but that's exactly what might happen if they both can't figure out where their relationship is truly headed.
I loved the snappy dialogue, the fun characters who grow and change and who the reader really cares about, and I could not wait to see how it all turned out. This one definitely goes on my keeper shelf.
Originally reviewed on http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com
Hannah Becker's world comes crashing down around her when the guy she's had a crush on since her teen years announces that he's going to find a wife and settle down. (The guy's twenty-eight, so you know, it's not a bad idea or anything.) But all he sees when he looks at Hannah is his best friend's little sister which frustrates Hannah to no end. She does everything she can to help him see her as a grown woman and not the girl he's supposed to keep an eye on for his best friend, but Will doesn't really seem to be getting with Hannah's program. But it does provide a lot of laughs for the reader.
It's not all fun and games, though, when hearts become involved and Hannah has to make some tough choices. Even if they don't end up together, Hannah doesn't want to lose Will's friendship, but that's exactly what might happen if they both can't figure out where their relationship is truly headed.
I loved the snappy dialogue, the fun characters who grow and change and who the reader really cares about, and I could not wait to see how it all turned out. This one definitely goes on my keeper shelf.
Originally reviewed on http://ldswritermom.blogspot.com
October 9, 2015
Growing up is hard. Growing up with a crush on your brother's best friend is harder. This is the dilemma that Hannah finds herself in. How does she keep a healthy relationship with Will when she has loved him for several years? How does she get him to see the woman she is now, instead of a surrogate little sister?
Her life is thrown a curve ball when Will announces that he wants to join an on-line dating site to find a wife. She hangs out with him practically every day and knows that she is his perfect woman. She needs to find a way to manipulate the dates so that he will appreciate her and know she is his match.
The way both will and Hannah up stakes for the romance games they are playing are entertaining. As a reader peeking into their story it is easy to see what they can't. There were times I just shook my head and laughed.
This book is well written and has a great voice. The middle section was a little slow for me. I was just ready for them to see what they had in each other and stop being idiots. The ending was definitely worth the middle. I then appreciated all that the ruts in the middle to get them to working everything out.
This book is fun to read and it is clean with some kissing.
Her life is thrown a curve ball when Will announces that he wants to join an on-line dating site to find a wife. She hangs out with him practically every day and knows that she is his perfect woman. She needs to find a way to manipulate the dates so that he will appreciate her and know she is his match.
The way both will and Hannah up stakes for the romance games they are playing are entertaining. As a reader peeking into their story it is easy to see what they can't. There were times I just shook my head and laughed.
This book is well written and has a great voice. The middle section was a little slow for me. I was just ready for them to see what they had in each other and stop being idiots. The ending was definitely worth the middle. I then appreciated all that the ruts in the middle to get them to working everything out.
This book is fun to read and it is clean with some kissing.
October 27, 2015
Hannah has always been in love with Will but he considers her a sister--after all, her older brother Dave is his best friend. They enjoy hanging out together and life is going well until Will announces to Hannah that he is going to seriously look for a wife. She panics and decides that she needs to "help" him so he will attract all the wrong girls for him.
I laughed quite a bit as Will kept questioning what Hannah was doing and she quickly reassured him that, as a woman, she knew how to sell him. I enjoyed all the characters in this book. Will and Hannah were both likable and their banter was fun to read. She has a best friend, Sophie, who is a good sounding board for her as she helps her figure things out.
From the outside, Hannah appears to have everything, but all she wants is for Will to notice her as a love interest and her feelings and emotions are all over the place. There are some crazy moments along the way to a satisfying ending! This is a fun, quick, entertaining, clean romance that I personally enjoyed from beginning to end!
I received a copy of this book to review. My opinion is 100% my own.
Mel's Shelves
I laughed quite a bit as Will kept questioning what Hannah was doing and she quickly reassured him that, as a woman, she knew how to sell him. I enjoyed all the characters in this book. Will and Hannah were both likable and their banter was fun to read. She has a best friend, Sophie, who is a good sounding board for her as she helps her figure things out.
From the outside, Hannah appears to have everything, but all she wants is for Will to notice her as a love interest and her feelings and emotions are all over the place. There are some crazy moments along the way to a satisfying ending! This is a fun, quick, entertaining, clean romance that I personally enjoyed from beginning to end!
I received a copy of this book to review. My opinion is 100% my own.
Mel's Shelves
February 14, 2017
This contemporary romantic comedy thrilled me. The characters are spectacular. Hannah is witty, intelligent, strong, but flawed. Will is brilliant and wonderful too, except he’s dense as concrete when it comes to love. The dialogue and friendship between these two kept me smiling and laughing the whole way through. The side characters like Sophia were great too and added lots of laughs through their conversations. I couldn’t put this book down. I started it one night and finished it the next day and couldn’t stop thinking about the characters. The scenario of the heroine being in love with her brother’s best friend for 12 years was crazy, and Will seemed a bit clueless not to have acted on that before the book starts. But crazy scenarios make awesome books. I loved seeing what Hannah was willing to do to sabotage his efforts to find a wife.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review, and I highly recommend it. It’s one I won’t mind reading again.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review, and I highly recommend it. It’s one I won’t mind reading again.
October 9, 2015
**I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
This book didn't read as a friends to lovers kind of book.
Yes, Hannah and Will have known each other forever (Will is Hannah's older brother's best friend). And Hannah has had a crush on Will since she was a teenager. So when she hears Will is serious about settling down and marriage, she freaks out. So she "helps" him finds dates. Then she makes a "fake" online dating profile to show Will that she is actually his dream girl. HELLO!! Just tell the guy. Hannah had the maturity level of a high schooler. And Will is just dense...
The reason why this didn't read as a friends-to-lovers type story was because they never even kissed until about 85% of the book. When Will finally acknowledges that he feels "something" for her, Hannah proceeds to tell him it's only because she is now a challenge and that he will just move on the next thing soon anyways. I don't know... these two were a mess to me.
I skimming through a lot of this book.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
This book didn't read as a friends to lovers kind of book.
Yes, Hannah and Will have known each other forever (Will is Hannah's older brother's best friend). And Hannah has had a crush on Will since she was a teenager. So when she hears Will is serious about settling down and marriage, she freaks out. So she "helps" him finds dates. Then she makes a "fake" online dating profile to show Will that she is actually his dream girl. HELLO!! Just tell the guy. Hannah had the maturity level of a high schooler. And Will is just dense...
The reason why this didn't read as a friends-to-lovers type story was because they never even kissed until about 85% of the book. When Will finally acknowledges that he feels "something" for her, Hannah proceeds to tell him it's only because she is now a challenge and that he will just move on the next thing soon anyways. I don't know... these two were a mess to me.
I skimming through a lot of this book.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
October 10, 2015
I LOVE books like this!
Fun, adorable, fun, sweet, fun, enjoyable, did I mention fun!
It was so fun to watch Will and Hannah together--best friends with a hint of flirting.
I so understand Hannah's heart--
This book is written for all women who have ever had a "crush."
Follow Will and Hannah as they try to go from best friends to dating other people to putting their hearts on the line to ...... I'm not going to give it away :)
You will totally enjoy this one!
I read everything Melanie writes!
I LOVE her books!
Fun, adorable, fun, sweet, fun, enjoyable, did I mention fun!
It was so fun to watch Will and Hannah together--best friends with a hint of flirting.
I so understand Hannah's heart--
This book is written for all women who have ever had a "crush."
Follow Will and Hannah as they try to go from best friends to dating other people to putting their hearts on the line to ...... I'm not going to give it away :)
You will totally enjoy this one!
I read everything Melanie writes!
I LOVE her books!
February 7, 2016
3.5 starts. I enjoyed this book. There isn't much of a plot except these two friends realizing there could be more. There was a lot of emotional reflection and misunderstandings and I gotta kinda bored in the middle and skipped a few pages here and there. There were some great kisses at the end and it stayed clean and fun.
January 9, 2019
When I read the synopsis for this book I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like this as well as Melanie Jacobson's other books. Well. I. Was. SO. WRONG!! Not only did Always Will have the great banter I know and love from Melanie's other books, it had a totally believable and painful amount of tension as Hannah tries to figure out how to move on from her decade old crush. Which made the happily ever after all the sweeter in the end. Wow, and thank you, Melanie!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2021
Also a cute quick read. I can’t start these kinds of books though late In the day! I can’t go to bed unless I finish these stupid books in one day. And then I’m grumpy the next day. 🤣 this one was also cute. I feel like the author starts out a bit slow and then really turns it on by the end! It gets a bit complicated, and really, pretty good! I really enjoyed these two characters, Will and Hannah, and how they realized (well, HE finally realized) their love for each other. Cute, quick read.
March 14, 2021
A cute, quick read. Hannah has been in love with Will for a very long time and when he announces that he is ready to find a wife, she tries to figure out all the ways in which she can stop him and maybe get him to look her way. I felt like this read more like a teenage romance than people in their mid to late 20s but it was still a fun read.
October 6, 2015
Clean Romance.
As always, Melanie Jacobson doesn't disappoint! A fun light-hearted romance that comes to a beautiful conclusion. Hannah and Will's friendship changes as Hanna's friend (actually her brother's friend, but hers too) Will decides to seriously look for a wife. Hannah decides to sabotage his efforts so that her long-standing crush won't be jeopardized. After Will registers for an internet dating service with Hannah's help, Hannah decides that she should do the same, and date too, to see if she can cure herself of her crush, and move on so that she won't be left bereft if Will succeeds.
Will is a fun character nerdy, fun, laid back, and genuine. He attacks his problems very analytically, but doesn't see Hannah right before him until she finally drops the bombshell that she has never gotten over her crush that she has had on him for years. She told him as a teen that she loved him, and has tried to keep the 'friends' status there, torturing herself all the while with nearness and contact with Will over the years. Her best girlfriend, Sophie, is the one who challenges her to tell him again, and to be honest about how she sees him. Will's reaction, and her reactions to her declaration put them both in tail spin, trying to let go, and hold onto the comfortable friendship that they have cherished, while figuring out the nuances of this new thing. With their individual dating, worries about Hannah's brother's reaction (each in their own way), it was fun to see how this all resolved and how they stumbled through. The story is told from Hannah's perspective, as she tries to sabotage Will's dating, and tries to at least hold onto the friendship that they have. Her agony, and struggles to try to get Will to see the woman that she is instead of the girl she was, was cleverly done, and a fun read. Great side characters, the dates are funny, and while MJ repeats the internet dating scenario she has used in other novels, this is still a fresh, tender, fun novel that will leave you satisfied.
As always, Melanie Jacobson doesn't disappoint! A fun light-hearted romance that comes to a beautiful conclusion. Hannah and Will's friendship changes as Hanna's friend (actually her brother's friend, but hers too) Will decides to seriously look for a wife. Hannah decides to sabotage his efforts so that her long-standing crush won't be jeopardized. After Will registers for an internet dating service with Hannah's help, Hannah decides that she should do the same, and date too, to see if she can cure herself of her crush, and move on so that she won't be left bereft if Will succeeds.
Will is a fun character nerdy, fun, laid back, and genuine. He attacks his problems very analytically, but doesn't see Hannah right before him until she finally drops the bombshell that she has never gotten over her crush that she has had on him for years. She told him as a teen that she loved him, and has tried to keep the 'friends' status there, torturing herself all the while with nearness and contact with Will over the years. Her best girlfriend, Sophie, is the one who challenges her to tell him again, and to be honest about how she sees him. Will's reaction, and her reactions to her declaration put them both in tail spin, trying to let go, and hold onto the comfortable friendship that they have cherished, while figuring out the nuances of this new thing. With their individual dating, worries about Hannah's brother's reaction (each in their own way), it was fun to see how this all resolved and how they stumbled through. The story is told from Hannah's perspective, as she tries to sabotage Will's dating, and tries to at least hold onto the friendship that they have. Her agony, and struggles to try to get Will to see the woman that she is instead of the girl she was, was cleverly done, and a fun read. Great side characters, the dates are funny, and while MJ repeats the internet dating scenario she has used in other novels, this is still a fresh, tender, fun novel that will leave you satisfied.
October 6, 2015
I've read a number of books that involve someone falling for a brother or sister's best friend. I'm not quite sure what felt so different about this one, but it wasn't quite like any romance I've ever read before and that's a good thing. Hannah is a sympathetic character right from the get go since it's obvious that she has unrequited feelings for her brother's best friend, Will that aren't returned. And when Will creates a plan to find himself a wife, Hannah comes up with a plan of her own, hoping to get Will to see her as more than her brother's little sister. But like many such plans things don't go the way either of them hope and instead they end up with a friendship on the verge of implosion, something neither wants to lose but aren't quite sure how to work out. The miscommunications complicate things as the two struggle with their own feelings and making decisions about what to do next. I like the fact that Will is a brilliant scientist who isn't very 'in the know' about feelings and relationships and even Hannah herself is awkward sometimes and yet their friendship is clearly a very solid one despite their issues. I enjoyed reading this clean romance and shaking my head with a sigh as the two dance around things for a long time. It's interesting though that since the book is told through Hannah's point of view, that I didn't get a look at Will's point of view until the end when he's trying to express it and it turns out to be quite surprising. A fun reminder that things are always as they appear to be.
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