Just Joshing

Archer Siblings #1

by Evie Mitchell, Kim Congram

Molly
I'd always assumed I'd end up marrying and having a family. But it's not until my best friends announce their engagement that I realize I'm stuck in a rut. A really deep dating rut.

If I want that family? It's not gonna fall into my lap.

So, what's a girl to do? Shake off her blues, dust off her heels, and try and win herself a man. My only issue? Joshua Greenfeld. My best friends' older brother.

Josh seems determined to derail my plans. And to be honest, I don't hate his efforts…

Josh
Molly has always been my one. The girl who got away. The beauty that I never really took a chance on.
Mostly because she was in love with my brother.

Or so I thought.

When I find out she's dating, I decide to seize my chance. And this time? I'm not kidding around.

Warning: This fluffy piece is filled with dating disasters, a Bridezilla best friend, and a man with a library to rival any fairy tale. So, get thee a man and settle in – this love story is no joking matter.

Genres: Romance, Novella, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Second Chance, Rom Com, Friends To Lovers

210 pages, ebook

First published January 7, 2020

About the author

FIERCE ROMANCE

Evie Mitchell is a thirty-something woman living with disability, who loves dirty books, sassy heroines, and heroes who know how to treat their partner's right. She lives with her husband, their sausage dog, and an ever-growing collection of book-related mugs.

When she's not writing, Evie loves curling up in the sun with an excellent book and a cup of tea.

Evie specialises in fiercely inclusive happily ever afters.

You can find her at www.EvieMitchell.com

Reviews

[✰ BJ's Book Blog ✰Janeane ✰ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men, Pete is an arse, but Josh has a sexy arse haha

Not sure about Bess still...

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐

Hands down i felt bad for molly and josh.. because molly was to blinded by a crappy crush  to realize that the guy she liked Peter her best friend was sorta a jerk.... and wasted YEARS crushing on him... . as for Josh (H).. boy he should have step up sooner and not watch the one get away. His excuse he didn't wanna ruin his brothers chance.. dude been dating the same girl since highschool.. he should have step up.

But it was a slowish burn for these two to finally get on the same page and date. Kinda glad their was no drama about them dating and was glad that the brother and bestie were okay and happy.. also we found out the bestie was a decent person after all that bridezilla/things she did and before to the h.. So yeah..

Beside all that mess.. it was an okay story...

Om/ow (speed dating), Drama, slight secondary chara, sexy times, no virgins (both dated )


Recommend- maybe
Cover-⭐⭐⭐

Slow-burn
Safe sex
Safe-ish (from abuse unless you count mental abuse/bullying)
Hea
Epilogue

[Granger McGringot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this version of Evie Mitchell. This story was the type of story that you thought you wouldnt like, but then it grew on you. The kinda slowburned story that crept in to you and capture your heart when you least expected. The characters were amazing and unexpected, both H and h. I mean it in a good way.

I dont want to spoil too much of the story, but this book was definitely a mix of everything: slowburned love, romcom worthy romance with slightly and barely seen smuttyness, flirtatious warm romance, and ended with bang of lustful sexy scene. It has good plot, romcom, longtime coming romance, a good wine-and-dine, a bit of drama to spark the plot, and a droll worthy H. And oh how droll worthy he was. One thing that was minor on the H though, he was slow on the uptake when it came to make a move!!! Boy, he took forever. If im not a mellow romantic at heart, i would hate him. But nope, he's good. I thoroughly enjoyed him, uh no, it, the story :)

[Meegz Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4 Stars*

I enjoyed this quick friends to lovers read from Evie Mitchell. I liked our hero Josh and heroine Molly, and enjoyed going on their journey. I really disliked Bess though she was an integral part to this story. I found this story to be a lot of fun, mixed in with some drama, but just the right amount.

I would like to read more from this world, maybe about the brothers - or about Candy, one of the other bridesmaids.

Would recommend.


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[Aya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh 😑.. boring..

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh this was so much fun! Some scenes cracked me up! And Molly's brother event for that sex app or whatever? Hilarious!
And I loved loved loved Josh! So freaking cute and hot! Adorable! I also liked Molly. What an amazing, strong woman.
I couldn't stand Pete's ass though. Seriously. Annoying as Hell.
I didn't like Bess much either, even after she explained the reasons behind what she's done. I still wasn't her fan.
Now I NEED to know the story of Candy and Molly's brother. Actually, I NEED to get to know better ALL of Molly's brothers. I'm already in love with Sam, I'm telling you. I might need all of them for my harem. Yum.
So, I will patiently (not really!) wait for the next books to come out. Please soon? Please?

[Geeky Girl Review Cafe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Love Worth Waiting For

Josh and Molly's story was great, I'm once again thankful I found Evie's books!

Family friends, brother's best friend, long time feelings, high society life styles and an AMAZING library are just some of the things I LOVED about this book.

I found myself crushing on Josh by the end of this book...made my heart melt how much he did and how long he had waited for Molly. Major book boyfriend material.

There were a few too many spelling and grammar issues for me, it really distracted me from the story at some points but other then that it was another fantastic Evie curvy girl romance

[yara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book even tho I didn’t necessarily expect to. Josh and Molly were cute but not annoying and I liked the story line. My only issue is that Molly was very quick to forgive Bess considering she was almost controlling her life for a while and just sort of made excuses for herself but it was minor so I still like the book overall

[Alyssa (Cozy.Soul.Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable & Be Ready To Giggle

Josh and Molly's slow burn friends to lovers was everything I could've wanted. This story will make you believe in the way to the heart is through, trust, friendship, and spice! I could not help but smirk and giggle at the end. And I have a feeling you will too

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Think Ross and Rachel, if Rachel was a bigger, awkward young woman and both were from very wealthy families.

[Alvina · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: off-screen mentions of past abusive relationship

I have this personal pet peeve when authors try to show diversity by peppering words and phrases of a character’s second language. I was enjoying the first quarter of the story a lot, but then the author suddenly remembered that the hero was bilingual. It felt so clunky.

But that might be a me thing.

Otherwise, the story was a sweet friends-to-lovers, pining (oh I’m alllll about the pining), dating my best friend’s sister type of tropey romance. The heroine was a little spineless, you never really understand why she lets her friends walk over her for so long, but she’s sympathetic and the chemistry between the main couple is adorable so its forgivable.

Compared to books in the same genre, it doesnt try to be overtly quirky. The conversations felt genuine, and the book was very selfaware of the location, the affluence of the characters, faults and all.

Easy read.

[Kristen Lindtvedt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Simply Beautiful Story of Love & Longing...

Every so often a book or short story will come along that gives me pause. A story that is so heartwarming, so achingly angst filled, or psychologically altering, it stops me in my tracks and has me thinking deeply about life and the lessons we learn within it. “Just Joshing” by Evie Mitchell (or Kim Congram as it would appear) is one such book, and my first for 2020.

In this first story away from Capricorn Cove, Congram/Mitchell writes a far more poignant tale; the story of Molly, Josh, Peter, and Bess, a group of twenty-something’s who grew up together under the umbrella of their individual family’s wealth and privilege. And although split evenly between towing the family line and branching out independently to carve individual paths, all are intertwined in deep friendship, unspoken love and longing, secrets, and misguided best intentions.

It is a story about what happens when childhood crushes alters adulthood dynamics. How feelings born in youth grow, morph, cool, and rekindle in differing ways. A story about what happens when the same people aren’t truly honest about how they feel, and the miscommunication, misinterpretation, hurt, and resentment that can grow from it all. More importantly, it is a story about how people can be made to feel small, insignificant even, when they feel they must hide who they really are and how they really feel and the strength it takes to overcome and persevere. And it is stunningly beautiful.

So beautiful in fact, that it is the first time I can honestly say I categorically disagree with an author’s description of their own work! Here she describes it as being a romantic comedy, one that is a, “fluffy piece filled with dating disasters, a bridezilla best friend, and a man with a library to rival any fairytale…” And while this tale is indeed a rom-com, filled with said bridezilla, and said library, it is far from fluffy. In fact, I dare say, that this story is the most poignant one penned yet under the Evie Mitchell umbrella. It is simply exquisite, and my heart hurt when it ended.

This story is achingly sweet, and simmering with need, want, and unrequited desire. A literary world created to leave you contemplative, silently staring out at the horizon pondering life, and the amount of time wasted by fear. A literary landscape that leaves you wondering aloud about happiness lost from fear of losing friendship, fear of rejection, fear of causing irreparable change, even fear of being alone. It is a gorgeously layered story that pushes and pulls you through a whirlwind of emotions. Full of the strong, intelligent, independent characters I've come to love and expect from a Mitchell story.

Here, she once again ups her fictional bar by creating a story so steeped in longing it makes your soul ache. If ever a Mitchell story deserved to be a full-length novel this one does! As I leave this book yearning for more about Molly’s struggles, Josh’s connection with Molly throughout childhood, and their future beyond where this book ends. I want, no NEED, to know where they go, how her friendship with Peter changes and evolves after their confrontation in the beach house. How Sam, the other brothers, parents, etc. fit into it all. So many things yet to explore, it left me overstimulated and wet with literary need!

It is a need I am unfortunately learning to live with, with all of Mitchell's books; this unrequited desire for more! However, one unexpected new thing, something that honestly surprised me as I have not encountered it in any of her previous books, was sloppiness in the writing. This one is full of typos and draft errors. In some places it appears rushed, and unedited. In others, there appear to be simple draft melding mistakes, ones where tenses are mismatched, and/or transitions are missing connectors. And while such things exist in almost every book, there are enough within this one to prevent me from giving it what should be an easy five stars. In fact this story should get more than five, it should get all the stars, but it needs some editing love and attention first.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love Evie Mitchell books. I’ve read the entire Capricorn Cove series, as well as the Thor’s Shipbuilding series. (I’m planning a reread of them all, as I want to add reviews for them).

What I love so much about Mitchell’s other books is the relatable characters. Different body types, different ethnicities, varied economic backgrounds. But I’ve found them all likable.

I couldn’t bring myself to like Molly or Josh.

Molly is a pushover who lets her “best friend” walk all over her. Her BFF gets with the guy Molly liked (who is Josh’s brother) and is now engaged to him. At one point Molly mentions that she was stuck listening to them have sex. The best friend has zero redeeming qualities. The author gives an explanation at the end, the reasons Molly’s friend did all of the awful things she did, but it didn’t really work for me. I’d have rather the friend just been the bitch that she acted like and had Molly finally grow a backbone.

Josh is dull. Nothing about him kept me interested. And he’s supposed to have been in love with Molly for years, but, again we’re given a reason for his actions (never acting on his feelings) and, again, it didn’t work for me.

In addition to Molly being spineless when it came to her friend, we are also shown that she lives her life more for her family than herself. Although we are told how she isn’t like the other women in her social circle because she does a lot of charity work, and runs some kind of foundation. I think this is supposed to make us like Molly. I thought it was unnecessary and made her hard to relate to. It’s like we were being told “Molly is just so much better than everyone else”. She was “not your typical rich lady”.

I hated rating this one so low. Evie Mitchell is a talented author. I absolutely recommend her work. Just not this one.

[May Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What was supposed to be an overnight read stretched to a fortnight.

I think the premise was interesting. I mean, who wouldn't love reading a friends-to-lovers trope? But then there were some details about the characters that affected my reading, and I think it, unfortunately, contributed to my slump. One is these characters' affluence, which I sometimes feel is over the top. I mean, sure most of the time, we appreciate reading filthy rich heroes and heroines, but for some reason, this one made me feel like it is just too good to be true. I was not enjoying the description of the lavish lifestyle, albeit some concentrated on giving to the less fortunate. That being said, the rest of the story fell flat for me, and I was not enjoying the love story that much. Even the bridezilla of a best friend also felt like it went plateau. I would have appreciated it more had she been a total pain. The payback would have been sweet!

I know I could've DNF-ed it and moved on, but I just couldn't do it. I blame my distractions for that because I was reading a page or two every day before heading to work, and I would be okay with that arrangement. And the next thing I knew, I was already on the last page. In closing, I think NA-loving readers would enjoy this one. But if you wanted more action, drama, and depth to the character, maybe save this one for later.

[Denise Anderson-Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always meant to be

Josh and Molly were present in each others lives since they were kids. It wasn't until Molly's disastrous divorce and the planning of her best friend's wedding that she and Josh allowed themselves to express their mutual attraction. As it turns out, Josh had been harboring feelings for Molly since they were teens, but because of a variety of misunderstandings and influence from outsiders the moment was lost and they both moved on. However, being a true romantic, Josh refused to miss out on a second chance to shoot his shot.

These two were so perfect together. Everybody who ever saw them together could see it. I loved the banter between them. They both had a wicked sense of humor. Experts it responses to the dating questionnaire.

This book was a joy to read. Every character had their own quirky personalities that meshed so well together, because they had all known each other for so long. I can't wait for the next story. I hope it's Hendrix and his stimulating dating app. Hahaha

This was a goid story, but also a good time.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet romance

I enjoyed the book. There were some typos that took me out of the moment at times but not horribly so. I'm guessing the author is not American because certain words seemed more Australian colloquial such as "chocked" and such. I chose this book because it had BBW in the title but her size wasn't even mentioned until about 3/4 of the way through. I enjoy body positivity but being a BBW girl myself I would like to relate to the characters on that level if it's marketed as a BBW book. Considering this book is about socialites you would think there would be waaay more b***hiness to be seen but people were surprisingly civil. I gave it 4 stars because it didn't really fit BBW category but was a decent romance.

[Lynn Sell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book that I have read from this author. This was a great Rom Com that I found myself laughing throughout the book. Molly’s best friend, Bess, has just gotten engage which occurs after Molly’s divorce from her cheating husband. Bess is turning into the bride monster of the year while planning the wedding and trying to get Molly back on the dating scene. With speed dating, wedding issues, etc, Molly finds herself thrown together with Josh who is one of her brother’s best friends. Josh has always had a crush on Molly but the time was never tight for him to let his feelings known. Once he finds out she is going to attempt to date and has been signed up for a speed date, he decides to get her to date him. Loved this story and some of the hilarious things that happen throughout the book to lead to Molly and Josh’s happily ever after!

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just Joshing

So Evie Mitchell is a newer author to me and quite honestly I was hesitant to give this book a chance. Only because I started one of her other stories and it was not for me. I decided to give her books a second chance and oh my goodness I am so happy that I did. I absolutely LOVED Just Joshing and read it from the beginning to the end in one sitting! I absolutely could not put it down. I loved that they were friends all their lives and finally found their Happily Ever After with each other. Fingers crossed that the next book to come is Candy's!!

Completely safe and free of abuse and cheating, no ow/om drama.

[Bill Jakobsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book!!

I said fun because growing up Josh loved Molly, Molly loved his brother, Peter; Peter and Bess loved each other. This story revolves around Peter and Bess' wedding. There's so much that goes on with this family. Read it, you'll love it. The descriptions of Molly's work, NY City areas, Josh's work, the people and the houses/apartments were so good. Five stars are not enough. :)

[MandyMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming HEA

This is top-ten one of the wittiest books I have read. There was laughter and love! So much laughter (I usually eat lunch at my desk and couldn’t contain the giggles!) and the love from the characters ooze of the page in the silly-smile way (not the gagging way).

Trigger warning: a former abusive and controlling relationship is discussed at a high level.

[Fvalen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh and Molly are amazing

There were alot of twists and turns to get to their ending, and with friends like Bess well you certainly don't need enemies. Or at least that's how she acted for a while. I can't wait to read the next book. I just hope that this turns into a series for all of the siblings.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!

I don’t leave reviews, but this book deserves one! I randomly ran across this author and thought why not. I’m so beyond glad I did. This book is sweet and funny and just get ready to fall in love with the characters. It’s very good!!! I can’t wait to read more books by Evie Mitchell.

[A-reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars
Molly has been in love with her best friend Pete since she was a teen. She tells her bestie, Bess, about her crush on Pete and the bestie promptly starts to date him. Meanwhile, our hero Josh, Pete’s older brother, is in love with Molly.
This is a slow burn and reveal. I didn’t get the vibe that Josh was into Molly right away. Then through flashbacks you see their relationship. It takes a bit but after Pete and Bess announce their engagement, Molly and Josh decide to date. There is a funny speed dating scene, an even funnier scene with Molly’s brothers new sex app.
Their relationship is slow to start but is sweet and sexy. Didn’t really like Pete much, he was a clueless tool, and even though Bess explains why she started dating Pete and why she acts like she does, I still felt like Molly should not trust her.
Two cute epilogues.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just Joshing

I have to admit being so conflicted with this book. I loved Josh and I liked Molly but I spent so much of the book frustrated at her for allowing Bess and Pete and her parents treat her like crap. And I absolutely hated Bess (even though she some what redeemed herself in the end). It just took a so much away from enjoying their story. Overall it was a good read.

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my this book was so divine and is now my favourite one by Evie. Josh and Molly are so wonderful together and the sparks just fly off the pages. Parts of this book had me laughing out loud. I am certainly hooked by Evie’s writing and is becoming one of my favourites. Five stars are not enough. Simply divine.

[Claudia Coenen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

This was such a sweet read, and a friendship rescued and the man oh my this man, gimme some of that Josh, I need my own library as well!

This is a must read if you love romcoms or just need something sweet without angst or issues.

I will definitely read more from Evie Mitchell

[Philippe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!!

Darn, Evie Mitchell can write!!, Great villains (or idiots), lovable main characters, interesting dialogue, fun plot and situations. 5 stars for over the top bridezilla moments.

[៚Est˚ ༘♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Que asco de libro, los protagonistas, los personajes secundarios (son los peores) la trama, todo mal.
Incluso la inclusión 'latina' que quiso meter la autora, por Dios. Parece que todo lo tradujo con Google translate y está HORRIBLE.
Creo que se lleva el premio a la peor lectura del año.

[Ashlyn’s Bookcase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Format: 🗒️kindle

Read if you like:
☁️short steamy novella
🌸FMC runs a charity
🖤MMC is a film producer
🥀 in love with my best friends brother
👰 best friends a bridezilla planning her wedding
💟 long overdue “I love you” s

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read

Short but complete read with extremely likeable characters. A crazy friend who is bridezilla and a family of brothers who push boundaries with their inventions. Very comedic and romantic story.