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Southport Love Stories #1
Say You'll Stay
“I miss you, Meg. I’ve missed you for the past ten years. Haven’t you missed me?”
The man who broke my heart ten years ago is back in our small town.
Adam Ducate. My best friend since birth.
His gorgeous blue eyes made him the object of every girl’s fantasy in our entire school.
But it wasn’t just his perfect looks.
He read biographies on the US presidents for fun.
He could count to 100 in seven different languages.
He liked George Romero movies and could recite all the dialogue from Day of the Dead.
In short, Adam was everything every other boy in our grade wasn’t.
So I took the risk and confessed my feelings to him.
Of course, it all crashed and burned in extraordinary fashion.
It crushed my heart when he left my life without a word and married Chelsea instead.
The biggest b*tch ever.
But now he’s back.
And as much as I want to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, I can’t.
They say second chances don’t come around often. But can I trust that Adam will stay with me this time – or will our past keep me running?
The man who broke my heart ten years ago is back in our small town.
Adam Ducate. My best friend since birth.
His gorgeous blue eyes made him the object of every girl’s fantasy in our entire school.
But it wasn’t just his perfect looks.
He read biographies on the US presidents for fun.
He could count to 100 in seven different languages.
He liked George Romero movies and could recite all the dialogue from Day of the Dead.
In short, Adam was everything every other boy in our grade wasn’t.
So I took the risk and confessed my feelings to him.
Of course, it all crashed and burned in extraordinary fashion.
It crushed my heart when he left my life without a word and married Chelsea instead.
The biggest b*tch ever.
But now he’s back.
And as much as I want to ignore the butterflies in my stomach, I can’t.
They say second chances don’t come around often. But can I trust that Adam will stay with me this time – or will our past keep me running?
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 17, 2020
3148 people are currently reading
801 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews
August 19, 2020
If you want to convince the reader about the so called “hero’s” love for heroine why would you put in an explicit sex scene with him with the ow? The ow that caused them to beak up in the first place, the woman that you are supposedly divorcing because of her cheating? Why would author put in that he couldn’t resist her when she came over and ended up having great sex with her again? Why would author put in how great sex was between him and his wife always and how much he loved her body and especially her boobs that he had paid for? All this did was prove how weak he was for having sex with her again and us the reader to have explicit images of him with his wife throughout the book that even his vows of love and how he always had loved her seem a joke! Some people can excuse his horny behaviour with ow when he was younger (not me though) but what are his justifications for having sex with her again now he is older and knows she was a cheater? He stayed with her for 10 years and was sure he loved her too but we are supposed to believe that he had loved heroine all this time too. As for heroine I don’t know how she can overcome knowing he had betrayed their friendship for a woman who had always been horrible to her. To me that showed he was not a trustworthy person to destroy a lifelong friendship to be with a woman he knew was horrible to his best friend the heroine. I also think it’s stupid for heroine to blame herself for their separation because of her pride. It wasn’t pride that drove her away but self respect because what would throwing away her pride to be with him have helped? He was still married to her worst enemy that he thought he loved, he still wanted to build a family with the ow and he was still having great sex with her (as author showed us in the beginning) he was definitely not redeemed and that sex scene with his wife in the beginning made it worse for me to see him as a man who loved h and regretted hurting her. She should have ended up with someone who deserved the title of Hero and best friend not this wimpy, horny loser who evidently can only think with his you know what!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2020
This is not romance or love sorry.
I am sorry to be harsh, as I messaged the author and she was lovely, but there is no way this book should be receiving above a 4 rating. There is gaslighting, inconsistencies, pressure to forgive and over the top drama. RTC
I am sorry to be harsh, as I messaged the author and she was lovely, but there is no way this book should be receiving above a 4 rating. There is gaslighting, inconsistencies, pressure to forgive and over the top drama. RTC
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
nope-nope-nope
September 20, 2020Explicit sex scene with OW opens the book
Honestly the more reviews that pop up for this book the more disgusting it sounds 🤢 why are ARC reviewers such liars?
Honestly the more reviews that pop up for this book the more disgusting it sounds 🤢 why are ARC reviewers such liars?
August 20, 2020
**updated to 1 star from 3. After discussing with other Goodreaders, the H's actions impacted me too much.**
Overall Opinion: This is not the first book I’ve read from this author. I haven’t reviewed the others yet. I give this THREE STARS. Reading the blurb, I knew it was going to be an angsty read. It wouldn’t be fair for me to give a low rating just because I hate the hero. While this was a solid story, I couldn’t give four stars because I waited for some misunderstandings to be addressed, but it never came so I felt like some things were brushed aside and never resolved. Additionally, I think they placed all the blame on the heroine, which wasn’t fair and some scenes were just cringey. See “Overall Opinion - More Details” for more information.
Recommend Reading: While I did not feel completely satisfied with how the main characters resolved their conflict, it was an okay book. I still recommend reading this book. I definitely felt for the heroine. The side characters make you want to read more - though it did not state if they will have their own books.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: The H (Adam Ducate) and h (Meghan Galloway - Meg for short) have been best friends since before they were born in Southport, Philadelphia. Their mothers are best friends and were pregnant at the same time. Adam and Meg were inseparable, they did everything together. They both have feelings for each other, but kept it to themselves afraid of not being reciprocated and changing the dynamics of their relationship.
The book stays in the present, with snippets to the past. The book opens with a prologue of a homecoming scene and then the first chapter is ten years later. It opens with the H having sex with OW - not just OW, but his wife that he is divorcing. The same wife that was a bully to the h and who constantly cheated on the H. Also, super plastic, which he paid for. Chelsea’s mother is also a gold digger, marrying a man way older than her. [note: At this point, I wanted to throw my phone against the wall. I already hate the H. From here, my hate just grew].
Adam and Meg did kiss once at thirteen, which we later learn Adam planned, but they each brushed it off and pretended it didn’t happen because they saw each other’s reaction and assumed there were no feelings. But the sad thing was, everyone can see they love each other except for themselves. In order to forget his feelings for Meg, Adam secretly dates the popular mean girl (Chelsea) in school during their Junior HS year. Chelsea is a bully to Meg, but she manipulates Adam to think that she is actually really nice and that she wants to be friends with Meg, but Meg always misunderstands. [note: it’s bullshit]. After every time he spends with Meg, the evenings he spends with Chelsea. [note: ugh!]. He eventually loses his virginity to her. He planned on telling Meg about his relationship, but is afraid she will not understand him dating her bully. [note: this guy is a complete dumbass]. During homecoming in their junior year of high school, Meg plans to tell Adam how she feels, when she sees Adam hand in hand with Chelsea, with what looked like after a make out session. She is completely heartbroken and he sees that she is heart broken. She runs away, and he chases after her, after being held back by Chelsea. He still runs after her, going to her home, but her older sister, Whitney, answers the door and tells him to leave. He tried to explain a couple more times, but Meg never wants to talk to him again. During their senior year in high school, they are no longer best friends and don’t talk to each other. Meg Galloway is known to be prideful and stubborn so she doesn’t let go of her anger. Her pride and stubbornness is a trademark of the Galloway family.
It is ten years later. Adam is still in Southport as a very successful lawyer. Except for a brief breakup with Chelsea in college, where he was a one-night-stand manwhore, but also could count all his sexual partners in one hand [note: huh? He doesn’t view one night stands and sexual partners the same?], he has been married to Chelsea for about seven years. He is finally divorcing Chelsea. But yet continues to have sex with her. For Meg, she lives in Brooklyn. She went to art school and was briefly a successful artist, but maintaining that success was hard as new artists came and went. She now lives in a pretty broken down apartment working full time as a waitress, still trying to get her art sold. She is moving back to Southport because ten months ago, her father had a heart attack and died suddenly. Her mother is dealing with some financial issues, so she decides to move back for a while to help out. Since her older sister, Whitney, is still working in Europe and can’t make it home.
Adam and Meg are thrust back into each other’s orbit when Meg decides to take the job of painting the town’s mural, which Adam is in charge of, to help pay her mom’s hospital bills from her dad’s heart attack [note: the bill was $250,000 and her father had health insurance. Healthcare in America, amiright?!]. This causes them to spend more time together. While Chelsea shows up a time or two to cause trouble, the subject of Chelsea continues to be a sore spot. Meg feels like Adam chose Chelsea over her and after ten years, she is still hurt. This is where I felt the plot starts to fall apart. They eventually start having sex [note: though, Adam is still legally married to Chelsea]. While Meg wants it to be casual and a secret, Adam wants it to be more. They had several heart to heart moments and grew closer.
Towards the end, Chelsea is pushing for counseling instead of divorce and dumbass Adam is considering pretending to agree so that she doesn’t get everything in the divorce. After Meg finishes the mural, she decides to stay in Southport, but when she goes to Adam’s house to celebrate, she meets Chelsea in lingerie opening the door to his house. Chelsea says nasty things to her and she runs away, believing that Adam is choosing Chelsea over her again. It was another misunderstanding. Adam and Chelsea ended up having an honest talk about their relationship. Chelsea felt like she was always competing with Meg for his heart and she wanted Adam because everybody wanted him too. [note: ladies and gents, there are ALWAYS better fishes in the sea]. This she-devil knew Meg loved him, but took him anyway. There is honestly no good bone in her body. Dumbass Adam apologizes to her because he realizes he never gave any of himself to Chelsea, because it was always Meg. [note: bullshit, that is not what he said in the opening scene when he was having sex with Chelsea]. He agrees to give her the timeshare in Aspen and agrees that they did have some good times together. After his family had to spell it out for him and tell him to go chase after her, dumbass Adam chases after Meg and tells her he will move wherever she goes. They exchange I love yous and the epilogue is six months later, Meg moves into Adam’s million dollar house. The same house and bed that he shared with his ex-wife, who moved to Miami. But don’t worry you guys, they redecorated. [note: my eyes rolled right to the back of my head and rolled right out of my ass].
The side characters are Kyle, Skylar, Whitney, Lena, Jeremy. Kyle, Skylar, Adam and Meg were all best friends in high school, but after the homecoming drama, Meg stopped talking to Adam and Kyle. Whitney is Meg’s older sister. They used to be close, but have drifted apart after Whitney moves to LA and is now a successful movie makeup artist in Europe and has turned super bitchy. Towards the end, Whitney comes home and helps their mom financially by buying their home that they were trying to sell. It looks like something happened to Whitney in the past since she decided to move back home. Kyle has a crush on her and hints of drama between the two. At the sametime, Kyle just found out, Josie, his ex-girlfriend and ex-best friend of Chelsea, is pregnant with his baby. Skylar just broke up with her fiance and moved back to Southport. Lena is Adam’s younger sister and hints at drama between her and Adam’s law partner who is a sexist manwhore, but who we are told is a good guy [note: eye roll], Jeremy.
Overall Opinion - More Details: These are the reasons why I gave it three stars.
I hate the trope of the poor girl struggling and not succeeding while the hero is successful.
H’s actions did not seem sincere. It was his family who pushed him to reconcile with Meg both by offering the mural job and telling him to go after her towards the end. If they didn’t encourage him, would he have ended up with her.
The heart to heart between H and h left me unsatisfied. Right when they get to the heart of the situation, it just doesn’t go anywhere. It just reverts back to him saying, yes he was with Chelsea, but he is here now. I was not convinced of his sincerity. I felt Adam was not apologetic and blamed Meg’s stubbornness for them not talking for years. He just kept saying it was years ago and he was a stupid seventeen year horny boy and that Meg was too stubborn for not letting him hear his side. But he never explicitly expressed how he felt too, so how was she to know.
Certain plots went nowhere. Towards the beginning, it was mentioned that Adam tried to meet Meg after college and another time, but it was never elaborated or brought up again. Also, why was he able to break up with Chelsea for a time and get back together, but he never put in the same effort in reconciling with Meg.
Another plot that went nowhere was when Meg mentioned that during their senior year, Adam yelled at her in the cafeteria to get over it in front of everyone, humiliating her. He ignored her completely like she didn’t exist. But this was not elaborated and NEVER brought up and he never apologized for it.
There were conflicting viewpoints of their conflict. Adam said Meg stopped talking to him, but Meg said he ignored her completely. So who was right?
Also, there were conflicting thoughts of the H. In the beginning, his description of sex with Chelsea and then towards the end, when it was always Meg for him. After reading everything that happened with Chelsea, I am not convinced it was always Meg for him.
Book Cover: While it was visually appealing, it did not match the characters in the book. There was no mention of the main characters having tattoos.
Favorite Line: none.
Point Of View (POV): Dual POV.
Overall Pace of Story: It was the right level of pacing. It did not go back and forth between past and present which I dislike. The past was shown as brief snippets of memories, which was easier on my angst level.
Instalove: No, they slowly realized they were in love with each other, but did not do anything about it.
Age: About 28 years of age for both.
H (Hero) rating: ZERO stars. In fact, the H deserved the OW, Chelsea. They deserve to fall off the cliff while skiing in their timeshare in Aspen. [Side note: timeshares are not resellable, so they are worthless. How he is successful?] In the beginning, he acknowledged that he was being cuckolded, but in the middle of the story, he said he was an alpha and had alpha tendencies. When I read that, I literally screamed bullshit. I wanted to scream, "read the definition of an alpha, dumbass! You are not it. Your wife is having sex with every man in town and you chose to stay and want children with her. Please exit stage left and never call yourself an alpha again."
Adam was always ready to brush off the past and by doing so brush off Meg’s hurt. He married the bully of the h and allowed himself to be manipulated by her. She cheated on him left and right, with all the men in the neighborhood and the contractor to name a few. Yet, he stayed in the marriage for years. He even wanted to have children with her, but she lied about taking birth control shots. The H was pushed into the marriage by Chelsea and had second thoughts moments before the wedding, yet continued the wedding because he saw her exit the limo and pretty much said, oh well, too late now. Chelsea was a complete bitch to every one of his friends and family, especially his sister, Lena, who Chelsea envied because she didn’t like that the girl was pretty (she was ten years old at the time!). The H has no self-respect and no respect for his loved ones. If I brought home a person who disrespected my family and I, they would be gone. Towards the end, he considered doing counseling, or pretended to, instead of divorce with Chelsea even though he was already with Meg. In the end, Adam moves Meg to the house and bed he built with his ex-wife. He has money, he can move or rebuild it.
Book Boyfriend Material/OTT Alpha: Not at all. I would rather be a happily single cat lady, than be with this dumbass.
h (heroine) rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I liked her. SHE DESERVED BETTER. She was stubborn. She should've listened to what Adam had to say before never talking to him again. Still, I felt Meg’s pain. She was in love with him and was ready to tell him her feelings and it did feel like he chose Chelsea over her. During the homecoming scene, he saw how devastated she was and he realized how much he screwed up, but he continued to be with Chelsea for fucking years!
Angst/Sadness level: I didn’t cry, but reading all about Chelsea and reading Meg's pain, it did put a lump in my throat and stung my heart.
Push/Pull: h pushing and H pulling.
Heat level: H was a complete turn off for me so I couldn’t get into any of the sexy times.
Descriptive sex: Yes, h and H.
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: OW drama - H is married to OW who was h’s school bully.
Sex scene with OW or OM: Yes, in the opening of the book after the prologue, descriptive sex of H with OW (his soon-to-be ex wife).
Birth Control/Condoms: No mention of birth control, but yes to condom.
Cheating: No - but it depends - H and h were not dating, but best friends. They had unrequited feelings for each other. H was dating OW for two weeks before the whole misunderstanding happened. He said, every day, after he dropped off the h at home, the evenings, he spent with OW.
Love Triangle: No.
Separation: Yes, did not talk to each other for ten years.
Virgin/Celibate/Manwhore: H lost his virginity to OW (h’s bully/wife). During breakup in college with OW, H is a manwhore. No details of h’s sexual life, except from a brief mention of a man that only lasted three dates. From what I inferred, she is not a virgin.
Possible Pet Peeves/Triggers: Dumbass hero who thinks he is an alpha.
Plotholes: As I said before, past grievances mentioned, but not addressed.
Closure: Yes, it looks like a HFN. The epilogue ends with h moving into the house that H built with his ex wife.
Safety: 3 out of 5 for the safety gang. That sex scene in the beginning with OW was so unnecessary and just showed how weak the H is.
Overall Opinion: This is not the first book I’ve read from this author. I haven’t reviewed the others yet. I give this THREE STARS. Reading the blurb, I knew it was going to be an angsty read. It wouldn’t be fair for me to give a low rating just because I hate the hero. While this was a solid story, I couldn’t give four stars because I waited for some misunderstandings to be addressed, but it never came so I felt like some things were brushed aside and never resolved. Additionally, I think they placed all the blame on the heroine, which wasn’t fair and some scenes were just cringey. See “Overall Opinion - More Details” for more information.
Recommend Reading: While I did not feel completely satisfied with how the main characters resolved their conflict, it was an okay book. I still recommend reading this book. I definitely felt for the heroine. The side characters make you want to read more - though it did not state if they will have their own books.
Brief Summary of the Storyline: The H (Adam Ducate) and h (Meghan Galloway - Meg for short) have been best friends since before they were born in Southport, Philadelphia. Their mothers are best friends and were pregnant at the same time. Adam and Meg were inseparable, they did everything together. They both have feelings for each other, but kept it to themselves afraid of not being reciprocated and changing the dynamics of their relationship.
The book stays in the present, with snippets to the past. The book opens with a prologue of a homecoming scene and then the first chapter is ten years later. It opens with the H having sex with OW - not just OW, but his wife that he is divorcing. The same wife that was a bully to the h and who constantly cheated on the H. Also, super plastic, which he paid for. Chelsea’s mother is also a gold digger, marrying a man way older than her. [note: At this point, I wanted to throw my phone against the wall. I already hate the H. From here, my hate just grew].
Adam and Meg did kiss once at thirteen, which we later learn Adam planned, but they each brushed it off and pretended it didn’t happen because they saw each other’s reaction and assumed there were no feelings. But the sad thing was, everyone can see they love each other except for themselves. In order to forget his feelings for Meg, Adam secretly dates the popular mean girl (Chelsea) in school during their Junior HS year. Chelsea is a bully to Meg, but she manipulates Adam to think that she is actually really nice and that she wants to be friends with Meg, but Meg always misunderstands. [note: it’s bullshit]. After every time he spends with Meg, the evenings he spends with Chelsea. [note: ugh!]. He eventually loses his virginity to her. He planned on telling Meg about his relationship, but is afraid she will not understand him dating her bully. [note: this guy is a complete dumbass]. During homecoming in their junior year of high school, Meg plans to tell Adam how she feels, when she sees Adam hand in hand with Chelsea, with what looked like after a make out session. She is completely heartbroken and he sees that she is heart broken. She runs away, and he chases after her, after being held back by Chelsea. He still runs after her, going to her home, but her older sister, Whitney, answers the door and tells him to leave. He tried to explain a couple more times, but Meg never wants to talk to him again. During their senior year in high school, they are no longer best friends and don’t talk to each other. Meg Galloway is known to be prideful and stubborn so she doesn’t let go of her anger. Her pride and stubbornness is a trademark of the Galloway family.
It is ten years later. Adam is still in Southport as a very successful lawyer. Except for a brief breakup with Chelsea in college, where he was a one-night-stand manwhore, but also could count all his sexual partners in one hand [note: huh? He doesn’t view one night stands and sexual partners the same?], he has been married to Chelsea for about seven years. He is finally divorcing Chelsea. But yet continues to have sex with her. For Meg, she lives in Brooklyn. She went to art school and was briefly a successful artist, but maintaining that success was hard as new artists came and went. She now lives in a pretty broken down apartment working full time as a waitress, still trying to get her art sold. She is moving back to Southport because ten months ago, her father had a heart attack and died suddenly. Her mother is dealing with some financial issues, so she decides to move back for a while to help out. Since her older sister, Whitney, is still working in Europe and can’t make it home.
Adam and Meg are thrust back into each other’s orbit when Meg decides to take the job of painting the town’s mural, which Adam is in charge of, to help pay her mom’s hospital bills from her dad’s heart attack [note: the bill was $250,000 and her father had health insurance. Healthcare in America, amiright?!]. This causes them to spend more time together. While Chelsea shows up a time or two to cause trouble, the subject of Chelsea continues to be a sore spot. Meg feels like Adam chose Chelsea over her and after ten years, she is still hurt. This is where I felt the plot starts to fall apart. They eventually start having sex [note: though, Adam is still legally married to Chelsea]. While Meg wants it to be casual and a secret, Adam wants it to be more. They had several heart to heart moments and grew closer.
Towards the end, Chelsea is pushing for counseling instead of divorce and dumbass Adam is considering pretending to agree so that she doesn’t get everything in the divorce. After Meg finishes the mural, she decides to stay in Southport, but when she goes to Adam’s house to celebrate, she meets Chelsea in lingerie opening the door to his house. Chelsea says nasty things to her and she runs away, believing that Adam is choosing Chelsea over her again. It was another misunderstanding. Adam and Chelsea ended up having an honest talk about their relationship. Chelsea felt like she was always competing with Meg for his heart and she wanted Adam because everybody wanted him too. [note: ladies and gents, there are ALWAYS better fishes in the sea]. This she-devil knew Meg loved him, but took him anyway. There is honestly no good bone in her body. Dumbass Adam apologizes to her because he realizes he never gave any of himself to Chelsea, because it was always Meg. [note: bullshit, that is not what he said in the opening scene when he was having sex with Chelsea]. He agrees to give her the timeshare in Aspen and agrees that they did have some good times together. After his family had to spell it out for him and tell him to go chase after her, dumbass Adam chases after Meg and tells her he will move wherever she goes. They exchange I love yous and the epilogue is six months later, Meg moves into Adam’s million dollar house. The same house and bed that he shared with his ex-wife, who moved to Miami. But don’t worry you guys, they redecorated. [note: my eyes rolled right to the back of my head and rolled right out of my ass].
The side characters are Kyle, Skylar, Whitney, Lena, Jeremy. Kyle, Skylar, Adam and Meg were all best friends in high school, but after the homecoming drama, Meg stopped talking to Adam and Kyle. Whitney is Meg’s older sister. They used to be close, but have drifted apart after Whitney moves to LA and is now a successful movie makeup artist in Europe and has turned super bitchy. Towards the end, Whitney comes home and helps their mom financially by buying their home that they were trying to sell. It looks like something happened to Whitney in the past since she decided to move back home. Kyle has a crush on her and hints of drama between the two. At the sametime, Kyle just found out, Josie, his ex-girlfriend and ex-best friend of Chelsea, is pregnant with his baby. Skylar just broke up with her fiance and moved back to Southport. Lena is Adam’s younger sister and hints at drama between her and Adam’s law partner who is a sexist manwhore, but who we are told is a good guy [note: eye roll], Jeremy.
Overall Opinion - More Details: These are the reasons why I gave it three stars.
I hate the trope of the poor girl struggling and not succeeding while the hero is successful.
H’s actions did not seem sincere. It was his family who pushed him to reconcile with Meg both by offering the mural job and telling him to go after her towards the end. If they didn’t encourage him, would he have ended up with her.
The heart to heart between H and h left me unsatisfied. Right when they get to the heart of the situation, it just doesn’t go anywhere. It just reverts back to him saying, yes he was with Chelsea, but he is here now. I was not convinced of his sincerity. I felt Adam was not apologetic and blamed Meg’s stubbornness for them not talking for years. He just kept saying it was years ago and he was a stupid seventeen year horny boy and that Meg was too stubborn for not letting him hear his side. But he never explicitly expressed how he felt too, so how was she to know.
Certain plots went nowhere. Towards the beginning, it was mentioned that Adam tried to meet Meg after college and another time, but it was never elaborated or brought up again. Also, why was he able to break up with Chelsea for a time and get back together, but he never put in the same effort in reconciling with Meg.
Another plot that went nowhere was when Meg mentioned that during their senior year, Adam yelled at her in the cafeteria to get over it in front of everyone, humiliating her. He ignored her completely like she didn’t exist. But this was not elaborated and NEVER brought up and he never apologized for it.
There were conflicting viewpoints of their conflict. Adam said Meg stopped talking to him, but Meg said he ignored her completely. So who was right?
Also, there were conflicting thoughts of the H. In the beginning, his description of sex with Chelsea and then towards the end, when it was always Meg for him. After reading everything that happened with Chelsea, I am not convinced it was always Meg for him.
Book Cover: While it was visually appealing, it did not match the characters in the book. There was no mention of the main characters having tattoos.
Favorite Line: none.
Point Of View (POV): Dual POV.
Overall Pace of Story: It was the right level of pacing. It did not go back and forth between past and present which I dislike. The past was shown as brief snippets of memories, which was easier on my angst level.
Instalove: No, they slowly realized they were in love with each other, but did not do anything about it.
Age: About 28 years of age for both.
H (Hero) rating: ZERO stars. In fact, the H deserved the OW, Chelsea. They deserve to fall off the cliff while skiing in their timeshare in Aspen. [Side note: timeshares are not resellable, so they are worthless. How he is successful?] In the beginning, he acknowledged that he was being cuckolded, but in the middle of the story, he said he was an alpha and had alpha tendencies. When I read that, I literally screamed bullshit. I wanted to scream, "read the definition of an alpha, dumbass! You are not it. Your wife is having sex with every man in town and you chose to stay and want children with her. Please exit stage left and never call yourself an alpha again."
Adam was always ready to brush off the past and by doing so brush off Meg’s hurt. He married the bully of the h and allowed himself to be manipulated by her. She cheated on him left and right, with all the men in the neighborhood and the contractor to name a few. Yet, he stayed in the marriage for years. He even wanted to have children with her, but she lied about taking birth control shots. The H was pushed into the marriage by Chelsea and had second thoughts moments before the wedding, yet continued the wedding because he saw her exit the limo and pretty much said, oh well, too late now. Chelsea was a complete bitch to every one of his friends and family, especially his sister, Lena, who Chelsea envied because she didn’t like that the girl was pretty (she was ten years old at the time!). The H has no self-respect and no respect for his loved ones. If I brought home a person who disrespected my family and I, they would be gone. Towards the end, he considered doing counseling, or pretended to, instead of divorce with Chelsea even though he was already with Meg. In the end, Adam moves Meg to the house and bed he built with his ex-wife. He has money, he can move or rebuild it.
Book Boyfriend Material/OTT Alpha: Not at all. I would rather be a happily single cat lady, than be with this dumbass.
h (heroine) rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I liked her. SHE DESERVED BETTER. She was stubborn. She should've listened to what Adam had to say before never talking to him again. Still, I felt Meg’s pain. She was in love with him and was ready to tell him her feelings and it did feel like he chose Chelsea over her. During the homecoming scene, he saw how devastated she was and he realized how much he screwed up, but he continued to be with Chelsea for fucking years!
Angst/Sadness level: I didn’t cry, but reading all about Chelsea and reading Meg's pain, it did put a lump in my throat and stung my heart.
Push/Pull: h pushing and H pulling.
Heat level: H was a complete turn off for me so I couldn’t get into any of the sexy times.
Descriptive sex: Yes, h and H.
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: OW drama - H is married to OW who was h’s school bully.
Sex scene with OW or OM: Yes, in the opening of the book after the prologue, descriptive sex of H with OW (his soon-to-be ex wife).
Birth Control/Condoms: No mention of birth control, but yes to condom.
Cheating: No - but it depends - H and h were not dating, but best friends. They had unrequited feelings for each other. H was dating OW for two weeks before the whole misunderstanding happened. He said, every day, after he dropped off the h at home, the evenings, he spent with OW.
Love Triangle: No.
Separation: Yes, did not talk to each other for ten years.
Virgin/Celibate/Manwhore: H lost his virginity to OW (h’s bully/wife). During breakup in college with OW, H is a manwhore. No details of h’s sexual life, except from a brief mention of a man that only lasted three dates. From what I inferred, she is not a virgin.
Possible Pet Peeves/Triggers: Dumbass hero who thinks he is an alpha.
Plotholes: As I said before, past grievances mentioned, but not addressed.
Closure: Yes, it looks like a HFN. The epilogue ends with h moving into the house that H built with his ex wife.
Safety: 3 out of 5 for the safety gang. That sex scene in the beginning with OW was so unnecessary and just showed how weak the H is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2020
I had this whole review typed then my iPAD died on me before I hit done. URGGGGG
Not going to redo it.
I will just say that if love is marrying the arch enemy of your best friend/love of your life and staying with her for 10 years, then please hate me.
Adam is a tool.
Meghan is meh.
Not going to redo it.
I will just say that if love is marrying the arch enemy of your best friend/love of your life and staying with her for 10 years, then please hate me.
Adam is a tool.
Meghan is meh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2020
1 Not For Me Star
Lots of great reviews from people who loved this book so please don’t be swayed by my thoughts - this story didn’t work for me but you may love it. We all read a different book after all.
It didn’t get off to a good start. The opening scene is the Hero , Adam, having explicit - and apparently great- sex with his soon to be ex wife, Chelsea. She cheated on him during their 10 year marriage. Multiple times and even though they are separated he still boinks her because the sex was always fantastic & that was never their problem. I NEVER want to hear that the Hero had mind boggling sex with someone else. NEVER.
Anyway, the heroine , Meg , returns to town after years away. She and the Hero were best childhood friends and she was desperately in love with him. The night she was going to tell him, she caught him with her arch nemesis, who is now his wife. She fled and he married the awesomely sex talented but still very bitchy Chelsea and didn’t seem to really make any effort to find Meg who he knew would be devastated that he hooked up with the girl that had bullied her relentlessly.
The story continues but I disliked the ‘hero’ so much that this book was never going to be a winner for me.
HEA? Yes
Cheating? He’s still ‘married’ when they get together but he’s separated.
Lots of great reviews from people who loved this book so please don’t be swayed by my thoughts - this story didn’t work for me but you may love it. We all read a different book after all.
It didn’t get off to a good start. The opening scene is the Hero , Adam, having explicit - and apparently great- sex with his soon to be ex wife, Chelsea. She cheated on him during their 10 year marriage. Multiple times and even though they are separated he still boinks her because the sex was always fantastic & that was never their problem. I NEVER want to hear that the Hero had mind boggling sex with someone else. NEVER.
Anyway, the heroine , Meg , returns to town after years away. She and the Hero were best childhood friends and she was desperately in love with him. The night she was going to tell him, she caught him with her arch nemesis, who is now his wife. She fled and he married the awesomely sex talented but still very bitchy Chelsea and didn’t seem to really make any effort to find Meg who he knew would be devastated that he hooked up with the girl that had bullied her relentlessly.
The story continues but I disliked the ‘hero’ so much that this book was never going to be a winner for me.
HEA? Yes
Cheating? He’s still ‘married’ when they get together but he’s separated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2020
How can anyone think this is a good book. He chose the bully of the woman he supposedly loved, over her. He neglected the hundreds of opportunities to make it right with the heroine. He lost his virginity to the bully. Dated her, could have broke up. Dated her in college, did break up, GOT BACK TOGETHER! Proposed to her. Married her. Tried to pressure her into started a family to the extent that she even got the shot for birth control and didn’t tell him. So yes he tried to get himself MORE ties to this woman, not less. No one forced him to do any of this. He is a millionaire lawyer now. Heroine of course has never moved on, and is a waitress. This entire book just has an awful plot and the hero is a douche. Who cares how awful the other woman is. He chose her, he stayed with her, he would have stayed with her if she had not cheated. The heroine was never his first love. The other woman was. She had all of his firsts. She is who he chose. She is who he wanted to and did plan a future with. He tells us all of this during the Godawful first scene where we are watching him screw her. The author basically beat us over the head with this information. He wasn’t tricked, she wasn’t pregnant etc. The fact that he was with her for 10 years and keeps on screwing her after finding out she cheated, makes him just as awful of a person as she is. He gets no sympathy from me. Who Likes this?
August 22, 2020
Another one I read out of curiosity after seeing a few reviews.
Yet another writer that not only shows herself as hostile to the idea of strong, competent women, but also seriously needs to utilise a competent editor. I'm beginning to wonder how many writers are actually out of their teens - or even high school - despite the info in their bios or on FB or Insta.
This book is unworthy of too much time on a review. But in a nutshell, the H was a selfish, entitled, dimwit who thought with his dick.
Seriously, really enjoyed his X-rated dreams and blow by blow accounts of his masturbatory pursuits and the rogering of the soon-to-be ex-wife he claimed to hate...so, thanks for that. Really.
#not.
I just don't know how he actually achieved orgasm because 'cumming' isn't an actual bloody goddamned word. But hey, if a writer wants to highlight her general ignorance, who am I to judge?
Oh. Right. I'm one of the readers that helps fund her pursuit of writing. Perhaps she should spend some of that on a grammar course.
Back to the hero, Adam. Dude was a gauche, insensitive adolescent in a man's body. He was immature, occasionally cruel and just. plain. S.T.U.P.I.D.
And if I had to read one more time about his 17-year-old's selfishness, poor reasoning and lack of even BASIC common sense - and how the h needed to 'get over it because it was a long time ago - I might have lost my shit.
My 14-yo lad has more integrity and sensitivity than most adults I know, so I'm not buying Adam's excuses. It's called a moral compass, you arsehat.
This guy was no hero and this was not a romance. The h, Meg, was no better. She was basically a loser who had tanked her life while the wankstain hero was rich and successful. But she let him in, and shagged him, and eventually forgave him. A guy who hooked up with - and subsequently married - her bully and the one person in her life she despised. And he knew this, and he did it anyway, claiming his love for Meg was unrequited and he was trying to get over her. Nice guy, eh?
They both sucked and deserved one another. Meg in particular deserves whatever heartache she reaps by choosing him, because he doesn't care about her feelings and even said himself that his cock controls him.
This reader gives this travesty of a fauxmance three fingers up - 🖕🖕🖕- and a fourth one - 🖕- just because.
And a few of these, too - 🤬🤢🤮💩💩💩👎👎👎
Yet another writer that not only shows herself as hostile to the idea of strong, competent women, but also seriously needs to utilise a competent editor. I'm beginning to wonder how many writers are actually out of their teens - or even high school - despite the info in their bios or on FB or Insta.
This book is unworthy of too much time on a review. But in a nutshell, the H was a selfish, entitled, dimwit who thought with his dick.
Seriously, really enjoyed his X-rated dreams and blow by blow accounts of his masturbatory pursuits and the rogering of the soon-to-be ex-wife he claimed to hate...so, thanks for that. Really.
#not.
I just don't know how he actually achieved orgasm because 'cumming' isn't an actual bloody goddamned word. But hey, if a writer wants to highlight her general ignorance, who am I to judge?
Oh. Right. I'm one of the readers that helps fund her pursuit of writing. Perhaps she should spend some of that on a grammar course.
Back to the hero, Adam. Dude was a gauche, insensitive adolescent in a man's body. He was immature, occasionally cruel and just. plain. S.T.U.P.I.D.
And if I had to read one more time about his 17-year-old's selfishness, poor reasoning and lack of even BASIC common sense - and how the h needed to 'get over it because it was a long time ago - I might have lost my shit.
My 14-yo lad has more integrity and sensitivity than most adults I know, so I'm not buying Adam's excuses. It's called a moral compass, you arsehat.
This guy was no hero and this was not a romance. The h, Meg, was no better. She was basically a loser who had tanked her life while the wankstain hero was rich and successful. But she let him in, and shagged him, and eventually forgave him. A guy who hooked up with - and subsequently married - her bully and the one person in her life she despised. And he knew this, and he did it anyway, claiming his love for Meg was unrequited and he was trying to get over her. Nice guy, eh?
They both sucked and deserved one another. Meg in particular deserves whatever heartache she reaps by choosing him, because he doesn't care about her feelings and even said himself that his cock controls him.
This reader gives this travesty of a fauxmance three fingers up - 🖕🖕🖕- and a fourth one - 🖕- just because.
And a few of these, too - 🤬🤢🤮💩💩💩👎👎👎
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2022
The time line is ridiculous.
Prologue opens with “Ten years earlier” and h is 17 and H is 18.
Then it’s chapter 1 and “Present day”
The H in that 10 year span...
—Went to college (4 years)
—Went to law school (3 years...you know, post undergrad)
—Junior Associate at a prestigious firm (2ish years..post law school)
—Started a law firm (approx 2.5 years after law school)
—Was super duper famous and an awesome sauce criminal defense attorney in a “tiny, tiny town” described as being totally BFE, but the book atmosphere feels small CITY...(7 years since they founded firm.)
That’s roughly 17 years.
Seriously? What the fuck?!?
“One would think that at twenty-eight, I’d have the dating thing down.” —-heroine about her age.
“Adam was everything every other boy in our grade wasn’t.”—heroine about hero.
“They even attended the same Lamaze classes when Mom was pregnant with me and June with Meg.” —hero about H/h mothers.
“She had been like a younger sister to both Whitney and me. She tagged along on our girlie shopping trips, and we had helped her get ready for school dances.” —h about H’s sister who was 6 years younger. Since the h left immediately after Highschool graduation, the sister must have been 8-12???
“Growing up, my time and attention was spent on her older brother. Sure, we were often at the same family BBQs and social events, but given she was a whole six years younger, at the time, we didn't have a lot in common.”—h about H’s sister.
“She used to follow her around, begging my sister to do her makeup. Whitney never had the patience with younger kids that I did. Most times, she would tell Lena to get lost.”—h about H’s sister.
Also, the idea the h’s Møm could sell her house and then pay outstanding medical bills works until you don’t buy property again with the entire proceeds of a house sale...then it’s called income, and it’s taxed.
So...Details...Amirite?
And there’s the h’s mother and besties...
Zero support and no real empathy.
I never felt like he had a believable come to Jesus moment over their past. They both go over it in their headspace POV, they even talk about it, he even realizes how painful his behavior was for her, but he never told her how much he regretted it. He almost even lets her walk away again. I just didn’t buy his grovel. It was non-existent. And everyone told the h to let it go and forgive him. Maybe I’m a hardass, but I would have made him grovel like a motherfucker.
Prologue opens with “Ten years earlier” and h is 17 and H is 18.
Then it’s chapter 1 and “Present day”
The H in that 10 year span...
—Went to college (4 years)
—Went to law school (3 years...you know, post undergrad)
—Junior Associate at a prestigious firm (2ish years..post law school)
—Started a law firm (approx 2.5 years after law school)
—Was super duper famous and an awesome sauce criminal defense attorney in a “tiny, tiny town” described as being totally BFE, but the book atmosphere feels small CITY...(7 years since they founded firm.)
That’s roughly 17 years.
Seriously? What the fuck?!?
“One would think that at twenty-eight, I’d have the dating thing down.” —-heroine about her age.
“Adam was everything every other boy in our grade wasn’t.”—heroine about hero.
“They even attended the same Lamaze classes when Mom was pregnant with me and June with Meg.” —hero about H/h mothers.
“She had been like a younger sister to both Whitney and me. She tagged along on our girlie shopping trips, and we had helped her get ready for school dances.” —h about H’s sister who was 6 years younger. Since the h left immediately after Highschool graduation, the sister must have been 8-12???
“Growing up, my time and attention was spent on her older brother. Sure, we were often at the same family BBQs and social events, but given she was a whole six years younger, at the time, we didn't have a lot in common.”—h about H’s sister.
“She used to follow her around, begging my sister to do her makeup. Whitney never had the patience with younger kids that I did. Most times, she would tell Lena to get lost.”—h about H’s sister.
Also, the idea the h’s Møm could sell her house and then pay outstanding medical bills works until you don’t buy property again with the entire proceeds of a house sale...then it’s called income, and it’s taxed.
So...Details...Amirite?
And there’s the h’s mother and besties...
Zero support and no real empathy.
I never felt like he had a believable come to Jesus moment over their past. They both go over it in their headspace POV, they even talk about it, he even realizes how painful his behavior was for her, but he never told her how much he regretted it. He almost even lets her walk away again. I just didn’t buy his grovel. It was non-existent. And everyone told the h to let it go and forgive him. Maybe I’m a hardass, but I would have made him grovel like a motherfucker.
October 30, 2020
I did not like this book.
I should start by saying, I'm not a safe reader. I have zero problems with cheating and sex scenes with other people rarely bothers me, but in this instance the opening scene is completely superfluous, used for shock value. And, left me already disliking the hero. And, my dislike never improved. He’s sensitive to everyone but the heroine, he can’t quite understand why his dating, marrying and hoping to have children with his best friend’s bully and tormentor should bother said best friend.
The heroine is immature. These characters never matured past high school, they’re pushing 30. Lots of bait for future books I’m not going to read.
I should start by saying, I'm not a safe reader. I have zero problems with cheating and sex scenes with other people rarely bothers me, but in this instance the opening scene is completely superfluous, used for shock value. And, left me already disliking the hero. And, my dislike never improved. He’s sensitive to everyone but the heroine, he can’t quite understand why his dating, marrying and hoping to have children with his best friend’s bully and tormentor should bother said best friend.
The heroine is immature. These characters never matured past high school, they’re pushing 30. Lots of bait for future books I’m not going to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2020
The first chapter starts of with H having sex with his soon to be ex wife that was such a delight to read.
I’m being sarcastic by the way if no one got that.
The only redeeming thing about this book is the fact that I finished it. The main characters had ZERO chemistry and so many other problems that I’m not bothered getting into.
I’m being sarcastic by the way if no one got that.
The only redeeming thing about this book is the fact that I finished it. The main characters had ZERO chemistry and so many other problems that I’m not bothered getting into.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
October 30, 202010/30/20 update:
Look at comments below. T took one for the team and struck out. Too bad.
So. I think my tags say it all. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read and see if it's any good.
Look at comments below. T took one for the team and struck out. Too bad.
So. I think my tags say it all. Hopefully I'll get a chance to read and see if it's any good.
October 28, 2024
Skimmed.
Awful.
He chose ow over the heroine when they were in high school and married the bitch knowing she was a bitch but the worst betrayal was to the heroine as his bff, she was his bff first and he chose ow knowing she was the heroines bully, I have no respect for one who does that, to me he’s dead.
He liked ow and thought he loved her, he wanted children with her, he never tried to reconnect with the heroine not even when he broke up with ow in college, he had all the time then, I mean, speaking as friends, since that is what they were, why didn’t he at least make an effort when he was single? So since the heroine mattered to little to him how am I to believe his great love for her?
This was awful.
The heroine is a sad doormat. A loser who never got over that ahole, she had no self respect at all.
He would have stayed with his wife, since he still had been having sex with her after their divorce, because sex was amazing with his wife, and the fact that the author let us see his thoughts about her, how attractive she is, how she is every man’s wet dreams, how he loves her tits, how he can’t resist her, and all this happens when he’s already found out what a bitch she is, had she been faithful and had she wanted children they would have been happily married still and bye bye the heroine.
Sadly ow was a nasty bitch that was worthless so in the end what I understand is that the heroine is not his second choice, she’s his last hope, since he’s getting older, he had his fun, and his best years have gone. Seriously?
This was complete rubbish .
Awful.
He chose ow over the heroine when they were in high school and married the bitch knowing she was a bitch but the worst betrayal was to the heroine as his bff, she was his bff first and he chose ow knowing she was the heroines bully, I have no respect for one who does that, to me he’s dead.
He liked ow and thought he loved her, he wanted children with her, he never tried to reconnect with the heroine not even when he broke up with ow in college, he had all the time then, I mean, speaking as friends, since that is what they were, why didn’t he at least make an effort when he was single? So since the heroine mattered to little to him how am I to believe his great love for her?
This was awful.
The heroine is a sad doormat. A loser who never got over that ahole, she had no self respect at all.
He would have stayed with his wife, since he still had been having sex with her after their divorce, because sex was amazing with his wife, and the fact that the author let us see his thoughts about her, how attractive she is, how she is every man’s wet dreams, how he loves her tits, how he can’t resist her, and all this happens when he’s already found out what a bitch she is, had she been faithful and had she wanted children they would have been happily married still and bye bye the heroine.
Sadly ow was a nasty bitch that was worthless so in the end what I understand is that the heroine is not his second choice, she’s his last hope, since he’s getting older, he had his fun, and his best years have gone. Seriously?
This was complete rubbish .
April 11, 2024
Two unlikeable characters that are surrounded by relatively sane side characters.
Hero is an idiot, and it's all about him. He thinks he loves the heroine, but has sex with her bully. It's a mild version of the madonna/whore syndrome. As a teen he thinks with his nether regions and can't understand why the heroine who loves him is hurt. Unlike many heroines in cheating romances, she decides to hate him. She still pines for him but likes to make him suffer. His nose is all out of joint because she got mad about his hookup. What did he think was going to happen? The author doesn't help his case by having our first adult encounter with him having detailed sex with his cheating wife and her plastic breasts.
The heroine isn't much better. I can understand her loathing of him, but have some self-respect and grow up. She's still a teenager trapped in a 20-somthing adult woman with her snarkiness and sarcasm. Epic example of how to tell someone you are still besotted without actually telling them.
DNF after his mother told him to grow up.
Hero is an idiot, and it's all about him. He thinks he loves the heroine, but has sex with her bully. It's a mild version of the madonna/whore syndrome. As a teen he thinks with his nether regions and can't understand why the heroine who loves him is hurt. Unlike many heroines in cheating romances, she decides to hate him. She still pines for him but likes to make him suffer. His nose is all out of joint because she got mad about his hookup. What did he think was going to happen? The author doesn't help his case by having our first adult encounter with him having detailed sex with his cheating wife and her plastic breasts.
The heroine isn't much better. I can understand her loathing of him, but have some self-respect and grow up. She's still a teenager trapped in a 20-somthing adult woman with her snarkiness and sarcasm. Epic example of how to tell someone you are still besotted without actually telling them.
DNF after his mother told him to grow up.
August 21, 2020
Second hand romance for someone who probably didn’t deserve a 2nd chance...
Spoilers
Meg deserved more.
She deserved more than a best friend who put her hateful bully ahead of their friendship. How could a best friend not know the hurt caused by your bully?? He just assumed she would get over it because he was having a good time.
She deserved more than a man who still brushes off his behavior as something a 17 year old boy did.
He stayed married to the bully for 10 years!! He loved the bully enough to start pressuring her to start a family. This was not a H who wasted time thinking about the one that got away. Instead he was quite satisfied with the bully’s physical attributes even after her most reprehensible behavior.
What annoyed me the most was that Meg was written as someone whose life had stagnated. No love, no career, just surviving in a crummy apartment.
Spoilers
Meg deserved more.
She deserved more than a best friend who put her hateful bully ahead of their friendship. How could a best friend not know the hurt caused by your bully?? He just assumed she would get over it because he was having a good time.
She deserved more than a man who still brushes off his behavior as something a 17 year old boy did.
He stayed married to the bully for 10 years!! He loved the bully enough to start pressuring her to start a family. This was not a H who wasted time thinking about the one that got away. Instead he was quite satisfied with the bully’s physical attributes even after her most reprehensible behavior.
What annoyed me the most was that Meg was written as someone whose life had stagnated. No love, no career, just surviving in a crummy apartment.
Read
November 9, 2020I’m counting as a DNF because I pretty much gave up around 30% and skimmed/skipped to the end. I didn’t read the reviews before, but my notes are much the same. It does start with our H getting down with another woman... so FYI. The timeline is off, but my biggest problem was the characters and the “conflict.” In a nutshell, Adam and Meg were BFF’s who both secretly loved each other hard, but never confided. During their senior year, Meg decided to put it all on the line at the Homecoming Dance, but she catches Adam kissing her arch nemesis, mean girl Chelsea. She was understandably heartbroken and furious, and moved to HATING him and has fanned that flame for TEN YEARS!!! Now, this part is fuzzy, (but really who cares it was 10 years ago) Meg states that he froze her out and wouldn’t talk to her, but Adam says that she froze him out and wouldn’t talk to him. 🤷♀️🤷♀️
The book starts with Meg returning home for the first time in a decade. My issue was that it seemed silly to base the entire plot on a squabble from high school. Yes, it was a shit move, and yes, he eventually married the bitch, but they weren’t a couple. He was guilty of dating her enemy, that’s it, and to hold onto all that hate was ridiculous. I’m probably in the minority, but I agreed with pretty much everyone else in the book…grow up. Forgive him, or don’t, but move forward with your life. Snapping and telling other grown adults they should hate him too for something that happened when they were 17 is silly. They’re almost 30 years old and they still act like teenagers.
“You too Mr. Mercedes.”
Yeah, I own a Mercedes. Oh, and my house is worth 1.3 million dollars. And I have a varied and high yield portfolio. So, I suppose I’m pretty damn successful. And I’m proud of it.” I sounded entirely too defensive.
Meg did a slow clap. “Look at Most Likely to be a Millennial Douchebag.” I gripped the arms of my chair. “Says Most Likely to be a Pretentious Tryhard.” We glared at each other.
Bottom Line- Childish bickering doesn’t do it for me. I love a second-chance romance because people in general make mistakes when they are young and green, but I need them to grow up and mature, not stay the same. They get better, but even him going sans condom with a woman he knows…a-sleeps around, b-is crazy, and c- wants to stay married… makes ZERO sense, and screams young and dumb, but he’s a savvy almost 30 rock-star attorney. Maybe I’m grumpy. 😊 It’s free to read with KU. The next book is Adam’s sister and business partner’s book, but I’m not really interested. Meg’s bitchy sister’s might be good. I feel like there’s a reason she’s mean, and a Kyle match up would be interesting with clingy Josie, and the accidental pregnancy.
The book starts with Meg returning home for the first time in a decade. My issue was that it seemed silly to base the entire plot on a squabble from high school. Yes, it was a shit move, and yes, he eventually married the bitch, but they weren’t a couple. He was guilty of dating her enemy, that’s it, and to hold onto all that hate was ridiculous. I’m probably in the minority, but I agreed with pretty much everyone else in the book…grow up. Forgive him, or don’t, but move forward with your life. Snapping and telling other grown adults they should hate him too for something that happened when they were 17 is silly. They’re almost 30 years old and they still act like teenagers.
“You too Mr. Mercedes.”
Yeah, I own a Mercedes. Oh, and my house is worth 1.3 million dollars. And I have a varied and high yield portfolio. So, I suppose I’m pretty damn successful. And I’m proud of it.” I sounded entirely too defensive.
Meg did a slow clap. “Look at Most Likely to be a Millennial Douchebag.” I gripped the arms of my chair. “Says Most Likely to be a Pretentious Tryhard.” We glared at each other.
Bottom Line- Childish bickering doesn’t do it for me. I love a second-chance romance because people in general make mistakes when they are young and green, but I need them to grow up and mature, not stay the same. They get better, but even him going sans condom with a woman he knows…a-sleeps around, b-is crazy, and c- wants to stay married… makes ZERO sense, and screams young and dumb, but he’s a savvy almost 30 rock-star attorney. Maybe I’m grumpy. 😊 It’s free to read with KU. The next book is Adam’s sister and business partner’s book, but I’m not really interested. Meg’s bitchy sister’s might be good. I feel like there’s a reason she’s mean, and a Kyle match up would be interesting with clingy Josie, and the accidental pregnancy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
dnf
August 19, 2020DNF.
Didn’t like the characters and got bored.
Stopped reading before halfway mark so no rating.
Didn’t like the characters and got bored.
Stopped reading before halfway mark so no rating.
August 28, 2020
Ofcourse he loved heroine from the very beginning, even though he fucked and married the girl who a nasty person, who constantly bullied people (especially heroine, who was his bestfriend)..coz she had great looks and they had great sex.
According to him ,she's a bitch. But he married her and wanted kids with her??!
10 years of marriage was nothing??!
Great.
Hero's a total stand up guy.
Hero a fucking asshole.
And well heroine's is same story like most novels, they get hung up on hero, never had a good relationship or great sex and always down in the dumps, leading quite unsuccessful life.
And after all the shit heroine couldn't even wait until his divorce to jump into his bea. Just pathetic.
And hero always has all the success and all the money. What a load of crap?!.
Heroine's a loser.
Hero's an asshole.
The story sucks.
According to him ,she's a bitch. But he married her and wanted kids with her??!
10 years of marriage was nothing??!
Great.
Hero's a total stand up guy.
Hero a fucking asshole.
And well heroine's is same story like most novels, they get hung up on hero, never had a good relationship or great sex and always down in the dumps, leading quite unsuccessful life.
And after all the shit heroine couldn't even wait until his divorce to jump into his bea. Just pathetic.
And hero always has all the success and all the money. What a load of crap?!.
Heroine's a loser.
Hero's an asshole.
The story sucks.
November 9, 2020
2 stars
Say You’ll Stay
This one was rather dull…
I LOVE a good enemies to lovers, but I didn’t feel the connection here and I did not think Adam deserved a second chance.
Adam and Meg were best friends and growing up they were inseparable. The prologue opens with a snippet of their prom night; they are going together and Meg is planning on declaring her feelings for Adam. She’s loved him for years apparently, along with every other girl at their school.
We then suddenly skip ten years into the present day to chapter one. We are clueless as to what transpired that night, though we do know one thing: Adam is a massive dickhead.
What transpires in the next few chapters is that Adam left the prom that night with Meg’s high school bully, Chelsea. He then married her and stayed with her for ten years and is only now divorcing her (and only because she cheats on him). Meg and Adam didn’t speak again after the 'prom' incident.
Meg’s life in the ten years that have passed has stagnated. She is still single, and is struggling to sell her Art, whilst Adam is a successful millionaire.
We’re given no valid reasoning for Adam leaving with Chelsea that night, and we’re also supposed to believe that Adam was really secretly in love with Meg his whole life. For me, Meg was right to hate Adam for his actions, despite the author trying to convince us otherwise.
Anyway, I didn’t connect with the characters and found the whole thing a little dull and Adam to be an entitled prat, who didn't deserve a second chance.
Say You’ll Stay
This one was rather dull…
I LOVE a good enemies to lovers, but I didn’t feel the connection here and I did not think Adam deserved a second chance.
Adam and Meg were best friends and growing up they were inseparable. The prologue opens with a snippet of their prom night; they are going together and Meg is planning on declaring her feelings for Adam. She’s loved him for years apparently, along with every other girl at their school.
We then suddenly skip ten years into the present day to chapter one. We are clueless as to what transpired that night, though we do know one thing: Adam is a massive dickhead.
What transpires in the next few chapters is that Adam left the prom that night with Meg’s high school bully, Chelsea. He then married her and stayed with her for ten years and is only now divorcing her (and only because she cheats on him). Meg and Adam didn’t speak again after the 'prom' incident.
Meg’s life in the ten years that have passed has stagnated. She is still single, and is struggling to sell her Art, whilst Adam is a successful millionaire.
We’re given no valid reasoning for Adam leaving with Chelsea that night, and we’re also supposed to believe that Adam was really secretly in love with Meg his whole life. For me, Meg was right to hate Adam for his actions, despite the author trying to convince us otherwise.
Anyway, I didn’t connect with the characters and found the whole thing a little dull and Adam to be an entitled prat, who didn't deserve a second chance.
September 18, 2020
Gaslight
The author takes a particular approach to the second chances trope that doesn’t quite work as well as she likely imagined.
The male protagonist, Adam, is recently separated from his wife of 10 years. He is still having sex with her regularly. Then his former best friend, Meg, returns to town and every single character in the book tells Meg that she has to let bygones be bygones and take Adam back as her best friend. They say that it is entirely her fault that she and Adam are no longer friends, even though it was Adam who dated and married and continues to have sex with the person who mercilessly bullied Meg throughout her K12 education. Adam isn’t even sorry. Sure he’s sorry that his marriage didn’t work out, but he thinks that it’s all Meg’s fault. Adam believed their friendship was so strong it wouldn’t matter that he was dating her abuser and, irony of ironies, Adam felt betrayed when Meg refused to let Chelsea continue bullying her. The author truly expects readers to believe that *Meg* should give *Adam* the benefit of the doubt while he was dating/married to her abuser and it never occurs to the author that Adam might have considered giving Meg the benefit of the doubt before he jumped into bed with Chelsea and stayed there for the next 10 years. Throughout the book, Adam never apologizes to Meg.
The heartfelt romance is that Adam rules and needles and harassed Meg until they get drunk and start having sex - while Adam is still married to Chelsea and continues to see her. Then Chelsea tricks Meg into thinking that she and Adam are getting back together, so Adam blames Meg yet again for his and Chelsea’s atrocious and inappropriate behaviour.
The author takes a particular approach to the second chances trope that doesn’t quite work as well as she likely imagined.
The male protagonist, Adam, is recently separated from his wife of 10 years. He is still having sex with her regularly. Then his former best friend, Meg, returns to town and every single character in the book tells Meg that she has to let bygones be bygones and take Adam back as her best friend. They say that it is entirely her fault that she and Adam are no longer friends, even though it was Adam who dated and married and continues to have sex with the person who mercilessly bullied Meg throughout her K12 education. Adam isn’t even sorry. Sure he’s sorry that his marriage didn’t work out, but he thinks that it’s all Meg’s fault. Adam believed their friendship was so strong it wouldn’t matter that he was dating her abuser and, irony of ironies, Adam felt betrayed when Meg refused to let Chelsea continue bullying her. The author truly expects readers to believe that *Meg* should give *Adam* the benefit of the doubt while he was dating/married to her abuser and it never occurs to the author that Adam might have considered giving Meg the benefit of the doubt before he jumped into bed with Chelsea and stayed there for the next 10 years. Throughout the book, Adam never apologizes to Meg.
The heartfelt romance is that Adam rules and needles and harassed Meg until they get drunk and start having sex - while Adam is still married to Chelsea and continues to see her. Then Chelsea tricks Meg into thinking that she and Adam are getting back together, so Adam blames Meg yet again for his and Chelsea’s atrocious and inappropriate behaviour.
November 3, 2020
Evil ow drama is my jam so I didn’t mind this one. The writing was good so I’m giving it 3 stars. My GR friend Tmstprc mentioned in her review that the hero was sensitive/sympathetic to everyone but the heroine and she’s totally right. He was an idiot who chose to marry the heroine’s bully even though he was in love with the h all through their teenage years and that was never fully explained in the book. He really deserved to suffer more.
Also, the cheesy cover is misleading and unrelated to the content of the book.
Also, the cheesy cover is misleading and unrelated to the content of the book.
September 10, 2020
Great read!
I knew from the very beginning this was going to be a good book and it was! I just wish it had more to it. Not length wise but more groveling from Adam. I know it ended in an HEA but I cant say I agree with how things went down.
I am completely in tune with Meg. I can't say I would of thought or acted any different than she did. What Adam did was messed up and I feel he should of fought harder the first go around. I also think Chelsea should of had the fear of God put into her or someone to of at least brought her down a couple levels. Adam should of pushed her away harder and faster if you know what I mean. Maybe it's just me and I need to learn to not hold a grudge but she didn't deserve what she got.
As much as I liked Adam, what he did was hard to come back from. At one point I didn't think it would be possible at all. If he loved her as much as he said he did all along then he wouldn't have put anyone else in front of her no matter what. He would of ran to the ends of earth to make it right. Especially if they were as close of friends as what was explained. I can say he was just a teen being 17 when it happened but I truly feel if she meant as much as he said then he would have fought for her no matter what. I get Meg not wanting to talk to him because I would do the same but I don't believe you just let that go for 10 years without trying everything you possibly could. Adam said he realized how much he hurt her after the fact but he continued on doing what he was doing to begin with instead of correcting the issue.
Sorry for the rant but that was literally why I feel this wasnt a 5 star read. All in all though it wasnt a bad book at all.
I knew from the very beginning this was going to be a good book and it was! I just wish it had more to it. Not length wise but more groveling from Adam. I know it ended in an HEA but I cant say I agree with how things went down.
I am completely in tune with Meg. I can't say I would of thought or acted any different than she did. What Adam did was messed up and I feel he should of fought harder the first go around. I also think Chelsea should of had the fear of God put into her or someone to of at least brought her down a couple levels. Adam should of pushed her away harder and faster if you know what I mean. Maybe it's just me and I need to learn to not hold a grudge but she didn't deserve what she got.
As much as I liked Adam, what he did was hard to come back from. At one point I didn't think it would be possible at all. If he loved her as much as he said he did all along then he wouldn't have put anyone else in front of her no matter what. He would of ran to the ends of earth to make it right. Especially if they were as close of friends as what was explained. I can say he was just a teen being 17 when it happened but I truly feel if she meant as much as he said then he would have fought for her no matter what. I get Meg not wanting to talk to him because I would do the same but I don't believe you just let that go for 10 years without trying everything you possibly could. Adam said he realized how much he hurt her after the fact but he continued on doing what he was doing to begin with instead of correcting the issue.
Sorry for the rant but that was literally why I feel this wasnt a 5 star read. All in all though it wasnt a bad book at all.
August 18, 2020
Absolutely loved this book. Adam and Meg, just wow. So emotional, the tension, the heartbreak and trying to fix a broken heart. These two were inseparable, like two peas in a pod, an unbreakable bond until it isn’t. Best friends with feelings for each other that were never shared led to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. We all make decisions and some worse than others and Adam has learned the head way throughout the years, but the one constant in his life were his feelings for Meg.
Meghan is stubborn, prideful and can’t get past the hurt Adam left in her heart. Going home was never an option, but now, she’s there and so is he. Can Meg get past the ten years of holding onto hurt and her pride stop her from seeing what’s in front of her? Can Adam convince her that he chooses her forever? Such an amazing read I loved it and received a copy of this book.
Meghan is stubborn, prideful and can’t get past the hurt Adam left in her heart. Going home was never an option, but now, she’s there and so is he. Can Meg get past the ten years of holding onto hurt and her pride stop her from seeing what’s in front of her? Can Adam convince her that he chooses her forever? Such an amazing read I loved it and received a copy of this book.
August 22, 2020
This was the first book by this author I didn't like. I understand that Meg was mad. However, after all this time she still was being so petty. I felt bad for Adam. He had a lot to deal with. The good news is that in the end Meg was okay enough for me to be happy for them.
September 3, 2020
I was looking forward to reading this because I like the angst theme when it comes to reading books knowing that there will be a HEA but this story I didn't find closure and I did not like the beginning that put me off big time. The H Adam I thought was spineless, gullible and cuckolded, he wanted a family with his wife despite knowing that she was cheating on him and he was still sleeping with her even though he was divorcing her. The h Meg I wished she was stronger when it came to Adam but instead she became anxious. I also would have liked to have seen Meg move on throughout the years and be in a relationship and I would also liked to have seen them built up their friendship again rather than have them jumping into bed from the minute they practically first see each other again. Adam I didn't like was blaming his younger self but I think surely his younger self would have seen the way Chelsea badly treat Meg seeing as they were best friends and claiming that even though he got married to Chelsea he was in love with Meg, that did not make sense and he had second thoughts about marrying her but he still did. I also didn't like that he believed Chelsea's lies about Meg when they were in high school and I didn't see any chemistry between Adam and Meg I felt there was too much bitterness in her. I also thought that when Adam told Meg about Chelsea suggested counselling instead of getting divorced I thought he would agree because his character hadn't changed throughout the book. The ending did have a hea but in a way I was hoping Meg would pack up and move to New York again and get Adam to follow her but instead she moved into what was his and Chelsea's home. I would have liked to have seen them move into a new home to show that's it's a fresh new start for them both.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2020
I think it was wonderful how Meg and Adam had been best friends since they were very young. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to try and change the dynamics with falling in love. Meg can’t stand Chelsea since she started rumors, called her names, and was downright terrible to Meg. I can understand how hurt Meg is when she goes to tell Adam she has feelings for him and she catches him with Chelsea. That was too much for her to handle and didn’t speak to Adam again.
Now it’s ten years later and Meg moves back home to help her mother with expenses after her father passes away. I know it weighed on Meg that she hasn’t painted in awhile after taking off a few years earlier. She wants to help her mother, but doesn’t want to run into Adam. This is a small town, her parents were best friends with Adam’s parents, and the town needs an artist to paint a mural on the outside of Adam’s office building for the town’s centennial. I was glad to see a reason that Meg would have to see more of Adam. I couldn’t stand Adam’s soon to be ex wife Chelsea and was glad to see Adam realize what a big mistake he made in his teen years. Poor Meg is one stubborn woman. Meg and Adam have many ups and downs to get through. I loved the book and strongly encourage you to read it. I was given a copy of the book and voluntarily wrote a review.
Now it’s ten years later and Meg moves back home to help her mother with expenses after her father passes away. I know it weighed on Meg that she hasn’t painted in awhile after taking off a few years earlier. She wants to help her mother, but doesn’t want to run into Adam. This is a small town, her parents were best friends with Adam’s parents, and the town needs an artist to paint a mural on the outside of Adam’s office building for the town’s centennial. I was glad to see a reason that Meg would have to see more of Adam. I couldn’t stand Adam’s soon to be ex wife Chelsea and was glad to see Adam realize what a big mistake he made in his teen years. Poor Meg is one stubborn woman. Meg and Adam have many ups and downs to get through. I loved the book and strongly encourage you to read it. I was given a copy of the book and voluntarily wrote a review.
November 4, 2023
Another day. Another gross author trying to write “Its always been you” whilst opening the boon with very explicit sex scene with OW.
Imagine having your BEST FRIEND marry your BULLY. That right there doesn’t deserve ANY 2nd chances. Saying “I was a horny teenager” SO?? Bitch you didn’t even put in the effort to reconcile with you “best friend” what a load of BS.
No repercussions for the OW who never had any piece of good bone in her body. Also in the end, the FMC moved in the house of the MMC where he spent having “great sex” (his words not mine) with the OW. Just…..EW 🤮
True love at its finest 🤠
Imagine having your BEST FRIEND marry your BULLY. That right there doesn’t deserve ANY 2nd chances. Saying “I was a horny teenager” SO?? Bitch you didn’t even put in the effort to reconcile with you “best friend” what a load of BS.
No repercussions for the OW who never had any piece of good bone in her body. Also in the end, the FMC moved in the house of the MMC where he spent having “great sex” (his words not mine) with the OW. Just…..EW 🤮
True love at its finest 🤠
August 18, 2020
Adam and Megan grew up being best friends. As they got older they realized they each had feelings for the other. Not wanting to possibly lose the friendship, they said nothing to each other. With other people interfering things were done and said. The friendship was over. Megan kept the grudge for ten years and when she returned home, to help her mother, she knew she’d eventually see Adam. Adam didn’t understand the extent of Megan’s hurt until the two finally started to talk to one another. Adam was determined to gain Megan’s trust and love again. Will he succeed or will Megan go back to New York and leave the love of her life behind. Loved this book with laughter, tears and plenty of angst.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
September 28, 2020
I truly enjoyed reading this story and reading about the character's. It is a well written story. It has a enjoyable storyline. It kept my interest through out the story.
I have read and reviewed a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.
I have read and reviewed a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.
September 29, 2023
3.75
Although I didn’t understand the harboring of her dislike of him for over a decade because of the situation.
This was angst in a sense of the betrayal I have a best friend you love romantically.
And though I enjoyed it, I wish there was a little bit more angst!
Although I didn’t understand the harboring of her dislike of him for over a decade because of the situation.
This was angst in a sense of the betrayal I have a best friend you love romantically.
And though I enjoyed it, I wish there was a little bit more angst!
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