Their Freefall At Last

Honeywood #4

by Julie Olivia

The hardest part is waiting for the fall.

I am currently in love with, have always been in love with, and will continue to be in love with, my best friend, Bennett Walker Shaw.

In five minutes, my best friend’s bride will greet him in a gorgeous white gown with forever on her lips. Except that bride won’t be me.

Moments like these force you to look at your life a little closer.

At twelve-years-old, he and I promised to always be there for each other. But in our childlike optimism we didn’t understand the frail, tattered string of time. How people change. How families fall apart.

How sometimes we fall apart too.

I could try to pinpoint where our mess started, but I’m not sure where I’d land in our patchwork timeline.

Maybe it’s best to go back to the beginning. Back to when the meaning of love was simply defined by a small town theme park and that beautiful, messy-haired boy.

Their Freefall At Last is a slow burn romance spanning two decades, featuring two childhood best friends and their many years of pining. Enjoy the comforts of a small town theme park, filled with lots of love and steamy tension.

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Second Chance, Contemporary, Small Town Romance, Contemporary Romance, Slow Burn

516 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 22, 2023

About the author

Julie Olivia writes cozy love stories filled with humor, spice, and close friend groups that feel like a warm hug. She is a roller coaster fan, avid romance reader, and rainy day enthusiast.

Julie lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and their very opinionated pets.

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Reviews

[Esther]

SAFETY INFO WITH SPOILERS
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️

I normally don’t like childhood friends to lovers for this. Too messy. Too many ow/om drama. And I HATE that he loves the ow and was about to marry her. It’s more about them with others than with each other. We see their friendship but until almost 90% they aren’t together and then the chapters skip months and months and then epilogue. HE WAS ABOUT TO MARRY JOLENE (ow) I still don’t understand why he changed his mind AT THAT moment and not during 2-3 years (or more) that he dated her. He was living with her, cut his relationship with h for her, changed his looks for her, he DID everything for her and continue to stomp all over h. And the h like a spineless woman left him do it over and over and over again. She went to his wedding thinking he was going to marry her. h told him the day before the wedding not to marry ow and he said that he loved ow and was going to be her husband 🙃🙃🙃🙃
I’m not blaming the ow. It was all H’s fault. Don’t get why he did what he did. He said that he loved them differently. H loved ow but h was his soulmate then WHY continue to be with ow even when he saw h cried for the engagement. BC HE ASKED OW TO MARRY HIM IN FRONT OF h AND ALL THEIR FRIENDS!!! Is he dumb? Or really mean?!

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to start this review by saying that I'm unsure if my not enjoying this much had more to do with my personal feelings or the book itself (probably a combo of both). This due to the fact that I felt so MUCH towards Jolene - Bennett's girlfriend and then fiancé. The situation she was in between him and Ruby mirrored a situation I have been in before myself and it SUCKS. So, it made it hard for me to continue rooting for Ruby and Bennett in reading this.

Aside from personal feelings though, it's clear that Bennett had feelings for Ruby, and he just chose to ignore them repeatedly and he also did not give Jolene the full scope of their relationship when they got together - which I just couldn't get passed. Jolene managed to exit the situation with far more grace than I ever could. And I liked Ruby but Bennett...... it's a no from me. He knew EXACTLY what was going on and chose to continue hurting them both anyways. Which sucks because I LOVED the glimpse of Ruby/Bennett in the other books, but this book made me hate him. Like, what did you MEAN you love them both, just in different ways? If I heard that, I'd drive my car off a bridge - lol.

I also have to add that the format didn't really work for me. So much of this book was set in the past and you get very few chapters of them officially together. I wasn't quite feeling the spark between them either, despite all those moments between them in the past. AND the moment following the wedding felt like it should have been the ending. The few chapters after felt off and like they were just added to show them as a couple since you waited ALL that time to get to it - did not seem to fit though with how final the wedding scene felt.

And you mean to tell me not a SINGLE friend from the group called Bennett out about his obvious feelings towards Ruby when he asked Jolene to marry him??? I get she had some faults, and she wasn't truly a part of the group, however, I felt like the characters I got to know from the other books would have said something to him about his actions.

Overall, for the series, this may be my least favorite book apart from the epilogue. I liked the representation of one couple not having kids by choice and I liked seeing what happened with all the couples from the previous books - the third being my favorite by the way. However, my ache for Jolene and my hatred of the character's choices at times overshadowed my interest in the romance and I wasn't wishing for them to get together by the end.

PS Thanks to Julie Olivia for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review. So sorry to report that I did not enjoy this. :(

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was left wanting a little bit, but i think that's because of how rabid i was for this release. i think i just don't care for bennett. ---

i wish ruby and bennett didn't end up together. is that unhinged? probably. that isn't the book julie wanted to write, but i think this should've been ruby getting over bennett. and getting with michael. hot take probably.

give jolene a little spin off novella please..... i like her.....

spoilers - from previous books, i got the vibe that bennett was just kind of clueless and maybe he didn't see how ruby felt, but this book really added depth to their relationship and their dynamic that made it clear that everything was just... unfortunate timing. they both had reasons for feeling the way they did. it felt very human.

also - i liked how jolene was handled. love how she got to make her exit the way she did. it was just a tough situation. they all tried so hard.

thank you julie olivia SO much for the arc. i will read anything you write.

[artemis5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a 2 star read for me. I enjoyed the book but the pacing and setting of it just absolutely killed me.

There was no satisfaction in having Ruby and Bennett end up together BECAUSE IT HAPPENED SO LATE IN THE BOOK AND IN A VERY UNSATISFYING WAY.

I read the prologue and I was like great this is interesting - I hope we get to that present moment soon. I then see that the book is split into 4 parts and I’m like great - I’m assuming that one of these parts will begin at the present moment. So, I read Part I which was all situated in their childhood/school years and them building their relationship as children. Each chapter were little moments in those years, which were great for context and allowing us to get to the present moment. But we spent so little time with Ruby and Bennett as these were just flashbacks to important moments of their friendship that we didn’t really get much from it. Especially since the next part is ALSO IN THE FUCKING PAST.

So Part II ranges from Ruby coming back to Cedar Hills from University to the point of their relationship kind of stopping - which is still a few years out from the present day. And so we learn how they pined for one another but then actually got together, which was unexpected because I didn’t think that would happen. But then this moment of satisfaction is ultimately killed by the fact that immediately after it falls apart. LIKE LITERALLY ON THE NEXT DAY (of course we already knew that it was going to fall apart because in the previous books we know Bennett is dating Jolene). And so that sweet moment of them realising that they love each other is crushed and I am crushed (from the fact that we’re still in past but also their union is broken).

We’re now in Part III and I’m like I fucking hope we get to the present day soon (but of course we won’t because I checked after finishing Part I that we aren’t even in the present at the start of Part IV). This Part is about Ruby and Bennett navigating their relationship where Bennett has a new girlfriend. And all their interactions don’t really add to their relationship because like in the prior parts we’re still not spending that much time in scenes so none of what happens seems consequential. It’s all essentially a recap, which is really frustrating when you’ve spent 2 books (I haven’t read the first book) learning about Ruby and Bennett and how all the characters know that they’re in love with each other but won’t do anything about it. It’s even more frustrating as we visit moments that have already happened in the previous books so you’re like why am I reading this again. The whole point of this book is for us to see the decades long relationship develop and happen but we spend so much time recapping that it’s not satisfying to read. You just keep waiting for the present. Also I feel like with such little time we spend with the characters and how much time passes between chapters, we don’t see their relationship change or understand the pining, longing and love for one another. You just know it’s there.

Anyway on to Part IV where Bennett and Jolene are engaged. This is literally so boring. Like it’s sad when Jolene just says he can’t hang out with Ruby anymore but again we’ve already read about this in the previous book. We don’t need to do a word for word recap of it. Anyway we get more of Michael though. I forgot to say Michael is essentially a second lead but a very poor one that they’ve known since primary school. And he’s literally only there to serve the purpose of being Ruby’s rebound and cause Bennett to become jealous and symbolise that Bennett still loves Ruby. Which sucks for Michael because I think he’s an interesting character and we could’ve had more scenes with Ruby and him.

ANYWAY. We FINALLY GET TO THE PRESENT ABOUT 5 CHAPTERS FROM THE END OF THE BOOK. Literally wtf. But then we spend a whole chapter literally repeating the prologue word for word except it’s in Bennett’s POV. Bennett has now realised that it’s always been Ruby but it happened so late in the book I don’t care anymore. At least Jolene isn’t blindsided by him calling off their wedding because she’s smart and she understands and she gets a good ending to this nightmare rather than been shat on by Bennett. However, Ruby and Bennett can finally be together but it’s overshadowed by the fact that the big climax ends so quickly. And the next chapter is a week later from them being endgame. They have sex, which I find a bit odd as it didn’t feel like the right thing to focus on. After they do it we are at the last chapter which is their engagement like 5 months later or something.

Then it’s the epilogue which is 9 years after and just shows everyone in Cedar Hills being happy. Even Jolene and Michael are happy because Julie Olivia said what do I do with these two second lead characters. I know! I’ll make them get married. So Michael and Jolene are in love with children which seems like a disservice to their characters as the only two single characters left. I think the only thing Julie Olivia did right in this epilogue is not make Ruby and Bennett have kids - especially as it was explicitly mentioned somewhere in the book.

So let’s get down to my thoughts now that we’ve rehashed the book. Why did we have to spend the whole book in the past? Like at least only do it for half the book or spend a section of the book exploring them being together. It was just so unsatisfying for waiting for them to get together and then only spend 5 chapters on it at the very end. We didn’t need soooooooo many time jumps. If only it was set in the same time period as the previous books - as in making the present day feel like where Bennett is engaged to Jolene. As that’s close to where we left off previously. But the time context at the start of each chapter meant we knew we weren’t in the present day and we’re kept waiting. Instead of moving forward with time we were thrust into the present only to be taken back to the past and make our way so excruciatingly slowly to the present to then just skip to the future. Literally such bad pacing.

I don’t think I connected with Bennett or Ruby and I don’t think we really saw them fall for each other. Rather we were just told about them loving each other but I didn’t feel it. This was mainly as we SPENT SO MUCH TIME IN THE PAST. I still don’t understand why half of the book wasn’t about Ruby and Bennett navigating their relationship WHILE TOGETHER. I understand that that was what the middle part was about but it was taken away from us so quickly.

I just realised the perfect comparison for this book. What I just read was a montage. Something to move the plot along but a technique NOT MEANT TO BE THE ENTIRE PLOT. Ugh Ruby and Bennett deserve justice for that shithole. And to think that I was so excited for their book because I could see the chemistry in the previous books!!! Which just disappeared in this book. What’s the point of rooting for a relationship when you never get to properly explore their romantic soulmate part in a romance book.

[Lopke · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦,” 𝘐 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳.
“𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘴.”

first things first, and that is that i UGLY CRIED when i finished this book... I eventually recovered from my little cry fest... and then had another meltdown when i listened to the playlist :')
i couldn't think of a better ending for not only Ruby and Bennett - who snagged my heart from the very beginning - but also the perfect goodbye to the Honeywood gang

what Ruby and Bennett have is a friendship so beyond beautiful that it just completely engulfs your heart in warmth but also at the same time breaks it into tiny little pieces for something that is right there but yet so far out of reach

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰.

this story had me constantly on the edge of my seat... there were just SO many special moments but also times where i wish i could smack their heads together! their missed opportunities had me on the verge of frustration and tears multiple times, but it was still the best angst filled rom-com I've read in quite some time

what you can expect:
🍯 childhood best friends to lovers
🍯 opposites attract
🍯 a cozy small town & an even cozier theme park
🍯 slow burn, open-door romance

this is obviously a series i would highly recommend giving a try. it's just so fun and loving, and i promise you'll have the best of times hanging with the Honeywood crew :)

thank you, Julie Olivia, for the arc! as always, the most pleasant reading experience :)

[Carina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t typically like friends to lovers, but I especially hate the trope of best friends-to-lovers-where-one-is-engaged-to-another-person but MAN I really hated this version of it. Usually the best friend who’s engaged is doing it because of outside pressure, or some complicated reason and the couple isn’t having s*x or much intimacy, but no. In this one, the only villain in this book is Bennett. He truly says a million times he’s in love with the “other woman” Jolene. Honestly, yeah maybe Jolene was a bit blunt but she was 100% not in the wrong. Bennetts secret love just made me feel cringy, like he was debating cheating the entire time he was engaged.

SPOILERS

AND I truly can’t forgive him for rejecting Ruby the night before his wedding because he was sooooooo in love with Jolene. Like?? What is the point of making the reader understand he really! Does! Love! The other woman! If he’s just gonna then dump her on her wedding day??? Make it make sense pls. Anyway, as soon as Bennett got engaged in the 2nd book in this series I have disliked him, and his actions from getting engaged to the end of this book did not make me like him better. The first 60% of the book WAS magical and I loved their friends to lovers love story, but all the choices he made after they came back from Florida were so irredeemable for me.

And thinking about Bennett & Ruby sleeping together a WEEK after he was still sleeping w his fiancé? No condom?? Ewwwww Bye

[Capt. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the couple that will break up in real life.

I hated Bennett from the outset. He is nothing but repulsive. Stringing two women.
I still don’t understand how he can move on AFTER A MONTH of confessing his love for Ruby. He is flimsy as fuck. 🤢

Jolene, the OW, I feel sorry for her. It’s rare that I don’t dislike OW in books but she’s one of them. She just got caught between a doormat(Ruby) and a garbage(Bennett).

[thelittlereaderthatcould · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me cry . I don’t even know when the last time I cried reading a book but damn. This book has the kind of angst that actually makes your chest hurt so be warned . I loved the story . The back and forth timelines and the heartbreak and my favourite characters. I loved it and I am going to miss Honeywood . I am also a whore for epilogues with children. I love seeing the little people . Overall a whole one and satisfying story 🤷🏽‍♀️🖤

[Neelakshi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh I'm in my feels

I am currently in love with, have always been in love with, and will continue to be in love with my best friend, Bennett Walker Shaw. I don’t know when it started, and I don’t know when it will end. But, God, it’d better be soon.

The final installment of the Honeywood series and my my my I'm in love.

Tropes:
- Bestfriends to lovers
- small town
- second chance
- close knit friend group
- they both are each other's firsts😭
- runaway groom
- "i love you so much I'll stay away from you if that's what it takes to keep you in my life" hero.
- FUZZY FUCKING FEELS

“Rubes, I would never break up with you once we’re married.”

Plot:

Ruby and Bennett have been besties for forever.
Ruby the shy people watcher with a small voice coming from a home with broken parents she once idolised befriended by Bennett, the loud mouth Viking ass softie at core extrovert who can listen to Ruby's whispers from a mile away.
They were each other's first kiss and they saved their virginities JUST FOR EACH OTHER WITHOUT THE OTHER ONE KNOWING THEY WERE.
Bennett asks out Ruby and because of her distorted view of love and happiness and togetherness she said no because she doesn't want to be another statistic.
Bennett moved on and started dating while also feeling for Ruby.
Through people and feelings and years they felt for each other but it was never it for them because she was scared of taking the leap and he was dating.
Bennett proposed. To his girlfriend. Not Ruby and seeing Bennett live a life with a woman which was not Ruby herself hurt. And it hurt both of them.
Now they have to find their way to each other without hurting people who are involved and without hurting themselves.


“Hey, Bennett?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re my very best friend.”

It might be a little controversial to read Bennett being in love with Ruby all while he was with Jolene.
But OH FUCK OFF ITS NOTHING
HE ALWAYS LOVED HER BUT HE KNEW HE WAS MADE FOR A DIFFERENT LIFE WITH MARRIAGE INVOLVED.
AND HE DID LOVE JOLENE IN HIS OWN WAY AND HE DID EVERYTHING FOR HER SO SHUTTUP.

Maybe I will go to hell for this. Maybe I should. But hell with my best friend doesn’t sound so bad.

The way i am crying oh god this was so cute oh god I'm so single.
Them growing up together and growing into their love and treating themselves with kindness and grace and actually listening to the undercurrents of the words left unsaid oh so perfect.

We clink our pints together, and when I take a sip of my beer, I glance over at Ruby, who simply smiles back.
Yeah, I could get used to a lifetime of this.
Ruby Sullivan is my destiny.
Loving Amelia Ruby Sullivan is easy.


This is all i wanted from the last book to conclude the series.
This is all i wanted and i got it.
I miss the series already

[Katie Golightly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the author for the ARC

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and I have to say it blew all my expectations out of the water. It's my favorite read of 2023 so far. I feel like I just watched two soulmates grow up together. This love story was the most epic friends to lovers story I've ever read. When you have the entire background to the inner workings of someone's mind from age 7, the angst feels tenfold higher than any normal love story. When you know exactly why Ruby is turned off towards marriage and why Bennett craves it, it makes the book so much richer.

Ultimately, this is a love story about soulmates and that one person who knows you fully, every facet, and will love you regardless of if you end up together (and they do end up together). I think one of my favorite things about this book was that there were no villains. Unlike most, I've liked Jolene (Bennett's fiance) from the start, but in this book she is everything. Even a previous villain from the 2nd book in the series got their moment to shine and to change. I LOVE Jolene. And I LOVE Michael.

And that ending? I was crying because I was so happy. I just wanted all of my people to be happy, and they were.

I could prat on about this book forever, but just know that this love story rivals Emily Henry books. Julie Olivia mastered the art of foreshadowing in the first 3 books. The way the timeline is written for this one weaves the stories of all past books in the series and makes you realize just how much genius is locked away in the author's head. It makes me want to go back and reread the whole series. It makes me want to annotate, and I despise annotating. 5 stars. Infinite stars.

[Tamara G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m 84% through and my prevailing thoughts the whole way through is “wow Bennett kinda sucks”
So there’s that
91% “You and I are the reason people think soul mates are real.”
Ah yes Bennett, because nothing says true never ending love like moving on and dating someone else a month after confessing your undying love to your soul mate. This guy I stg. He just drops Jolene on Ruby out of nowhere 3 months after his whole feelings speech. No warning, nothing, and for someone who can “read” Ruby so well he just doesn’t seem to care that he destroyed her with that, what a class act.
So yes on completion we get a couple of chapters of them as a couple, half the book is Benny boy with another woman. The lesson I’ve learnt from this story is that true soul deep love and connection means moving on weeks after confessing your love because the woman you love said she needs some time to think about whether she’d want to get married, and telling her you won’t wait for her also, not even considering waiting for her.
It’s about falling in love with, happily living with and proposing to another woman for 3 YEARS IN FRONT OF YOUR TRUE LOVE. :) delightful. Like excitedly planning the proposal to someone else screams I love you Ruby it truly does.
Honestly the stars are for Ruby and Michael they deserve them.
Jolene can go eat a shoe she moved in on someone who said they were in love with someone else then had the nerve to be annoyed about it, an absolute sausage. And yeah he had no business being in a relationship when he was in love with someone else and having that person a major part of their life is just a fucking Reddit story honestly he’s the bad guy in this story. Big shrug, I said what I said

Oh and there’s no apology also, for any of it. She was ready to commit to him 2 months after he confessed his feelings, she took her time to work through her shit and get ready for their life together. She bulk bought his fucking shampoo! He’d already been dating the OW for a month at this point. He waited 27 years to have sex with her but couldn’t wait a few more weeks for a relationship commitment? Fuck this guy seriously

[‎⋰˚☆ alo ₊˚✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 porque puñeta they r so dumb repressing sus feelings como hasta los 30 años que cosa mas cabrona honestamente yo me pego un tiro antes k tener que pasar por eso JAJAJAJJAA anyways love is so craizi and maybe marriage is cool <3 what i most loved about this is that they were always hesitant about having children and in the end they decided not to have any asi es que se hace patria puñeta
luv this lil family of besties y sus endings

[Maria (semi hiatus)]

Self note:
H and h are each others first, she got cold feet, he didn’t wait that long and found a new girlfriend who is basically the 2.0 version of the h. More beautiful, brighter redhead and freckles. So that makes the h no longer “his one and only redhead”. The h is already insecure and is crestfallen after meeting this OW. He’s with OW for 3 years and proposed to her in front of all their friends and family, including the h. She is heartbroken, he is happy as never before. The author wants us to believe these two MC’s are soulmates. No. You can’t be in a relationship for 3 years, love and even want to marry OW when your soulmate is right in front of you but you are not willing to fight for her. This is not romance. She pours her heart out the night before his wedding and he’s basically like “nah, I love the OW and making her my wife tomorrow”. He has an epiphany on his wedding day, where he loves the OW “in a different way” but the h is his soulmate. Then it’s the OW who breaks of the wedding first. The h was better of with the OM, but it’s unclear if he ever was really a boyfriend. This is not a friends to lovers - soulmates - true love story. How can she believe she’ll be his first choice when he already moved on to a better version of herself, proposed to this woman and even broke up his friendship with the h when this OW asked him to.

[H · Rating 1 out of 5]

she’s so fucking pathetic it’s sad.

they’ve been in love with each other for like decades. they sleep together for their first time then he meets his dad and realizes he can’t wait for someone because he told her he wants marriage and she doesn’t because her dad is a serial cheater who cheated on her mom etc. two months later they BOTH don’t text each other because they said they needed space to think. some fucking nasty ass bitch asks him out, he said he’s attracted to a women who wasn’t ruby the main girl. HE DIDNT EVEN TRY FOR THE WOMEN HE SUPPOSEDLY “LOVES”. the main girl and his girlfriend have been together for like three years before they got engaged. his girlfriend changed him to be another person so she didn’t have ruby’s which is saying she’s a nasty bitch who hated the main girl over something she knew but she acted all sweet to her but hated her and rubs it in she has the guy she’s been in love with and she even asked her to not come to HER BIRTHDAY Party that the main guy and her have been doing since childhood and he cuts the main girl off from being best friend because his fiancé hates her and all the stuff they shared. She makes it so awkward that she pushed main girl from her group of friends. main guy literally broke her heart over and over again just to not get married and even the nasty fiancé didn’t want to get married because she knew he would leave for ruby. like the stupid girl she is ruby takes him back so easily. it’s disgusting she didn’t move on in three decades. she was strung along watching the love of her life propose, dropped her, almost marry his fiancé and btw the fiancé told the guy to choose her or ruby and he choose his fiancé and to rub it in that she’s marrying him she smiled nasty ass that ruby would see her marrying main guy so that’s why she asked main guy to invite her to his party and wedding because she’s bringing a date.

i think it’s pathetic the author made ruby the main girl so pathetic and stupid. she had an amazing guy aka michael who was rubys first crush and he was there every fucking time main guy disappointed her. she should have ended up with michael.

[Jill (readinginpjs) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no words to say how much I loved this book!
What a perfect end to a series that will forever hold a place in my heart 💙
I laughed, I sobbed - a lot. I’m sad to say goodbye to Honeywood, but looking forward to your next series Julie!

Ruby + Bennett 💙💙💙

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️∞
🌶️

It’s the day of Bennett’s wedding, and it’s NOT Ruby he’s marrying. But she’ll always be there for him, no matter what he needs. They’re best friends, forever and always.

We flash back to 7 year old Bennett & Ruby, and see how they meet, become best friends, grow together, and fall apart. So many beautiful moments over the years for these two.

I KNEW Julie promised an HEA, but it was a *rollercoaster* (pun definitely intended) to get there. The middle of this book literally had me sobbing and shaking. I’m so attached to these characters!

I don’t want to say too much, because you just need to go along for the ride. This is the 4th book in the Honeywood series, and you definitely should read the others first, to fall in love with Ruby & Bennett even more 🥰

Read if you enjoy:
💙 Childhood best friends to lovers
💙 Soulmates
💙 IT’S ALWAYS BEEN YOU
💙 Found family
💙 Small town
💙 Only one bed
💙 Short chapters
💙 Laughs & tears
💙 4th & final in series
💙 Dual POV/first person

Thank you SO MUCH to author Julie Olivia for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

[Mai | mai.readingnook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS is a best friends to lovers romance. I was so deep in my feelings the entire time reading this; I just loved it so much.

The way Julie set this book/story up since the very beginning of the series was nothing short of masterful. Let's be honest, we were alllll craving for Ruby and Bennett's story from the start, am I right? I know I am. But we got so much more than that. We got their origin story too 😭 Precious little babies.

The pining, the heartache, the longing, the growing, the best friendship. Finally being at the right place at the right time with the right person.

It is the perfect end to a fantastic series. What a ride it's been.

[jiya ✧*。 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An underwhelming ending to a otherwise great series. I think I expected a different story than what I read. I guess it makes sense that there would be a lot of angst throughout but I was moreso expecting a past/present timeline like most "second chance" friends to lovers.

It kind of dragged on, I would say the prologue was good, in between the timeline for when they're over 20 are okay and then the ending was good. There was a lot of fluff in between that I just wasn't interested in.

I also don't like the repeated use of "best friend" in regular conversation, it was taking me out of the story as well as the regular use of "pirate" and "parrot" as nicknames. It just seemed forced at times.

I will say I lovedddd the group settings though, I think the author does a good job of creating a "found family" dynamic that translates well when reading. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

For as excited as I was about Ruby and Bennett's story it fell a little flat for me. ( I wanted GROVELLING but its ok :) ) This was mostly a 3 star read for me but I'm adding the last 0.5 because of the ending.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen I was looking forward to this story more than any other in this series and after listening to all of that I’m Team Jolene. There is a way to do this story that doesn’t make so many casualties and Jolene and Michael ended up being way better than Ruby and Bennett. Jolene was justified in all of her boundaries and feelings.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

FRIENDS TO LOVERS YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS !!

[✨alexandria✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I was reallyyyyy disappointed in this book. I could NOT wait to read this one. I was excited about Ruby and Bennett’s story from literally the first book. I tore through the last few, just to get to this one. The few previous books in the series made it seem as though Ruby had a one-sided crush on Bennett, so that’s how I kind of expected the story to go, though I didn’t necessarily have that in mind. When the book started, I was shocked to see that they’ve had romantic feelings towards each other for most of their lives. Not only was it a mutual crush, but it was one that progressed over years, and it wasn’t just a will-they-won’t-they sort of situation. Come to find out, they were each other’s firsts for everything. To me, it was unfathomable how they could do these romantic acts once every few years, they just continuously go back to only being friends. I understand they both were scared to ruin their friendship, but if they are close as they are so clearly portrayed to be, so much so that they even know what each other thinks (was mentioned multiple times throughout), then I don’t understand why they couldn’t have been raw and honest from the start. THEN, to make matters even worse, once Bennett expresses he wants a relationship with Ruby, she DENIES him! All due to the fact that he wanted marriage one day, and she didn’t believe in marriage. When, just previously, she was saying over and over again, just how much she wants to be with him & forever & etc. If that bond went THAT deep, again, her making a decision like that does NOT make sense! Even worse, for that decision to then affect how their friendship is, anyways! Their friendship suffered regardless, so why couldn’t they have gotten back together again? Instead, Bennett tries to start over with Jolene, and convinces himself that he is in love with Jolene, and wants to marry HER. Ruby tries to eventually confess to Bennett that she loves him, but then actually finds out he’s dating Jolene, and retracts that. They were in the beginning of their relationship, so why did Ruby step down? At that moment, she could have stopped their relationship, and taken Bennett back. It just seemed like she kept sabotaging herself. The dialogue he has with himself on the page was disturbing to read, because he went from being so absolute on Ruby, to being absolute on Jolene (and clearly telling Ruby this), then back to Ruby again. This made him seem very wishy-washy. And, what was all that with him having to disown her towards the end, right before he got married? He can’t imagine a life without Ruby, yet he was prepared to never see her again? Then, when Ruby finally confesses that she loves him, HE has the NERVE to be like, “Ruby, the night before my wedding?” Uhhhh, Bennett was the one just five minutes before that being super jealous over her being with somebody else. Then he tries to make HER feel bad for her feelings towards him? I get why everything I talked about happened- I got that message- but I just don’t appreciate it. I don’t like the way this whole story played out because it didn’t make much sense. I feel like this book had TONS of potential, but just fell short. This isn’t to say it was a bad book! I truly respect the time and effort it took to write this book, and to have made such a great series, which I truly love! I just wasn’t vibing with this one, and felt like it was a let-down.

[jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love childhood best friends to lovers. I love the pining, the right person wrong time, missed connection pain.

I *didnt* love the emotional cheating and just quite how long all this was dragged out for. I was not expecting it to go THIS far like Jesus Christ Jolene deserved better

The ending was a wonderful wrap up of this cozy series and all of its lovely characters, though, and I enjoyed it thoroughly!! Honeywood 4eva

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had two predictions prior to starting this book, 1.) It would be a 5⭐️ read, and 2.) I wasn’t fully emotionally prepared for what I was getting into. Update: both predictions were 100% accurate! My heart felt like it was in a vice grip the entire way through.

I have loved every book in this series and I was anxiously awaiting Ruby and Bennet’s story since book 1. The way @julieoliviaauthor takes us back 20+ years to the very beginning and walks us through their entire friendship journey, it was just absolutely everything. We are able to see Ruby and Bennet as young, carefree kids with wit and imagination, to tweens leaning on each other in tough times, and through the teen years where emotions and hormones are running wild. And through it all, there was the unwavering bond of Ruby and Bennet, Parrot and Pirate. Of course, it wasn’t all smooth sailing and there was an abundance of angst, but oh my word, was it a beautiful journey.

I also loved how along the way we are shown how the other characters enter the fray, and Ruby and Bennet grow from their twosome to a group that includes Lorelei, Quinn, Theo, and eventually Landon, Emory and Orson. Everything that spanned the course of the series was wrapped up with this final story.

I am seriously feeling all kinds of emotional right now. I LOVED Ruby and Bennet, their journey, and the love stories of all their friends. This was an amazingly written story of friendship and love, as was the entire series. I’m SO sad it’s all over 😭

Thank you for the ARC and allowing me to be part of the book in the Honeywood series!!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Karla Soto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Their Freefall at Last is the last book in the Honeywood series and my favorite one. This book follows Ruby and Bennett. Ruby and Bennett are childhood best friends, and you finally get to see their story from the beginning.

Julie did a phenomenal job with this book. Not only does she start from when they first meet, but she also fills the gap on all those moments that you read in the other 3 books and can finally put some context into it. I loved every single second I spent reading this book. I loved every word ever put in these pages. These 2 were dedicated to each other and end game from the very beginning but somehow, they were the only ones that missed the memo and refused to see what was right there in their eyes from the beginning. Things I loved from this book… Bennett’s own personal arm canvas dedicated to Ruby. The pink bracelets later turned into tattoos. Bennett’s love for Ruby, this man was 10000% in love with Ruby since the instant they met each other. Ruby’s change after she finally woke up and realized she needed to speak out for what she wanted and thought. I LOVE this little family; I love how everybody was there for each other and I love how we get to see more of that in this book. I can keep going on, but I am afraid I will eventually run out of space.

Things I hated about this book…. JOLENE!!! I remember having a dm exchange with Julie where she told me we would understand Jolene once we read this book…. I still hated her just the same as I did when I read the first 3 books. Sorry Julie, I tried. Yes, she somehow redeemed herself but no!

Nevertheless, this book was just PURE PERFECTION, and I am so lucky I received an ARC to read this magnificent story ahead of time. The anticipation to read the conclusion of this series is so worth it. Their story is just absolutely beautiful.

[winnie ₊ ⊹ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”you and i are the reason people think soul mates are real.” ♡₊˚

this book genuinely broke my heart and then put it back together. i don’t think i’ve ever read a 500 something page book as quickly as i did with this one. i just couldn’t put it down!

i’ve been sooo looking forward to ruby and bennett’s story since the very beginning of this series, and i just knew it was going to be messy and complicated but so worth it. and i was definitely right! i loved how we got to see their friendship form when they were kids, and how it continued to grow and strengthen as they grew older. they were 100% made for each other, but they were struck with a series of unfortunate timings.

i’ve seen a lot of people hate on bennett for getting with jolene, and i will admit i hated him too when i read the previous books, but i can say that after reading this i can totally see where he was coming from. i mean, ruby told him she didn’t ever want to get married, and bennett didn’t want to be like his mom - who had been waiting for his dad to come back into her life. i get it, 100%. and i do think he really loved jolene, but they both realized it just wasn’t enough. i think people forget jolene also couldn’t go through with the wedding, so it wasn’t entirely bennett’s fault 🤷🏻‍♀️

regardless, i loved this with my whole heart and i thought it was the perfect ending for the two. and for the whole group! i love the friendships within this series more than anything else. i’m so gonna miss them all 🥲 i think this is gonna be a new comfort series. i wanna reread them all already!! <3

[monica • · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm really sad that this is my least favorite book in the series because these tropes are usually my favorite. i'm such a sucker for the "its always been you" / childhood friends to lovers angst but this fell so flat for me. I feel like the flashback parts took up so much time and it wasn't necessary in my opinion but my biggest gripe was bennett rejecting ruby once he knew how she felt and still trying to go through with the wedding anyways only to leave two pages later. i feel like this book didn't really know what it was trying to be. it was so much back and forth just for them to switch decisions a few pages later and it felt like drama just for dramas sake. it makes me sad to feel this way because I adore this series and the very first book in this series is in my favorites. but i'm still looking forward to the other series julie will come out with because i adore her writing. the epilogue of this book was also so damn sweet.

[Caroline Rohem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions reading this book. I suffered along with the characters at every missed opportunity for them to be together.
You can clearly see that Ruby and Bennet are soulmates. I can say this book is now, one of my favorites of all times.

[Bo Verhoef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes it was fun to read the whole story about Ruby and Bennett. It was the best ending to this series. However, I preferred the other books, because this one is a little slower. It's just a beautiful friends to lovers to story over thirty years.

[Becky · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give it zero stars, I would. Yikes!

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

these two were so annoying i’m sorry

[Marielli (lellireads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much Julie Olivia!

“The only thing I know is loving you,” I admit with a shrug. “And I don't want to know anything else.”

If I ever said I didn't like friends-to-lovers, I don't remember. This book is one of the reasons I absolutely love this trope. The angst, the pining, the fear, and most of all, the unconditional love that permeates those feelings. In Their Free Fall At Last, those all happen in the perfect ratio.

Their Freefall At Last is the last installment in the Honeywood Fun Park series. Even though it can be read as standalone, the author (and so do I) recommends that you read it after the three previous books, to improve your experience.

Ruby and Bennet have been best friends for the most of their lives. Always the shy, introspective girl, Ruby found her voice with the help of the easy-going and bold Bennet. From that moment on, all the good and bad moments of their lives are tangled up.

And if I already loved Ruby and Bennet before, now I was completely smitten. I'm usually skeptical of books that focus too much time (and pages) on the past. However, it was the thing I loved the most about this book. We've been following them for a long time now. It's a big time span, but the author did a terrific job covering it. I'm not impressed by it because I already knew she was an amazing writer, but I am impressed by how much I enjoyed it. Scratch that, I loved it.

Loved to see them change at each age. Also, to see their friendship evolving throughout the years and their little group being created so naturally. I'm sure we all, at some point in the series, thought "what is going on with them?" and it was absolutely amazing to revisit every part of their story. Especially those glimpses we had along the series, this time through their POV.

More than learning about Ruby and Bennet's story, it felt like everything about the series fell into place. The story of each couple/book was so well interwoven.

Jolene deserved a mention. I already hated her, but oh boy, she crossed the line. Like, is one thing to be bold and headstrong, but she's absolutely manipulative and controlling. You'll have to read it to find out her closure, though.

The epilogue killed me in the best way. It was really bittersweet to say goodbye to Honeywood and these characters that I grew to love. Ruby and Bennet's story was the perfect ending this series deserved.