Wow, this last week or so has been rough! I started feeling icky on Tuesday/Wednesday of last week, but couldn't tell if it was allergies or the start of cold. I was learning towards allergies, though that may have been because I was in denial about a cold knowing I did not have time to be sick! Wednesday afternoon I was away from my kiddos attending a PD. Thursday, I was presenting at a PD and man was that day rough! Friday I was running a PD and Saturday I was helping run a social (if you're not sure what a social is, it's basically a high school dance for adults with alcohol and silent auction prizes. In Manitoba, people throw them to raise money for their weddings). I hit peak sick sometime on Saturday but was powering through the symptoms, keeping busy and pretending I was fine. Sunday and Monday I slept almost the entire day, so sadly no bonus time for reading... and it meant I was away from my kiddos again on Monday.... but somehow I managed to wake up feeling not terrible yesterday morning. I spent yesterday and today playing catch up in all aspects of my life, and I finally feel somewhat more ready to life. Oh and I reorganized my books and set up a new bookshelf.
TL;DR: I was sick, I fell behind in everything and I have so many books on my TBR that I needed to buy a new bookshelf for my cat to lay on.
I did manage (somehow) to finish reading one book last week though, and it was a fabulous one! Breaking the Friendzone by May Lynn was soooo good! A romcom, alternating POV between the FMC Lacey and her estranged childhood best friend, the MMC Luke, there is just enough information to see both sides of all situations without forcing you to pick sides. Luke Drake and Lacey Mason are both in their early twenties, finishing up college and figuring out how their separate inheritances and company shares in their joint family business, Mason-Drake Pharma, will play into their longterm career and life goals. After the two families were torn apart when business woes and the losses of both Lacey and Luke's mothers, Lacey and Luke have not been in contact since their early teen years, but are suddenly thrown together for a summer and are having a hard time remembering why they have been apart all these years... Summer might be the perfect time to let loose and reconnect, but if they are soon to be business partners... is there really room for something more?
I loved how light and simple this book was without it being too surface level. It was an easy read, but also had an interesting story so I definitely wasn't bored! I liked that the author slowly revealed parts of each person's past and brought it all together at the end in a slightly predictable but not super obvious conclusion. This was definitely a steamy romance book, and there were some pretty intense sex scenes, but it was generally pretty tasteful and was interspersed a few times throughout the story, not all at once or taking over the entire book. There was also lots of buildup, both in the sense of introducing the sexual chemistry and foreplay, and also in that the character traits and relationships were well formed and helped set the stage for the romance and intimacy in those scenes. As a result, it was a true romance without the overly predictable cheesy/fake tropes or the out of context erotica/porno scenes.
The main characters were likeable, young but mature, and confident and self-assured. They were normal people who make mistakes but who you also want to root for. This book makes you want to believe in true love and following your dreams and would be the perfect romcom to throw back to the good old days of Katherine Heigel and Rachel McAdams romcoms (circa 2005-2015). I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a steamy romance novel with an interesting storyline, just the right amount of predictability and easy reading blended with some slow reveal plotlines and relatable characters.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Rachel Wu from Wattpad for giving me the chance to read and review this awesome book!
Here's a little about the author, May Lynn:
May Lynn is the author of the Wattpad Paid Stories hit, Breaking the Friendzone. Her love of pharmacy, romance, and mystery led to her writing this breakthrough story, which now holds over five million reads on the platform. May grew up in the Dubuque, Iowa, area and now resides with her husband and their dog in a nearby lake town. When not writing on Wattpad, she enjoys reading, concerts, cooking, and time with family.
Available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Books-A-Million, Kobo, Apple, your favorite US indie bookseller, or your favorite Canadian indie bookseller.
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