Haley Cass

Sutton Spencer's life plan was simple: finish grad school, figure out what to do with her life, and maybe fall in love. Charlotte Thompson's was even simpler: climb the political ladder and don't fall in love. What starts off as a friends with benefits agreement between the two women slowly and quietly turns into a true love's tale.

This book is quite literally the definition of a SLOW BURN. But it perfectly encapsulates what I believe to be a realistic love story. It isn't often that the show more strongest relationships are constantly fueled by fireworks, but by a million and one little things that build up over time. I'll admit, I was a little bored in the middle of the book. I almost DNF'd. ALMOST. I wanted to see a bit more tension and information with regards to Charlotte and Sutton's lives outside of their relationship. But I'm so glad I stuck it through - the ending made the wait worth it. The last third of the book gave me exactly what I look for. Emotionally charged conversations, vulnerability, and heartfelt confessions. This is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys contemporary slow burns and romanticizing of the mundane. But I just don't think this one was my cup of tea. I can completely understand and respect anyone who says that this is their favorite novel. Hell, I'd even go as far as to say they have great taste. But it just wasn't for me.

Spice Level: RATED R
- Many well crafted scenes between Sutton and Charlotte
- Language used isn't very vulgar but still very hot
- they're intense, but not too freaky

WARNINGS:
- none that I can think of
- Sutton has anxiety, Charlotte fears coming out that's about it show less

ETA: after audiobook re-read, Lori Price’s voice is immaculate. And she gave Gianna one of my favs in her repertoire, so, this is gonna be come a re-listen often, for sure.

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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

imo, friends to lovers can be rlly hard to nail. i'm pickier abt friends to lovers than i am abt a lot of other romance tropes and this one HITS GOOD. i'm so glad i made the impulse buy to get the physical copy abt 20% into reading my long ago pre-ordered ebook lol, (and DEF soon to be used for an show more audiobook credit, ESP if she [pls pls pls] keeps working with lori prince as a narrator), bc being able to physically fling the book around dramatically enhanced my reading experience greatly.

(and i did a lot of that. JOEL, MY GUY, YOU ARE THE TECH GUY. AIDA, MY GIRL, WE LITERALLY DON'T KNOW YOU AT ALL BUT YOU DID /NOT/ RUN FAST ENOUGH AND I HAD TO TAKE AN ALMOST HOUR BREAK TO MAKE MYSELF DINNER AND WATCH THE NEWS TO CALM DOWN FROM THE SECOND HAND EMBARASSMENT. HALEY CASS, WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?)

haley cass, pls /never/ stop doing this to me. i fucking love her books. i've had viseral reactions to her stories since i followed her back in her fanfic days, and even when they don't hit that Top Tier Giddy Level, (as the prequel for this one was for me, & now it's the only one i don't own in all 3 formats, soooo the SECOND that one gets the audiobook cover on the paperback version [pls pls pls pls tell me this will eventually happen, bc i want them all to match and be cute artwork pls pls] even THEN her average, "this was good!" is still higher than some other ones that fall into that category for me).

and this one HIT WONDERFULLY. i was already happy to see riley bc i liked her a lot in book 1, and while i didn't connect with gianna as much in the first one, i rlly loved her here. (my ONLY qualms with this book were i wish maybe we had a little bit more of gianna present time pov, and i wish we had seen a little bit more of ellie interacting with both of them). this was just.... SUCH a good slow burn friends to lovers. with MANY secondhand embarassment points that had me screaming in both horror and delight, swoon worthy moments, characters i loved, connected with, and was cheering for, and some great writing.

so, all in all, another banger by haley cass that will go into my 'keeps re-reading this and holds it up to most other romances' pile. pls never stop making them show less

When I say I want to read a romance novel, I mean THIS. The whole story was so satisfying to experience. There was NO unnecessary and forced drama. The issues that came up were realistic and sometimes heartbreaking. Yet, they made sense. And why? Because they suited the characters and were not created to drag out the plot. I would also like to emphasise that the book has a comfortable length. It's not too short and not too long. Just perfect.

The main characters are Caroline and Hannah. show more Caroline is a successful lawyer and represents Hannah, who wants to divorce her husband. He is none other than Caroline's work nemesis, so she helps Hannah without hesitation.

During the divorce, the two women get to know each other better and form a friendship. The closer the two get, the more Hannah opens up and reveals how much she had to give up to please her husband.

But what particularly impressed me was the relationship between Abby, Hannah's daughter, and Caroline. The two build a strong bond and become inseparable. So cute! I'm not usually into stories involving children, but it just worked here. Honestly, all the main characters are incredibly likeable, and I was rooting for them until the end.

After "Those Who Wait", Haley Cass has also convinced with this story. I look forward to many more books from her.

***
Find more reviews on my blog WordsAndFiction. show less

2.75 stars. this was actually much more enjoyable than it should have been. first of all it is a full twice as long as it needs to be, the naïveté and insecurity of one of the main characters doesn't change throughout and white it started out charming it ended up eye rolling, character behavior/motivations sometimes didn't match (really it's mostly not how people who are aggressively in the closet would act in public), and there was some bad writing/editing with repetition of words/phrases show more that pulled me out of the scenes (something like "She pushed her up against the hard wall and through her sweater she could feel the hard wall behind her").

all that said i still liked this. i liked spending time with these characters and their closest people, i liked the unfolding of it all and the way they tried to always talk it through (even though there were still the annoying miscommunications, but they didn't last long), their honesty with each other. i do wish this was better but i still found it hard to resist. show less