Claudia Y. Burgoa

I just loved the dance Nyx and Nate do around each other either though you know and i mean know they will be perfect together!! Not only that but how Ford is all like "don't mess with Nyx you will ruin it for me with Persy" (insert eye roll and the guy who didn't even like Persy to being with!!) Nate is ridiculously flirty but such and absolute sweetheart (insert swoon here) whether he likes to admit it or not and after what he has been through Nyx is the best medicine for Nate, while Nyx show more needs someone who sees her for her and cares about her and her baby on the why. Now its not an easy road by any stretch of the imagination but this is full of laughs, friends and family (naked and dressed hahahhaha) douche-bags, and two people who deserve to love and be loved without judgment and boy does this one deliver!! show less

Such an enjoyable book - loved it!
5 stars

Good God - this book slayed me. I feel like I might have had some sort of profound epiphany from reading this book. Obviously, I’m a romantic and believe in love - but this book just made me confident in the fact that there’s a lid for every pot, and that you can find your perfect guy if you just be yourself. 🥰

This is the first book I’ve read by Claudio Burgoa and yet somehow she managed to get into my head and write a love story about two show more impossibly imperfect people that I immediately fell in love with. Although I’m the polar opposite of Persy - she's wild, confident, mouthy, extroverted - I connected with her. Her fears are my fears. I found myself saying “same, girl” throughout the book - which was nice, if embarrassing. She was quirky - but in such a way that made her endearing rather than irritating. I could keep waxing lyrical about her - but simply put, I loved her.

Ford is equally delicious. He’s a grumpy introvert - irritated by Persy and everything she stands for. He’s also a card carrying commitment-phobe. Relationships are a four letter word for him. And unlike other heroes who are supposedly anti-relationship, Ford is ride-or-die with that shit. Yet he can’t help be intrigued by Persy and slowly but surely, it progresses into something more.

I suppose this is a slow-burn kind of romance. It’s the progression of disliking to tolerating, to a tentative sort of friendship through to best friends. And then… Yet there’s not much of the sex - or even kissing; Just one sex scene tacked on at the end. And while I am always down for a sex scene - this book lost absolutely nothing by not having much. It's about so much more.

I loved the texting - both because it’s cute as a button but also because it’s fun to read a story with a mix of normal storytelling, texting and the occasional podcast episode. We get both perspectives - his and hers - and it’s in first person, present tense. Add to that, it’s written in a very chatty, informal way. I felt it was almost like we were having a conversation with the characters and they were explaining to us, as a reader, what was happening in their lives. That makes it a really quick read. Those pages keep turning and I couldn’t put this book down. I actually got the rage when I had to put the book down to attend to life stuff. Once I’d finished the book, I felt genuinely bereft. What am I going to do with my life now? Well apart from take life advice from Persy and go find my very own Ford, that is.

I’ve a funny feeling that Ms Burgoa is going to be my next obsession. If her other books are even half as good as this one, then I’m all in. And if Nyx, Eros, Nate et al get their own books, too, then I might just keel over in happiness! This book left me feeling hopeful, happy and with that lovely feeling of butterflies in your stomach just like falling in love. 5 stars and very highly recommended. show less

Now, truth be told by me over and over again - no angsty angst drama where I am concerned. Fluffy butt unicorns in my corner of the book world. Lo and behold I start reading Claudia Burgoa and my poor heart takes a beating. She writes contemporary romance where the reader (and her characters) are pulled through the wringer. I do burst out of my self imposed box when angst is done well. And followers, Claudia does the angst well.

But wait...She's going to touch my beloved trope??? Should I run show more from the hills?

Read here: My Own Bookshelves show less

Let's not bury the lede: This is my favorite Claudia Burgoa book. This is the best out of the bookshelf.

Now, here's the thing: I could tell you all the great stuff as to WHY I loved the story but then this review would be fraught with SPOILERS. In the end, what was it?

How Henry showed Sophia the man he truly was.
How Henry showed Sophia how he valued her.
How Henry learned that allowing others in opens trust and solid relationship - whether love or family.
Family is who you allow in your show more circle - not always blood.
How Sophia got it all wrong. Once the smoke and mirrors cleared the field, she saw what was there all along.

So the story starts off with the reader having a thought "Okay this is going to be enemies to lovers' story. They are going to snipe at each other until they fall into bed."

Just to let you know, you are going to find out you are wrong. But that's the fun of reading this couple. You get to discover as they do - they have loved each other from the start. It's the 'things' that get in the way. I love seeing the soft underbelly of a character exposed - and we get that with Henry. Sophia may be an outward man-eater - nope - we learn her motivations and makes her stronger in our eyes.

And there are 'things'. Exit character MX - whom you KNOW is the villain. HA! Keep reading.

This is a refreshing and brilliantly told twist on the enemies to lovers you don't see coming. I literally got to the "OH Wait a second moment" and stayed up to 2 AM to finish.

WARNING: You need to read book 1. Although you get detail from the author on why they are in Baker's Creek, I think the story was far more satisfying for me in seeing Henry and Sophia through the lens of Hayes first to really see Henry.

Recommendation: Buy It show less