![]() ![]() ![]() Cole and Annie however, seemed to have good moments but then crossed wires and hurt. He was a compassionate neighbour and his relationship with Jones, Annie’s son, built quickly and I loved them together. There’s an element of commitment-phobe assholery to him, but I was drawn in. He was just a guy, running his business, seeing his girlfriend of two years but keeping her at a casual distance. He had a bit of a biker-look but not a biker’s attitude. Annie moves next door to a sympathetic neighbour, Cole.Ĭole was a beautiful bunch of contradictions that grew on me. The heroine, Annie is a single parent (I love single parent tropes) and there are a few twists to her background which I don’t want to spoil. I got lost in this book by Jillian Liota, it’s a story that worked for me on a number of levels and also had a thread of uniqueness. ** I received an ARC from the author (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. Take this review with a grain of salt and read all the four & five star write-ups. I just think some of the potential magic that would've had me overlooking some of my disinterest got lost amongst the tropes and overuse of certain key words. But if contemporary romance is your jam and you like fluff (please note, I don't use this in a derogatory or condescending way, we all need fluff in our lives), heck, if you like CoHo books, I highly suggest you give this one a try. I did enjoy some of the sweet scenes near the end but I'll admit it did get a little overwhelmingly cheesy for me, but it's probably not out of line with some OTT moments we've come to expect in romance. Did he act like a typical four year old, though? I'll let the parents weigh in on that score. ![]() Child characters, as this reader always repeats, are a mixed bag for me but Jones wasn't overwhelmingly precocious. I didn't really love any of the characters but neither did I super dislike anyone I wasn't supposed to dislike. There was also a whole pile of infodump (at least on Cole's end) in the beginning and it just all came together to feel a bit forced. There was a lot being handled, a lot of inner thoughts being conveniently timed to mirror things happening on the outside or being immediately prompted by others in order to expand on the thought or conflict of the day (this is kind of hard to explain but I hope what I mean is coming across). Their lives start to overlap in fairly typical ways and so begins the story which is mostly centered on a lot of introspection on Cole's part as he contemplates his life and the people in it. Cole has a long distance girlfriend and a very contained, structured, lifestyle. LIKE YOU MEAN IT is a slowburn romance between two neighbours, Annie has relocated to the area after a loss with one child and another on the way and is basically living moment to moment and trying to deal. And in the case of Annie and Cole it isn't really them I'm against, either. I'm not against the fluffy HEAs with marriage and kids, etc, but sometimes it just doesn't land if the story trying to carry that ending isn't one I like. I'm keeping this one unrated because this read just didn't work for me.Ĭontemporary romance is definitely a tricky up and down experience for this reader. Like You Mean It is the first book in the Like You series and is a standalone novel. But my friendship with Annie opens my eyes to what it could be like to have something deeper. Somehow I end up caring about her more deeply than I should. I don’t expect to talk and laugh and feel a warmth in my chest I didn’t know was missing until she showed up at my door. Find space in my tidy, structured life to ease the burden she carries so she and her son can enjoy life without the bastard who treated them like they were insignificant. Too bad he can never be more than a friend.Īll I need to do is be a nice guy to my new neighbor. Fills a void left vacant by a man who never wanted to fill it in the first place. Before I know it, Cole steps in and becomes an important part of my life. ![]() Keep that smile plastered on my face for my son as we try to wade through the new life that’s threatening to drown us both.īut on the first day I can’t seem to hold it all together, I meet him. Because there’s no way in hell I’ll ever deserve a man like him.Īll I need to do is keep my head above water. The day Cole Lannington says those words to me, I already know I’m falling. “I want to make you smile like you mean it.” ![]()
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