Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 280 pages
Author: Leah Dobrinska
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: July 11th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A heartfelt and hilarious romantic comedy, loosely inspired by While You Were Sleeping.

As the oldest of three sisters, Poppy Kasper doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t the glue holding her siblings—and their lives—together. So moving across the country to Cashmere Cove, the hometown of her new boyfriend, is completely out of character. Add in the fact that said boyfriend is leaving for a months-long pro-golf tour, and it’s enough to make Poppy question her sanity. But it’s fine. Everything’s fine. She can still be a good sister from a distance, and she’ll keep the spark in her relationship alive with calls, texts, and old fashioned love notes. See? Fine.

Quiet and serious Mack Bradley is used to playing second fiddle to his famous younger brother, especially since his own reputation was ruined nearly a decade ago. He’s made his peace with his circumstances, but when his brother begs him to show his new girlfriend the Cashmere Cove ropes, and then ups the ante with an even bigger request to stand in as her pen pal, Mack finds himself thrown into the path of the effervescent Poppy Kasper. She’s his foil in every way…she also makes him feel things he’s never felt before.

A summer of pranks, late-night swims, and stargazing finds Poppy and Mack forging an unlikely friendship—one built on laughter and pushing each other to see life in a different light. But when Poppy’s relationship with Mack’s brother unravels, will she leave town? Or is there another reason for her to stay?

After all, friends don’t fall in love…do they?

(Friends Don’t is the first book in the Fall In Love series, which follows three sisters as they find love after moving across the country to the small town of Cashmere Cove, Wisconsin. This is a closed door romcom with plenty of sizzling chemistry and romantic tension, but no spice.)

ADORED.

A highly enjoyable sweet romance y’all. I had such a good time reading it and already adore the set-up and characters and am excited for the next book!

I thought Poppy and Mack’s friends to lovers romance worked well. You could see the chemistry from the start and the banter had me smiling. I looove the way heat was included without spice (it is in the sweet category!). I felt this romance and the connection between them. I was just as desperate as them to get to that first kiss. I also liked the way the third act was handled. It came off as a necessity while allowing for growth and new understandings.

The small town plot was one of my favorites. I loved all of the back country vibes and I absolutely loved that Mack was an electrician. Way to show off a career I don’t think I’ve ever seen in a romance novel. There were a few minor plot / writing quirks that I didn’t jive with, but it didn’t ruin the book in any way for me. This was exactly what I needed and I loved Poppy and Mack’s story!

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary Romance
• Language: very little and light
• Romance: kisses
• Violence: low
• Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of a parent (recounted), parental abandonment (recounted), cheating (previous relationship)

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