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Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Kylie Scott comes the second sizzling stand-alone novel in the Dive Bar series!

When his younger brother loses interest in online dating, hot bearded bartender Joe Collins only intends to log into his account and shut it down. Until he reads about her.

Alex Parks is funny, fascinating, and pretty much everything he’s been looking for in a woman—except that she lives across the country. Soon they’re emailing up a storm and telling each other their deepest, darkest secrets…except the one that really matters.

When Alex pays Joe a surprise visit, however, they both discover that when it comes to love, it’s always better with a twist.

 

 

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Review

Woohoo! More Dive Bar action, and I loved it!

4 stars

This book is great twist on the friends-to-lovers trope – a case of mistaken identity that leads to a snarky, banter-filled, yet sweet, sexy, funny, deeply emotional love story that is lots of fun.

This is book #2 in the Dive Bar series, following on from the fabulous Dirty, but it can be read as a standalone – just be aware of character tie-ins.

Alex arrives in Coeur d’Alene from Seattle, full of excited anticipation to meet Eric, the man she met online and has been talking to via email for months. They have shared their lives and bared their souls to each other, and she is hoping that her surprise visit to Dive Bar, where he works, is going to be the start of something real for them. However when she arrives, Eric has no clue who she is. After much confusion and a humiliating confrontation, it turns out that Alex has actually been talking to Eric’s brother, Joe. Joe is nothing like Alex’s usual type – for a start, he’s a big, bearded lumberjack of a man, whereas she usually goes for the metrosexual look, and then there’s the fact that he lied to her – for months! Hurt and embarrassed, she falls back on her usual MO and she runs.

Joe never planned on becoming involved with Alex. He got onto his brother’s online dating profile to shut it down for him after he predictably lost interest, he saw Alex’s message, thought she sounded interesting and he replied. When she replied back, he kept up the ruse to keep their conversations going. It became deeper and more meaningful than he ever expected, and with each message it became harder and harder for him to tell the truth. He is truly remorseful and feels terrible for hurting Alex, but now that she’s in front of him, he has no intention of letting her go.

“I know it must feel like you don’t know me, but you do. It was just a couple of details. But the person talking to you, that was me.”

When Alex gets stuck in town, Joe is right there, pushing his way into her life. There is tension and arguing, but though they haven’t actually met before now, these two know each other so well, and the more time they spend together, Joe’s persistence and sweet, generous heart starts to melt Alex’s walls.

All of the spending time together had changed things. Again. God, it was confusing.
I’d crushed on him hard.
Then I’d hated him with the fire of a thousand suns.
Now I liked him and his body far more than I should

The development of the relationship between Alex and Joe is really nicely done. From hurt and snark to banter, teasing, friendship, and then more, it’s natural and believable, and the sexual tension builds wonderfully. I could feel the chemistry between them, and the sexy time is seriously hot! But more than just that, there is a strong connection between them is well established and that makes everything more emotional, creating a wonderful sense of intensity to everything that is happening between them.

But Alex still has walls around her heart. Will Joe be able to convince her to give him a real try? And when tragedy strikes, will they be strong enough to survive the emotional fallout as they deal with heartbreak, doubt, and ghosts from the past?

I loved this book. Like other Kylie Scott books I have read, it’s a great mix of funny, sweet, sexy and emotional, and the romance is gorgeously written. The set up provides a great dynamic between Alex and Joe and I loved watching their relationship shift and change as they fell hard for each other. They have hurdles to overcome, and though there is a bit of angst as they figure it all out, I loved their strength and the obvious growth of their characters as they find the courage and confidence to fight for what they want. They balance each other out really nicely, and the story ends with them in a great place.

And I really enjoyed Alex and Joe as characters. Alex is feisty and full of snark, and her sarcasm is hilarious! I laughed out loud so many times at her antics and inner monologue.

Lumbersexuals were clearly the worst. Truth was, I’d never been especially into beards. At best, I’d been indifferent. Now, however, I outright despised them. Horrible hairy frames for lying lips and duplicitous tongues, that’s what they were. Loathsome whiskery bastards. Burn them all in a fire.

She has been through hard times that have left her mark on her, and she has issues to overcome, but I love her strength and courage in doing exactly that as she comes to realise exactly what Joe means to her.

And Joe! *dreamy sigh*. Lumbersexuals may not be Alex’s type, but personally I love them! And Joe is sweet, loyal and caring with a wicked sense of humour and is sexy as all hell. His love for his friends and family is gorgeous to see, and the way he was there for Alex just melted me.

Their relationship is a great mix of fun, lust, affection, and deep emotion. They support and protect each other, and they help each other come out of their shells and live the lives that they truly want, and I love that we got to see that!

Fans of Kylie’s will love the cameo from some of the Stage Dive characters, as well as a chance to catch up with the Dive Bar crew as they involve themselves in Alex and Joe’s lives. I loved catching up with Vaughn and Lydia from Dirty, and there is some significant development for some of the other players – God, I’m hoping we get that story in full!!!

This is a great addition to the series, and a fun, yet heartfelt read. I loved it!

4 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

Dive Bar series

 

 

 

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Excerpt

“I wanted to talk to you a bit more about what happened between us online,” he said, his mouth a serious straight line. “How I came to use my brother’s profile.”

Ugh. “I’m pretty sure I found out everything I needed to know last night.”

“I didn’t mean to lie to you, Alex.”

“Once is a mistake.” I crossed my legs, kicking my black leather bootie back and forth. So I was a little aggravated. Sue me. “Months’ worth of e-mails is not. You could have introduced yourself to me, Joe, told me who you really were. You chose not to. Christ, no wonder you kept putting off meeting. I should have known something was wrong.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t try to sell you excuses.” A big sigh from my “friend.” “Truth is, I’m not used to being the bad guy. Usually I’m the one cleaning up my brother’s messes.”

“Lucky me.”

 

 

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About the Author

Kylie is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author. She was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year, 2013 & 2014, by the Australian Romance Writer’s Association and her books have been translated into eleven different languages. She is a long time fan of romance, rock music, and B-grade horror films. Based in Queensland, Australia with her two children and husband, she reads, writes and never dithers around on the internet. You can learn more about Kylie from http://www.kylie-scott.com/

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