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Review
3.5 stars
I picked up this book when I was wanting emotional intensity, and that’s exactly what I got. An angsty and emotional sort-of-friends to lovers story where a sweet and sassy good girl brings the cold and cocky bad boy to his knees.
This is the fourth book in the Forget Me Knot series, and though there are side characters that have already had their stories told, this one can easily be read as a standalone. I have not read the earlier books, and had no problem getting into this one.
Sophia is about to head overseas for a few months, and is looking for some excitement. She’s always been a relationship girl and has never had a one night stand, but she’s determined to live wild and free at least once in her life, and rocks up to a bar in an attempt to pick up a stranger. It just happens to be the bar owned by Xander. He is the cousin/best friend of her brand new brother-in-law, and though they’ve only had brief interactions, he seems pretty dismissive of her. But some seriously steamy eye-fuckery and some bold and flirty snark is all it takes before she’s on the back of his bad boy motorcycle.
Things don’t go exactly to plan that night, but it puts them into each other’s orbit, and over text and email they develop a connection. When Sophia travels overseas for work, it’s Xander’s messages that she looks forward to, and when she comes back home and needs somewhere to stay, it’s Xander to the rescue, offering her a room. They decide to keep things platonic, but the chemistry still sizzles, and with them all up in each other’s space, it’s only a matter of time before something gives (and oh my holy hotness!).
It’s a twisty dynamic between these two. Of course, there is attraction, but Xander has never done the relationship thing, and he knows that that’s what Sophia ultimately wants. He’s also been warned by his best friend to keep his hands off. So we get this delicious build-up of sexual tension waiting for one of them to snap. When it happens, it’s steamy and intense, oh-so-hot, but it just complicates things further between them.
Xander is a mess of emotion. He’s got some serious issues that he’s dealing with, and the complication with Sophia just adds to his confusion. His world is upended, and at the same time he’s falling for somebody for the very first time. He’s feeling so much and has no idea how to deal with any of it, so there’s a whole lot of romantic back-and-forth. It’s dramatic and frustrating, and I felt for him and his confusion, but he is trying to so hard to do the right thing, and I just wanted to hug him.
Sophia is a fabulously strong character. She cares for Xander and she makes her feelings clear, and while she’s willing to fight for the man she’s fallen so hard for, supporting him through difficult times, she doesn’t allow herself to become a doormat, and I love how she’s able to strike that balance.
It’s an emotional read that had me invested in these two and their story, and thankfully the book ends beautifully, with an epilogue that provides great closure. I loved seeing these two get their well-deserved HEA.
3.5 stars.
Forget Me Knot
Why Stars Chase the Sun (#1)
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When Light Leads to You (#2)
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What It Takes to Fall (#3)
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Where I’d Rather Be (#4)
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