{"id":21170,"date":"2017-04-25T09:47:04","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T13:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=21170"},"modified":"2017-11-06T08:38:16","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T13:38:16","slug":"arc-review-before-i-ever-met-you-by-karina-halle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=21170","title":{"rendered":"ARC Review: Before I Ever Met You by Karina Halle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy: Amazon<\/a> |\u00a0iBooks\u00a0 <\/a>|\u00a0 Nook\u00a0 <\/a>|\u00a0 Kobo<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

Sweet, sexy and oh-so-swoony!<\/b><\/p>\n

This is not the kind of read that I expect when I pick up a Karina Halle book, but she has delivered a beautifully sweet romance that is both sexy and swoony, with a hero that will sweep you off your feet. An older man \/ younger woman forbidden office romance, this book crosses a lot of tropes, but it\u2019s done really well, and this is a really sweet story.<\/p>\n

Will McAlister\u2019s world shifted when he found out that his wife was not only having an affair, but that she was pregnant with another man\u2019s child. They continued working together running the LA office of his business, but he eventually decided to return home to Vancouver, working side by side again with his good friend and partner, Ted.<\/p>\n

Jackie is Ted\u2019s daughter, and she has recently returned home after leaving as a rebellious teen. She has survived an abusive relationship and has moved in with her parents with her young son, Tyler, and has accepted a job at her Dad\u2019s company \u2013 as Will\u2019s new assistant. Jackie knows Will as her father\u2019s good friend, and he is even more gorgeous than she remembers, but she knows she can\u2019t go there.<\/p>\n

Will doesn\u2019t want an Assistant, especially one that tempts him the way Jackie does. He knows she\u2019s off limits \u2013 she\u2019s the daughter of his partner, he is her boss, and she is only 25 to his 41, but he can\u2019t resist her. And his feelings only grow as they get to know each other.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still so much about her I don\u2019t know \u2013 her hopes, her dreams, her fears \u2013 but I\u2019m determined to do whatever I can to learn more.
\nI\u2019m fucking obsessed with her.
\nPlain and simple.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I enjoyed Will and Jackie\u2019s relationship. Their attraction is evident from the very beginning and they both try their hardest to resist it, but the sexual tension only builds as their relationship shifts from boss\/employee to friends and then more. Jackie has been hurt by all that she\u2019s been through, but Will proves to be an unstoppable force, and the man is absolutely irresistible.<\/p>\n

His expression softens, his hand running through my hair, over my shoulder, down my arm. \u201cStop pretending I\u2019m not what you need.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Will is just gorgeous. He\u2019s a man who knows what he wants, and he goes for it. And what he wants is Jackie, and he doesn\u2019t hold anything back from her, and I love how he put his heart right out there for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay to need me. I need you. I need you more than I can possibly tell you, Jackie. There\u2019s no shame in it. It\u2019s part of loving someone. You need their heart to help complete yours.\u201d
\n\u201cYou love me?\u201d I whisper, the emotions rising up my throat, choking me.
\nThe room seems to pause with my breath.
\n\u201cOf course I love you. I\u2019ve only loved you. There was no before or in-between for me,\u201d he says softly as he holds onto my hand. \u201cAll in. I\u2019ve always been all in with you.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

*dreamy sigh*<\/p>\n

He is also gorgeous with Jackie\u2019s son, Ty, and I loved the relationship that they developed. But I confess I did have a moment that made me all squinty-eyed\u2026

<\/span>Spoiler<\/div>
For a man that had been so wonderful, three little words changed it all\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought our date was tonight?\u201d she asks.
\nI pull back and peer at her. \u201cI meant after work. Do you have to go home?\u201d
\n\u201cI should see my son.\u201d
\n\u201cTy can wait.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmmmmm. \u201cTy can wait.<\/i>\u201d As a mother, this really turned me off. I get that he\u2019s overcome with lust and the thrill of finally having Jackie the way he wants her, but kids come first. Always. And the fact that he just dove in there and dismissed Ty that way was really off-putting. But there were moments afterwards that proved that his head and his heart are in the right place, which made me much happier.<\/p>\n

The way Ty looks at her while she slips the jacked over his head, scrunched up and annoyed at first and then becoming something softer, more adoring\u2026it\u2019s a fucking kick to my heart.
\nI want this. I want them.
\nWhy can\u2019t this be my life. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s a bit of angst as it takes some time for Will and Jackie to get on the same page romantically, but there\u2019s no denying their physical attraction, and the sexy time is super hot.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/i>I swear I’ll fuck you for hours, if you let me,\u201d<\/i> he whispers into my ear.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But as swoony as it all is, there was something that held me back from falling in mad love with this book.\u00a0 I wanted to love it, but it just didn\u2019t feel<\/em> it as much as I wanted to.\u00a0 But there were parts that I loved – the dynamics between the characters, the dialogue was quick and witty, and there\u2019s no denying the beautiful swoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cDream girl,\u201d he whispers. \u201cTell me I have your heart. I won\u2019t let it go, not for any moment, not for any reason. Tell me I have your heart and I\u2019ll keep it next to my own.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The story ends really well (if a little cheesy) and there\u2019s a gorgeous epilogue which finishes everything off beautifully. There is no denying that Karina can write a beautifully sweet romance.<\/p>\n

3.5 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Continue on with Alyssa’s story in After All<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon\u00a0 <\/a>|\u00a0 Nook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 iBooks<\/a><\/p>\n

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For more awesome reads, check out our Karina Halle Author Spotlight<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy: Amazon |\u00a0iBooks\u00a0 |\u00a0 Nook\u00a0 |\u00a0 Kobo Review Sweet, sexy and oh-so-swoony! This is not the kind of read that I expect when I pick up a Karina Halle book, but she has delivered a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":3.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9,29],"tags":[59,38,48,76],"class_list":["post-21170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-friends-to-lovers","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-karina-halle","tag-review","tag-standalone"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Before-I-Ever-Met-You.jpg?fit=150%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-5vs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}