{"id":60993,"date":"2021-08-28T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=60993"},"modified":"2021-08-24T09:11:49","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T13:11:49","slug":"release-arc-review-charmed-willow-springs-3-by-laura-pavlov","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=60993","title":{"rendered":"Release & ARC Review: Charmed (Willow Springs, #3) by Laura Pavlov"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h4>\n

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Charmed is now live!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Amazon<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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\r\n <\/div><\/div><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Crew Carlisle is enemy number one.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s also my new boss.<\/span><\/p>\n

I need this internship as much as Crew needs an ego lobotomy.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s arrogant, cocky, and annoyingly good looking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our families have despised one another since long before I was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

The man loathes me, and he makes no effort to hide his contempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

But everything I thought I knew isn\u2019t as it seems.<\/span><\/p>\n

And Crew isn\u2019t who I thought he was.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve never fully given my heart away, and this is the last man that I should give it to.<\/span><\/p>\n

But walking away isn\u2019t as easy as I expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Crew Carlisle is my kryptonite.<\/span><\/p>\n

And falling for my nemesis is not an option.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n

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Add to Goodreads<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe should all hope for a love that is worth risking everything for.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4 stars!<\/strong><\/p>\n

A sweet and heartfelt enemies-to-lovers romance!<\/p>\n

This is the third book in the Willow Springs<\/i> series, and is the story of Maura, one of five best friends from the same small town who will have their stories told. I love that the series is aging with the girls, so while the first was set in high school, and the second in college, in this book, Maura is about to graduate and is embarking on an internship at an esteemed marketing and advertising firm\u2026 that just so happens to be headed up by a man that she cannot stand.<\/p>\n

Maura\u2019s family has been at war with the Carlisle family for generations, and it turns out that the biggest a-hole of them all, Crew Carlisle, is her new boss. The two families have been at odds since their grandfathers had a falling out, and things have escalated from there, and Crew seems to have a particular hatred for Maura\u2019s father, which he has in turn passed on to her. He can\u2019t stand her, and though he\u2019s horrified to learn she is his new intern, he is looking forward to putting her through hell.<\/p>\n

If looks could kill…I believe I\u2019d be a dead man. Guess what, Ms Benson \u2013 looks can\u2019t kill and I hold all the cards right now.
\nIt was difficult to hide my smile.
\nI was going to make Maura Benson my bitch and enjoy every last minute of it. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Maura proves herself to be a talented and devoted employee, and the more time Crew spends with her, he beings to realise that his hatred is misplaced.<\/p>\n

Somehow over the past few weeks, we\u2019d become friends. I cared about her. I worried about her. I thought about her all the fucking time. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a really sweet shift for them, and I loved watching their attraction develop. Of course they always recognised that the other was gorgeous, but the more comfortable they become with each other, they begin to open up, and that\u2019s when we really see the sparks fly.<\/p>\n

We kissed one time. Yet it felt like everything. Like everything that had been missing from my life for so long.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s functional, romantic, and so sweet, and these two are so cute together. They have obstacles standing in their way \u2013 Crew being in a position of power over Maura for one, their families for another, but they follow their hearts, and a beautiful relationship unfolds.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, tell me, Maura Benson. How was our first date? Are you charmed?\u201d
\n\u201cCompletely charmed. And that terrifies me.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s all kept a secret, of course, and between the necessary sneaking around and the decades of family drama, they have some pretty intense issues to face. It\u2019s emotional, and my heart hurt for both of them, but we know it\u2019s only a matter of time before they work their way through it, and find their happy ending.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re so beautiful. Do you know how long I\u2019ve been searching for you?\u201d
\n\u201cHow long?\u201d I smiled up at him, running my fingers through his hair.
\n\u201cMy whole fucking life.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I really enjoyed this book. The romance is so sweet, the angst and drama is minimal, but there\u2019s still a nice amount of emotion. I particularly loved Crew, he is such a great character. He\u2019s got a lot that he needs to deal with in this story, and watching him come to terms with his surprising feelings, and blindly follow his heart, was so gorgeous.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what to do about the fact that I fucking love you.\u201d
\n\u2026
\n\u201cYou love me?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. I love you. Trust me, no one is more surprised than me.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I loved the introduction to Crew\u2019s family. What a hilarious bunch! I\u2019m so hoping that we get to see more of them in the future. We get to see the rest of the Maura\u2019s girls \u2013 I loved seeing the characters from previous books, and there continue to be great set-ups for the two books to come. I\u2019m so excited for both of them!<\/p>\n

I really enjoyed this one, such a sweet read.<\/p>\n

4 stars.<\/p>\n

An Advanced Reader Copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Willow Springs<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0<\/p>\n

Frayed (#1) <\/strong>(Adelaide)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: \u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Tangled (#2) <\/strong>(Gigi)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Charmed (#3) <\/strong>(Maura)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Sealed (#4) <\/strong>(Coco)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

Claimed (#5) <\/strong>(Ivy)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n

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Bonus Novella<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Captivated (#5.5)<\/strong> (Clementine)
\nFree from Prolific Works<\/a><\/p>\n

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About Laura<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"\"Laura Pavlov writes sweet and sexy contemporary romance that will make you both laugh and cry. She is happily married to her college sweetheart, mom to two awesome almost grown kids, and dog-whisperer to a couple of crazy Yorkies. Laura resides in Las\u00a0Vegas where she is living her own happily ever after.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Website<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0Amazon\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Facebook\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Instagram<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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  Charmed is now live! Amazon   Blurb Crew Carlisle is enemy number one. He\u2019s also my new boss. I need this internship as much as Crew needs an ego lobotomy. He\u2019s arrogant, cocky, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,86,972,9,29],"tags":[59,1024,48,1243],"class_list":["post-60993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-enemies-to-lovers","category-forbidden","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-laura-pavlov","tag-review","tag-willow-springs"],"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\/2021\/07\/Charmed.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-fRL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60993","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=60993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}