Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
4.5 last love stars!
Just based on the blurb, I know this book would be for me. Yes, yes. I am one of those readers that like the sort unrequited love, slow-burning, hero is emotionally unavailable trope.
And I am not even so sorry because this book ticks every single one of those things for me.
Stanton Shaw is an ambitious, up-and-coming DC lawyer who has been in love (or so he thinks) with his high school sweetheart forever. They have a daughter together but they don't live together and they didn't even get married. What they had was a convenient arrangement and shared parenting responsibilities.
Sofia Santos is also an ambitious, up-and-coming DC lawyer who works with Stanton and has a FWB (friends with benefits) arrangement with him. Their chemistry is explosive. Plus, they like each other as friends and respect each other as colleagues. There were no spoken rules to their arrangement. Both of them know exactly what those benefits are and they make no apologies for it.
Then Stanton finds out that his high school sweetheart is getting married and worst of all, she's not getting married to him but to another guy. So Stanton sets out to "storm the castle" and win back his lady with the help of none other than Sofia. It's kinda hard to explain it but their mutual respect and friendship made Sofia the most viable choice as wingman for Stanton but it also brought a lot of complication.
Characters
Stanton is the quintessential Chase hero. Good-looking, confident, arrogant and honest to a fault. And oh, stubborn. Really stubborn. I've always loved the way this author writes his heroes because they don't always behave themselves. And some of the things they say are just—face-palm worthy it always comes from an honest place.
Stanton, I liked very much but it was Sofia whom I loved. I was glad Emma Chase gave us her POV because it allowed readers to get inside her head, making us privy to her thoughts and motivations. But yes, I love her take-no-prisoner attitude, her vulnerability and loyalty not just to Stanton but to her friends as well.
Kudos to Emma Chase for writing a career driven woman without making her into a caricature. She owned her ambitions and her sexuality. If this had been any other book, Sofia could easily well be the other woman whose sole purpose was to make the life of the heroine a living hell. I've met a lot of Sofia's in my years of reading romance; they're the girls/women that the hero distracts himself with, while waiting for his twu luv. And I just love how Emma Chase succeeded in subverting that trope. Sofia could have easily been the villainous OW in this story but she's not.
Not to say that Jenny (Stanton's HS sweetheart) was because she definitely was not the villain either. She had layers to her and I understood why she made those choices. All of them have some irritating qualities, but it's those qualities that made them all the more endearing to me. I wanted to hate Jenny. Not gonna lie. It would have been too easy to paint her as a shrew who lets go of Stanton because it was convenient but I can't. Again, Emma Chase steered clear of those conventions and found a way to make them, if not likable, relatable.
That said…
I truly understand why this book might not be for all romance readers out there. There are parts that weren't easy to read, parts that truly broke my heart. Parts that almost drove me to hit Stanton upside in the head. It definitely won't be comfortable because most of us operate on an ideal that our hero is supposed to fall at the heroine's feet in worship the moment he meets her and he'll immediately be sure of his feelings. First loves trumps all but this book subverts that very idea. And I loved it. It's a less than ideal and complicated love story but no less romantic, IMO. So I'm going to put myself out there and recommend this one.
My only minor hiccup was that I really, really want more of Sofia and Stanton all loved up. That ending felt rushed to me even with the long-ass epilogue. I simply wanted more, not because I wasn't convince of their HEA but simply because I want to read about Stanton getting googly eyed at Sofia. Maybe some bonus scenes for them, Ms. Chase?
ARC provided by the Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review!
New Emma Chase book?
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Judging from the blurb, this sounds very different from Tangled.
Can't wait!
Just based on the blurb, I know this book would be for me. Yes, yes. I am one of those readers that like the sort unrequited love, slow-burning, hero is emotionally unavailable trope.
And I am not even so sorry because this book ticks every single one of those things for me.
Young love is strong. First love is powerful. But what you don't know when you're young—what you can't know—is how long life actually is. And the only dependable thing about it, besides death and taxes, is change.
Stanton Shaw is an ambitious, up-and-coming DC lawyer who has been in love (or so he thinks) with his high school sweetheart forever. They have a daughter together but they don't live together and they didn't even get married. What they had was a convenient arrangement and shared parenting responsibilities.
Sofia Santos is also an ambitious, up-and-coming DC lawyer who works with Stanton and has a FWB (friends with benefits) arrangement with him. Their chemistry is explosive. Plus, they like each other as friends and respect each other as colleagues. There were no spoken rules to their arrangement. Both of them know exactly what those benefits are and they make no apologies for it.
Then Stanton finds out that his high school sweetheart is getting married and worst of all, she's not getting married to him but to another guy. So Stanton sets out to "storm the castle" and win back his lady with the help of none other than Sofia. It's kinda hard to explain it but their mutual respect and friendship made Sofia the most viable choice as wingman for Stanton but it also brought a lot of complication.
Characters
Stanton is the quintessential Chase hero. Good-looking, confident, arrogant and honest to a fault. And oh, stubborn. Really stubborn. I've always loved the way this author writes his heroes because they don't always behave themselves. And some of the things they say are just—face-palm worthy it always comes from an honest place.
Stanton, I liked very much but it was Sofia whom I loved. I was glad Emma Chase gave us her POV because it allowed readers to get inside her head, making us privy to her thoughts and motivations. But yes, I love her take-no-prisoner attitude, her vulnerability and loyalty not just to Stanton but to her friends as well.
He turns to me with open arms—expecting a hug of course.
Because I have a vagina.
And like so many, he functions under the belief that penesis shake hands, vaginas hug.
Kudos to Emma Chase for writing a career driven woman without making her into a caricature. She owned her ambitions and her sexuality. If this had been any other book, Sofia could easily well be the other woman whose sole purpose was to make the life of the heroine a living hell. I've met a lot of Sofia's in my years of reading romance; they're the girls/women that the hero distracts himself with, while waiting for his twu luv. And I just love how Emma Chase succeeded in subverting that trope. Sofia could have easily been the villainous OW in this story but she's not.
Not to say that Jenny (Stanton's HS sweetheart) was because she definitely was not the villain either. She had layers to her and I understood why she made those choices. All of them have some irritating qualities, but it's those qualities that made them all the more endearing to me. I wanted to hate Jenny. Not gonna lie. It would have been too easy to paint her as a shrew who lets go of Stanton because it was convenient but I can't. Again, Emma Chase steered clear of those conventions and found a way to make them, if not likable, relatable.
That said…
I truly understand why this book might not be for all romance readers out there. There are parts that weren't easy to read, parts that truly broke my heart. Parts that almost drove me to hit Stanton upside in the head. It definitely won't be comfortable because most of us operate on an ideal that our hero is supposed to fall at the heroine's feet in worship the moment he meets her and he'll immediately be sure of his feelings. First loves trumps all but this book subverts that very idea. And I loved it. It's a less than ideal and complicated love story but no less romantic, IMO. So I'm going to put myself out there and recommend this one.
My only minor hiccup was that I really, really want more of Sofia and Stanton all loved up. That ending felt rushed to me even with the long-ass epilogue. I simply wanted more, not because I wasn't convince of their HEA but simply because I want to read about Stanton getting googly eyed at Sofia. Maybe some bonus scenes for them, Ms. Chase?
ARC provided by the Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review!
New Emma Chase book?
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Judging from the blurb, this sounds very different from Tangled.
Can't wait!
This is funny in moments but Stanton is a total selfish asshole. Smarmy bastard.
Also the epilogue is a hot mess and tries to cover way too much ground, way too sloppily.
Also the epilogue is a hot mess and tries to cover way too much ground, way too sloppily.
I'm surprised at how much I didn't like this one with how much I've liked her books in the past. My main problem was with how much I disliked the hero in the story. He felt very much like he was super proud of how he was a great father but he basically just Skypes with her all the time. So the basic premise the who book revolved around just didn't work that well for me.
This is a typical Emma Chase book.
Alternating POV and a hero who has flaws, mixed with some humor.
Stanton Shaw is not a loveable hero for me. The plot does not sit well with me.
I liked the non family members. I kept on reading because I liked Brent and Jake and I planned to read their books.
Alternating POV and a hero who has flaws, mixed with some humor.
Stanton Shaw is not a loveable hero for me. The plot does not sit well with me.
I liked the non family members. I kept on reading because I liked Brent and Jake and I planned to read their books.
This was kind of frustrating at times because Stanton is so blind and oblivious, but I liked it.
read this long ago, gave it a quick re-read today. very emma chase: steamy, snarky, and very binge-worthy.
Didn't like two main characters. The guy was a dick the woman was... so bland like I don't even remember her name only that she was a lawyer.
Overpossesivnes, alpha males, just no, thank you.
Overpossesivnes, alpha males, just no, thank you.