Reviews

Cole by C.E. Johnson

read_on_reader's review

5.0

Cole and Steph have known each other all their lives and while feelings have always burned in the background neither could forgive themselves if they shot their shot and lost it all and this has left them always in the friend zone no matter how they both ache to be out of there. Steph is a single mother to a beautiful child, Levi, and the way the author made her and her ex these amazing characters that didn’t hate each other and coparented so well was incredible and refreshing. Steph loves Cole as a friend, as someone who knows her better than herself, as a guy that adores her so like he is his own, and mostly as the man she wants in her life forever even if it breaks her heart not to have that love returned. Cole is incredible in so many ways but years of being conditioned that he could never amount to anything has him ignoring his feelings for Steph because he doesn’t feel like he would ever be good enough. With both of them hiding behind their pain and feelings will they be able to always keep them tucked away or will it all come out eventually leading to so much more? The author took so many different situations both were going through and handled them so delicately and perfectly you can’t help how emotional and real they feel. It’s so easy to fall for all these characters and the suspense keeps you glued to edge of your seat wondering what will happen next. I really wished we could have seen Cole stand up to his father and gain that piece of himself back but it all worked out perfectly in the end.

laurenlovestoread's review

emotional mysterious

4.75

Cole and Steph have my heart. I really enjoyed this book and this series. I definitely didn't see that coming! 

jennyreads_2022's review

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This was different from the other three books in this series. There wasn’t as much suspense, and it was secondary to the plot. Steph and Cole had known, and loved, each other for years so there was no insta love and if you’ve read the previous three books in the series, their relationship has been teased endlessly. 

I wasn’t expecting where this book lead. Cole had a lot of baggage underneath his man-child persona. He may love cereal and watching cartoons, but there is so much more to him. Steph was also hiding some major secrets and had her own baggage to get over. There was a lot of push and pull between Steph and Cole and this ended up being more of a slow burn with a good amount of one step forward, two steps back. 

Every time I read a brother’s best friend romance I find myself comparing it to Ross, Monica and Chandler from friends. And Jaxon’s reaction to Cole and Steph was very reminiscent of Ross’ reaction to Chandler and Monica. There was definitely some conflict resolution that needed to happen between the three of them, especially after Steph found out the truth behind why Cole had turned her down so many years ago. But I loved how it all worked out. It was definitely a right guy, wrong time situation and it was very evident they needed to go through everything they had in life to be able to be together happily. 

After seeing them in the background for three books, I’m glad Cole and Steph finally got their HEA. The only thing I would have added to this book was more Levi. A big part of Steph’s identity was being a single mom to a boy with disabilities, and I feel like that was just overlooked. I loved the relationship Levi and Cole already had and I would have loved to see more of the three of them together.