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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
š¹ My take: 4.25/5
šøLucy Reynolds is watching over The Green Robin; a chic restaurant on Hallmark Beach. Enters Blake Moffitt who is Lucyās past crush & her best friend Marileeās bro. Lucy & Blake parted ways years before when Blake moved out of the town to pursue his dream career. Blake is a renowned chef now and is back for a reason. He opens his food truck and voila just next to Lucyās restaurant. He starts dishing out lip smacking food which keeps everyone drooling. Lucy is ready to wage a war as she wants to saves her restaurant. What follows is the push & pull b/w Lucy & Blake while their personal and professional lives collide.
š Wows - This book had all - Small town romance, Best friendās bro, first love, forced proximity, beach map, trigger warnings details. Lucy was shown as a resilient as well as a determined and kind hearted protagonist. The banter between the couple was cute, the understanding between Lucy and Marilee was just wow. And the food descriptions - omg - this book will make you feel hungry on full stomach.
I love the way Kristin develops her characters which in turn gives an opening to the next book in her series. I have read most of books of California Dreaminā series and found all of them amazing. Hence, when Hallmark Beach series was announced by Kristin, I started looking forward to the book cover, the characters, the backdrop and of course the chemistry between the MCs. I can safely go blind in any books Kristin authors because they are genuinely enjoyable to read.
š Ows - The only bit that I couldnāt agree 100% on was the trope of Enemies to lovers since it didnāt feel like Lucy and Blake were at loggerheads most of the time. The temptation was visible very early on and hence for me it was more of second chance romance š.
š« Dive into the beautiful world of Hallmark Beach. I am sure you will leave asking for more. With 2 books already released in this series; I am looking forward to read the upcoming āBeachside Kisses with my Best Friendā āļøāļøāļøāļøš«
šøLucy Reynolds is watching over The Green Robin; a chic restaurant on Hallmark Beach. Enters Blake Moffitt who is Lucyās past crush & her best friend Marileeās bro. Lucy & Blake parted ways years before when Blake moved out of the town to pursue his dream career. Blake is a renowned chef now and is back for a reason. He opens his food truck and voila just next to Lucyās restaurant. He starts dishing out lip smacking food which keeps everyone drooling. Lucy is ready to wage a war as she wants to saves her restaurant. What follows is the push & pull b/w Lucy & Blake while their personal and professional lives collide.
š Wows - This book had all - Small town romance, Best friendās bro, first love, forced proximity, beach map, trigger warnings details. Lucy was shown as a resilient as well as a determined and kind hearted protagonist. The banter between the couple was cute, the understanding between Lucy and Marilee was just wow. And the food descriptions - omg - this book will make you feel hungry on full stomach.
I love the way Kristin develops her characters which in turn gives an opening to the next book in her series. I have read most of books of California Dreaminā series and found all of them amazing. Hence, when Hallmark Beach series was announced by Kristin, I started looking forward to the book cover, the characters, the backdrop and of course the chemistry between the MCs. I can safely go blind in any books Kristin authors because they are genuinely enjoyable to read.
š Ows - The only bit that I couldnāt agree 100% on was the trope of Enemies to lovers since it didnāt feel like Lucy and Blake were at loggerheads most of the time. The temptation was visible very early on and hence for me it was more of second chance romance š.
š« Dive into the beautiful world of Hallmark Beach. I am sure you will leave asking for more. With 2 books already released in this series; I am looking forward to read the upcoming āBeachside Kisses with my Best Friendā āļøāļøāļøāļøš«
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Readerās Notes:
ā this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone
ā this is told from Blake & Lucyās points of view
ā there are mentions of parents having passed away (past events) ā one due to cancer
ā there are mentions of a parent leaving their child behind for family to care for (past event; current hurt for the left behind character)
ā there is a brief mention of a parent having gone through depression when a spouse passed (past event)
ā there is a brief mention of miscarriage
ā there are mentions of a character having been in an emotionally abusive marriage (past event)
Review:
This is definitely one of my top favorite Kristin Canary books! I love the enemies to more banter, especially since Lucy & Blake have a shared past and at least one of them had liked the other since high school. I loved that they had to share the same house and crossed paths so much because of it. Plus, having their workplaces be right next to each other was so much fun too! I loved that Blake had to face his wants and desires for life compared to those of others that he took on as his. I liked seeing his conflicting thoughts and how he should go about them all to get what he thought he wanted in the long run. I also really liked that Blake was honest with Lucy and knew things (at the time) wouldnāt be fair to her if they were to pursue anything together. I loved that Lucy was so fiercely loyal to her friends and town. I loved seeing her with her cousin & their friends and the support system they grew with one another. I also loved how fiercely she cared for people, even when she really didnāt want to. Lucy is a character who doesnāt really have a bad bone in her body and would ultimately do whatās right above all.
I am so excited to get Marilee & Jordanās story next! Iāve loved seeing hints at them becoming a thing and a few other characters having matchups in the works. It makes me very excited to keep on the lookout for more Hallmark Beach romances!
Summary:
Lucy may have had a crush on her best friendās brother when they were in high school, but those days are long gone. After Blake left her and his sister Marilee behind in the dust for bigger and better, Lucy had to protect her heart from hurt once again. She thought everything would be fine nowā¦until Blake suddenly returns to Hallmark Beach for a visit. A visit that gets to be worse the more Lucy finds out. When Blake shows up out of the blue, she finds out he will be a roommate in the house sheās already staying in with Marilee. Then the restaurant Lucyās temporarily in charge of randomly starts losing loyal customers from their normal days. Which is due to Blakeās food truck showing up right next door and stealing her customers. Lucy already resolved to hate Blake for what he did in leaving, but this means war. If he wants to stick around in Hallmark Beach, heās got another thing coming because Lucy is about to use her own knowledge of the small town to her advantage. And Blakeās been gone too long to realize such a strategy exists when he startedā¦
Blake has been working towards his own restaurant for so long and heās finally almost made it. But when his business partner looks over the plan and menu for it, the man requests more recipes to be added to their grilled cheese themed menu. Which is a problem because Blake hasnāt had inspiration in a while when it comes to making new dishes. Thankfully he has the summer to try and create new grilled cheesesā¦ and he has the perfect focus group to test them on. Blake may not have felt ready to return to Hallmark Beach for anything after everything thatās happened the last few years, but heās going to have to push it aside to keep moving forward. But when he gets to Hallmark Beach, Blake finds that not everything will be as easy as he thinks. Not when Lucy clearly still thinks of him as the enemy and is doing everything in her power to get him to leaveā¦
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was such a fun book! I adored book 1 in this series and was greatly looking forward to and not disappointed by the banter and fun of Blake and Lucy's story. This book absolutely can be read on its own, however readers will enjoy the cameos by characters in the previous book if they have already read Beachside Kisses with my Bodyguard.
I love me a good enemies to more story, and this was a fun fit. I did struggle a little at first with Lucy's obvious bitterness towards Blake, but she came around fairly quickly to a place of enemy but less bitter, and the reading/connecting with her character got easier the more I read.
Once again, a fabulous book from Kristin Canary. I'm glad I got to read it early!
I love me a good enemies to more story, and this was a fun fit. I did struggle a little at first with Lucy's obvious bitterness towards Blake, but she came around fairly quickly to a place of enemy but less bitter, and the reading/connecting with her character got easier the more I read.
Once again, a fabulous book from Kristin Canary. I'm glad I got to read it early!
Beachside Kisses With My Enemy is the second book in @kristincanaryauthor ās Hallmark Beach series. The main characters are hometown girl Lucy and chef Blake, who also happens to be Lucyās best friend Marileeās older brother. Lucy used to have a crush on Blake but that all changed when he left and stayed away and her crush turned to angry and that angry intensified when he returns home and sets up his food truck right next door to the restaurant where she works.
Like every good enemies to lovers story thereās always something that the main characters keep hidden from each other and once they have that heart to heart it makes it really hard for them to continue to hold onto that driving angry. I think for Lucyās once she understood Blakeās reasoning and stopped holding his grieving against him, she was able to see Blake for who he is. In turn, Lucy gave Blake a grounding point in his life and a place for his dreams and goals to surround giving him that feeling he never thought he could obtain in his hometown.
This is definitely a cute series and there are plenty of friends left in their group that need their happily ever afters so stick around. Ive been waiting for Marilee and Jordanās story and Iām so glad itās going to be the next book in the series!
Thank you @kristincanaryauthor for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
Like every good enemies to lovers story thereās always something that the main characters keep hidden from each other and once they have that heart to heart it makes it really hard for them to continue to hold onto that driving angry. I think for Lucyās once she understood Blakeās reasoning and stopped holding his grieving against him, she was able to see Blake for who he is. In turn, Lucy gave Blake a grounding point in his life and a place for his dreams and goals to surround giving him that feeling he never thought he could obtain in his hometown.
This is definitely a cute series and there are plenty of friends left in their group that need their happily ever afters so stick around. Ive been waiting for Marilee and Jordanās story and Iām so glad itās going to be the next book in the series!
Thank you @kristincanaryauthor for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Favorite Quote:
āBut every time the guy called her Luce, I wanted to punch him and yell, āMineā like some sort of caveman. Which is ridiculous, because Lucy Reynolds is the farthest thing from mine that there is.ā
Sweet macaroni!! I loved Lucy and Blake together! š©µ
Any rivalry that involves food is great in my book! š¤¤
The Baklava scene! š„¹
You need to read this book if you enjoy:
Enemies to lovers š
Restaurant/food truck rivalry š„Ŗ
Fireworks š„
Closed door romcom š
Fair warning, you will be hungry reading this book! š
Thank you to the author for the advance copy, all thoughts are my own!
Super engaging, hooks you from the get go, love that Blake and Lucy both come to the same realization and same decision.