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deniseneutel's review against another edition
4.0
It was even better than the first in the series, even without the science. I think I truly grasp the "show instead of tell" this author has done this beautifully in this book.
bandherbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Zoe Ferris, once a cutthroat corporate lawyer job defending a pharmaceutical company and now an unemployed lottery winner, thinks it is time to atone for all of the wrongs she did in her past life. She's even created a jar of her mistakes and sins, one she'll draw from to get started on her mission to make things right.
When she draws the name of one of the victims of her former employer, it brings Zoe smack dab into Aidan O'Leary, the brother of the man who died from an overdose in large part due to the the drug her company created.
Aidan, an EMT, is upset to see the cold lawyer who his parent's had to deal with to get the settlement money for his brother's death. The lawyer who helped put a price on his brother's life. But there's something about Zoe, even if she's passed out on his childhood home's front porch from nerves. Even if she's beautiful.
In Zoe, Aidan sees an oppotunity. She wants to make things right, gain his forgiveness? She can help him secure the property he wants to buy with the settlement money, the property he'll use to create a treatment camp for addicts. She can do that by pretending to be his fiancee, to impress and show the couple selling the land that he's a family man at heart, that he has his shit together, that he's wants this for the right reasons.
Zoe agrees, reluctantly, but also because she thinks it is the least she can do. As the weekends wear on, and Zoe and Aidan form a tentative friendship, a tentative attraction, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them. Can they ever forget how they came to each other? Does Aidan truly want this camp, or is just something he feels he needs to do? Will Zoe ever forgive herself?
So utterly compelling, and such a lovely slow-burn with competely realistic feelings and problems. I fell in love with Kate Clayborn with Beginner's Luck, and Best of Luck was EVEN BETTER.
The audiobook is especially great, and I think Aidan may be my favorite book boyfriend of 2018. I imagined him as a Bearded-Chris-Evans EMT. Huzzah.
I have read this way more than the 2x Goodreads has me down for it, but whatever! It is my favorite contemporary romance of basically all time and wow I needed this re-listen as 2020 ended.
When she draws the name of one of the victims of her former employer, it brings Zoe smack dab into Aidan O'Leary, the brother of the man who died from an overdose in large part due to the the drug her company created.
Aidan, an EMT, is upset to see the cold lawyer who his parent's had to deal with to get the settlement money for his brother's death. The lawyer who helped put a price on his brother's life. But there's something about Zoe, even if she's passed out on his childhood home's front porch from nerves. Even if she's beautiful.
In Zoe, Aidan sees an oppotunity. She wants to make things right, gain his forgiveness? She can help him secure the property he wants to buy with the settlement money, the property he'll use to create a treatment camp for addicts. She can do that by pretending to be his fiancee, to impress and show the couple selling the land that he's a family man at heart, that he has his shit together, that he's wants this for the right reasons.
Zoe agrees, reluctantly, but also because she thinks it is the least she can do. As the weekends wear on, and Zoe and Aidan form a tentative friendship, a tentative attraction, the ghosts of the past continue to haunt them. Can they ever forget how they came to each other? Does Aidan truly want this camp, or is just something he feels he needs to do? Will Zoe ever forgive herself?
So utterly compelling, and such a lovely slow-burn with competely realistic feelings and problems. I fell in love with Kate Clayborn with Beginner's Luck, and Best of Luck was EVEN BETTER.
The audiobook is especially great, and I think Aidan may be my favorite book boyfriend of 2018. I imagined him as a Bearded-Chris-Evans EMT. Huzzah.
I have read this way more than the 2x Goodreads has me down for it, but whatever! It is my favorite contemporary romance of basically all time and wow I needed this re-listen as 2020 ended.
sarahcophagus's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this. The sense of grief masking the whole story was so powerful and well done, especially when it comes to pushing away problems and not dealing with them. Fake dating isn’t my fav, and their reasoning to do it was predictably so weak. Aiden and Zoe jumped in massively unprepared, especially considering the real origins of their personal connection before the ruse begins. The ethics were a bit weird too, like we never get a huge amount of details as to how exactly Zoe screws over Aiden’s family with Aaron’s settlement. So it was hard for me to ever see her as a true villain. And then to have Aiden guilt her into pretending to be his fiancé because she would do anything to alleviate the guilt she feels was pretty dark and not really ever brought up that much even after their relationship becomes real. But the love story really is wonderful and I love the personal growth from both characters so it was definitely worth the read.
cadl's review against another edition
4.0
Solid enemies to lovers med god plads til at det ikke blive rushed. It is what it is, let at læse uden det helt store plot, men ift hvilken type bog det er, så leverer den :-)
reahbee's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this! Read it in one day (the audio is great) and was completely enthralled with their story the whole time. By far the best Kate Clayborn book I’ve read!
ashleycornelius's review against another edition
3.0
Great romance, just what I was looking for, a fake engagement between two people who are physically attracted to each other but expectations that they will fall in love, all by chapter two. Main characters are likable and the pacing is nice and quick.
meghan_e's review against another edition
5.0
This book was perfect. I didn't think I could like a book more than Beginner's Luck. The fake fiancé trope isn't usually my fave. But Clayborn's characters are outstanding, and she sells their motivations beautifully, and I LOOOOVED this book.
krysteno's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jove64's review against another edition
5.0
A fun take on the enemies to lovers trope with a faux romance thrown in. Themes of forgiveness and grief.
falulatonks's review against another edition
4.0
2022 reread: Still 4.5 stars, and I was thinking as I finished that I wanted to say both leads' characters are so moving without being OTT or played for drama, and wouldn't you know it, 2018!me totally agrees and said it better. One thing I didn't mention last time is how much I like the way they make each other laugh? And how much Aiden loves Zoe's sharpness and briskness, which I thought was REALLY cute. And another thing is I think Clayborn does a really good job of building a set-up for them - it's SUCH a difficult thing for them to work past, but at the same time Zoe's not.... to blame, per se? It's complex, and I liked the way she broached it.
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4.5 stars - I liked this so much. Clayborn's writing is a little rough to get into to start, but either it grew on me or it really suits this story - probably both. I thought Zoe and Aiden were both incredibly likeable and incredibly sympathetic without either of them ever even approaching melodrama, which is a real feat, imo. I felt for them in exactly the right ways, and rooted for both of them to get unstuck exactly as they did. And I'm super impressed by how much I dug them together - they seem so unlike each other and have such a point of conflict at the beginning that it should've been hard to sell them, but I could almost immediately see the ways in which they fit and the good they brought out in each other.
They also feel like such internal characters, with more happening inside of them than spoken out loud, and that, too, is hard to make work in romances, I think. Clayborn does it. That's my kind of romance, and my kind of people, so I appreciated this a lot.
I just liked this so much! Can't wait to read Book 3.
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4.5 stars - I liked this so much. Clayborn's writing is a little rough to get into to start, but either it grew on me or it really suits this story - probably both. I thought Zoe and Aiden were both incredibly likeable and incredibly sympathetic without either of them ever even approaching melodrama, which is a real feat, imo. I felt for them in exactly the right ways, and rooted for both of them to get unstuck exactly as they did. And I'm super impressed by how much I dug them together - they seem so unlike each other and have such a point of conflict at the beginning that it should've been hard to sell them, but I could almost immediately see the ways in which they fit and the good they brought out in each other.
They also feel like such internal characters, with more happening inside of them than spoken out loud, and that, too, is hard to make work in romances, I think. Clayborn does it. That's my kind of romance, and my kind of people, so I appreciated this a lot.
I just liked this so much! Can't wait to read Book 3.