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love_within_pages 's review for:
The Proposal Play
by Lauren Blakely
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This was a great story and next Love and Hockey series installment! I was eager to see what happened with Maeve and Asher and was not disappointed.
I love a friends to lovers story and Maeve and Asher were such a good representation of that trope. They’ve been friends for 10 years and their close bond was easy to see during this story. One thing I loved was how they had their Big Adventures; they always did something fun to help get through their grief and it was great to see them bonding over such a difficult thing. It was great how protective they were of each other, which led to their…accidental marriage in the first place! Okay, maybe it wasn’t so accidental since they planned for it to be their next Big Adventure, but what they didn’t plan was for their marriage to go viral. So, they ended up staying married to help each other out since they were always willing to protect each other.
One thing I loved during this story was watching Asher and Maeve learn that their feelings for each other were deeper than friendship. I liked that they both took the time to consider how they were feeling before acting on anything because it showed how they were always trying to protect each other even when they wanted more from each other. I loved how supportive they were of each other, too; Maeve was always willing to be at hockey games being Asher's good luck charm and Asher was always supporting Maeve with her art and telling her how great she was. It was great that, when Maeve made new art for Asher, he was immediately ready to hang it in his house so he could see it all the time, and to make Maeve happy.
Maeve and Asher both had some issues in their lives, but I loved how much they helped each other with those issues. Maeve had a past boyfriend tell her that he couldn’t handle her because she was “too much” and it affected her. When she and Asher were together, she hesitated to be herself often because she thought it was too much, but I love that Asher was willing to reassure her that she was never too much for him. I liked that when Maeve asked Asher to tell her if she ever was too much, he told her she wasn’t but also told her that he would tell her if she was. It was great to see him be reassuring but also willing to listen to what Maeve wanted. It was interesting to see how Asher’s anxiety presented itself in this story, but I love that Maeve was able to see it for what it was because she knew Asher so well. I also appreciated that she was straight-up and honest with him when he was struggling. She was never mean, but she made sure to help Asher see what was going on inside his head and that he just needed some help controlling it. It took Asher a little while to accept it, but it was great that when he did he immediately reached out to get the help he needed so that he could be the best man he could be for Maeve.
This was such a great story! I loved everything about Maeve and Asher and their story. It was so sweet watching them go from friends to lovers. They were great together and I loved that they each had their close friend groups to support them during the story. I’m excited to see what happens in the next one!
Audio Review:
This was a great audio, too! This was an MC duet narration, so the narrators read the MCs dialogue in duet, but read the rest of the story in dual. Vanessa Edwin and Robert Hatchet were great narrators for this book. Vanessa was a great representation of Maeve because she was the perfect amount of bubbly and funny, but could pull off the series parts, too. Robert Hatchet was great as Asher! He brought out his helpful and funny personality while also showing his secret feelings for Maeve. The pacing was just right and it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was a great audiobook and was the perfect reading of The Proposal Play!
Thank you, Lauren, for providing me with an ARC and an ALC!
I love a friends to lovers story and Maeve and Asher were such a good representation of that trope. They’ve been friends for 10 years and their close bond was easy to see during this story. One thing I loved was how they had their Big Adventures; they always did something fun to help get through their grief and it was great to see them bonding over such a difficult thing. It was great how protective they were of each other, which led to their…accidental marriage in the first place! Okay, maybe it wasn’t so accidental since they planned for it to be their next Big Adventure, but what they didn’t plan was for their marriage to go viral. So, they ended up staying married to help each other out since they were always willing to protect each other.
One thing I loved during this story was watching Asher and Maeve learn that their feelings for each other were deeper than friendship. I liked that they both took the time to consider how they were feeling before acting on anything because it showed how they were always trying to protect each other even when they wanted more from each other. I loved how supportive they were of each other, too; Maeve was always willing to be at hockey games being Asher's good luck charm and Asher was always supporting Maeve with her art and telling her how great she was. It was great that, when Maeve made new art for Asher, he was immediately ready to hang it in his house so he could see it all the time, and to make Maeve happy.
Maeve and Asher both had some issues in their lives, but I loved how much they helped each other with those issues. Maeve had a past boyfriend tell her that he couldn’t handle her because she was “too much” and it affected her. When she and Asher were together, she hesitated to be herself often because she thought it was too much, but I love that Asher was willing to reassure her that she was never too much for him. I liked that when Maeve asked Asher to tell her if she ever was too much, he told her she wasn’t but also told her that he would tell her if she was. It was great to see him be reassuring but also willing to listen to what Maeve wanted. It was interesting to see how Asher’s anxiety presented itself in this story, but I love that Maeve was able to see it for what it was because she knew Asher so well. I also appreciated that she was straight-up and honest with him when he was struggling. She was never mean, but she made sure to help Asher see what was going on inside his head and that he just needed some help controlling it. It took Asher a little while to accept it, but it was great that when he did he immediately reached out to get the help he needed so that he could be the best man he could be for Maeve.
This was such a great story! I loved everything about Maeve and Asher and their story. It was so sweet watching them go from friends to lovers. They were great together and I loved that they each had their close friend groups to support them during the story. I’m excited to see what happens in the next one!
Audio Review:
This was a great audio, too! This was an MC duet narration, so the narrators read the MCs dialogue in duet, but read the rest of the story in dual. Vanessa Edwin and Robert Hatchet were great narrators for this book. Vanessa was a great representation of Maeve because she was the perfect amount of bubbly and funny, but could pull off the series parts, too. Robert Hatchet was great as Asher! He brought out his helpful and funny personality while also showing his secret feelings for Maeve. The pacing was just right and it wasn't too fast or too slow. It was a great audiobook and was the perfect reading of The Proposal Play!
Thank you, Lauren, for providing me with an ARC and an ALC!