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A review by rosielovesreading
Leave Him Loved by Harloe Rae
2.0
2.5 stars!
Leave Him Loved had such great potential, but for me, it fell short at the end. It’s the first time I’ve read a book where the hero and heroine have such strong chemistry, and clear attraction to one another, but for no reason at all, choose not to act on it for so long, which meant I was left frustrated and annoyed because there was never an explanation.
Audria moves from Minneapolis, to a tiny town in Iowa for her first teaching job. She’s a true city girl, so takes a while to adjust to the country life, but it’s helped by the tall gorgeous farmer she runs into on her first day in town. Reeve is instantly drawn to the pretty out of towner but quickly puts the brakes on anything romantic happening between them, despite their chemistry. They decide to be friends, as Audria is only in town for the school year and start spending time together. After months of flirtation and small touches, they deicide to change to a friend with benefits situation, and feelings quickly develop, although they hide them from each other. Will Audria ever want to trade in the city life for a small town for good?
The build up to this relationship was so well done, you could feel the chemistry between Audria and Reeve coming off the page, despite the fact he put a block on anything more happening so early on. I loved their never ever dates, and their flirty friendship meant that they knew each other on a deeper level than just diving into a friends with benefits situation. Neither wanted a relationship, and it was clear why to begin with because of Audria’s time being limited in town, but when feelings began to get involved, she no longer saw that as a problem. In fact, she was never opposed to a relationship really, the main issues always stemmed from Reeve. While I liked his honesty at the start, how he didn’t want to lead her on, and I am all for people not dating just because they don’t want to, but his internal feelings didn’t reflect his actions. Because of this, I was waiting for the big reveal at the end, maybe something had happened in Reeve’s past that meant he was scared of relationships, or having had something happened which meant he didn’t believe in love, but nothing ever came. I was left frustrated and it meant I never felt truly connected to the couple, specifically Reeve because I just couldn’t understand his actions.
There were some aspects of this book, I loved the small-town vibe, and I did like Audria’s character but wasn’t a fan of Reeve. Audria’s friendships were great too, her friends from college all have me intrigued for their own stories and I loved how easily she settled into small town life and was accepted by the citizens. I really liked Reeve’s best friend Gavin, I feel like he has a story too, and it was all going so well until their friends with benefits relationship happened. Finally, the ending left me feeling a bit like I’d been sold short on something, Reeve did a complete 180, once again with no explanation, so I never got behind their reunion. I have really liked Harloe’s books in the past, and loved the first half of this one, but by the end, Leave Him Loved just wasn’t the one for me.
Leave Him Loved had such great potential, but for me, it fell short at the end. It’s the first time I’ve read a book where the hero and heroine have such strong chemistry, and clear attraction to one another, but for no reason at all, choose not to act on it for so long, which meant I was left frustrated and annoyed because there was never an explanation.
Audria moves from Minneapolis, to a tiny town in Iowa for her first teaching job. She’s a true city girl, so takes a while to adjust to the country life, but it’s helped by the tall gorgeous farmer she runs into on her first day in town. Reeve is instantly drawn to the pretty out of towner but quickly puts the brakes on anything romantic happening between them, despite their chemistry. They decide to be friends, as Audria is only in town for the school year and start spending time together. After months of flirtation and small touches, they deicide to change to a friend with benefits situation, and feelings quickly develop, although they hide them from each other. Will Audria ever want to trade in the city life for a small town for good?
The build up to this relationship was so well done, you could feel the chemistry between Audria and Reeve coming off the page, despite the fact he put a block on anything more happening so early on. I loved their never ever dates, and their flirty friendship meant that they knew each other on a deeper level than just diving into a friends with benefits situation. Neither wanted a relationship, and it was clear why to begin with because of Audria’s time being limited in town, but when feelings began to get involved, she no longer saw that as a problem. In fact, she was never opposed to a relationship really, the main issues always stemmed from Reeve. While I liked his honesty at the start, how he didn’t want to lead her on, and I am all for people not dating just because they don’t want to, but his internal feelings didn’t reflect his actions. Because of this, I was waiting for the big reveal at the end, maybe something had happened in Reeve’s past that meant he was scared of relationships, or having had something happened which meant he didn’t believe in love, but nothing ever came. I was left frustrated and it meant I never felt truly connected to the couple, specifically Reeve because I just couldn’t understand his actions.
There were some aspects of this book, I loved the small-town vibe, and I did like Audria’s character but wasn’t a fan of Reeve. Audria’s friendships were great too, her friends from college all have me intrigued for their own stories and I loved how easily she settled into small town life and was accepted by the citizens. I really liked Reeve’s best friend Gavin, I feel like he has a story too, and it was all going so well until their friends with benefits relationship happened. Finally, the ending left me feeling a bit like I’d been sold short on something, Reeve did a complete 180, once again with no explanation, so I never got behind their reunion. I have really liked Harloe’s books in the past, and loved the first half of this one, but by the end, Leave Him Loved just wasn’t the one for me.