A review by readwithevelane
Echoes of You by Catherine Cowles

5.0

β€œπ‘° 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’˜π’Šπ’•π’‰ π’†π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 π’Šπ’” 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 π’Žπ’π’“π’† 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 π’Šπ’ π’Žπ’š π’†π’šπ’†π’” 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 π’šπ’π’–. 𝑡𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’– 𝒅𝒐 π’†π’—π’†π’“π’šπ’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆ 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 π’“π’Šπ’ˆπ’‰π’•, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 π’šπ’π’– π’‚π’π’˜π’‚π’šπ’” π’˜π’†π’π’„π’π’Žπ’† π’Žπ’† 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 π’‚π’Ž. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 π’Žπ’š π’‰π’π’Žπ’†, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’ˆπ’†.”

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: πŸ”₯πŸ”₯
Relationship: MW
Tropes/content: Small town, romantic suspense, childhood friends to lovers, forced proximity, one bed, "It's always been you"
Series: Lost & Found #2

⚠️Check triggers⚠️

After leaving a toxic relationship, Maddie decides to return to her hometown, Cedar Ridge, to heal and get a fresh start. When she returns, she reconnects with her childhood best friend, Nash Hartley. Maddie has loved him since she can remember, but she was sure he never felt that way about her, so she never told him. Unbeknownst to her, Nash has loved her for just as long and is determined to show her his true feelings. As their friendship turns into more, they're ready for their future and everything that comes with it. But when Maddie's past comes back to haunt them, their future together is put at risk.

I'll be the first to admit that friends to lovers isn't a trope I usually like. The reason why is I often feel like one of the characters pined after the other one more and it feels imbalanced. But Catherine really said, "I'll show you how great this trope can be" when she wrote this masterpiece.

I LOVED this book. I devoured it in a matter of hours. The reason this books works so well as friends to lovers? Mutual pining and obsession. Nash Hartley is as obsessed, if not slightly more, with Maddie as she is with him. The fact that they've cared so deeply for one another for years makes their romance so so so sweet. 

In Fragile Sanctuary, another book by Catherine, two of the characters are described as speaking a language only the two of them know. That 1000% fits Maddie and Nash. There's a language, sometimes verbally or non-verbally, that these two have with one another that they have with no one else. They don't have to say any words and they can tell how the other person is feeling. It's so sweet and beautiful πŸ₯Ί

I love Nash so much. I loved the different ways he showed Maddie how much he cared for her, but I really loved how her verbalized his feelings. He never missed a moment to tell her how much she meant to him. My heart ached in the best way every time he confessed his feelings externally and internally. I also loved how jealous he got over his teenaged nephew hitting on Maddie. It made me laugh every time. No one gets between Nash Hartley and his Maddie.