Release Reviews: Deal Breakers: Laura Lee
Laura Lee
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Expected September 1, 2015
How were they supposed to know that one night would change everything?
Devyn has life all mapped out. She just needs to accomplish one more thing before graduating college and becoming a full-fledged adult—lose her virginity. And who better to assist her than her best friend, Riley?
Riley is the self-proclaimed king of fling. His college years have been filled with meaningless hookups until the one night that ruined him for all other women. The one night he spends with his best friend, Devyn. Right before he screws it all up.
Balls to the wall, baby!
Now five years later, Riley is determined to atone for his mistakes and prove that he can be the man that Devyn deserves. Little does he know that Devyn’s been keeping a secret from him all these years. A big secret. Now he has to figure out how to win back the only girl he’s ever loved while navigating the pitfalls of her unexpected revelation.
Deal Breakers is filled with lots of laughs, a sexy romance, and an overflowing swear jar.
But at the end of college, she blindsides him with a shocking request before they move onto new opportunities. So they make a deal for one night of no strings sex and then plan on going back to their usual friendship. But one night changes everything: Some things are realized, some things bring out fears, and something of major significance happens.
Despite time and distance, they had a profound effect on each other's lives. And when Riley gets another opportunity, he knows he wants to pursue her. But there is a lot of water under the bridge. Mistakes, fears, miscommunication and missed opportunities have messed up their chances so far. She has built her own life and he really has no place in it.
Can Riley convince her to take chance on him and that he is ready to finally be everything she needs?
The characters were likable even when I wanted to smack sense into them. They had a good rapport and connection and chemistry. I liked that they truly connected as friends first. I enjoyed getting both points of view. The side characters especially their friends Brody and Rainey and her brother Drew were also humorous and interesting. I look forward to more with them in subsequent books. Nate was truly a precocious little man who stole every scene he was in. His interactions with all of the adults melted my heart. I loved the whole group dynamic with the friends and pseudo family they created.
I liked the theme of not settling for less than you deserve. They just had to figure out if they really believed they deserved the other and if it was worth the risk.
This was sweet, romantic, funny second chance NA love story. It was a cute, easy, and quick read. It went through the college years pretty quickly and focused mostly in the present. The pacing was a bit fast overall and it was not overly in depth. I would have like a bit more of digging deeper with some of their issues and past. But there was just enough angst and drama to keep it interesting, but not enough to be overly frustrating. And it was one of those reads that makes you smile and laugh despite some heartbreaking situations.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Devyn Summers and Riley McIntyre meet in their freshman year of college and quickly become best of friends, despite Riley’s early attempts to cross the friend zone line Devyn had drawn. But Devyn has a list of things she wants to do before she graduates and becomes an “adult” and just before graduation, she decides crossing the last item from the list with help from her best friend is the perfect way to finish the list and lose her virginity.
Five years after that night, Riley is determined to fix everything he lost and get back the only girl he’s ever loved. But he doesn’t know that Devyn has been keeping a secret all this time.
The college years flew by so fast I felt like I didn’t have a solid foundation for the feelings that would carry them through 5 years without contact. I’m not saying I didn’t believe the feelings were there, I just wish more time had been spent developing and showing the attraction between these best friends versus a quick telling.
But I loved these two together. They were cute, had a great chemistry based not only on physical attraction but also personal comfort and genuine friendship. Those lost years and the misunderstandings and secrets hurt to think too hard about, but the way the story is told, it is not so much the lost time that damages their relationship.
The side characters were a great addition to the story, and both added to the humor and the drama.
This was a light, fairly fast read. While I had some issues with the pacing and lack of depth, this was a great low drama (until the secret Devyn’s been keeping is revealed...then the drama kicks up). I found myself both grinning at the antics of the characters and wanted to shake some sense into them, often at the same time. While it wasn’t overly emotional or angsty, it was a sweet, romantic read that entertained.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Devyn Summers meets Riley McIntyre early in their freshman year of college and she immediately friend zones him despite his best efforts. So they become the best for friends. She's the girl of his dreams: low maintenance, sports fan, beautiful, and funny, and they get along perfectly. But she has a single minded focus on school. For the sake of their friendship, he played by her friend zone rules throughout college. And in doing that, she sees him as a popular player who never hurts for female attention.
But at the end of college, she blindsides him with a shocking request before they move onto new opportunities. So they make a deal for one night of no strings sex and then plan on going back to their usual friendship. But one night changes everything: Some things are realized, some things bring out fears, and something of major significance happens.
Despite time and distance, they had a profound effect on each other's lives. And when Riley gets another opportunity, he knows he wants to pursue her. But there is a lot of water under the bridge. Mistakes, fears, miscommunication and missed opportunities have messed up their chances so far. She has built her own life and he really has no place in it.
Can Riley convince her to take chance on him and that he is ready to finally be everything she needs?
The characters were likable even when I wanted to smack sense into them. They had a good rapport and connection and chemistry. I liked that they truly connected as friends first. I enjoyed getting both points of view. The side characters especially their friends Brody and Rainey and her brother Drew were also humorous and interesting. I look forward to more with them in subsequent books. Nate was truly a precocious little man who stole every scene he was in. His interactions with all of the adults melted my heart. I loved the whole group dynamic with the friends and pseudo family they created.
I liked the theme of not settling for less than you deserve. They just had to figure out if they really believed they deserved the other and if it was worth the risk.
This was sweet, romantic, funny second chance NA love story. It was a cute, easy, and quick read. It went through the college years pretty quickly and focused mostly in the present. The pacing was a bit fast overall and it was not overly in depth. I would have like a bit more of digging deeper with some of their issues and past. But there was just enough angst and drama to keep it interesting, but not enough to be overly frustrating. And it was one of those reads that makes you smile and laugh despite some heartbreaking situations.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Five years after that night, Riley is determined to fix everything he lost and get back the only girl he’s ever loved. But he doesn’t know that Devyn has been keeping a secret all this time.
The college years flew by so fast I felt like I didn’t have a solid foundation for the feelings that would carry them through 5 years without contact. I’m not saying I didn’t believe the feelings were there, I just wish more time had been spent developing and showing the attraction between these best friends versus a quick telling.
But I loved these two together. They were cute, had a great chemistry based not only on physical attraction but also personal comfort and genuine friendship. Those lost years and the misunderstandings and secrets hurt to think too hard about, but the way the story is told, it is not so much the lost time that damages their relationship.
The side characters were a great addition to the story, and both added to the humor and the drama.
This was a light, fairly fast read. While I had some issues with the pacing and lack of depth, this was a great low drama (until the secret Devyn’s been keeping is revealed...then the drama kicks up). I found myself both grinning at the antics of the characters and wanted to shake some sense into them, often at the same time. While it wasn’t overly emotional or angsty, it was a sweet, romantic read that entertained.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Laura Lee Website/Facebook/Twitter
Laura Lee is the author of the bestselling Karli Lane series and the Dealing With Love series. She is a proud member of the Romance Writers of America focusing on paranormal, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance.
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