Prose Before Bros by Cathy Yardley

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Title: Prose Before Bros
Author: Cathy Yardley
Series: Green Valley Library #3
Published by: Smartypants Romance
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Format: eARC
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: Social Butterfly PR
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 New Release Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:

Blurb:

Nothing about being a librarian prepared Thuy Nguyen for such a wide variety of casseroles. Or life in a small town. Or becoming a farmer.

But what can she do when her catastrophe-prone best friend begs her for help? After all, Maddy has always been there for Thuy. It’s time to return the favor.

It’s simple really, all she has to do is: learn everything about farming ASAP, save her BBF’s family business from disaster, and avoid being caught staring at Maddy’s biker brother, and his muscles, and his smile, and his soulful, sexy eyes.

Oh yeah, and she should definitely not fall in love with him.Easy, right? . . . Right.

'Prose Before Bros' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#3 in the Green Valley Library series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Review:

I received a free copy through Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — I adore this author and the kinds of characters she brings to the table, and she didn’t disappoint in this book either.  Drill and Thuy were hella unique, and I loved how they just fit with one another.

Now, I’ll start this review with an admission: I’m not a motorcycle club kind of girl…I just can’t seem to get over myself when the hero is part of something that does morally corrupt (or at least questionable) things.  I’m kind of unforgiving in that way.  And that bothered me with Drill in this book.  But the funny thing is, I loved how Thuy and Maddy both brought him to task about some stuff.  Still, it’s hard to swoon over a guy who has to have some of those things pointed out to him.  I just couldn’t connect with all of who Drill was, I didn’t quite understand.  I’m not sure I would have ever been satisfied though, but that’s just a personal taste thing, you know?

Now that’s not saying that I didn’t truly appreciate Drill’s struggle, and his facing the fact that that blankness he’d been experiencing was actually dissatisfaction.  It’s an intriguing prospect, b/c from the beginning, we all know that getting “out” is just not something that is easily done.  And I think I had a hard time with that, a hard time having faith in Ms. Yardley that she would come up with a solution that would satisfy me, but wouldn’t seem too easy, you know?  (Have no fear, she didn’t let me down)

Aside from all of that, my favourite part of Drill was how sweet he could be, that really surprised and delighted me.  I also loved how just having Maddy and Thuy in his life opened his eyes to so many possibilities.

And then there’s Thuy.  I LOVED how passionate Thuy was about being a librarian, and I loved seeing her passion for books and reading spread to others.  As a bibliophile, I’m always going to love a reader heroine.  It’s a natural kinship.  She was kind of a strange heroine in other ways, because she was so forthright and bold in so many ways.  I loved the way she stood up for herself, and moreso for Maddy, and how fierce she could be.  And GODDAMN I loved her nerdiness.  I loved how excited she got talking games and books with everyone, but especially the teens.  That was just exactly what I expect and love from Ms. Yardley.

I loved seeing the attraction and fun flirting between Thuy and Drill.  You could really see their feelings move from attraction, to adding friendship, to wanting more than just the lust side of things.  They connected over things that not many others would understand, and so they kind of became the perfect counterpoints to one another.

I will admit that there were moments where I just wanted more…maybe more depth from each of them, more depth to their relationship (it felt a bit fast at times, especially their feelings).  Just…more.  Hence why it’s not higher than 4 from me.

What’s great about a favourite author is that even when they write a book in a trope/genre I don’t gravitate towards, they still succeed in writing characters I can connect with and root for…and that’s exactly what happened for me with Drill.  Thuy I was always going to love, because she’s just awesome.  😉