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My Review:Title: End of Story
Author: Kylie Scott
Published by: Graydon House
Release Date: February 14, 2023
Format: eARC
Pages: 314
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 1, Lenoreo's 2023 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound ✩ Book Depository
My rating:
Blurb:New York Times bestselling sensation Kylie Scott's sexy, smart and unconventional opposites-attract love story looks at what happens when fate refuses to give up on what's meant to be…
When Susie Bowen inherits a charming fixer-upper from her aunt, she’s excited to start living her best HGTV life. But when she opens the door to find that her contractor is none other than her ex’s best friend, Lars—the same man who witnessed their humiliating public breakup six months ago—she isn’t exactly eager to have anyone around whose alliance is with the enemy. But, beggars can't be choosers and the sooner the repairs are done, the sooner she can get back to embracing singledom.
Things go from awkward to unbelievable when Lars discovers a divorce certificate hidden in a wall and dated ten years in the future—with both their names on it. It couldn’t possibly be real…could it? As Susie and Lars work to unravel the document’s origins, the impossibility of a spark between them suddenly doesn’t seem so far-fetched. But would a relationship between them be doomed before it’s even begun?
I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4 stars — I was a little worried about the woo woo aspect of the story, but for me it was just a plot device, and remained a solid contemporary romance. And while this story was light in some aspects, I really appreciated how it brought about these conversations about what makes a relationship long lasting…there were some great gems in here.
I wasn’t sure what I was going to get with Susie, and honestly she kind of surprised me. She was this sort of awkward, forthright, sassy heroine, with a healthy dose of neuroses…likely earned from a childhood spent in a broken family. She made me snort laugh on occasion, and the dry wit was strong with her. I appreciated that she had a lot of flaws, but we got to see her steadily grow throughout the book, in a believable way.
While we didn’t get Lars’ POV, I still felt like I had a pretty good handle on who he was. He was definitely the grumpy in this story, but mostly he was just reserved. He was hard-working and loyal (to a fault). He had his own share of flaws to work through, and as with Susie, he grew in a believable way himself. Normally his obliviousness to certain things would have driven me nuts, but you really did get to see him trying to better himself before our eyes, and that was really satisfying.
Their relationship was such a strange one. They start out not quite as enemies, but definitely not as friends. And each stage in their relationship had its ups and down as they worked through things both together and separately. And those moments where they *chose* each other, chose to continue on the path…just, so sweetly satisfying.
I was also strangely okay with the whole weird plot device. My hubby (from me telling him about it) was less tolerant, but I think I could see from the beginning that it wasn’t meant to be the point of the story, just a unique way to push our characters forward.
So yeah. The perfect balance of lightness and depth, and a different way to give me the romance that my heart always yearns for in books.
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