REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: LOVE STORY by LAUREN LAYNE

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Love Story
Love Unexpectedly #3

By: Lauren Layne

Releasing February 14, 2017
Loveswept

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In Love Story (Love Unexpectedly #3) by Lauren Layne, having to spend a two week trip in a car with her ex-boyfriend and the only man she's ever loved could break Lucy Hawkins. If she's not arguing with him, they're pretending to ignore the intense chemistry that still bounces between them. Will Lucy be able to forgive Reece for hurting her in the past, so they can have a chance at happy ever after? 

Reece Sullivan thought he was doing the right thing for himself when he broke Lucy's heart, but all it's done is made them bitter towards each other. Spending time in a car with her for two weeks during a road trip isn't his idea of fun, but the more time they're forced to spend together, the more he finds himself falling for her all over again. The question is - will his fears get in the way of their second shot at a happy ending?

I've read quite a few books by Ms. Layne, and I've got to say that I can't get enough of her books. Really, it seems as soon as I finish one, I always want to start another. And this third book in her Love Unexpectedly series is a wonderful read, encompassing the second chance romance and matchmaking tropes; two main characters that struggle with their feelings for the other, especially since it seems they still love each other; and the pair needing to find forgiveness, if they're to get their second chance at love. The way this story started with the prologue introduces readers superbly to the relationship between Lucy and Reece in the past, a little bit to do with what this book is about and definitely sets the fast-pace of the story. 

As for the dialogue, it was was well-written and intense due to the main characters back stories and their past relationship that ended horribly and puts them at odds. Can they find a way to forgive each other? Will they find a way to work through their anger towards each other, especially since Lucy blames Reece for what he did in the past? Reece has serious abandonment issues, and I could understand why he did what he did to Lucy in the past. It was better for him to leave her, then she to leave him down the track, but did he have to use such a hurtful manner to get them to go their separate ways?

Both the main characters were intriguing, and I loved how this story flipped between the past and the present, revealing how close Reece and Lucy were until the moment when their relationship fell apart. In a way, he was her protector; the one person that swooped in and made everything better. Yet now, it's hard for her to think of him like that until the moment when she needs him most. Even if what happens reminds her of the most painful moment in her life. While Reece, he annoyed me a tad with his efforts to try and protect himself from hurt. Why couldn't he realize that Lucy was nothing like his family? That she was determined to fight for their relationship when the going got tough on their journey to a second chance at love. Yet, at the same time, I could understand his reasons for pushing Lucy away in the past. She had big dreams, and he wasn't about to allow her to not follow them. Not when she's so smart, driven and passionate in most aspects of her life, and most especially when it came her future and what she wanted to do.     

Overall, Ms. Layne penned a really good read in this book where the romance was filled with plenty of passion and spilled onto the pages in nicely-detailed sex scenes that did justice to this couple's strong chemistry. The way this story ended was delightful, as Reece discovered what he's always known in his heart. He can't live without Lucy, and if he didn't win her back than he'd never be completely happy in life. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up perfectly. Who knew Lucy and Reece could be so competitive and still be good sports about who wins and loses? I would recommend Love Story by Lauren Layne, if you enjoy the second chance romance trope or a story where the secondary characters very subtly matchmake.

OVERALL RATING:

 

 

BLURB:

Over the course of one wild road trip, feuding childhood sweethearts get a second chance at love in this charming rom-com—a standalone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Blurred Lines and Good Girl.

When Lucy Hawkins receives a job offer in San Francisco, she can’t wait to spread her wings and leave her small Virginia hometown behind. Her close-knit family supports her as best they can, by handing over the keys to a station wagon that’s seen better days. The catch? The cross-country trip comes with a traveling companion: her older brother’s best friend, aka the guy who took Lucy’s virginity hours before breaking her heart.

After spending the past four years and every last dime caring for his sick father, Reece Sullivan will do just about anything to break free of the painful memories—even if it means a two-week road trip with the one girl who’s ever made it past his carefully guarded exterior. But after long days of bickering in the car turn into steamy nights in secluded motel rooms, Reece learns that, when it comes to Lucy, their story is far from over. And this time, they just might have a shot at a happy ending.

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“Spock, we’re giving you Horny!” my mom blurts out, apparently fed up with my denseness.

Her utterance is too much for my siblings to handle and they both burst out laughing, retreating into the kitchen to rejoin the party where there’s wine.

Oh what I wouldn’t give for wine right now.

“I, um . . . you’re giving me the car?” I ask.

“Because yours broke down,” my dad explains, walking forward to thump Horny’s dented hood.

“And this one’s . . . not broken down?” I ask skeptically.

Look, it’s not that I’m not grateful. My parents are trying to give me a car, I appreciate the sweetness of the gesture, it’s just . . .

Here’s the thing about Horny: he barely got us three kids through high school. I mean, Horny is the car that sputtered and shook making it the 3.2 miles to Jefferson High, no matter who was behind the wheel.

I’m even going to come all the way clean here and say that early on in my freshmen year, I was embarrassed showing up in Horny. Then I realized I was lucky to have a car at all, and well . . . I dunno, I guess Horny became a part of us Hawkins kids’ charm, because the station wagon was practically an institution from Craig’s high school reign all the way through Brandi’s.

But poor Horny quit working years ago. Much to Brandi’s chagrin, he gave up the ghost a mere two months before her high school graduation, and I spent the last bit of her senior year being picked up by my parents.

“He’s going to take you to California,” Dad says, giving the car another thump.

“Really?” I step forward and run a tentative finger along the familiar panel. He’s had a bath, so at least that’s something. “Because last I knew, he wouldn’t even make it out of the garage.”

“Yeah, well, we neglected him for a while, but he’s right as rain now,” Dad says, puffing out his chest as though Horny’s a fourth child.

“Like, as in he actually starts?”

“Purrs like a kitten,” my mom says with an emphatic nod, even though I know she doesn’t even like cats. “We didn’t believe it, but we took him to church on Sunday and there were no issues.”

I literally bite my tongue to keep from pointing out that this is hardly a feat. Sacred Presbyterian is 0.8 miles away from the house.

“You took Horny into a shop?” I ask, starting to warm to the idea of having a car again. I’m a little touched, actually. Money is tight for my parents. Dad’s a PE teacher, and Mom gives a mean winery tour, but the gig’s never paid much.

“Not exactly, it was more of a bartering situation,” Mom says.

“Yeah?” I say, going around to the driver’s seat, already giddy with the prospect of telling Oscar I’ll be able to come see him in Miami after all, even if I won’t exactly be riding in style.

“Reece agreed to fix him up.”

I’m lowering myself into the car as my dad says this, but I reverse so quickly I hit my head. My skull doesn’t even register the pain, because I’m too busy registering the hurt in my heart at the familiar name. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Reece,” my mom says, giving me a bemused look. “He’s always been handy with cars.”

“He fixed up the car in exchange for what?”

And then I feel—I actually feel—the air change around me as the side door to the garage opens, and a new presence sucks all the air out of the space.

I don’t turn around. I don’t move. But I feel his eyes on me. Over me.

“Reece is headed out to California too,” my oblivious mother chatters on. “It worked out perfectly actually. Now you two can ride together, and your dad and I don’t have to worry about you alone in the middle of nowhere with a twenty-something-year-old car.

They think the car is going to be the problem here? It’s not the car that’s toxic to me. It’s him.

Reece Sullivan. My brother’s best friend. My parents’ “other son.”

Slowly I force myself to turn, and even though I’m prepped, the force of that ice-blue gaze still does something dangerous to me.

He winks, quick and cocky, and I suck in a breath, and I have to wonder . . .

I wonder if my parents would feel differently about their little plan if they knew that their makeshift mechanic is the same guy that popped my cherry six years earlier under their very roof.

And then broke my heart twenty-four hours later.
 

 

 

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Lauren Layne is the New York Times bestselling author of over a dozen romantic comedies.

A former e-commerce and web marketing manager from Seattle, Lauren relocated to New York City in 2011 to pursue a full-time writing career.

She lives in midtown Manhattan with her high-school sweetheart, where she writes smart romantic comedies with just enough sexy-times to make your mother blush. In LL's ideal world, every stiletto-wearing, Kate Spade wielding woman would carry a Kindle stocked with Lauren Layne books. 
 

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