Her Best Friend's Lover

I could not put this book down once I started it. The characters, plot and dialogue are intense, solid and all too believable. This story packs an emotional punch that will have you up at all hours of the night eagerly turning the pages.

Enjoyable read about a best friends who finally discover one another. Unfortunately there are hurdles to overcome that can jeopardize their new relationship and family. There are issues of trust, identity, true feelings, lies, and many more that usually comes with a complicated relationship.

This was my first look at Ms. Walker's writing and I must say the emotions she made me feel when reading this book, I wasn't expecting. Ms. Walker has the ability to draw you into the story and take you along with the feelings and emotions that the hero/heroine are feeling. This book made me a Shiloh Walker fan for life.

This is a friends to lovers romance, about two neighbours. Lauren is in love with Dale and has been since they first met, but Dale still pines for an old love (now married with children). There's no chance he'll be with her again, but he still grieves the loss. One drunken night Lauren and Dale's friendship changes when they sleep together, a memory Lauren won't forget as it's resulted in an unexpected pregnancy, even as for Dale it's an elusive dream. There were lots of sexy scenes in this story as Dale and Lauren pursue a relationship, with Dale supporting Lauren's pregnancy even while he doesn't know who the father is. For me, the lack of communication from Lauren was frustrating. I felt like the book could have been half the length as much of the second half was taken up with her hesitation to reveal the truth to Dale, even as their relationship deepens and Dale realizes he's in love with Lauren. The story takes place over a good chunk of time, all the way into and past the birth of the child. For readers who like unexpected pregnancy plots and stories that actually take you past the happy ending to the work phase of a marriage, this will be a story they'll enjoy. It was an okay read for me (unexpected pregnancy is not my favourite trope) and I've enjoyed lots of stories by this author before, so I'll still be reading more of her books. 3 stars.

Boring.

Lauren has been in love with her best friend Dale for years, but after being hurt by the women who still holds his heart he no longer does relationships. After Dale ends up drunk and he and Lauren spend a passionate night together he doesn’t remember who he was with and Lauren isn’t telling. Now he is fantasizing about a mystery woman and can’t get the sexy images of Lauren out of his head. Lauren now has a mystery man she isn’t telling him about and jealousy is rearing its ugly head. This is a steamy emotional read, Lauren annoyed me at time however I was hooked from beginning to end. Loved it!

Oh the drama!! If you like a little (ok, a lot) of drama, this book is for you. I had a really hard time with the entire story line - I felt the characters were unrealistic & the angst just went on for too long. ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dale Stoner is as typical lothario, burying himself in countless women to forget about an ex. Lauren Spencer is his neighbor and best friend. She’s been secretly in love with him for 5 years and solely in his friend-zone. One drunken night is going to change everything. This was a decent story with some hot scenes to one. One thing that got on my nerves was why Lauren kept secret about their first night together and the result for so long. This irritated me. I understood her trust issue so I got her aversion to men, even if I didn’t understand her willingness to keep her heart open to Dale’s lifestyle for so long. **I received a copy of this story from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Dale Stoner attempted to give his heart to a woman who didn't return his affections, and learning that she didn't feel the same way crushed him, so from that point on he decided love just wasn't in the cards for him. If he couldn't experience love with her and have a life with her then he didn't want love in his life at all, so, it lead him to take a no feelings approach to relationships. He keeps all of his entanglements with woman purely on a no strings attached level, figuring it keeps him safe from being hurt again, and prohibits them from ever getting too close. He does however have one exception to his rule... his best friend of five years Lauren. With her things are different, love isn't involved, it's a relationship based purely on friendship, and friends don't spend time between the sheets... or do they? From the moment Dale moved in next door Lauren fell hard for him, and has harbored a crush on him since the day he introduced himself to her, but Dale doesn't look at her the same way. He's hung up on another woman, and it kills Lauren to see him torture himself over her and what they could have had, she'd love nothing more than for him to care for her that way, but he just sees her as his friend. After another devastating letter from his ex, he goes on a little bender, and Lauren is there to pick up the pieces and provide a shoulder for him to cry on, but this time he wants a little more than just her shoulder...now she must decide if she should cross this line with him, and give into his alcohol induced advances or do the right thing and reject him? This heart-wrenching and oh so sexy story drew me in and had me hanging onto every printed word, and immediately invested in these characters lives, it was SO addictive!! So much so, it lead to me having a late night reading fest just to see how it would all unfold, and I have to admit it was DEFINITELY worth the loss of sleep!! This was my first book by this author, and I can say with complete certainty it won't be my last, between her well crafted characters and beautifully written and oh so addictive story line she completely won me over and turned me into a fan!! This was a refreshing, and unique take on the friends to lovers trope and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it!! Highly recommend it!! ARC requested through NetGalley, and kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.

Shiloh walker does it again!