For You and No One Else by Roni Loren

 

5*

Loren really knocked it out of the park with the 3rd (and presumably final) book in her Say Everything series.  Eliza is a marriage therapist and YouTube wellness guru at WorkAround, the shared office space where we first met her in Book 1. She’s best friends with Hollyn and Andi from the first two books, but it’s her budding relationship with Beckham, the hot, nerdy computer wizard in the office next door, that is the focus of For You and No One Else.

On the surface, they’re an odd pairing. She created her life plan at age 10 (including a husband and 2.5 kids) and is still mourning the loss of her parents who died in a car accident 2 years prior. Beckham, 7 years her junior, dresses in vintage t-shirts, is covered in tattoos, and is a hacker (usually on the legal side). However, after running into each other in the office on Christmas Day and him recognizing that she needs company more than he needs to work, they begin to see in each other a kindred spirit. Since he’s anti-marriage and kids, they both know their relationship will never go anywhere, but they agree to a friends with benefits arrangement after she has one last disastrous date arranged through an app. Of course, this trope plays out as you’d expect, but the emotional gut punch sets it apart from other similar scenarios. 

In addition to her grief and unwavering commitment to stick to her plan, they’re also (mis)handling his baggage which includes childhood trauma that he thought he’d escaped. Ultimately, the question comes down how well you can know a person when they’re hiding a big part of themselves. 

Loren writes romance laced with some heavy real-life challenges, but her characters are so warm and open that you can’t help but root for a happy ending. Although the themes in this book are heavy, there’s plenty of humor, a couple of really adorable pets, and the female friendship between the heroines of all three books that keep it from sinking into despair. I highly recommend the entire series.

The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel

4*

Sophia Barrett has returned to work as a women’s therapist 3 months after suffering a nervous breakdown on the 1-year anniversary of her fiancé’s death in a car accident. After walking out on her first patient (a victim of domestic abuse), she realizes she hasn’t healed. So, on a whim, she decides to travel from Arizona to Cornwall, England, the locale of the books by her favorite author, Robert Appleton, where she rents a cheap apartment above a bookstore in exchange for working there part-time. Ginny, the proprietor, is struggling to save the store after her husband abandons her. While shifting through boxes of old books, Sophie finds a journal with a story from the 19th century about star-crossed Emily Fairfax and her friend (and secret love) Edward Bryant. With the help of Ginny’s brother-in-law, sexy lit professor William, Sophie sets out to discover whether or not the story is true and why she feels so compelled to get answers. Will any of these three women who have suffered for love find redemption?

Set in beautiful Cornwall and featuring a cast of well-drawn female characters, The Secrets of Paper and Ink is a tribute to the power of the written word and its ability to heal the human spirit. There is a faith-based undertone which might be off-putting to some readers, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story. This book will appeal to fans of Beatriz Williams, Susan Meissner, and other authors who write parallel storylines from the past and present in which a mysterious artifact drives the action. Highly-recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.