Thank you to Corinne and the team at Valentine PR for the advance reader copy of All Too Well, the first interconnected standalone in the Ember Falls series.
There is nothing like starting a new small-town romance series from Corinne Michaels, with a hot firefighter and even hotter chemistry. Lighter on the emotional baggage than season Corinne readers will be used to and a great place for those who have yet to fall for one of her books.
For as long as I can remember, Lachlan West has been my brother’s best friend and the love of my life. Trouble is, he kissed me four years ago and then never spoke to me again.
I was doing great pretending he doesn’t exist until I was assigned to write an article about former college athletes, and I learn that the sexy single dad is my first interview.
Determined to wow my editor with an amazing sportsball piece—(have I mentioned I know nothing about sports?)—I head to Ember Falls, ready to face my fears—and the man I love.
The grumpy quarterback turned fireman wants nothing to do with me or my article. Yet, somehow I persuade him to let me follow him around for a few weeks, and even if he said yes just to get rid of me, I’ll take it.
But the longer I stay in his small town, the more complicated our story gets. The boundaries we set fall to the ground—along with our clothes.
He holds me like I matter, touches me like I’m cherished and kisses me like he loves me.
We both know I have to leave Ember Falls, and he’ll never follow—I only wish I could write a different ending to our story.
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Lachlan West and Ainsley Mackinley are the main characters of this new Corinne Michaels’ series. Ainsley has not seen Like any amazing single-dad romance, you get a swoony male main character and a cute kid. I wish we got a bit more from Rose’s character. Lachlan is your classic Corinne hero, tortured with more baggage and issues than anyone else. While Ainsley has been fawning over Lachlan for years, stubbornness keeps them apart. Ainsley’s not just stubborn but she is fierce and feisty, I admire her love of career so much as someone who leans more towards that in my own life. She feels so relatable though cause we all have the bonehead moments but what did get on my nerves is Ainsley’s and Lachlan’s lasted four years, they did not even have a disapproving brother in the way. I loved how supportive he was and I hope Corinne writes about him soon, I think he has a really interesting story and of course, some more MMC backstory trauma to unfold.
- Setting: Ember Falls, another magic small town with wonderful characters. I loved all the fun outings, especially the trip to the Strawberry Festival and all the ultimate frisbee practices.
- Pacing: The book made me chuckle at so many moments, like how comical it was to imagine these ex-professional athletes running around. This book has excellent banter between the characters, so much so I guarantee it will make you laugh out loud.
- Romance: I am a sucker for a brother’s best friend romance, but the way this story was so many years in the making just pulled on the heartstrings. After four years they found a way back to each other due to a simple circumstance. Maybe after all the years of Corinne’s very devasting romance novels, this one feels easy and heartfelt. I loved Lachlan’s protective streak which came with the territory of being a firefighter, but when he made sure Ainsley was okay it was hard not to swoon.
All Too Well is 4/5 stars
You can pick up the story here.
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Thank you again to Corinne and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!