Love Me Nots is the third book in the Jasper Falls series. It can be read as a standalone and I haven’t read or listened to the other two books. No issues catching up with characters or complicated backstories. Go for it!

I must be on a small-town romance binge because this is the third one in a row for me- and they’ve all been excellent!  

Perrin is a small town bar owner. She and her sister own the business and Perrin has big plans to expand. She’s also had her fill of heartbreak and has pretty much sworn off all men. The last guy was a lying cheating jackass. Enter Gage King. Not a lying cheating jackass. King runs a huge chain store that sells lumber, think Lowes or Home Depot type retailer. He’s in Jasper Falls to scope out a potential new site for his next store. Jasper Falls is a quaint town of small family businesses and when they get a whiff that King’s in town, well…they’re not supportive. 

Perrin and King have chemistry. They meet in her bar and King is completely smitten. When Perrin approaches the bank to buy a piece of land adjacent to her bar, she finds out there’s already an offer on the property. While she’s super attracted to King, he’s also swooped in to buy the land she wanted for her expansion. 

I enjoyed this short book quite a bit! This was an audiobook for me and Ava Erickson did a terrific job with the narration, and while the steam level was low, the story had so much heart and made me feel all was right in the world for just a few moments. It’s tough out there right now and I turn to romances like this to help me escape from the ugliness. I loved Gage. He stepped in it with a pretty big mistake, not related to trying to buy the property, but like a champ, he turned it around. As did Perrin, she sealed the deal with a fabulous grand gesture. 

Say you Swear by Megan Brandy had me staying up late and sneaking chapters between zoom calls. This one is a love triangle, sports romance, college situation. Arianna has a big-time crush on her very protective brother/twin’s best friend, Chase. She and her BFF hang out with her brother’s hot friends a lot. I wish that had been my life. I don’t know any young women who had the hot friend group Arianna does. So jealous! Arianna finally decides to let Chase know her true feelings and flirts. Relentlessly. He’s torn, he’s all about the bro-code with her brother, but he’s into Arianna, too. 

They give in. It’s fairly quick but meaningful for one of them. Guess which one? And one has regrets. They all go to the same college, because they’ve been planning that forever and they’re all hot friends. Oh…oh…oh…and their parents LEAVE A FABULOUS OCEANFRONT BEACH HOUSE TO THEM SO THEY CAN ALWAYS BE FRIENDS AND NEVER LOSE EACH OTHER. What?!! My parents gave me $300 a year to spend on clothes. And, I recognize that was pretty lucky compared to a lot of kids. 

In college, it’s awkward. Super awkward with Chase and Arianna. Her brother doesn’t know what happened between them. One more level of hotness I forgot, THEY ALL PLAY FOOTBALL. THEY’RE FREAKIN’ HOT FOOTBALL STARS. Arianna catches some chemistry with new to the friend group guy Noah, the CRAZY HOT AND CHARMING QB who is also on the college team. There’s a love triangle. Chase regrets pushing Arianna away. Arianna is caught between both guys, but eventually chooses and then something absolutely horrible happens that throws the entire book on its head. 

I loved this book. It was totally improbable and I ate it up like a bag of Chex Mix. No entire friend group is this fun, hot, close, athletic and HAS A BEACH HOUSE. It was such a good, fun, decadent escape. I have a new book boyfriend. There will be no others, I’m locked in for now. Perfect beach read. Pour a plastic cup (because no glass on the beach) of Rosé, relax by the water, and devour this one over the summer. 

****Bonus****

A quick final note on Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Angela gave this a full review and I wanted to add my thoughts! I listened to this audiobook and it was amazing! Henry is one of my favorite authors. She never disappoints. I especially enjoyed this one because of the fun small town romance trope that is threaded throughout, and of course that the MCs are both book lovers. The couple is happy and chooses their path in life together without kids. I appreciate that there are different ways to be happy and I liked that Henry recognized that not everyone needs kids for their HEA. Slow, sweet burn of a book! Read it.