Allison Ashley absolutely delivers with this swoony friends-to-lovers romance. The pining and the yearning and the kisses swept me off my feet, and I couldn't help falling in love with Noah and Mia. I loved every second of this book!" - Falon Ballard The half star is for Gertrude. The fact she was hateful to Claire in the beginning- listen, dogs KNOW THINGS. Trust your pet, Graham. Even better than just the physical book, I did this as an immersive reading, bringing in the audio to listen alongside it. Honestly, this is the best rom-com audio I have EVER listened to. Ann Marie Gideon does a remarkable job of bringing out Claire’s humor and wit, Graham’s charm, Gertrude’s snark, and making the whole listening experience pretty unforgettable. This one definitely left me with a bookish hangover.

The slow burn romance is sweet, the chemistry and sensuality sizzling, the main characters well fleshed out and relatable, the secondary characters vivid and of I loved the concept and setup for this romance. I LOVE a friends to lovers, forced proximity romance. And add in care taking and I'm HOOKED.Let me make something clear: this is NOT a literary masterpiece. My enjoyment is not based on Allison Ashley going full Shakespeare and taking me on a mystical journey with unique prose. The writing is simple and straightforward. A little awkward, especially at the beginning. No, my enjoyment is founded in the sweetness of the story and how Ashley wrote a romcom without getting on the Pander Express. Her logic is like me looking at my husband after twenty years of marriage when his dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and saying, “I don’t want to watch that possibly happen to you or live in fear that it might so we need to divorce”. That’s not how love works.

On a day she's running late she bumps into Andrew Bishop, a super attractive guy at the local coffee shop. But a few minutes later Lauren crosses paths with him again - he's a patient at the cancer clinic she works, and it's seeking treatment for Hodgkin Lymphoma. Roommates slash good friends Claire and have known each other for a long time and they've enjoyed each other's company. Not until recently, the physical tension between them is top notch and a weird chemistry is building up that both of them cannot ignore, even if they try to.The woman came forward. “Oh, hello. I’m Darcy Lane—I have an appointment?” It came out like a question. DISCLAIMER: I am not a seasoned romance reader, so if you are a romcom vet, you may feel very differently about this book. It’s really rare that I love all the characters.. but I did. Claire is killing it at work.. but not exactly in her love life… I adored her!! As soon as I heard ER nurse and firefighter 🚒… I was SOLD!! I mean… HELLO… I am an ER nurse and work with tons of paramedics… 🤷‍♀️ They are seriously so much fun to work with… just saying… So technically this is not listed as a series, but the characters from Would You Rather are very involved here since they're best friends, so do with that what you will.

Summary: Claire and Graham are roommates who decide to get married when they are 40 if they do not have any other potential prospects hence name roommate pact. After a week or whatever they decide that instead of that plan they can be F-buddies instead but only when their other roommate leaves for their month long vacation. Graham has a hiking accident that leaves him with broken ribs and a broken leg. Claire assumes the role of caregiver and they have lots of intimate moments. They get to know each other on a deeper level, discuss their fears and do other "things" also. Graham falls first and once he expresses feelings Claire gets scared because she doesn't want to be in a relationship with someone who has a dangerous career b/c her father died as a pilot.Also need authors to stop equating lust with love. It's annoying as hell. Most of it was then describing each other bodies (majorly Noah. Massive creep) and thinking that is somehow supposed to convey they love each other? No. They have pent up sexual tension. There is more to why two people love each other and it is frustrating to see authors ignore all that and just considering sexual attraction the same as romantic feelings. Allison Ashley skillfully builds a gripping emotional arc that goes along with a harsh dose of reality, while capturing the excitement, fun and joy of new love. I was mesmerized by the bantering dialogue between Andrew and Lauren as they got to know each other. Honestly, the way Noah’s boss/mentor reacted when things finally came out made me think of listening to an employer complaining about how expensive an employee with a certain expensive condition was because those company-funded insurance costs cut into profit margins that later become bonuses. So really the only reason that upper management at Noah’s firm has a reason to be mad is because they could have unloaded a really expensive employee and now they can’t because she’s married to a current employee. Which is legal. They are legally married. And the reasons for the marriage are absolutely no business of the management of the company, and if they knew what was good for them in terms of liability, they would stay TF out of that conversation because marital status might not be a protected class federally, but it is in Colorado as I understand it from a very brief Google search. So basically any kind of retaliation against Noah for getting married when he’s within his rights to do so however he wants is absolutely gross, and he frankly shouldn’t want to work at a place like that.

S/o to all the healthcare workers, EMT, firefighters, police officers etc. You guys MATTER! If it were not for you I might not have finished this book. I clearly could not get over the egregiousness of the “fraud” plotline; however, if you are willing to allow an absurdly manufactured tension point pull a story along, then as I said, the marriage of convenience component will undoubtedly hit every single button you’re looking for in that trope. They didn’t end up going to therapy (but they should have), but they did do a great job of processing their hangups at the end to allow themselves to be vulnerable to each other and not to act from a place of fear. So that was good. Lauren is dedicated to her career and generous with her time and talents. Because of her professional position, she tries to keep Andrew in the friendzone – but he wasn’t having any of that – and his persistence worked double-time to make her his.I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The woman seemed stunned for a second as she looked at Noah, blinking several times. “Um, sure. Yes, that’s fine. I know I’m a little early.”