Before I even begin my review can we just stare at these glorious covers??? So lovely !!
I devoured Mia’s debut last year (Acting on Impulse) and enjoyed it thoroughly, so of course I had to have book 2, which is Ashley and Julian’s story, the sister and best friend of book 1’s hero, Carter.
Without a doubt, Mia has done it again!! Made me fall so hard for these characters.
Julian and Ashley were so fun to read about! Loved their voice, I especially enjoyed being in Ashley’s head. Her thoughts made me snicker multiple times, and i could so relate to so many of them. When Ashley gets a bit sexually frustrated:
When he slides his tongue over his bottom lip to catch the juices, I swoon. Screw you, Julian. Screw you. But not really. What I really mean is, screw me, Julian. Screw me.
This book was just so happy making. So many fun scenes. Between Julian and Ash. Between Carter and Tori’s families and i especially enjoyed whenever Ash, Tori and Tori’s bestie, Eva were in a scene together. Having female friendships like this is always a plus for me in romance. I love the couple of course, but I’m always appreciative when he see them with their friends and families 🙂
The tropes in this book are so my jam: forced proximity, fake dating, crush on brother’s best friend. yes to allll of it. Julian and Ashley truly brought out the best in each other. It was great to see that. Julian is so serious. He came off like that in book 1 and continued to be so partially in his book but then!! the banter with Ashley and his terrible attempts at making jokes. i love that guy seriously.
How Ashley is way more carefree but J makes her see she is her own person, not just Carter Stone’s lil sis as everyone seems to just refer to her. Their relationships with Carter are so different but in the end they both realized their lives and hopes and creams didnt have to centre on him, even as they both loved him. That was so well done over the course of the book.
I am saying right the heck now that the end of chapter 20 almost killed me o mg. Julian walks in on Ash taking care of biznesssss and calling out his name and awkwaaaard but the end result. helloooo 😉 Mia Sosa bring the sexy and steamy and I was so here for it. The damn build up, so much tension!! was worth the wait mmhmm.
I enjoy ensemble casts in books. We learn so much from the people the MCs surround themselves with. Ashley needs Julian to be her fake boyfriend to keep the family members she can’t stand off her back and Julian goes along with the plan as it’s come to light that the cousin who is always mean to Ash had a crush on Julian. Perfect set up for shenanigans! Like, “oh you two are dating you can totally sleep together in this room/on this bed no prbs right?” type shenanigans. My fave kind. LOL
But yes. Listen, Tori and Carter getting married was just so emotional to me, because if you’ve read book 1 you’ll know why. Carter really did that ya’ll!! 🙂
And hello i adored Eva, and we meet her LI in this book and hellooo Anthony. They dont get along. This is gonna be awesome mwahahaha.
So while we have the budding romance going on between Ashley and Julian, there was also commentary on the whitewashing in Hollywood. So timely. and explored so well. Julian is the only MOC at his agency, and his boss keeps trying to get him to not be vocal on the whitewashing problem in their industry, as it could affect Carter’s career. Which since J is also his friend is some cause for internal conflict but in the end, it played out really well.
I just really enjoyed this book. That ending was so perfect and sweet!!
I highly rec this series 🙂
~RATING~
