Hugh is a very famous actor who partially grew up in the foster system. He has this need to prove that he is worth something in this world. That is what ultimately played a part in ending his engagement to the love of his life.

Jessica is a veterinarian who is down to earth. She genuinely loves animals and puts them first in her life. She also put her fiancé first when Hugh was an up and coming actor finally getting recognized for his talent. It was clear to her that she was holding him back and made the most difficult decision to let him go.

This book starts after 8 years of silence between Hugh and Jessica. It was a chance meeting that put these two back in the same world from what they were living, but there is lingering damage from their breakup. Their story is about healing and recognizing what truly drove their relationship apart.

This actually has a few tropes all in one. It starts out with a bit of a love triangle. It's also a second chance love, a celebrity romance and a slow burn. What's funny is, I'm not exactly a fan of most of these tropes. So why read it? I've read and truly enjoyed this authors previous books. I wanted to see if she could make me forget why I don't love these tropes and I would say she was pretty successful at it.

I just seem to really connect with the characters she writes. She does a great job of blending a normal, everyday person and pair them up with that unattainable millionaire or famous sports figure or in this case, a very famous actor. She also handles conflicts very well. I feel that she takes the time to treat each conflict with the focus it deserves and that helps you connect more with these characters.

So while I didn't love the tropes in this, I was still pulled into Hugh and Jessica's lives like a good book will do. I look forward to more from this author.

Hugh and Jess have a history. Though in love and engaged, he was a rising movie star, she a vet, and neither could figure out how to combining both worlds.

Eight years later, Hugh is filming his latest film, and they run into each other, literally. Their attraction is still there, their old wounds, and old feelings, are also there.

But, Hugh’s history is what keeps getting in their way, his fear of losing Jess causing him doubts about whether or not she’ll stay. She left him because she didn’t want to hold him back, now he wonders if being with him will make her resent him.

I enjoy Herkness’ characters, who always have deeper layers, and lead interesting lives, from the vet to the youth Center manager, to the movie star and author.

Great book and series.

KU

DNF at 26%.

Jessica Quillen and Hugh Baker were young lovers until the expectations of his job as a movie star tore them apart. Now she is a vet for an animal charity and he is world famous. They run into each other again after several years when Jessica accidentally ruins a shoot by chasing a stray dog across the alley where they are filming. Hugh realises that he made a huge mistake and will do everything he can to win Jessica back.

I just couldn't get into this and I found the way that Hugh booked a hotel room for Jessica and ran her a bath just to give her some down time was more creepy than charming. Overall, I found his OTT charm offensive a bit cloying and her melting in puddles of goo a bit off-putting.

I stopped and restarted reading this several times but decided my head wasn't in the right place to enjoy this book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I liked this book but there were 2 things that really irritated.

I didn’t like how at the beginning it’s shown that Hugh and Jess broke up because he was making her unsure of herself but then it’s all fine when they see each other again. When they talk about it, it’s as if nothing happened but there were some sort of flashbacks shown where Hugh would act like Jess is an embarrassment to him and that she’s not good enough.

Then everything is fine and they spend some time together so I got over that. But then Hugh breaks up with her for stupid reasons where Jess interprets it as her not being good enough for him again and then she’s the one who fights for him when he’s the one at fault again.

I liked the books in this series and even though this one had things that really annoyed me, it was ok but I don’t think that I’ll read any other books by this author as they never have developed side characters.

I haven’t read the first book in this series, but I didn’t find it hindering to my experience. I imagine that it would be nice to go back and read the first book though!

These two characters were absolutely... there are no words with strength enough to describe how much I loved them, both separately and together. I adored Jess’ character — she was resilient, strong, courageous and funny. I also loved Hugh’s character — he was charming, caring, sweet, and incredibly lovable!

— I loved the writing; it was brilliant. There was a multitude of depth to it and I found it utterly entrancing. I appreciated the uncommon words used throughout and had to utilise my kindle dictionary, which I always appreciate. It was a lot of fun to adapt to the authors writing style and I was thoroughly pulled in by it and really, really enjoyed the way she wrote a story. The writing flowed so easily and transitioned from one event to another with such ease; it felt as if I had just leaned back into a luscious pillow and settled down with a timeless classic movie. I really appreciated that and adored the way the book was crafted overall.
— Though the plot follows a similar formula to other novels of its genre, I have to say that it felt wildly different, both due to the tone of the writing and the characters themselves. There was an element of predictability to it, but it was crafted in such a way that I thoroughly enjoyed it as opposed to it hindering my reading experience. Part of the predictability was that I could focus more on the characters which is a mightily good thing considering how amazing these characters actually are.
— I felt ALL of the things! It made me well up, my heart pounded from worry and fear, my heart swelled with love and happiness, I became a little hot under the collar, I became giddy and gleeful... this story really does influence a lot of emotion and I loved every moment of it.
— The pairing is absolutely precious. I was rooting for them right from the start. They have an intense chemistry that jumps out from the page and surrounds you whilst reading. They have such an undeniable bond to one another, and they click so seamlessly. They communicate, they’re honest, they’re funny, and they clearly adore each other and I really loved seeing such a pure, true depiction of love. These two are so, so utterly beautiful.
— The secondary characters are phenomenal too - they are given just the right amount of page time without them dominating the story. They are such likeable, lovable characters that I would love to read more from.

This book is absolutely without a doubt one of my favourite romances. I’ve definitely found a new author in Nancy Herkness and can’t wait to read more from her!

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- Excellent - Highly Recommended
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - A good, solid read
3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - An okay read
2 ⭐️⭐️ - Meh
1 ⭐️ - Not my cup of tea