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Sunday, October 22, 2017

Review: Once a Charmer by Sharla Lovelace


Publication Date: October 17th 2017 by Lyrical Shine
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

About the book:

Charmed, Texas, is a close-knit small town where people’s dreams of love can come true. That’s not to say that some people aren’t still waiting, and dreaming . . .
 
By day, Allie Greene stays busy with her family diner, and keeping tabs on her teenage daughter. What’s really exhausting Allie, however, are the nights. Not that she minds Bash Anderson unbuttoning her naughty desires—if only in her dreams. But what was he doing there at all? He’s her best friend, and a father figure to her girl. Talk about awkward. Talk about OMG-heat-and-fireworks that are flipping fifteen years of normal upside down. And now, when Allie needs him as a friend more than ever, logic doesn’t stand a chance against his lips and irresistible deep-blue eyes . . .

Sure, Bash has fantasized about Allie, but there’s no way he’d act on it. She and her daughter are the closest thing to family he’s ever known. With the exception of one drunken moment fifteen years ago, he and Allie have stayed on this side of the line—until that impulsive kiss of hers knocked him on his butt. That’s just one hurdle. Not only does Allie need Bash’s help to save her diner, but his apiary is in trouble, too. To stir the pot further, they’ve been roped into vying for the town’s Honey King and Queen contest—a sweet event that’s making them closer than ever. Something’s bound to come undone. Bash just hopes it’s not the friendship he’s worked so hard to hold on to.

My Thoughts:
Allie and Bash have been best friends since they were teenagers, always there for each other through thick and thin, a makeshift family without intimate benefits.  Never wanting to jeopardize their friendship they ignored the mutual attraction until recently.  A passionate kiss, three months ago, left them both discombobulated.  Avoiding the issue, they’ve grown apart just when they need each other most.  Allie finds out she could lose her diner, and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Angel is discovering the opposite sex! Bash is having his own business struggles, as well.

Once a Charmer ended up being a touching best-friends-to-lovers romance! I had my doubts because up until about the 37% mark I was getting a little frustrated that Bash and Allie weren’t communicating.  I guess this was somewhat necessary because before this book I didn’t really know their history, only that there was some underlying sexual tension between them. Their romance really took off for me after that, with lusty, can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other exchanges, but I loved the close, tender moments between them just as much. I melted over how protective Bash could be with Allie and her daughter Angel. He made such soul-baring declarations, in public no less, that completely stole my heart!  Bash and Allie truly completed each other, and with Angel they were a perfect, sweet, ready-made family!  

4 Suns



Connect with Sharla Lovelace:





The Charmed Series:
(Click on cover for Goodreads link)




1 comment:

  1. Aw, sounds like a sweet romance! That's great it started to get better for you as you read; sometimes you just have to push through for a bit!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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