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BOOKWORM REVIEW: Once Forbidden, Twice Shy by Carrie Aarons


RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
STEAM: 🔥🔥🔥

"Someone who puts their own feelings aside for years in a move they think will make your own life easier? That's love, sweetheart."

One of my favorite tropes summed up in two sentences, and it is the ultimate theme of this read.

Taylor Arnold is ready for a new beginning. She has moved her life from New York to London -- away from family, away from secrets she would rather leave in the past. Unfortunately, fate did not quite get the memo as her boss turns out to be none other than Jack Merrick.

Jack is her brother's best friend and was her childhood crush..or so she thought when she finally mended her shattered heart. She and Jack finally acted on her feelings a few days after her college graduation party only for him to leave without a word the following day. Now here he is, and she has to work with him every day.

Jack is not without his own share of secrets. He thought he has put enough distance between himself and Taylor to quell his feelings for her, but one look and those suppressed emotions have come back in full force.

I really enjoy a good heart-wrenching read, and Carrie Aarons always delivers. She gives us two adults tackling young love and heartbreak with maturity and -- especially in a workplace setting -- professionalism. I absolutely love that Jack was wholeheartedly in love with Taylor from the beginning and completely committed once he realizes that resistance is indeed futile.

I adore a couple who is connected physically and emotionally, and we get that with Jack and Taylor. Carrie Aarons did a great job of balancing the spicy moments with emotional conversations. I also love that while Taylor's brother Kit was skeptical and a bit hurt from their reveal (rightfully so), he and the rest of the family eventually embrace it without being condescending to Taylor and disrespectful to Jack as the best friend's sister tends to be.

The pacing towards the end was a little off to me with trying to tie off the loose ends in the book, but it did not take away too much from this enjoyable read.

** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Carrie Aarons for providing an ARC. **

ABOUT THE BOOK

Running from your problems only brings you hurtling face first into even worse baggage.

After experiencing a brutal trauma in New York that I’d rather bury than address, escaping to a new job in London seems like the perfect solution. That was before I was introduced to my new boss, who is none other than my brother’s best friend. You know, the one I’ve been head-over-heels in love with forever.

Jack Merrick had been my crush since I knew what one was. For years we fought the feelings; I didn’t want to humiliate myself and his excuse was not betraying my brother or parents, who had accepted him as their own. Then, the night of my college graduation party, he undressed me in my childhood bedroom and confirmed that there was no one else on this earth for him but me.

When I woke the next morning he was gone, off to take a job as a coder halfway around the world. Four years and a mangled heart later, Jack is the last person I expect to see in London, and something close to fate is tricking me into thinking this is more than a coincidence. Our shared love of programming has always connected us, but now it’s the thing we’re weaponizing to get back at each other.

Until one night, when the emotional scars from my attack resurface and he’s the only one to witness a massive breakdown. He coaxes out my secrets and swears to love and protect me like he couldn’t before. But with everything stacked against us, I’m not sure we can ever have what we’ve always dreamed of.

Except just as we’re beginning to tackle those obstacles, I learn the truth of why he left all those years ago. And suddenly there may be no future for us at all.

Get Your Copy (Free with Kindle Unlimited) ➡️  https://amzn.to/3DEReC5

MEET CARRIE AARONS

Author of romance novels such as Fool Me Twice and Love at First Fight, Carrie Aarons writes books that are just as swoon-worthy as they are sarcastic. A former journalist, she prefers the love stories of her imagination, and the athleisure dress code, much better.

When she isn't writing, Carrie is busy binging reality TV, having a love/hate relationship with cardio, and trying not to burn dinner. She lives in the suburbs of New Jersey with her husband, two children and ninety-pound rescue pup.

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