BOOKWORM REVIEW: Honeyed by Carrie Aarons

September 26, 2023

BOOKWORM REVIEW: Honeyed by Carrie Aarons

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥

Two friends who have loved each other more than anyone but have kept it to themselves. Suddenly, a chance of a lifetime comes their way to make their ambitions and dreams come true, but there is only one catch: they have to get married and stay married.

Alana Ashton and Warren Teal have been attached at the hip since middle school. It helps that her family welcomed her best friend with open arms. Now he works as a manager at their infamous restaurant, and they're both suppressing feelings for each other. When Warren's adopted father passes, he leaves his fortune with a stipulation: Marry Alana.

The choice is not as easy as it seems. Warren has promised Alana's father that he would not cross the line between friendship and love when it comes to her. But the money? It would allow him to help Alana and many others achieve their dream.

They pursue the marriage of convenience anyway, but would they be able to get through the consequences of their farce?

Just when I thought Book One set the bar high for this series, Alana and Warren's story moved it a lot higher. I love the push and pull between them as they navigate through their attraction and feelings. It brings such delicious tension that leaves us at the edge of our seats until we get the ultimate payoff, and boy, was the wait worth it. Carrie Aarons always delivers solid spice, and when it had been sizzling from the first chapter? So good.

I also enjoyed the mix of romance, drama, and suspense (which was a pleasant surprise).

This is the second installment in the series, and it can be read as a standalone. There are appearances from the couple in the previous read, but the Ashton Family just adds so much comic relief and flavor. I cannot wait for the next story!

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

ABOUT THE BOOK

Growing up in a house full of brothers, it’s not a surprise that Alana Ashton is the princess of Hope Crest.

Being the only female of the small town’s founding family means that while she usually gets her way, she has to work doubly hard to earn and keep respect. Veering from her expected path to follow crazy dreams, like opening her own shop, not only isn’t in the cards, it’s also not taken seriously. So when her best friend, the ex-high school quarterback with a smile of gold and a traumatic past, proposes marriage out of the blue after years of Alana not-so-secretly pining after him, the answer isn’t an automatic no.

Marrying him, and the fortune they’ll both inherit if she specifically says I do, could be just the thing to set her vision in motion. But can she keep their decades-long relationship strictly business, or will those long unrequited feelings fool her into thinking this union will be for life?

Warren Teal is the orphan no one wanted but everyone speculated about.

After his father tragically took his mother from him, Warren’s story has been broadcast in the media for years. Cue the Ashtons, who took him under their wings the first time Alana brought him home in middle school. Years later, Hope Crest’s royal family offered him a job at their renowned restaurant, and Warren thought he’d found the quiet, under-the-radar life he’d always been searching for.

Until the day he received a letter leaving him a fortune. There was just one catch; he must marry to receive it. And not just anyone, but the gorgeous, stubborn woman he’d always loved in secret but never felt worthy of. Knowing he could return the favor and grant her wildest dreams, he popped the question.

But when his past comes for the future they’re building, she gets caught in the crossfires of the danger and darkness meant for him. Divorce, and breaking his own heart, seem like the only options to keep her safe.

Even if doing so means he may never get to confess that their fake marriage is the realest love he’s ever experienced.

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