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Review

4 surprising stars

What a great read! Novellas can sometimes be hit and miss just because their length doesn’t always allow for good character development or an engaging story, but Rebecca Rogers Maher has done a great job with this one. I loved it and I was captivated from start to finish.

Holly and Ray are two people who have struggled their entire lives but who dream of something more. Holly is a single mother who was treated badly by her ex and hasn’t recovered her confidence, and Ray has recently lost his mother and is working hard to live up to the dreams she had for him. Co-workers at a discount store, they are attracted to each other but both are a little shy and haven’t acted on it, then one day they decide to split a lottery ticket and wouldn’t you know, they end up winning the whole thing.

Winning the lottery is something that I’m sure everybody has dreamed about at one time or another, and I really like the way the author handled this one. Of course they’re thrilled, and looking forward to spending the shit out of their $80million+ winnings, but with the excitement comes a sense of doubt and unworthiness and “why me?”. Holly and Ray are both feeling a little lost, and when the media picks up their stories, people start asking for handouts and lawyers become involved, their lives start to become complicated and they turn to each other.

This is a short read but the author manages to inject quite a bit of UST into the story, and I loved watching things develop between Holly and Ray. The shift from ‘friends who are attracted’ to more is really well done, and I love that together they are able to find peace in the chaos that is surrounding them. Their coming together is natural and easy, and their connection is intense, crazy passionate, and full of real emotion.

“This feels real … It feels so fucking real.”

But they both have some figuring out to do before they can truly embrace their future and the character development is really impressive for such a short book. I love Holly and Ray. They are both genuinely ‘good’ people who haven’t had the easiest lives, and they deserve to be happy. Holly seemed a bit of a victim at times, but it’s a part of her journey as she finds her strength again, and I love that she was able to do that. And Ray is an absolute sweetheart! He’s not an alpha jerk (though he gets a bit alpha in the bedroom which is very nice!), he’s a nice guy who is just as scared as Holly in entering into something together, and I love that he’s able to be vulnerable with her. They are so great together, and their love story is absolutely beautiful.

It’s got quite a lot of depth, and I was surprised at the emotion in the story, but there’s also a lot of lightness. The story is written in dual POV, and the monologues are really funny and then there’s Holly’s ‘say it like it is’ best friend, Beth, and Ray’s brother, Tony who are fantastic side characters and both of them had me laughing out loud more than once. I am so excited that they are going to get their own story, and can’t wait for Just Give Me a Reason.

“You shouldn’t have slept with her so soon.”
… “It was kind of an accident.”
Tony turns to eyeball me. “She tripped and fell on your dick? Hate when that happens.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, but I loved it! It’s sweet, emotional, funny, sexy and beautifully romantic, and I’m really looking forward to reading more of this author’s work.

4 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Lopez Brothers