Like You Mean It is now available in audio!
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Blurb
“I want to make you smile like you mean it.”
The day Cole Lannington says those words to me, I already know I’m falling. Hard. For a man I can never have. Because there’s no way in hell I’ll ever deserve a man like him.
Annie
All I need to do is keep my head above water. Push a little harder. Keep that smile plastered on my face for my son as we try to wade through the new life that’s threatening to drown us both.
But on the first day I can’t seem to hold it all together, I meet him. And for some reason, he comes to my aid. Before I know it, Cole steps in and becomes an important part of my life. Our lives. Fills a void left vacant by a man who never wanted to fill it in the first place.
Too bad he can never be more than a friend.
Cole
All I need to do is be a nice guy to my new neighbor. Make her smile a little bit. Find space in my tidy, structured life to ease the burden she carries so she and her son can enjoy life without the bastard who treated them like they were insignificant.
I don’t expect to talk and laugh and feel a warmth in my chest I didn’t know was missing until she showed up at my door. Somehow I end up caring about her more deeply than I should. But my friendship with Annie opens my eyes to what it could be like to have something deeper. To feel something stronger.
To fall in love like I mean it.
Like You Mean It is the first book in the Like You Series and is a standalone novel.
Review
“I want to make you smile like you mean it.”
3.5 stars
This is such a cute read! A sweet and heartfelt friends-to-lovers, single parent romance with lots of adorable moments that had me swooning. It’s the first in a duet, but can absolutely standalone (the second book is about another couple), and I really enjoyed it!
Annie has just moved across the country with her boisterous 4-year-old son, heavily pregnant and on her own after the sudden death of her long-term boyfriend. She’s escaped a toxic situation and she’s struggling to keep her head above water, and she’s pretty much hit rock bottom when she finds herself on her neighbour’s doorstep asking for help.
Cole is good guy. He loves his friends and family, he owns his own business and he’s created a good life for himself, and he’s got a heart of gold. So when he finds a tearful and desperate pregnant woman at his front door, he drops everything to help her.
It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship as Cole and Annie become a part of each other’s lives. He wants so much to help ease her burden, and Annie’s son, Jones, idolises his new neighbour, so there’s no escaping each other.
At first, it’s just friendship – which is just as well, because Annie is grieving and finding her feet again. She’s in a really difficult situation, and though I questioned some of her early decisions, I had to admire her strength and courage as she fought hard to move forward. And I loved watching her begin to find herself, feeling secure and confident and coming out of her shell.
And then there’s the fact that Cole is in a relationship. He is all about compartmentalising, he doesn’t let the different areas of his life overlap, and that means keeping his girlfriend at arm’s length, and it’s a system that has worked for him. But when Annie and Jones begin to encroach into all areas of his life, it’s time for him to sit down and figure out what it is he truly wants.
There’s a whole lot that happens in this book, and though it only happens over a short amount of time, it has the feel of a slow burn. We get up close and personal with both Annie and Cole, and I loved getting to know and understand them. Watching their friendship develop was really sweet, and though they have some ups and downs, their chemistry is never in doubt.
The big questions readers will be wanting to know… is this a love triangle? Is there cheating? Well… There are definitely elements of a love triangle there as Cole wrestles with his feelings for Annie. His relationship with his girlfriend, Jess, isn’t a real relationship, more like a friends-with-benefits arrangement that’s been going on for two years. They live hours apart and only see each other on occasional weekends. But yes, he does have feelings for both of them at the same time. Once he realises the depth of his feelings for Annie though, he ends his relationship. And nothing happens between him and Annie until the relationship is over. So at no point did I consider it cheating. .
Cole is such a gorgeous character, and never more so than when he is with little Jones. The relationship between the two of them absolutely melted my heart, and they have some truly adorable moments. Jones is such an important part of the story, and I love that we get to see him interacting so much with his mother, and with Cole.
This is one of those romances that doesn’t hit its climax until the very end, so we don’t get to see much of these two together. I wish we got more together time, but the epilogues provide good closure, and the book ends in a great place, with a beautifully happy ending.
3.5 stars.
Like You duet
Like You Mean It (#1)
Review
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Like You Want It (#2)
Buy: Amazon | Paperback | Audio
About the Author
Jillian Liota is a new author writing contemporary romance and new adult fiction. She lives in Kailua, Hawaii with her amazing husband, 2 cats, and 3-legged pup.
She is the author of the new adult romance novel The Keeper, which focuses on a female college soccer goalie, as well as the follow up novella, Keep Away. Her newest release, Like You Mean It, is in the contemporary romance genre and has a more mature voice, as it follows a pregnant mother finding love in a new town. The next novel in the Like You Series, Like You Want It, will be published in Spring 2019
She has a master’s in Higher Education and Student Affairs, and she is passionate about all things improvement, development and organization.
She’s also a big fan of taking walks with her husband and dog Maia, reading romance (obviously), watching a handful of horrible reality TV shows, and exploring the island she calls home. Check out her Contact page for more information on how to connect.
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