Buy: Amazon | Paperback
Review
5 stars!
I am slowly making my way through Kristen Callihan’s back-catalogue, and am starting to suspect that she can do no wrong in my eyes. Every book of hers that I have read has been a glowing 5 stars, and this book is same. I freaking love this book! A sweet, emotional, celebrity enemies-to-lovers romance that absolutely owned my heart.
Delilah and Macon grew up together, and hated each other from pretty first the moment they met as 11 year olds. Things got way more intense when Macon started dating Delilah’s troublemaking younger sister and was always around. They tormented each other for years, with golden boy Macon usually ending up on top, before he broke up with her sister and they all parted ways.
Now, it’s almost ten years later and Delilah gets a message from Macon out of the blue. He’s now a huge star on a Game of Thrones-type show, and he’s trying to track down Delilah’s sister, Sam, who has stolen an expensive and sentimental heirloom from him. The problem is that Sam has taken off and can’t be found. In order to spare her family any more pain, Delilah offers herself as Macon’s live-in personal assistant and chef for the next year to pay off her sister’s debt. Macon accepts, setting the stage for the fireworks to come.
I love the set-up for this story! Forced proximity is always so much fun, especially with the complicated history and mad chemistry that these two have. The anger and hatred is still very much there, but there’s also something else… something that may have existed all those years ago, but Macon never allowed himself to feel it. And Delilah was just too blinded by rage to even consider it. But now they are adults, and though there is still a lot of animosity between them, there’s also a huge big dose of attraction.
Delilah. We react to each other like the vinegar-and-baking-soda experiments we used to do in science class as kids. Even now she brings out the immature ass in me. But the second she walked back into my life, I became aware of two uncomfortable but undeniable facts: I am lonely as hell, and Delilah Baker feels like home.
They are still snarky to each other, but now it’s got a teasing, playful edge. Macon knows just which buttons to press to get a reaction from Delilah, and he does it well. But there’s also a really sweet sense of camaraderie between them. They slowly begin to talk… like actually talk. They talk about their lives and their pasts, and they find comfort with each other. And the closer they become, the attraction that they feel becomes something much more.
“Delilah, you are the only person alive who truly knows me for me. That used to piss me off. But now? It feels like a lifeline.”
It’s a beautiful romance – natural, slow burning and full of chemistry. I love the sense of fun between them, and the way they open up to each other is so gorgeous.
“I don’t even know what this” – I wave my hand between us – “is.”
His lips pinch. “About fifteen years in the making by my count.”
“Fifteen years? Are you saying you liked me back then? Because I won’t believe that.”
A scowl darkens his features, and he sets his hands low on his lean hips. “I wasn’t mooning over you, if that’s what you’re asking. But there was always something, Delilah. I don’t know what to name it. Not love. Not hate. But something. Like an itch that wouldn’t abate. You were always there, under my skin.”
While it’s an enemies-to-lovers romance, this book does have elements of bully romance. I’m not usually a fan of bully romance, but this one was so perfectly written. From flashbacks to the past, we can tell that there was always more to Macon’s actions in the past, and when they finally have that moment where Delilah shares her pain, the grief and utter devastation that Macon felt at all that he put her through was absolutely heartwrenching. My heart ached for both of them, but he handled it so well – he made no excuses, he totally owned it, and he did all that he could to show how sorry he was, and to make amends, and he put his heart on the line over and over again to prove just how much Delilah meant to him.
“Loving you was inevitable. You got under my skin at age eleven and never left.”
And once that is behind them, it’s all on with the romance, and OMG, what a swoonfest! It’s sweet, fun, super passionate and full of emotion, and it was absolutely gorgeous watching them fall in such intense, all-consuming love *dreamy sigh*.
“I’m going to love you, Macon Saint. So long and so hard you’re not going to remember what it feels like to be without love.”
There is some drama, but it’s nothing unexpected and it works to progress the story, and it’s resolved quickly and thoroughly, and paves the way for a beautifully happy ending that left me smiling.
This is a beautiful romance, full of emotion with wonderful characters and fantastic chemistry, and I loved it!
5 stars.
I listened to this as an audiobook. Narrated by Maxine Mitchell and Sebastian York, and they do a wonderful job. I definitely recommend listening to this one .
Don’t miss the loosely-linked follow on!
Make It Sweet
Review
Buy: Amazon | Paperback
Meet Kristen
Kristen Callihan is an author because there is nothing else she’d rather do. She is a three-time RITA nominee and winner of two RT Reviewer’s Choice awards.
Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly and the Library Journal, as well as being awarded top picks by many reviewers. Her debut book FIRELIGHT received RT Magazine’s Seal of Excellence, was named a best book of the year by Library Journal, best book of Spring 2012 by Publisher’s Weekly, and was named the best romance book of 2012 by ALA RUSA. In 2015, Kristen received a RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance for her novel Evernight.
Kristen is a child of the 80s, which means she’s worn neon skirts, black lace gloves, and combat boots although never all at once and can quote John Hughes movies with the best of them. A lifelong daydreamer, she finally realized the characters in her head needed a proper home and thus hit the keyboard. She believes falling in love is one of the headiest experiences a person can have, so naturally she writes romance. Her love of superheroes, action movies, and history led her to write historical paranormal novels. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband and two children.
Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Facebook Group | Instagram | Twitter | Bookbub