Let Me Love You by Scarlett Cole is live!

 

He’s loved her forever. Now she’s marrying another man.

 

 

The fifth and final book of the Excess All Areas series, this is an angsty, emotional, and beautiful friends-to-lovers romance that has had four books of build-up, and now we get to see it unfold with all the feels. It’s a wonderful finish to what has become one of my favourite rockstar series, and I loved every moment of this one!

 

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Blurb

Chaya
The wedding plans are underway, and the Save the Date cards are sent. If only the man she was marrying was the man she loved with all her heart.
Being a contemporary woman in a traditional faith requires compromise. Being in love with her best friend, Sad Fridays’ guitarist, Ben King, the man who saved her years ago, is agony.
It’s official. He has ruined her for all other men.

Ben
When Ben receives his Save The Date card, he gets so drunk he falls off stage during their American breakthrough tour.
He’s loved Chaya for what feels like forever.
But her father made it crystal clear. Ben will never be the one for his daughter. Now she’s marrying another man, and Ben is beginning to wonder just when Chaya will realise it’s him she should be saying I do to.

When tragedy reunites them, Chaya is caught between her fiancé and her love. And it’s up to Ben to fight for Chaya or let her go forever.

 

 

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Review

“Loving you has always been the easiest part of my life.”

5 angsty, emotional, beautiful stars!

The fifth and final book of the Excess All Areas series, this is an angsty, emotional, and beautiful friends-to-lovers romance that has had four books of build-up, and now we get to see it unfold with all the feels. It’s a wonderful finish to what has become one of my favourite rockstar series, and I loved every moment of this one!

Ben and Chaya have been the best of friends through the whole series. Though their friends suspect there is more to their friendship, they insist that they are strictly platonic, but the truth is actually way more complicated. They love each other, deeply, but they cannot be together due to Chaya’s religion. She is devout Jewish Orthodox, her family would never approve of Ben being in her life, and to continue living in the faith that means so much to her, she needs to marry a Jewish man. Their situation is one they are both aware of, so they have never really discussed their feelings for each other, knowing that it is pointless. But they are close as can be, and have been a part of each other’s lives since they were teenagers, Chaya there with Ben every step of the way as his band found success, fame, and more money than they ever could have dreamed of having.

But everything is about to change, because Chaya is engaged. Her fiancé is a fellow surgeon, a jewish man which her family whole-heartedly approve of. The problem is, she can’t forget about the man who actually holds her heart, and he is struggling without her.

“I don’t know how we became this, Chay. After everything we’ve been through. I never thought there’d be a day in my life without you in it. How did we end up like this? Barely talking. Awkward with each other. I hate it.”

It’s a devastating situation, and oh, how my heart ached for these two.

“I can’t ask you to not be who you are. And I can’t pretend to be something I’m not” … “Just be fucking happy, Chaya. If it hurts this bad, one of us should be.”

There is so much love between them, but they both have to walk away from it, and the tragedy of it all pretty much ripped my heart out. I read with tears rolling down my face as they finally admitted what they both knew all along, knowing how hopeless their situation truly is.

“We’ve got to fall out of love with each other by admitting that’s what we were.”

But when devastation strikes and Ben needs Chaya the most, she is there for him, bringing them back into each other’s lives and making them realise all that they’ve turned their backs on.

“I wanted you to choose me over everything else, even though I knew you wouldn’t.”

This is like a book in two parts – the first being angsty angsty and emotional, but I revelled in it, knowing that each moment of heartache would make their inevitable coming together even more epic. And God, I was right! The feels! Oh my God, the feels! I adored these two together so much. I love how honest and open they are, I love how they don’t hold anything back from each other, and I love how when they decide to go all in, they throw themselves all in.

He cupped her cheeks carefully. “You ready?” he asked, tilting her head towards his.
“For us? Yes. I feel like I waited a lifetime already.”

Chaya’s battle is heartbreaking. When we found out she was engaged at the end of the last book, I was so angry, wondering how she could do that to our Ben! But seeing her side of the story really puts things into perspective, and I ached for how torn she was. Ben’s reaction to losing Chaya from his life is equally heartbreaking. He has always been the one to go out of his way to do so much for others, at his own expense, and that’s exactly what he does by letting Chaya go. So seeing him finally get the chance to fight for his girl and finally get to act on all of those feelings, is absolutely beautiful. He’s so in love, and he’s so unquestionably devoted, and I adored the way he is with Chay.

“We’ve always loved each other and now we want to try being in love with each other.”

Thankfully, we get to see plenty of time with them together and building their relationship, because that’s the swoony part that I love to see. It’s sweet, honest and heartfelt, sizzlingly passionate, and full of emotion, and they stand strong in the face of any and all external drama, and I loved the depth of their connection and the strength of their love for each other.

“When you let me love you like that… Your trust in me and us devastates me, babe.”

The rest of the band, and their girls, are all so involved in each other’s lives, so there’s lots of time spent with the characters from previous books. They’re all there supporting Ben and Chaya through their ups and down, and I loved seeing so much of them again. What was truly special for me was so many special moments between the boys – from the beautiful relationship between Ben and his brother, Alex, the jokey banter yet fully supportive brotherhood between the rest of the band, to those sensational moments where they are on stage doing what they love. I feel like I know these characters, and I adore each and every one of them.

And blessed Nan has an important part to play. She’s a wise and loving woman, and I loved her role in this book, and through the whole series as the stable force who kept these wild boys together, there for them whenever and however they needed her.

“Love always leads you to the person who completes you. Not this two halves of a whole bullshit. But the person whose presence just makes you the best version of yourself. Life, however, leads you on a merry fucking dance so you don’t know which way is up. Sometimes, you make good decisions. Sometimes, you make purely selfish ones. Sometimes, life doesn’t work out the way you hoped. Sometimes, it knocks you on your arse. But every time, love finds your battered heart and brings you home.”

This is a wonderful finish to what has been an amazing series. I have loved each and every book, and this one ties up those last outstanding loose endings, giving us a glimpse of everybody living their well-deserved happy ending, finishing in grand style and leaving me feeling happy and completely satisfied.

I loved it. 5 stars!

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

 

Excess All Areas

 

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Meet the Author

The tattoo across my right hip says it all really. A Life Less Ordinary. Inked by the amazingly talented Luke Wessman at the Wooster Street Social Club (a.k.a. New York Ink). Why is it important? Well, it sums up my view on life. That we should all aspire to live a life that is less boring, less predictable. Be bold, and do something amazing. I’ve made some crazy choices. I’ve been a car maker, a consultant, and even a senior executive at a large retailer running strategy. Born in England, spent time in the U.S. and Japan, before ending up in Canada where I met my own, personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. Both of us are scorpios! Yeah, I know! Should have checked the astrological signs earlier, but somehow it works for us. We have two amazing kids, who I either could never part with or could easily be convinced to sell on e-bay.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for a really long time. Check through my office cupboards or my computer and you’ll find half written stories and character descriptions everywhere. Now I’m getting the chance to follow that dream.

I am represented by Beth Phelan at The Bent Agency, NY.

 

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