Review Tour – Toe the Line, Penelope Ward

March 3, 2023 | Posted in Blog Tour | By

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Title: Toe the Line
Author: Penelope Ward
Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance
Trope: Friends-to-Lovers
Release Date: February 27, 2023
BLURB

 

 

From New York Times bestselling author Penelope Ward comes a friends-to-lovers story spanning more than a decade…

 

At first, I thought I’d hate spending the summer with Archie Remington—the conceited son of my parents’ friends.
What I knew about Archie: he was gorgeous, pre-law, and had always treated me like I didn’t exist when we were younger.
When our families bought a house together on an island in Maine, he and I were forced to share a bathroom.
The boy I remembered was now a full-grown man—but with the same attitude.
After a rough start, Archie and I unexpectedly started getting along one day and eventually became friends. We shared secrets and bonded during our morning jogs. I discovered that Archie had a wild spirit and that he struggled to conform to his father’s expectations.
Things were cool until I had to go and ruin it, getting drunk one night, and blurting out my fantasy—involving him.
I took it back, but it was too late. Archie had heard me loud and clear. After that, we never quite knew how to toe the line.
When that summer came to an abrupt and shocking end, I headed back to college, unsure if anything would ever be the same again.
Across the miles over the years, he and I stayed in touch as friends, but fate and timing always kept us from becoming more.
You know the saying: If two people are meant to be, they’ll find their way back to each other?
Let’s just say Archie came back into my life in a way I would’ve never expected.
And this time, my heart would really be put to the test.

 

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PURCHASE LINKS
Six F*cking epic stars!! 
Toe the Line is Penelope Ward’s newest standalone and it’s one of my favorites! If you follow my reviews, you know I don’t read blurbs unless it’s a new-to-me author. I love going in totally blind. It’s really the only way I rebel now. One of the main reasons I love Penelope’s books is that the characters love story is never a straight shot. The plot twists make my heart pound and sometimes rip my heart out and I am always here for it…
Noelle and Archie have spent summers together over the years with their parents but the summer before her freshman year of college changed their lives. They usually just pass each other in the hall but this summer, they saw each other. Deeply. It was unexpected, beautiful, and raw. It was the start of a complicated friendship from different coasts. They didn’t get to see each other often but they were always there for each other. For the good, the bad, and the unexpected. For years they toed the line with their friendship, the love and trust was always there but can Noelle trust him with her heart? And does Archie want it? 
This was one hell of an epically beautiful roller coaster of a story. I read most of it in one day, once I started I didn’t want to stop and if I didn’t start at night, I wouldn’t have stopped. I said it was one of my favorite Penelope books but it is seriously one of my faves of 2023! I fell hard and fast for these two. I was fully invested. I ♥️ them. They made me swoon, laugh, get hot and bothered, and cry! 
Quotes: 
“Promise me I’ll never lose you, Noelle.”
“You look so goddamn beautiful right now.” His eyes were hazy as he murmured, “It hurts to look at you.”
“I can’t remember the last time I wanted something so badly,” he rasped.
Kara's Review
5 out of 5 stars

Toe the Line is Penelope Ward’s newest, heartbreaking, heart-warming, wild ride of a romance! This is truly an epic romance that starts one summer between virtual strangers and spans years of ups and downs. Archie and Noelle have one crazy summer when they are young. It’s full of fun, laughter, family and attraction. When they go their separate ways, they stay in each other’s lives and over there years, they see each other but never seem to be in the same place in their lives to make a move. Noelle always had a crush on Archie, but the timing wasn’t ever right. Archie needed to have Noelle in his life, so he wasn’t going to take a chance and ruin the best thing he had. Life gets in the way and they are reunited years later under the most interesting circumstances! Will they? Won’t they? I was on the edge of my seat the entire book! I loved the push and pull. The foreplay. I could feel the love between them and seriously wanted to smack Archie upside his head, but I got what he was going through. Love is never really easy. You have to go through the hard times to get to the good stuff. I couldn’t love Archie and Noelle more if I tried!

 

 

AUTHOR BIO
Penelope
Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling
author of contemporary romance.
 
She grew up
in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a
television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son,
and beautiful daughter with autism.
 
With over two
million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author
of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen
languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
AUTHOR LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD

 

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

 

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
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New Release & Review – Annoyed At First Sight, Lani Lynn Vale

March 3, 2023 | Posted in Review | By

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The first time Cassius Ulysses Costas met Alice Paradis, she was in a string bikini and filling up a long line of boats that were there just to see her. She was eighteen and every man’s wet dream.

Even his.

For the longest time, he went out of his way to stay as far away from her as he could get without actually taking his eyes off of her. For years, he was the better person. He played his hand close, and not a single person would know just how obsessed he was with her.

Then he goes to prison and comes out a man that couldn’t care less about anyone or anything, least of all what someone thought of him and his actions. But not one second while he was behind bars did he forget about Alice.

He tries to stay away. For a few long months, he fights his every instinct to make her his. But, as if the universe is conspiring against him, Alice is thrown into his path time after time, instance after instance.

And his resolve is waning. Fast.

In one last ditch effort to stay away, he walks away, hoping making her mad enough will force her to do the work for him.
However, when Alice is attacked, it isn’t Cassius’s harsh words she remembers, but the way he makes her feel safe.

Soon, the very last thing he’ll do is let her walk away. He did the right thing, and that didn’t work out. Now, it’s time for him to embrace the wrong.

5 out of 5 stars

Annoyed at First Sight is the fourth book in the Gator Bait series by Lani Lynn Vale. This is Alice and Cassius’s story! They have known each other since Alice was eighteen and Cassius watched her from afar. After spending time in prison, he’s back home and when he sees Alice, he’s annoyed AF. He wants her but he can’t have her. He won’t put himself through losing another person he cares about. He’s grumpy, jerky and does everything he can to push her away. Alice is so funny and independent and her family relies on her too much. She sees Cassius and can’t believe he’s back. She had a crush on him when she was younger and it never really went away. But now he hates her and she has no idea why. Turns out, he’s wildly attracted to her and fighting it. What’s a girl to do? Show him what he’s missing. He’s doesn’t quite fall for it, but when she’s in trouble he’s the one she runs too. When Cassius finds Alice hurt, he vows to stop running. He tried that and it didn’t work, only made him want her more. Now that they can fight together, she’s safe, he’s calmed down. I really loved Alice and Cassis! She’s so freaking hilarious and smart and doesn’t care what people think. He’s so sweet and nice to everyone but her, but I get it! Together they made me laugh out loud and smile a lot. I loved her brother and so many of the secondary characters! Looking forward to the next one in the series!

 

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