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.
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.
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.
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