Review: Has great possibilities
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2011
My Review:Overall, I enjoyed this book. This is absolutely my favorite trope- friends to lovers, but I had some issues with understanding the characters and their reactions especially at the end of the book. Up until the last 15-20% of the book, I probably would have rated this one more along the lines of a "B".Angst....there is a TON of it in this book. Lily was in a 2 year relationship 5 years ago that left her really emotionally scarred. That relationship was abusive and domineering and Lily doesn't trust herself anymore. She is afraid that if she ever gives herself to someone emotionally like that again that she won't be strong enough to stay her own person.Sam has his own scars. He was raised on the wrong side of the tracks by a single mother who never had enough to get by. Growing up, he worked at several jobs, but was continually put down for his place in society. Now he has his own very successful contracting company, but those feelings about worth still linger at times.Sam & Lily have been best friends since they were 14. He has been in love with her pretty much that entire time, but has never acted upon it. She's drawn to him too, but he's a forever kind of guy and she never plans to commit to forever with ANY guy.My issues with this book:*Sam & Lilly are best friends...they have always done everything together. She was in the relationship with Brent for 2 years, and Sam never saw or even guessed what was happening? In the book, Sam is presented as totally in touch with her and her feelings, so I just can't buy that he didn't see that she was being both mentally and physically abused.*Lilly is all over the place. She's in. She's out. She wants him. She loves him. She doesn't want a relationship. She doesn't want sex. Honestly, I am not so sure that 2 years in therapy have been enough...*Sam doesn't fight for her. When she tells him no, he flings insults or simply walks away. I realize that he's frustrated, but if he truly loves her, he would fight for her.*I didn't understand or see what changed at the very end to suddenly make everything okay. There was nothing earth-shattering that happened to change the situation that hadn't already been said just a few days before. The resolution just didn't work for me.There were times when this book was just gorgeous. It's sexy and starts out with all the right things. The descriptive language and writing was amazing. Elyse did a fantastic job in this area, but somewhere along the way, the book simply lost its way and I was as frustrated as Sam. I still plan to continue to read Elyse's work because she has an amazing sense of prose. This one just didn't quite do it for me...