It’s Always Been You Friends To Lovers Anthology

🌸 FOR THE LOVE OF
CHOCOLATE AND DOGS
BY IK LYCKE

• 8 chapters
• Kaylee – baker 👩‍🍳
  • Sugar Baby – dog 🐶 male
  • Gretchen – employee, friend
• Jason – vet 👨‍⚕️
  • Doc Petersen – retiring, practice vet 👨‍⚕️

Before

New Facebook group! 🙌🏼 Love the 💡 of a mini book club! 🙌🏼 Trope sounds up my alley 😁 Reading the blurb beforehand, college roommates, unspoken feelings, meet 10 years later 🤯 Nothing too original but admit I love it 😍 ⚾️⚾️⚾️ (5) Note 🤬 Tell Gretchen about Jason 🗣

Kaylee sees Jason’s back in town at her bakery 😍 Date 😍 but not a date 😏 Maximum Ruckus 🥁 🎸 👩‍🎤 ⚾️ ⚾️ Jason’s 🤚🏽 & 👅 ⚾️⚾️Tor’s tongue ⚾️⚾️⚾️ (6)

After

Knowing this is a story in an anthology and the trope is friends to lovers, NOT deterred by insta-lust, but things escalated quickly 😋😂 Her reaction during their first time 😂😊 Appreciated Jason kept checking on her 😇 Finished quickly 💨 Not too different from what’d you’d expect

Consensus: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌸 CATCH AND KISS
BY KRISTINE CHARLES

• 1 chapters
• Sophie Molyneaux
  • Anna – friend
• Ryan Elmore – aspiring doctor 👨‍⚕️
• 10 years old

Before

Again, doesn’t sound too original, but a time tested premise. Friends moving away does really happen 🥲 whether it be as kids, after high school 🏫 graduation 👩‍🎓, or as adults.

Story in Sydney, Australia 🇦🇺 and Edinborough, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🧐 when they were 10 😱 Sophie visits after 8 years 😏 Ryan’s plans 🧐 ⚾️⚾️ Ryan’s 🤚🏽 Ryan got a scholarship to Oxford ⚾️⚾️ Ryan’s 🤚🏽Ryan tells Sophie about his scholarship 🙌🏼 Sophie 🤬 THEN Sydney years later 🤔 Sees Ryan again 😮 under guise of a birthday 🥳 party 🎊 Talk again after 7 years 😍 Earrings 🎁 ⚾️⚾️⚾️ Catch and kiss 😘

After

Very short story 🤔 wish we got to see their long distance ‘friendship’. The HFN felt a little sudden (maybe due to story lenth) but glad it all got resolved! 🙌🏼

Consensus: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌸 BREAKING
BOUNDARIES
BY VK HOLT

• 7 chapters
• Torbjörn “Tor” Andersson – Air Force Captain 👩‍✈️,
  • Vet friends 🤗
    • James Sherwood
    • Jose Hernandez
    • Miguel Rodriguez.
• Sammy Wilson – sister of Torbjörn’s best friend, 😟 scared, twin, mom a senator
  • Conor Wilson – brother, Torbjörn’s, best friend, twin
    • Lucian – former best friend William
    • Rick
    • Toby
    • Liam.

Before

Another familiar trope 🤔 battle tested 🤔 so let’s do it! ▶️

Conor’s Memorial Day barbecue 🍗 Sammy’s account 😱 and pining for Sammy until Miguel’s Cinco de Mayo 🎊 🤔 kiss 😘 ⚾️ 😍 Sammy makes her move at the bbq 🍖 Watch Harry Potter 😏 📺

After

What you would expect 🤔 but Sammy is a scarred h 🤔 Both Yor and Sammy were pining for each other 😌 They were ‘t totally friends, but not enemies 🤔

Consensus: ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

🌸 I DO IF YOU DO
BY ANNA KLEIN

• Holly Parker – h, birthday 🥳 twenty-first of July, violinist 🎻 , music instructor
• Hugh “Holz” Thomas – H, senior database engineer, pianist 🎹, moved from Florida
  • Shanea – ex
• Marriage pact at 13
  • 30 yo
  • 17 years later
• Roommates 😏 – “temporary” arrangement
  • Cats 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛
    • “Morticia
    • Gomez
  • Crawley, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Before

Again, the premise isn’t too different 🤔

Holly brings up the pact 🙋‍♀️Wedding chicken 🐔 😏 Going over contract 🤔 kiss 😘 ⚾️

After

Felt the most F2L 😍 Might have to reread, ending was fuzzy 😵‍💫

Consensus: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌸 BREAKING WAVES BY TRINITY WOOD

• Kyle Johnson – H, 🏄‍♀️ 🤕 injured 🥲 in Singapore, surfer, lives in Raglan. New Zealand, plans to win back Alex 💡
  • Travis Johnson – older brother, in Singapore 🇸🇬 , sailer
• Alexandra “Alex” Vaughan – h, accountant, takes over uncle’s corner store
  • Dan Thomas – wants to buy corner store
  • Pat – uncle
  • Mel – new friend, Travis’ girlfriend
• Reunite after 16 years
  • Kyle comes home 🏡

Before

Have a little more information ℹ️ (already started 😇). Again we’ve seen this premise before 🤔 Already know his injury will produce some angst 🧐 Travis going to the Olympus too ✌🏽

Kyle goes to the store, Alex home for 2 weeks already 😮 Dan come. Thankfully Kyle comes 🙏🏾 Second chance 🙏🏾

After

Ending felt abrupt. Will reread.

Consensus: ⭐️⭐️.5

Against Us

• Drew – H, getting married, calls h ‘Red’
• Tara “Red” – h, red hair 👩‍🦰
• 🫶🏼🥰
  • Met in college

Before

Not entirely before I open the ebook 😇 but just read their 1st meeting . My research 🧐 told me they are reunited at his wedding 😊😂

1st meeting 🥰 reliving their friendship over thr years 🫶🏼🥰 Share a kiss 😘 ⚾️ Jump to Drew’s wedding in the last chapter 🧐

After

It might just be the author’s approach to the story 🤷🏽‍♀️ but feels a little more complete (like we’re going through these phases with Drew and Tara 🤔

Consensus: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Best story: Against Us