5 SMOOCHES!

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SYNOPSIS:

I was only trying to help a friend. I swear. I was legit asking for a friend who was finally ready to date again.

I knew what she wanted in a man — smart, funny, ambitious, well-read (no, the sports section doesn’t count), and plays a wicked game of badminton.

So I did what any good friend would do. Posted it for her. It seemed like a good idea at the time — I’d weed through the candidates, and bring her my top picks.

But then he responded.

Is it wrong to date the guy I screened for my bestie? Not asking for a friend.

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REVIEW:

I’ve made no secret about the fact that Lauren Blakely is one of my favorite authors of all time. There are many reasons why she has landed on this personal list of mine, but it all boils down to the simple fact that I always get something more than a happily ever after when reading her books. Of course, hers are always well-written, sexy romances about endearing characters swept up in engaging and fulfilling love stories. But Blakely kicks it up a notch with stellar storytelling, richly developed and fully-fleshed out characters, and she fills the pages with the kind of details that bring the story to life in the reader’s mind. Not just vivid descriptions of the background, locations and scenery, either. Blakely dives deeper by including all sorts of interesting, fun, quirky bits of trivia, facts and anecdotes that weave together with everything else to form the history of the characters and the couples. This next-level character and story development is often overlooked, but never by Blakely, and it’s one of my favorite things about her books—I always take away something more than a rewarding and satisfying happily ever after from them.

Asking For A Friend starts Blakely’s new Boyfriend Material series, and now that I’ve read the first book, the next two have skyrocketed right to the top of my list of most anticipated books of 2020. A workplace romance with a creative spin, I couldn’t help getting caught up in the natural chemistry between Linc and Amy. Their delicious banter, so witty and smart, was a fantastic build-up to what they would become. I loved how they clicked in person, but it was the unguarded, unexpected, unplanned way they connected through very modern-day means that really drew me in. The author alludes to the hook of the plot in the blurb, and I don’t want to go into more detail than she offered there, but I will say that I waited with heart-racing anticipation for them to connect the dots as their relationship built.

Blakely penned a story here that was so easy to get lost in. The connection between these characters was sincere and authentic, their attraction to each other visceral, and their longing for each other palpable. It had all these big-screen, romantic comedy feels as it played out on the page and in my mind. This is one of those rare kinds of stories that remind the reader of why they read romance—the kind of story that sends them in search of another romance novel.

I am so excited about this series. Asking For A Friend was romantic and sexy, sweet and sassy and everything I hope to feel and experience when I crack open a romance novel. A top favorite of the year, Asking For A Friend by Lauren Blakely gets five smooches from me!

~Danielle Palumbo

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