5 SMOOCHES!
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SYNOPSIS:
A sexy, passionate, utterly addictive standalone MM romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!
Every bartender should follow one simple rule—don’t go home with the customers.
That’s been easy for me to stick to, until the night a cocky, confident, and sinfully charming hockey star walks into my bar. This sexy athlete is too hard to resist, especially when he makes it clear how much he wants the “sarcastic, witty, hot AF” guy behind the bar—also known as me.
Still, I’m not keen on breaking my own rules since I know where that can lead—no place good.
But when that man makes his case with one bone-searing kiss on the streets of London, I throw resistance out the window.
What could go wrong with a hot, dirty, no-strings-attached fling before he leaves town in five days?
Trouble is, soon our nights together lead to days, to long conversations, to getting to know each other, and to something I never expected—falling ridiculously hard for a man who’s getting on a plane to America when I live a world away.
My life is here. His is there. And no amount of falling or feeling will change that one big problem.
Warning: contains hot hotel sex, loads of dirty talk, PDA all over London, and two sexy, witty, charming alpha heroes…
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REVIEW:
If you’ve followed my reviews for any amount of time, my Lauren Blakely fandom is not new information. I cannot get enough of her writing, especially her contemporaries and romcoms, and I’ve seriously enjoyed those deliciously decadent After Dark romances of hers. Now, I absolutely enjoy a good M/M romance, but they’re just not the first type of story I reach for when deciding what to read next, and it’s for no other reason than the “too many books, too little time” struggle we all face. Still, I have read many M/M romances, I’ve loved the ones that I have read, and I will certainly read more of them if or when the mood strikes. But when Lauren Blakely announced that A Guy Walks Into My Bar was going to be her first ever M/M, you can bet your sweet bippy that I sat up and took notice. I was so excited to see what she would do with this type of story, and immediately upon hearing that news, A Guy Walks Into My Bar became one of my most anticipated reads of the summer.
So let me start out by simply saying “wow, wow, WOW!” A Guy Walks Into My Bar blew me away on every single level, and it was so much more than I expected it to be, in every possible way. It was unexpectedly emotional and incredibly refreshing, yet it still had the core elements – heat, heart and humor – that have me consistently reaching for Blakely’s work. I really don’t want to spoil this wonderfully passionate love story in any way for anyone. So I’ll just say go into this book knowing that this is Lauren Blakely, it’s a given that this is going to be a gorgeous romance. From page one, it was abundantly clear that Blakely poured her heart and soul into this book, and based on the care and authenticity of the story she penned here, it was obviously a passion project, a labor of love. Against the wonderfully romantic backgrounds of London and New York, Blakely worked her magic with vivid acumen, applying her finely honed attention to detail to create one of the great love stories in her catalog.
Further, go into A Guy Walks Into My Bar with the knowledge that if you’ve read certain of her more recent works, you already know Dean, a British bar owner, and Fitz, an American hockey player, and you’ve wanted their stories. These characters were dynamic and diverse and fantastically charismatic; they were unfailingly genuine and so very real and relatable; and finally, they were beyond charming and amusing, and, of course, perfectly naughty. Well matched on every level, Dean and Fitz’s pairing was an addictive blend of vulnerable yet alpha, and I loved that they were able to pass the reins, letting the other lead when the situation warranted it. There were no stereotypes at play here, just two devastatingly sexy men, with their hearts on the line, fighting hard for something neither was looking for, neither expected to find but both ultimately wanted.
A Guy Walks Into My Bar had all the components that I look for in a contemporary romance. That push and pull – the “will they or won’t they” moments; sincere emotion without unnecessary dramatics or abundance of angst; naturally witty banter and smart humor that both entertained me and made me think and feel; and the absolutely undeniable blaze of attraction, mentally, emotionally and physically. A Guy Walks Into My Bar had it all, and it came together perfectly in a love story that earned the “most anticipated” designation from me and was well worth the wait. I loved every single thing about this heart-tugging, amusing and incredibly sexy romance, and it’s not only a new top favorite amongst a catalog of my favorites from Blakely, it’s also a top favorite of the year for me. Five smooches from me for A Guy Walks Into My Bar by Lauren Blakely!
~Danielle Palumbo
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