TITLE: Choosing You
AUTHOR: Lena Hendrix
SERIES: Choosing You
SERIES ORDER: Prequel
PUBLISHED: 7/27/22
GENRE: Small Town Romance
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
BLURB:
I’m the new girl in town. The oldest daughter of an affluent banker. Old money.
He’s a lost soul from the wrong side of the tracks—and he has a reputation. Everyone knows to stay away from sinfully gorgeous mechanic Matthew Bailey.
When our paths cross and he offers me a smirk and a ride on his motorcycle, I try to refuse, but he’s too tempting to resist. Sneaking off with the town bad boy will help me break free of my family’s stifling expectations.
But being with Matthew puts everything at stake—my reputation, my family, my heart.
Every look, every touch, is electric. Our sizzling summer romance is flirting dangerously toward a deeper connection—one that will upturn both our lives.
Matthew is used to being alone. Abandoned. Now it’s up to me to show him what it means to be the one worth choosing.
“Most women saw my pissed-off exterior as some sort of challenge. My Lottie was different. She looked at me like she really saw me—the real me that had been buried so deep by stress and regret and anger.”
MY REVIEW:
Before I get to my review of this book, I need to rave on Lena Hendrix a bit. When I went to Charm City Romanticon earlier this year, Lena Hendrix was one of the signing authors and I made it my mission to pre-order at least one book from every author attending, even if I never read one of their books before. I never read Lena Hendrix before, so Choosing You was the book I pre-ordered from Lena because it was the prequel to one of her series. When I got to her table, she was just the sweetest and she made my day (which had already been going great) even better when she saw me, and said “Oh, you’re a familiar face! Now I feel like I know someone here!” (or something like that.) I never talked to her before, but she’d seen my posts in the Charm City Attendees group on FB and recognized me from my profile picture! I also ran into her when we were both packing our cars up to leave, and I accidentally mispronounced her name (which I’m still kicking myself for lol.) Anyway, another tidbit that I just found out (while I was getting ready to write this review) was that Choosing You was written a year ago yesterday (7/27/2023), and I started reading this book yesterday! 🤯
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Choosing You was such a heartwarming (and spicy) read! I was absolutely enthralled in Matthew and Charlotte’s love story and could not put it down; I read this in two days!
Both Matthew and Charlotte tugged at my heartstrings. Matthew comes from the wrong side of the tracks. His father is a town drunk, and almost everybody (except for the women interested in having him in their bed) avoids him whenever he comes around. Matthew’s intent is to get out of dodge, except he’s concerned for his brother, Kevin, who still resides with their father.
Charlotte comes from old money. Her father is a banker and after acquiring a couple investment firms, including one in Chikalu Falls, he takes his family there where he puts Charlotte in charge of the firm. Charlotte is feeling discontent in her life. She doesn’t know who she is and she’s tired of living under her parents’ thumb. She decides to use her time n Chikalu Falls to find herself, and start doing what she wants to do.
Charlotte and Matthew meet when Matthew rides by her house and there’s an instant attraction. When Matthew decides to get a loan to pay for Kevin’s schooling, Charlotte tries to help as best as she can, but old prejudices die hard and Charlotte has an uphill battle. I loved watching Charlotte find herself in this book, I loved how she stood up for Matthew when no one else had, and I loved that she confronted him when he was making bone-headed decisions without confiding in her.
I loved how Matthew cared for his brother, Kevin, and was there for him when things were bad at home. Even when that meant facing his father. I loved how he treated Charlotte, and how he respected her.
Favorite spicy scene: The car ride.
I’m looking forward to reading the rest of this series!