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A review by readbymisty
Protective Heart: A Friends to Lovers Small Town Romance by Brighton Walsh
4.0
This is my voluntary review for receiving an ARC from The Smuthood tour team.
“She was my sunshine and I was caught in her orbit.”
This book awakened my love for the friends to lovers trope. Beck and Everly have been friends since she arrived in Starlight Cove. After a mishap with a surprise guest and some traumatic events, it lands Everly needing to stay with none other than her grumpy-as-ever best friend, Beck. Forced proximity, one bed, and so many other cute tropes are included in this book.
Don’t let the cuteness fool you, though. The spice is off the charts hot. The dirty talk from Beck? Oh my LORD. I could have read scene after scene just letting Beck say more filthy things.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was dual-POV and covered a lot of important real-life topics other than just romance. I was a big fan of the characters all being in their 30’s compared to the common early to mid 20’s. It felt more relatable to where I am in life so that was nice!
My only complaint was the pacing was quite fast. I enjoy instant-love. I enjoy it more than most, I would even say. This book was too fast even for my taste. I would have enjoyed having the relationship develop a bit slower and really building that tension between the two of them.
So, if you’re looking for a sweet romance with some top-tier smut, this is the book for you! I am already anxiously awaiting Starlight Cove book 3
“She was my sunshine and I was caught in her orbit.”
This book awakened my love for the friends to lovers trope. Beck and Everly have been friends since she arrived in Starlight Cove. After a mishap with a surprise guest and some traumatic events, it lands Everly needing to stay with none other than her grumpy-as-ever best friend, Beck. Forced proximity, one bed, and so many other cute tropes are included in this book.
Don’t let the cuteness fool you, though. The spice is off the charts hot. The dirty talk from Beck? Oh my LORD. I could have read scene after scene just letting Beck say more filthy things.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was dual-POV and covered a lot of important real-life topics other than just romance. I was a big fan of the characters all being in their 30’s compared to the common early to mid 20’s. It felt more relatable to where I am in life so that was nice!
My only complaint was the pacing was quite fast. I enjoy instant-love. I enjoy it more than most, I would even say. This book was too fast even for my taste. I would have enjoyed having the relationship develop a bit slower and really building that tension between the two of them.
So, if you’re looking for a sweet romance with some top-tier smut, this is the book for you! I am already anxiously awaiting Starlight Cove book 3