Forever Starts Now by Stefanie London is another good summer read! Monroe Roberts has given up on men after her husband cheats on her with her cousin and leaves her. She's been dateless by choice for over a year when Ethan Hammersmith walks into the diner where she works. He is in search of his father after learning at his mother's deathbed that the man who raised him was not his biological father. Ethan, an Australian and a Chris Hemsworth look alike is searching for something, but he's not quite sure what. A connection? A family? He's definitely not looking to fall in love, but when he meets Monroe, sparks start flying.

I enjoyed the novel, but felt the Thor connection was overdone and got tedious. Thank you to the author, Entangled Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

What did I love about this book? So much, starting with the main characters, to the setting and supporting cast, to the love story.
Monroe! She is like a charcoaled marshmallow. Crispy, a little unappealing on the outside, yet totally soft and sweet inside. She’s been hurt in the past, and as such, she’s a little gruff with new people. But with those she loves, and the circle is big, she’s loyal, fierce, and will do anything for them.
Ethan! He totally stole my heart. The man is just trying to find some information, but everyone in Forever Falls is getting in his way. (I won’t spoil just how). Every move he makes, someone is watching and talking about it. And while he’s guarded because he doesn’t want everyone to know his business, he’s pretty sweet. Even when Monroe is grumpy with him, he sees past that. He puts up with the town’s antics. He puts up with his crotchety landlord at the inn and even bonds with her.
These two together! Oh boy. Together these two are bursting with chemistry. They’re funny. And caring and watching them overcome their past hurts to become better versions of themselves made me smile.
FOREVER STARTS NOW gets two thumbs up and five stars from me.

Small Town Gem...

I can always count on a joyful and delightfully witty story from Stefanie London. Monroe and Ethan had me smiling throughout their story. Ethan Hammersmith has spent the better part of a year looking for his father. He has given up quite a lot personally in order to see this through. He is hoping his journey has come to an end with Forever Falls. What he does find is Monroe who is as fiery as her red hair.

Monroe Roberts grew up in Forever Falls. She runs a restaurant that is in trouble of closing. Her fingers are crossed that the gorgeous Australian hottie Ethan will change her luck. This is a small town romance with a little intrigue and a lot of humor all rolled into one endearing story.

This is a beautiful romance, witty, fun and a page turner, I loved getting to know Ethan and Monroe, two people who were not looking for love or forever until they meet in the small town of Forever Falls and cupid takes aim at them and hits the spot, two people with baggage find the best of love and happiness.

Monroe Roberts has lived here all of her life and family means everything to her, she is divorced and stuck in her ways these days managing a diner, and seems to be happy. After the heartbreak of the divorce she gives up on her plans to open up her own fancy cake shop and keeps going but when a Chris Hemsworth look alike comes to town life as Monroe knows it is going to change forever.

Ethan Hammersmith is on a mission to discover the father he never knew, he is Australian and has put a lot of hard work into getting to where he is was but now it is time to find the truth and he packs everything up and leaves for America, looking for love is not on the agenda but meeting Monroe and getting to know her and the people in Forever Falls sees him find what he needs.

This one is such fun, beautifully written as Stefanie London knows how to, their journey is filled with ups and downs and a sensuality that had me sighing. There is a lot for both of them to overcome and together they help each other do this in such a beautiful way, I was cheering them on and smiling throughout. There are lots of fabulous characters in this story and so many fun parts with Thor and Monroe, I was drooling over the beautiful cakes and Thor. I do highly recommend this one, I loved it.

My thanks to the author and Netgalley for my digital copy to read and review

This is a sweet and sexy small town romance on the coast of Massachusetts. Monroe has been trudging through life ever since her ex-husband cheated on her with her cousin. Ethan has come from Australia to find out about his deceased father that he learned about when his mother was dying. He has spent a year going around the US trying to find the correct guy. Neither of them was looking for a relationship and are surprised when sparks fly.

I received a copy of this book to review through NetGalley and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Forever Starts Now is a charming and emotional small-town romance. Stephanie London's captivates readers with an inviting heroine and an Australian Thor look-alike hero.

Monroe is living in Forever Falls and because of her past, she is going through the motions. She has given up on love and her dreams as she thinks her future will only consist of managing the local diner. When the diner is facing financial struggles, she will do whatever it takes to get business back.

When a Thor look-alike travels from Australia to Forever Falls, everyone wants to know him. Ethan is on a mission to find more information about his father and wants to lay low. That's appearing hard to do especially since everyone thinks he is Chris Hemsworth. He meets Monroe and they come up with a plan that will benefit both of them. They decide to be in a fake relationship. It will help women from flirting with Ethan and will convince Monroe's family that she has moved on from her divorce.

Monroe and Ethan are so wonderful because they have so much to give. I love how Ethan sees Monroe and reminds her that she can do whatever she wants to in life and succeed in it. Ethan is so good and kindhearted but he does have his own insecurities. It's refreshing to see the author write about his personal struggles and insecurities and beautiful to see Monroe help him heal in more ways than one.

I give Forever Starts Now 4 stars. It's beautiful and heartfelt with a charming small-town setting. I think readers will enjoy getting to know these adorable, hardworking, and vulnerable characters.

This is such a cute, sweet book. It is a perfect light read for summer with fun characters that you can’t help but fall in love with. Highly recommend this one!

This story was good. But not my favorite my Stephanie London. I loved the MC and felt for her awful situation with her Ex. I didn't feel as connected to the Male MC and idk if it was because I felt his Hemsworth lookalike vibe was over played, or what. Loved the female MC though.

Great read. Funny, heartfelt, well written story of two people on seemingly very different life journeys. Both have given up on forever and have zero interest in happily ever after and only want to get though the day with their personal goals in mind. Monroe, after having been left by jerk of a husband skipped town only wants to run and save her floundering restaurant and go home and be left ALONE. People are not on her list of things she likes. Ethan, a Chris Hemsworth look a like has left Australia after having received an ultimatum from his fiancé. Rather than cave he packs his things and heads to the US to find the father he never knew about so clearly hasn’t met and winds up in Monroes small town. He has less interest in romance than Monroe does. As he is so good looking in a town of women starved for men he is pursued relentlessly. He has as little interest in love as Monroe does. So they decide to help each other. She needs customers and he needs to get the nutty women to stop relentlessly pursuing him. They decide to team up in a fake relationship to help them both. What could possibly go wrong? And so begins their dance. Will they find their path to love, happiness, trust and their own happily ever after and save themselves while meeting their other goals? It’s an easy fun summer (or any time really) read that will make you smile and melt even the coldest of hearts.

Oh my heart! I am swooning so madly over Forever Starts Now by Stefanie London. It is a flirty, witty and emotional small town romance with an Aussie Thor look alike drop dead gorgeous hero with issues and a redheaded fierce heroine with more issues. I didn't know how time passed while I was reading the story.

Ethan Hammersmith ( yup that name is all trouble) has come to USA from Australia in search of his true identity. His real father. Forever Falls is a stop in his search. Monroe has been here forever with her family who dreamt of having her own bakery but dreams get crushed. She is heartbroken and dulled. And now the biggest challenge in her life is to save the diner where she works as manager. Ethan needs to hide from the town's attention due to his Chris Hemsworth like appearance and Monroe needs people to pay and not just loiter around to have a look at Ethan. So comes the not so brilliant idea of Fake Relationship. And you know, those tend to get awfully real so fast.


This story holds the warmth and beauty of small town romance in spades. Forever Falls is a picturesque town with quirky, nosey, kind, simple people. Monroe is such an amazing woman. Her husband cheated on her, she had to stop dreaming about own bakery and spend all the time and money on her sick father yet she has not lost the light in her soul. She is a delightful and sweet presence to anyone and her sassiness is so awesome. On the other hand, Ethan feels unmoored and lost when the biggest lie of his life was exposed. He has left everything behind for a search that only makes him feel frustrated, restless and sad. Monroe made him feel real happiness after a long time. This man is so sexy and confident and swoon on steroid. Charming, witty, sexy..the full package. They became partners for mutual convenience but soon it became true friendship. Their chemistry was sizzling hot. Holy slow burn goodness! But every great love story becomes greater with complications. Ethan doesn't know if he can stay and make a life in Forever Falls with his unresolved issues. Monroe doesn't know how to move forward after losing a man who brought back the spark in her heart. Everything works out just perfectly at the end.


Forever Starts Now by Stephanie London brings all the warm, fuzzy and adorable feels in my heart and soul. It was a beautiful love story with beautiful characters.

I reviewed an early copy voluntarily through Netgalley and Entangled Publishing.

This book was a funny, heartfelt small town romance with memorable characters. It was a great book for me to finish today, poolside. The writing was solid and kept me interested from the first page until the last. This book gave me all the feels. Family. Friendship. Secrets. Best of all--Emotion. The character growth and conflict were perfect. Huge thank you to Netgalley and Entangled publishing for allowing me to read and review this wonderful book.

Two characters with broken hearts find a way to piece themselves back together thought the unexpected love and support they find in fake relationship!

After finding out the man he thought was his father isn’t related to him from his mother on her death bed, Ethan upends his whole life in search of his missing family. This search takes him from his home in Australia and all across America as he searches out his birth father…

When hunky Australian, Ethan shows up in Forever Falls, he is perfect man for Monroe; only here temporarily, not her type and extremely gorgeous! Just what she needs to get back at her cheating ex-husband as he slinks back into her life causing her more trouble!

Monroe proposes a fake relationship to Ethan to help him search for his history and he will show the town and her family that she has moved on from her ex. But soon agreed upon kisses turn into more and they end up in something that feels like a real relationship. This will only end up hurting both of them, because Ethan’s home isn’t in Forever Falls and Monroe’s is.

Sometime you get a story where both characters are just so likeable, yo don’t want to let them go- this story made me feel that! I loved our grumpy anti-love Monroe finding her passion (in more than one way!) with Ethan. Her ex gaslight her into not believing in her self worth or her dreams and the encouragement and support from Ethan gave her back her life! Ethan is a sweetie trying to distance himself from the world as he tries to find out about his past, but Monroe breaks through his barriers and shows him what a real family is.

Ugh! I just loved these two coming together and discovering that their fake relationship is real… and I seeing their personal growth to make their HEA a reality!

This was my first Stefanie London book- and definitely not my last!

Forever Starts Now by Stefanie London is scheduled to release June 29th, 2021.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Entangled Publishing and NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#ForeverStartsNow #StefanieLondon #NetGalley #pinkcowlandreads

A fun read, perfect for a pool day! Set in a small town where everyone is in everyone else’s business. The two main characters both have baggage that makes them hesitant to move forward but it also makes Monroe’s “healing” believe able.

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy for my honest review.

A tale of love, loss, and what it means to be family. “Forever Starts Now” is a cute little love story that brought a smile to my face.

I enjoyed this book, but I think I wanted to like it more than I ended up actually liking it. The premise is a little weak and predictable, but the characters make up for that. I didn't totally buy the issue between Monroe and her ex - if they had different lawyers how did her's not catch that a mistake had occurred and why was it her job to fix the problem? Shouldn't he have taken care of it so all she had to do was sign the papers? I also wished Monroe had taken more of a "everything has been going so great I just hadn't even been thinking about it" kind of attitude when Ethan accused her of lying to him about the divorce-that-wasn't because she wasn't really lying to him. I forgave that part because it was resolved so quickly rather than being dragged out and leading to a huge blowup between the two of them. I also would have liked to have had a scene in which Monroe ran into her aunt - there definitely needed to be more closure on that issue. I was so glad that Monroe was forced to take a chance on her dream rather than staying on at the diner (that act was probably one of the kindest things anyone did for her). I also liked that Ethan went home and found his own closure before seeking out Monroe again, it made me more confident that they would really be able to make it work and be happy with one another. This is definitely a great summer read - more substance than some romances, but not so much that you can't read it with a smile on your face.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me an early copy of this book; I appreciate it !!

I enjoyed this book quite a bit; it is a perfect summertime read --- easy, breezy and sweet. The characters each had their own issues and baggage and their fake romance was surprisingly believable. I did appreciate the disclaimer at the beginning that outlined subjects that might be emotional triggers for some readers; I really wish all books did this. The descriptions of the baked goods were vivid and tickled my sweet tooth. Without giving away spoilers, I will say I liked the ending and how the issues were resolved. Overall, I liked this book.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Entangled: Amara and Stefanie London. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own.***

2.5 stars

Forever Starts Now was a little bit flat for me. I liked Monroe and Ethan well enough, but for me their chemistry was mediocre. They both spent too much time with their heads in the past, and I felt like I only got glimpses of who they were in the present. There was a little too much telling and not enough showing in terms of story-telling. The MCs did both work through their issues, which was good. This is a great book for people who love a sugary sweet—no pun intended—romance.

Cute, amusing, and heartfelt!

Forever Starts Now is an entertaining, uplifting tale that takes you on a journey into the life of Monroe Roberts, an intelligent, heartbroken, young woman who finds herself inadvertently in need of some help from the sexy, new visitor to Forever Falls, Ethan Hammersmith who may just require a little assistance of his own.

The writing is smooth and sweet. The characters are genuine, hesitant, and supportive. And the plot is a delightfully charming mix of friendship, family, life, love, introspection, secrets, misunderstandings, taking chances, and finding the true meaning of home.

Overall, Forever Starts Now is an engaging, witty, cosy tale by London that has just the right amount of emotion, passion, and angst to make this story a quick, breezy, enjoyable read.

This was a wonderful story and I had a blast reading it. I loved the entertaining vibe, the awesome banter, and fun characters. I loved the fake relationship aspect and how it grew into so much more. This story was filled with so much growth, healing, and love, and I enjoyed it all.

Monroe’s a bit grumpy but so sweet with a heart of gold and it kicks off with awesome verbal sparring between her and Ethan. I loved that playfulness and fun. I love how everyone thought he was someone else and how that played into everything over the course of the story. I loved learning what they'd gone through in the past, the pain they were dealing with, and felt the emotion as they dealt with their present-day struggles. I loved them forming their fake relationship and the why behind it, when they start to open up and letting their guard down and moving on from past hurts. I thought that Monroe and Ethan had great chemistry and I enjoyed the build as their feelings grew and lines were crossed.

There a lot of fun scenes with great banter and flirting, some mild drama, and so many entertaining moments that had me smiling. I liked the other characters in the story and the different bonds that were happening and that were formed. This was a light read with a nice amount of depth and details that really pulled me in.

This was a fantastic story to lose myself in and left me feeling happy and full of hope. I loved Ethan and Monroe and how their fake turned real and all the feelings and healing that happened. Great read!

This is a fun and entertaining romance. The dialog, the fake romance, past problems, and the lookalike issue all add up to an enjoyable read. The only thing I didn't care for were the intimate details. It was not as easy to skip over them as I usually do as their conversations were quite amusing and I hated to miss a word. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.