Eye Candy by Jessica Lemmon has a bit of a twist from a typical romance story. Can good friends Vince and Jacqueline move from friends to lovers to a real relationship with a happily ever after? You betcha, but there will be twists, humor, coaching, and dating of a jogger/neighbor along the way. These two friends a destined to be together but the path is full of potholes. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others as a great story to relax with.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review.

Eye Candy by Jessica Lemmon has become my favorite book written by this author. I have read several of her books but the main male character was a wounded tortured soul who often cross the line from right to wrong in their actions. I found those to be compelling reads but it is wonderful to see the same detail to plot and character development given to a work that is lighter.

This friendship to love story was a delicious read. The jogger is far from the perfect man for Jacqueline but her best friend, Vince is the right one is many ways. Of course. The characters are old enough to have love and loss but that served to make the story so authentic. They have survived their heartbreaks which makes them wary of trying love again but also more capable of recognizing it when found. However, that is easier said than done, so they journey is one of detours. It was fun to watch how Vince goes about winning Jacqueline’s trust and love. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance with intelligent, successful and engaging characters.

I have to say this friends to lovers story is great. Vince and Jackie have been in other relationships, they supported each other as friends. They both go into a divorce scorching them from relationships. Vince then realizes he wants Jackie, but she isn’t ready to what he wants, so he will help her to date someone else. Jackie finds herself looking at a man that runs in the Street. She finally gets the courage to ask him. Vince tries to help her practice so he kisses her and everything changes. The story is good paced, the romance can be felt and the chemistry is off the charts. This book has it all, sexy, humor and friendship that turns out into something more. Great reading for the weekend.

In true Jessica Lemmon fashion, I was mesmerized with the story from the onset; with wry, witty and hilarious banter flying off the pages so effortlessly, which is another of her trademarks that I never tire of. She is gifted in her ability to create characters who entertain, and leave a lasting impression.

Vince's inner monologues were priceless, as was his creative approach to changing the dynamics of his and Jackie's best friends status. There were so many of his quips that I highlighted, to read again, which just demonstrates Ms Lemmon's abilities to draw the reader into the believability of her characters, not wanting to let them go at story's end.

Along with all the lighthearted hilarity, the seriousness was felt to the point of heartbreak for both Vince and Jackie. They were definitely a couple that I became emotionally invested in and their HEA...though there was a point (and this is how poignant her writing is) where I was actually entertaining the notion that they may not get to their HEA.

I will always come back to Ms Lemmon's books as I know I'll never be disappointed, because her characters always leave a lasting impression.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and Netgalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Laugh out loud funny, yet smoking hot! You can cut the sexual tension with a knife between these two, and once they get on track with admitting their attraction, they connect majorly! A really fun read.

Co-Vice President coworkers and best buddies Jackie Butler and Vince Carson have been each other's sounding boards through a lot. Now the jig is up as Vince figures out that Jackie is lusting after some hunky jock that runs by her office window at the same time every day and Vince sets out to pull a trick on her. He convinces her to let him coach her into getting back out there and dating again when what he really wants is for her to want him instead!

Jackie is excited when runner guy takes her up on her offer of coffee, and then wants to see her again. She's having fun and enjoying his attention ... only when she's with him, she finds herself thinking of Vince and comparing the two. When Vince admits he wants her, she doesn't know what to do. Can they risk their great friendship for something they don't know will go anywhere?

Great story of two friends becoming more than friends. Jackie is ready to start dating again after her divorce, who better to coach her than her best friend and co worker Vince. Vince himself has gone through a divorce, but what he hadn't expected was his feelings toward Jackie once she showed interest in someone else. Both Vince and Jackie have hang ups to get passed before their real feelings and maybe more can they be a couple.

Vince is in love with his best friend but has no idea how to tell her, or himself. He knows these feelings are growing for this amazing woman he spends so much time with. They both have been hurt so badly in the past. Together, things are just right.

Jacqueline AKA Jackie really does want to have a fling to enjoy. She is still stinging from the hard slap her ex gave her by choosing another woman. With her best friend, she is a confident and fun woman. Where is that confidence when she needs it most?

This story has a little bit for everyone. There is humor, hot guys, sexy times, pop culture, movie quotes, and more. Did I mention there is seriously hot men? I love the banter and the friendship portrayed here. What is so excellent for me, is that these two show how much they care, long before we get the words.


***This ARC copy was given by Netgalley and its publishers, in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC copy of this book from NetGallery for an honest review. I give this book 5 stars. The storyline between Jackie and Vince started out as best friend. It was a funny and well written book. This was the fist book in the series. She is stalking her neighbor as he runs past her office at 11:45am everyday. A great book to read.

“‘Once upon a time’ always starts with bumbling, if you think about it.”

There’s not much bumbling about Jessica Lemmon’s charming and sexy new series. Okay, there’s a little bumbling, but it’s fun, flirty and easy to enjoy—and I’m already looking forward to diving into more.

A friends-to-lovers romance (which is a trope I am 100% here for, always), Eye Candy has a way of sort of sucking you in, and getting you invested in not only the lives of Vince and Jackie, but also Davis—who I am so fascinated by—and Grace. The banter and dialogue was on point, the friendships fulfilling, the premise endearing and the writing excellent. All in all, a really good book, and definitely the best way to start a new series.

However, that’s not to say I felt like Eye Candy was perfect. I said it was really good, and I stand by that. But I did find some of the miscommunication, the mixed signals, the hypocritical hurts between Jackie and Vince (and Jaundice) to be a frustrating at times. Not so much, though, that I wasn’t able to lose myself in this world of Ms. Lemmon’s creation.

In fact, I read this one incredibly quickly, because I couldn’t find it within myself to put it down. I wanted to know what would happen, I wanted to see Vince and Jackie figure out their trust issues, their past-relationship baggage, their ‘now what?!’ fears. But mostly, I just wanted to keep enjoying the charm, the heat, and the playfulness that permeated this book—and left my heart feeling full.

“Do you have any pointers now that I’ve successfully lured a man into my house?”
“Yes, but every one of them involves you stripping naked while I watch, which is probably less about my coaching and more about my boner.”

~ 3.5 STARS ~

I really enjoyed this best friends to lovers romance. Jackie and Vince are both divorced and they've helped each other to heal. However, the true healing comes when they give in to their feelings and start seeing each other. I thought this book was really cute and funny. I loved Jackie and Vince's easy relationship with each other. Nothing between them felt forced like it did when Jackie was with JT. A sweet romance with some steam! I'm looking forward to Davis and Grace!

3.5 stars -- I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

This one started off AWESOMELY!  The humour and wit was just spot on, both characters were just my kind of hilarious and snarky and sassy, and I just fell in love!  Seriously, I was smiling to myself and giggling at some of their inner thoughts right from the start.  Jackie was an intriguing mix of sassy and reserved...it was a strange mix that didn't always work for me, but I really loved her drive and how her meticulousness could be seen in who she was both at work and at home.  And Vince was a strange book boy too, he was such a guy guy sometimes, but I loved that he wasn't the typical ultra-successful businessman.  His work wasn't his life, but he enjoyed it all the same.  And I really appreciated seeing him admire Jackie at work, and acknowledge that she was on another level from him.

As the book progressed I felt like we got to see more of what made each of them up as individuals, and normally I love that extra depth...but these two were a bit too human at times, and I became somewhat less enamoured with them.  I didn't fall out of love per say, I was just disappointed in some of their childish moments, and the usual introduction of the lack of communication trope.  And honestly, there were a few moments where I felt like both characters got a bit hypocritical (Jackie with JT, and Vince with Jackie at the end), and so it ended on a lower note than it started.  BUT!!  While this all bummed me out, the rest of what I fell in love with was still present...  It made for a bit of a quandary in my feelings for them both, because I still loved them, I just didn't always like them.  Like real people I guess.

I will say that their chemistry was freaking SMOKING.  Like honestly, I had all of the tummy butterflies, and the wave the hands on my face-ness.  Like that scene on the stairs is responsible for a happy hubby...tmi?

I kind of wish we'd seen more friend interactions for Jackie, with either Bethany or Kayla...didn't really get to know much there.  BUT I LOVED what we got to see of Davis, and I'm very intrigued about his story.  He's an odd one.  But I appreciated his friendship with Vince, it felt very real.

So yeah.  Basically this was mostly a 4 star read, it just lost some verve in the latter half of the book, and hence the bump down a half a star.  I have a feeling Ms. Lemmon is an author I would enjoy reading more of.

GAH! I am such a sucker for a friends to lovers story and I am a HUGE fan of Jessica Lemmon so rolled into one, I have found a new series to fall in love with. I really love the banter of Vince and Jackie as they go through the motions and the ups and downs. I laughed, swooned and so much more! If you want a fun, fast paced swoon story of friends becoming lovers... snag this bad boy!

A good start to a new series.

I've been reading Jessica Lemmon's books for a while now and I've really enjoyed most of them. I have to admit though, that it took me a little bit to get into Eye Candy. I'm guessing the problem was mostly me. Sometimes I pick up a book to read and it's just not the right book for my mood. After I read a couple of chapters I set this one aside for a bit and then picked it up again a couple of weeks later.

My second go at the book went much better and I really enjoyed it. It's told in first-person POV, alternating between Jacqueline (Jackie) and Vincent (Vince). These two are co-workers and best friends. Having both gone through a divorce they bonded with each other even though the circumstances of their divorces was different; Jackie's husband cheated on her, Vince's wife just up and left him.

At nearly the same time everyday Jessica watches a jogger who is so beautiful to look at that she becomes rather obsessed with him. Vince has begun to have feelings for Jackie and her obsession with the jogger is really getting to him.

This is a perfect case of poor communication between the two main characters (MCs). Vince is afraid to let Jackie know that he wants to date her and Jackie doesn't tell him that she's got feelings for him.

This story is fairly light-hearted and there are several laugh-out-loud moments. There are also some fairly serious moments when these two finally begin to communicate only to have a complete misunderstanding and a total breakdown in communication.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the secondary character of Davis, who is Vince's male best friend. We got enough information in Eye Candy to make me really want to read his story which is coming up in the next book called Arm Candy.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

This review will be posted to Xtreme-Delusions dot com on July 25, 2017.

So… I’m not very sure how to review this book. This was my first book by Jessica Lemmon, and I have to say that I really really liked her writing and her style. The writing was hilarious at points, and I thought it flowed well and was super enjoyable. To be 100% honest, it was the most enjoyable thing about this book.

With that said, while I thought the book started strong, around the halfway mark, it went down and down and down, and never came up again. I ended up not liking either of the 2 main characters. Jackie and Vince were just infuriating.

The lack of communication, the games, the assumptions, BAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! Just NO! They were supposed to be best friends, but they spend the whole book not being fully honest with each other about how they feel. And while I understood the fears and trepidations behind their “logic”, it just didn’t make a good story, it was tiring and repetitive, and I hated it.

The best character in the book ended up being Davis, which makes me slightly hopeful about his upcoming book, which is already sitting on my kindle.

So, while I truly loved the writing and the humour, I ended up not liking the characters all that much, and finding the plot and storyline infuriating.

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT?

3 “Friends & Miscommunication” Stars

ARC via NetGalley.

Thank you, Loveswept!


Last year, I was introduced to Jessica Lemmon's writing and I truly enjoyed her Billionaire Bad Boy series. Unfortunately, the first title in her new series didn't have the same appeal.

Eye Candy caught my eye--cheesy, I know--because of the best friend to lover's trope, and while there were good moments between Jackie and Vince, the divorced best friends and cowokers who discover they want a romantic relationship, there were also some issues of the plotlines and characters' behaviours that kept this from being more than just an enjoyable read for me.

I liked Jackie enough. She was independent and smart, and she was a good friend to Vince when he needed her most, right after he got his divorce. She also had my sympathy for the whole cheating drama with ex-girlfriend. Vince, on the other hand, wasn't my favorite character. I didn't dislike him, but he didn't do it for me. He acted a little too imature at times, and his plan to get Jackie to go out with him didn't make any sense. I didn't see how a man could think getting the woman you're interested in to ask someone else out would benefit him. The whole "she refuses to date thing" didn't even seem real enough to justify that approach.

For me, Vince's games (including the whole coaching thing after they started going out) didn't make much sense, and was only there to create drama. It didn't feel genuine, and that kept me from fully enjoying this book.

Having said that, I thought there were some good scenes between them before and after they started dating. I always enjoy reading about healthy friendships between female and male characters, where they simply get to enjoy each other's companies while watching a movie or sharing a pizza. I almost wish we'd seen more of them as just friends before jumping into kissing.

I also enjoyed Jackie and Vince's friendship with other characters. I liked that they had other people to give them advice and cheer for their happiness.

The chemistry between Vince and Jackie was another win. They shared some hot moments together.

Overall, this was an good read with nice elements to it. Had Vince's motivations and their communication been a little better, it would've been another win for this author, as far as I was concerned.

**Amazon review will go live on release date**

Wow! I really enjoyed this book! The two main characters were wonderful!

Jacqueline "Jackie" Butler is a co-vice president at a marketing firm. Jackie has been divorced for 3 years now and is fed up with the dating life. She spends most of her time with her co-VP, Vince Carson. Vince is recently divorced and is starting to see Jackie in a different light....too bad Jackie has been drooling over some guy who runs past their work place around 11:45 am most days! Vince thinks...let's get Jackie set up with Runner Guy and then when he breaks her heart, he can jump in and save her! Vince convinces Jackie that he can coach her on how to get a date with Runner Guy and to do so they must spend a lot of time together. Of course, Jackie does get a date and that's when the fun begins!

Vince isn't too happy about Runner Guy and his Green Monster really starts to show. Vince really wants to tell Jackie how he feels but he is afraid of losing one of his best friends. Through a round of some pretty entertaining "coaching" their true feelings for each other start to emerge, but both of them are hesitant to act on them. After some fun convincing from Jackie's sister, Bethany and Vince's best friend, Davis these two finally will be moving in the right direction for their happy ending.

This story has such great characters and so many fun, laugh-out-loud moments. What Bethany did to Runner Guy was perfect! ;) I'm looking forward to Davis' story next!

Jacqueline and Vince are best friends and co-workers. Every day at a specific time Jackie stares out her window to ogle a runner who she thinks is hotter than hot. Vince is jealous because even though he and Jackie are friends he wants to be more. Despite his feelings he encourages Jackie to date runner guy because he thinks that she’ll see what a dolt the guy is and then he’ll have his opening. Things don’t exactly work out that way.

Jackie is excited about dating the runner guy but she’s kind of having fantasies about her friend Vince and she’s not sure how he feels about that. She’s getting mixed signals as he’s telling her what she should do with runner guy. It’s all very confusing. Soon Jackie is acting like a teenager and with Vince and she’s not sure how he feels about her.

This was a cute and sometimes funny book. I like friends-to-lovers stories and I had some pretty high hopes with this one as I know what a great writer that Lemmon is. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t what I was expecting.

Friends who become lovers – that’s a difficult and sometimes rocky road to take and that’s when the H/h are being honest with each other about their feelings. That wasn’t the case here. Vince thought that if Jackie dated she would see that the dating world sucked and then he’d have his chance. Jackie dated runner guy and eventually did see what an ass he was but since Vince was being so wishy washy it was hard for her to tell. Then when Jackie did something completely childish, even though it was done in the heat of the moment, Vince gets extremely mad and stops talking to her. I was completely floored at his actions and wanted to hit the man, quite frankly. Between the hiding of their feelings and the huge miscommunication I found myself rolling my eyes instead of understanding what they were going through. I wish I could say better things about this one but it just didn’t do it for me.

Rating: 2.5/3 out of 5

This will post as a guest review on Book Binge.
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Eye Candy was a unique and interesting standalone contemporary romance, and I liked reading Vince and Jackie's story. I have read several of Jessica Lemmon's books, and Eye Candy was the first I had read from her that was written in first person POV. I have always enjoyed Ms. Lemmon's writing style and I loved that she wrote Eye Candy from both Vince and Jackie's POV. I really enjoy reading a story from both characters' perspectives, and I love when books are written this way. It's great to see what each of them is thinking and feeling throughout.

I enjoyed the storyline and characters, but unfortunately neither met my expectations and I was slightly disappointed. I liked Vince and Jackie and thought they were good characters, but that special spark was missing from the story and their relationship that really made me fall in love with it and them. I liked that they started off as friends and co-workers, but I didn't like how their relationship and situation progressed. I was very annoyed by the conflict and last twenty or so percent of the book, and when it got to the end I was pretty bummed. I had hoped for a better conclusion and maybe an epilogue, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

I hate writing negative reviews, and I mean absolutely no offense or disrespect to the author, but I have to be honest about how I felt, and Eye Candy definitely wasn't my favorite Jessica Lemmon novel. I am truly sorry for possibly hurting her feelings. That definitely wasn't my intention. I just want everyone to know that my opinion is only one of many, and not everyone will feel the same as I did. I certainly wouldn't discourage other readers from giving it a try because they might love it, and I wouldn't want them to miss out based on my thoughts and feelings.

I didn't enjoy Eye Candy as much as I hoped I would, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading Davis' story in Arm Candy and the rest of the Real Love series!

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jacqueline Butler and Vince Carson are Co-VP's at a successful advertising firm and best friends. Both have settled for a comfortable dating limbo since their divorces. But when Jacqueline's daily gawking at a hot jogger, who runs by her office window, is the catalyst to get her to move out into the world again it could be the one to open her eyes and arms to the perfect man right in front of her all along.

In the first book in her Real Love series Eye Candy Jessica Lemmon not only managed to land a great HEA and set the stage for some tantalizing upcoming stories but she continued to show readers just how good a writer she is. This story took off slow and steady, really exemplifying the life slump her leads Jackie and Vince were in. Ms. Lemmon skillfully guided her characters through the dangerous waters of friends to lovers in an insightful and caring way but not without an abundance of amusing and often touching mishaps. Something you can always count on with this author is getting inside the heads of her characters, an experience you do not want to miss as it is like no other and is always so fulfilling. Vince moments showcased Jessica Lemmon's remarkable ability to tap into the mindset of the collective inner dude. Jackie was smart, sensitive and the friend Vince was lucky enough to have and the one we all hope to have at our back. When this couple stepped out of their comfortable friend zone their insecurities and hope heated the pages and removed any options of putting this book down by readers. Significant interactions and well-developed characters filled this work with wonderful moments but it was the sum of the whole not its pieces that make this story a standout compelling read.