Cover Image: Until You Loved Me

Until You Loved Me

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Member Reviews

A sweet, fun read about an unlikely couple who find in each other home.

Four stars.

*I received a review copy from the publisher/author via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

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I am a big fan of Brenda Novak. I have loved her suspense books and have read some of the romance books she’s written. Although her writing shines through I much prefer her suspense.

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This book started off so good then it turned into an abusive relationship and soon it was barely about Ellie and everything to do with Hudson. After what happened in the motel room, I was going to run far away, which she did, but he came after her and I really did not like how things progressed from there.

Ellie just seemed to be Hudson emotional punching bag yet she just took it and fell in love. Yeah no thank you.

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I enjoyed this read!
It's saddening, sexy, filled with wonderful characters that will sweep you off your feet and then some!

And that ending..... Oh my gosh. I loved that so so so much!!!

*Recv'd an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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I think the writing style just isn't for me. The story didn't sustain my interest, and I really couldn't connect with the characters. Ellie's douchey ex, in particular, seems unrealistically cliché.

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Ellie is a smart, straight laced scientist who doesn't veer off course until she finds her fiancé in bed with another man. Hudson is a star football player who plays it safe, has abandonment issues as he was left as a newborn by bushes to fend for his own survival.
Ellie's one night stand with a unknown stranger leads to a new creation.
Hudson is wealthy has always played it safe. Traps may or may not have been set to obtain a share of this wealth.
Trust is important as well as family but one needs to deem what is real

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This book was fantastic. It is not a book you can pick up and put down it is a read all at once or you are going to be wondering what happens next.

I highly recommend this this title.

Ellie is a nerd. Hudson is a jock. Can they make a relationship work?

Thank you netgalley and Harlequin for allowing me to read this title for an honest review

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Ellie Fisher is days away from her wedding when she comes home unexpectedly and finds her fiancé in bed...with another man. Needless to say the wedding's off and it doesn't help that they work together. So, when a good friend invites her out to a nightclub for a well-earned evening out, Ellie accepts and ends up with an intriguing man, a few too many vodka shots and right into a one night stand she enjoyed. Of course, in the light of day, Ellie decides to hurry home without knowing much about her partner other than his first name, Hudson. A few weeks later when she discovers she's pregnant, she regrets that she didn't at least find out his last name. Hudson King is actually a famous NFL star who was delighted when he met the sports ignorant Ellie who hadn't a clue who he was.

I loved everything about this story from beginning to end. While it started out a bit predictably, nothing else is after Ellie discovers her pregnancy. From Ellie's challenges with her ex, to her discovery of Hudson's identity and through to his reaction to the news, the journey was one fresh situation after another. Also layered into the story was Hudson's pursuit to find his biological parents to better understand the circumstances of his abandonment. Novak expertly weaves those issues into Hudson's psychology of his impending fatherhood and his relationship with Ellie.

This was expert storytelling that had me experiencing a full range of emotions. Add in Veronica Worthington's wonderful narration and I absolutely loved this story. I literally couldn't stop listening and hated when the story ended. Well done! 4.5 stars

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In an interesting twist for a romance, a good portion of the early part of the story has the two on their own.  But in a weird way it kinda works because as a reader we get a better understanding of our lead characters.  For the romance though it kinda was bad because that meant that the two leads didn’t get to know each other during that time.  It’s realistic for how the story flows but does make the love story part a little harder to get to.  Being as skilled as she is, though, Novak does make it work.  Once they start spending time together, Ellie and Hudson somehow manage to get past their insecurities and learn to be brave enough to go after what they want.  It just takes a while … but what else do you expect in a romance :)

I really enjoyed Ellie – she’s super smart but her confidence has taken a bit of a hit because of her cheating, no-good ex.  A night with Hudson definitely goes a long way in getting her mojo back ... until she finds herself pregnant and no way to contact the father.  I’m sure finding out that he’s a famous NFL player wasn’t easy but she handles it well (and I have to say she’s a lot more forgiving and understanding than I would have been.) 

Hudson’s past definitely makes finding out he has a baby on the way a shock.  He’s always done what he could to limit the chance of an accidental pregnancy because no baby of his would ever feel unwanted.  So he does everything he can to make sure that he will be there now … after he pulls a few bonehead moves, of course!  While there may have been a few moments when I wanted to smack him, I always understood where he was coming from and the idea of what he’s gone through, and is currently experiencing, after being abandoned as a baby is heartbreaking. 

Full of all the feels, realism, and interesting characters that you’d expect from a Novak book, Until You Loved Me is another great addition to the Silver Springs series.

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Until You Loved Me plays on the accidental pregnancy trope but it was actually quite a little bit more than that. Hudson and Ellie really hit it off as two people who engaged in a one night stand. They connected as strangers and parted as such. Until Ellie found out she was pregnant. Now, these two are living together so that Hudson could be part of their baby's life. But Hudson's past is starting to slowly be revealed and the more he tries to keep Ellie at arm's length emotionally the more he starts to find out that loving someone means giving them your trust.

Until You Loved Me has great character development which then leads to a great relationship development. Ellie's character is actually more developed than Hudson since her lack of trust stems from a betrayal from a previous relationship while Hudson's lack of trust stems from his childhood. The way this two interact is quite charming since it feels like a stranger to lover back to stranger, then to friends then to a romantic relationship and I loved how it played out. You can actually see how they start falling in love with each other. Although there is a subplot regarding Hudson's childhood, this did not detract from the main romance. All in all Until You Loved Me was a wonderful read.

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What an interesting twist to this fun story. Ellie Fisher is a soon to be a thirty-year-old scientist who was just dumped by her newly outed guy boyfriend and his boyfriend. That she to by the way work with both of them daily and they are making it out to be her fault that his relationship was so awful. That he had to play straight because of his parents and she made sex so unbearable.
My thing why did he even have to have sex with her anyway but that is just me. Because he could have kept up the fake engagement until he had to say, “I Do!” Giving him time to get his boyfriend moved down to the area, a job where he worked and outing himself with his family and friends.
Word in the lab is Don used her to save face with his family. Life was tough. She was not what you would call a party girl but her best friend since childhood, Amy was always the all-American girl. Popular, cheerleader, proms, everything. Ellie on the other was her polar opposite. Made her go out this night with her to Envy a nightclub. She really didn’t want to be there. She dressed sexy as she was instructed by Amy to do and they went.
As she watched Amy and her friend get their dance on with two guys they met she had decided shots were in order after three shots and a mixed drink she was finally feeling relaxed. When a waitress brought another mixed drink over from a guy in sunglasses and ball cap. Which seemed odd to her but she accepted the drink anyway. He seemed harmless enough. He appeared tall, broad-shouldered, and muscled.
When the second drink arrived, she turned it away. He was surprised no one had ever turned anything he had ever given them away. So, he had decided to leave his sheltered corner that the management had set up for him and go investigate. When he gave his first name she showed no signs of knowing him. Hudson King was big in LA but since he was in Miami well even still he was still big everyplace.
Especially, since he was in town to play a big game on Sunday even in Miami his first name got some recognition. But nothing. Are you into pop culture as a topic of conversation? To which she answered not really since being a scientist and always working or reading the up and coming findings for work she doesn’t keep up with pop culture.
After a while they left so they could go for a walk on the beach and talk two hours later they were headed to his hotel for the night, at the Four Seasons.
You see, Hudson King is the starting quarterback for the LA Devils. He is totally against love and marriage. Doesn’t sleep around because he has major trust issues.
This was a very good book of two people who have been hurt many times over varying degrees. Causing them to guard their hearts to the point where they stand in their own way. The way the author has their relationship develop is sweet and intense at times. I give this: 5 stars. Provided by netgalley.com.
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After finding her fiancé in bed with his best friend, Ellie is dragged to a night club for a much needed girl’s night. Little does she know that that one night would change her entire life. I’m not a fan of football so I did appreciate that the story focused more on Hudson’s personal life vs. his professional one. I love a strong and intelligent female lead. I loved how Ellie stood her ground with Hudson. That’s not to say that I agreed with all of her decisions. While I did like Ellie and Hudson as a couple, I wished there were a few more scenes (especially early on) where they had a few more deeper conversations. I would’ve liked to have seen those worked in rather than the time jumps. It would’ve swayed my rating a bit higher. El and Hudson are my favorite Silver Spring’s couple and I wouldn’t mind catching up with them in the future. I know at the end of this series I am going to NEED a Silver Spring’s reunion!!

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Brenda Novak has done it again with this emotionally poignant and riveting story of two people caught up in the consequences of loving someone they never thought they would. I love how she uses the small town setting of Silver Springs as the perfect backdrop to Hudson and Ellie as they try to work out their relationship with the added complication of a baby on the way. This story will give you all the feels and you won't want to put it down!

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Typical fare for Brenda Novak. Nice sometimes to pick up a book an know what to expect: guy & gal hookup. They have problems, breakup, get back together, have a baby. Ends happily ever after. Need that sometimes!

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This is the 3rd in the Silver Springs series. Please note, these books can be read as stand-alone books so don't panic if you haven't read the previous.

This starts off with Ellie being dragged to a club a couple weeks after finding her fiance in bed with another man. She's smart and responsible and she does something wild and unexpected and has a one night stand. She has a one night stand with Hudson King. Hudson has a complicated past, he was abandoned as a baby and this means he doesn't trust people easily. Anyhow, after the one night stand, Ellie finds herself pregnant and here we have the formula for this book. Unexpected pregnancy and then love.

I have read various books from various authors with this tried and tested storyline.
Sometimes it works out really well, other times not so much.

I can't make up my mind with this one. It started off really well. I thought the characters of Ellie and Hudson were really interesting the first half of the book. They got less interesting around 60% into the book.
I hated that Ellie gave up everything in her life including her career to move to a completely different state in which she didn't know a single person except Hudson. Hudson was pushy and a little bit aggressive, which doesn't necessarily put me off but he seriously needs to be told the word NO a little bit more.
In a way the book could have been cut down a good 50 or so pages as it dragged a bit at the end including the really obvious dodgy PI bit.

Overall I would say I did enjoy this. It's hard to not enjoy any of Brenda Novak's books, however I didn't love this like I did the previous one.

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Not the usual take on a one night stand and it had a real story behind it. It had to go through the a lot before the MCs got to together. It wasn't the usual fast track to a happy ending. Yes there's a surprise pregnancy (not a spoiler hinted at the blurb) involved how it was handled brought out many of the questions and more serious talk about things a realistic approach. Granted Hudson is a star quarterback and Ellie is a scientist still they talk logistics.

Totally helps that the heroine is self sufficient and can stand on her own theor situation. Many factors come into play and the skeptical Hudson is expected. The whole unplanned and coming to terms with it is dealt with a reality check.

I get why Hudson was scared and wasn't so welcoming at first. From his past childhood and the stuff that happened to his finding out the truth (which is eerily similar theme like much talked about book as of late) about his abandonment. A quite complicated situation with some mystery and blackmail involved. A very scarred tender heart that needed to trust. Ellie maybe all scientist mode but there was something there that made her open up and see the goodness in Hudson he needed. In turn he gave her someone she could be herself and loved for that. They were opposites but worked.

I feel like some parts could be fleshed out but there was enough build up and drama. The resolution tied up nicely even if it felt a tad rushed since a big chunk of the book centered on that. The start was a tad slow but felt right. I liked the message about being celebrity. It makes you visible make an impact on youth like Hudson did here helping really advocating troubled youth. It's a great-platform if used well. Brenda Novak has a knack for flawed or not so perfect characters redeeming themselves themed books aside from unusual stories but these are the memorable ones for me. This series focuses on had rough childhood and is able to overcome them or their situations.

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Loved this story about a book worm that finds love with a football player. Brenda Novak is a great story teller.

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This was a great book. It has been purchased for our library.

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Until You Loved Me nearly gave a reviewer's block since I am still on the fence about the story.
I read the book, the whole book, even though I nearly gave up at the 10% mark because I am not a big sports romance fan, or rich and famous story fan, or the clubbing and one-night-stand-story reader so the beginning was super slow to me. But then the story wrapped its flow around my brain and I actually ended up staying late to finish it.
Is it a book I want to read again? I don't think so, but I think I will remember it.
Did I like it? I wouldn't have read it otherwise, so yes, I did like it. It is well written, like all the works of Brenda Novak are.
Was it entertaining? I am not sure, I think it was rather tragic, actually, there was potential to so much heartbreak and angst with the protagonists past. The history was well twined into the current events, I liked how through the investigation Ellie got to show Hudson how much she values him as a human being, how much she respects him, trust him, and is willing to support him. By reflecting the past to the present Hudson learns what love truly is, for the first time in his life.
I liked both Ellie and Hudson, they were charming, charismatic, easy to like, even relate to, to a certain point. I liked the chemistry between them, the openness, the honesty, the connection that developed and the time it took to really get to that deeper relationship status after the initial night.
I have been thinking about the reason why I didn't absolutely love this good story, and I believe it was because of most of the intimacy, both physical and mental, between Ellie and Hudson, was either glazed over or referred to as something that happened in the past. I never got the feel of the depth of their emotions, the true connection these two beautiful souls created between themselves.
A story about learning to accept your past and even use it to make a difference in the world around you. It's a story about learning to love, learning to embrace your gifts and talents, your blessings, and your current life, to make a most of it.
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

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