I just didn't feel the love for this one, but I'm on a bit of a downer recently with books.

This was trademark Noelle Adams: small town; slightly naive woman; wealthy successful man; interfering friends; and an elderly relative with a penchant for quoting the bible.

This is a new series set in a small town where three women grew up together as BFFs because their brothers were best friends. Now they are adults and two of them are setting up a tea shop called Tea for Two, the third woman, Emma, is an accountant who does the books for the tea shop and drew up the business plan. Ever since she was a child she had a crush on her friend Ginny's brother Noah, even now, when he has been away travelling the world as a successful businessman for the last nine years she still holds a bit of a torch. Emma is just a typical Noelle Adams heroine, despite co-owning a successful business with her brother and being a qualified professional she is still a little shy, a little inexperienced etc. She has a history of falling for bad boys and losers who break her heart so she has decided to have a man-free period of six months, a Man-Fast. Of course, no sooner does she make this declaration to her friends when Noah returns to town to see his grandmother.

My first impressions of Noah were not good. He doesn't recognise the grown-up Emma and his internal monologue made him sound like a chauvinist pig. However, that doesn't seem to be typical because that attitude towards women isn't repeated, or is it because he has a bit of a Madonna or Whore complex with women and Emma, his sister and their friend all automatically get put into the Madonna box?

Noah's sister Ginny is the usual know-all BFF/ sister who interferes at every juncture - if she was my friend I'd tell her to eff-off.

Noah has issues and runs away rather than commit to anything (according to his sister), he knows that Emma is a good girl, she is his friend's little sister, and so although he is attracted to her he tries to stay away because 1) bro-code 2) he will leave and break her heart 3) he isn't worthy.

The novel felt like a lot of rinse and repeat: Noah hits on Emma, they agree to forget it happen; Noah kisses Emma, they agree to forget it happens; they have sex, Noah promises to call, he doesn't; they have sex, Noah promises to call, he doesn't, etc. I thought Emma came across as a doormat sobbing all day long over a man she hasn't even got a proper adult relationship with. Noah didn't come across much better, he was weeping and a wailing and wringing his hands so often it got tiresome.

Overall, this didn't work for me. However, I still enjoy Noelle Adams' novels and I look forward to reading Ginny's book - there is obviously a history there which is heavily hinted at in this book.

Adams is one of those authors I just can't stop reading. So when I saw this come across my Netgalley radar, I requested it right away. Falling for her Brother's Best Friend was not her best book but I still liked it. It's a cute set up, but it's also obvious (definitely not a spoiler) that each of the three friends will be pairing off with a brother, so the mystery is kind of lacking.

Emma is a bit of weak sauce with her crush, her lack of any social circle outside of her besties, her inability to pick a decent guy (i.e., one who doesn't cheat on her), and her apparent lack of self confidence. Honestly, Noah isn't all that much better. He spends his time running away from emotion, feeling guilty, and being guilted by the people around him into doing what they want.

But, Noah's is the stronger character arc while Emma just stays her sweet, perfect little self. This is one of the reasons it was less than compelling. While is scant depth to the characters, especially anyone not named Noah, who was given the most and it was still too little. I realize this was a very short book but a little added depth would have gone a long way. The lack of emotional depth among people who are supposed to be best friends (both the women and the men) hurt this story.

All that said, I was happy where the book ended up, even if things got tied up in a bow a little too much and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series. This is Noelle Adams, after all.

I picked this book as I have read Noelle Adams before and enjoy her books.
Plus I like the trope of brothers-best-friend. In this case Noah is also the older brother of one of Emma's best friends. And Emma had a major crush on him during her teens. He called her Pudge...

The story revolves around 3 girlfriends (2 have started a business and Emma is the money person who has written the business plan for them) with all an older brother. It is easy to guess where this will lead... starting with the return of Noah after 7 years away. While Emma is picking up her own brother at the airport Noah hits on her because he does not recognize her.

I was a bit underwhelmed by the story. At first I had a lot of trouble keeping up with all the names and it was rather cliche. Not sure I will pick up the next.

*** I want to thank the publisher for granting me an ARC. This is my honest review. ***

This is the story of 3 brothers and 3 sisters who romance each other. This first book is the story of Noah and Emma. Noah ran away about 7 years before not wanting to face the pain of losing his mother and his father abandoning him and his sister.

His sister, Ginny begs him to come home because his grandmother who took care of him and Ginny is not doing well. This is primarily his story of how he faces his past and the loss and pain of it while learning how to not run away from life. In turn if he faces his past he might just win the girl, Emma.

This was a sweet romance and i really liked all the characters. The authors writing was great and I really enjoyed this novella.

A good solid plot with an interesting storyline. Enjoyed it.

It is rare that I don't fall in love with a book by Noelle Adams but sadly this one just wasn't up to her normal high standards. Noah and Emma never came alive for me. Something felt disjointed even from the beginning and their initial "re-introduction" to one another. I can usually get into such a nice flow with this authors books and just sit back and let it take me away but the writing in this one felt like the flow was off and that I had to kind of struggle to keep with it. Once we got about 30% in things were getting a touch better and I started feeling a little chemistry between Noah and Emma. Sadly then the hero and heroine were thrown in to bed with one another with very little pretense and it all came crumbling back down once again. The rest of the story carried on about the same and I just never could feel any passion, intensity or emotion between these characters. Overall, I finished this one to see it through but it was a struggle. Onward and upward though I hope and am excited to see what Ms. Adams comes up with next!

Emotional, Steamy and Sweet

Oh my goodness, this book was sweet and cute! It was an emotional masterpiece at times but fun at others. It was like being on a rollercoaster that you just couldn't wait to stop. Noah and Emma were fantastic together. It was an angsty mess at some points and you just had to continue to find out what happened.
I loved the hot and steamy scenes between them but what really got me was the slow development of feelings between them. The fighting against it. The feeling that Noah didn’t deserved the happiness he had found in Emma and the realization that he couldn't live without her and the drive to fight for what he really wanted. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a short fun and steamy read with just a little emotional turmoil to keep you reading!
3.5 Stars

This is a brilliant start to a contemporary new series which focusses on three young women who are best friends and have been since their older brothers became best friends fifteen years ago. This is a great introduction to the three pairs of siblings - Emma and Patrick, Ginny and Noah & Carol and Ryan. Emma and Patrick work together but they are also supporting the new business being launched by Carol and Ginny - a tea room in their home town. Emma is fed up with dating the wrong men and has decided to avoid relationships for the next six months. Then she discovers that her childhood crush, Ginny’s brother Noah, is coming home for the opening of the tea room after being absent for seven years. When he hits on her in the bar at the airport she realises he doesn’t even recognise who she is though the attraction between them is mutual. Knowing he’s now a hard hearted business man who runs from commitment and relationships, he’s another of those wrong men for Emma and he also knows he shouldn’t be attracted to his best friend’s sister but attracted to her he is! Life’s going to get interesting as they try to resist temptation!

This is a heart warming tale that also includes some touching discussions and turmoil regarding reactions to a father leaving to start a new family, no longer keeping in contact or showing interest in their original family offspring. The resulting turmoil and life choices are key to this story and impact on the development of the relationships for the siblings concerned. This is a story about families, friendship and romance with great characters, plenty of twist and packed with emotional turmoil. It is an engaging read and I look forward to reading more in the series in future!

I requested and was given a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion after choosing to read it.

Falling for her Brother's Best Friend is the first in a new series about a group of best friends who have sisters who are also best friends. I was intrigued by the premise of this series. Having these three couples find love with each other should be fun to watch. The first couple up is Noah and Emma. Friends to lovers is among my favorite tropes in romance.

I enjoyed this romance. I thought it was a really sweet and quick read. Noah was definitely a tortured soul. He had spent the last 7 years moving from place to place as part of his job. His fear of commitment and turning out like his father was understandable. Emma had always dated losers and had always had a crush on Noah. I liked that this couple had some history. I thought Noah's nickname for her was cute, especially after finding out the reason for it. There was one instance where I thought that Emma kind of went a little overboard in thinking Noah had given up on them a bit too soon without finding out all of the facts. But, it all worked out in the end.

I do recommend giving this one a shot. I look forward to reading the other books in the series.