Once a Charmer by Sharla Lovelace
Charmed in Texas #3

Sebastian “Bash” Anderson is a beekeeper with big plans that were somewhat foiled in book two of this series. He spent time in the military just out of high school but has settled into Charmed, Texas and is growing his business. His best friend Allie Greene and her daughter Angel are close as family to Bash and have been since Angel’s birth. The BFF are there for one another through thick and thin BUT a kiss between them a few months before this book begins has put a glitch in the easy flow of their friendship that fifteen year old Angel doesn’t help much as she begins to act out a bit.

This story is more than a friends to lovers themed book. It has a pageant to win, a bad guy to foil, businesses to save, a date gone wrong and a few that go right, a man with magic at his fingertips and love – true love – to be found. This is a story of family, of community, of friendship and oh so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe you will, too. I hope there will be more books in this series and eagerly wait to find out who might star in the next book by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Lyrical Shine for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

3.5 stars!
I absolutely LOVE this series... Sharla Lovelace has become one of my go-to authors that I read anything and every time she releases a book. I adore this small town series and even more I LOVE that this is a best friends to more type of romance.

Allie and Bash have been friends since they were teens, always there for each other through thick and thin and delivering babies :) They could always rely on each other, talk to each other honestly until... the kiss that changed everything.

Now they are just weird with each other, not knowing how to act and having feelings for each other that they can't ignore. Couple that with the issues with their businesses, teenager growing up problems and the King and Queen of Charmed contest and readers will be taken on a journey of best friends to lovers that will make your heart skip a beat rooting for them to open up their eyes and hearts to that something more.

That being said... Once a Charmer is not my favorite of the series. While I love the push and pull of being afraid to move forward in a relationship changing the dynamic of what you are used to, I hoped for more conversations, more heart to heart, more romance, more heat when it came to Allie and Bash. I just wanted more. Their scenes together are electric and spark but I wanted them to stop beating around the bush, second guessing everything—I wanted to feel more! Hopefully I am making sense.

Despite this, I LOVE THIS SERIES and Lovelace's writing and this town has grown to be something like family to me that I just can't get enough, I want the happily ever after for all. I can't wait to see whose story is up next! xo

Once a Charmer is utterly delightful from beginning to end. Sharla Lovelace once again perfects the small town vibe with this latest in her Charmed in Texas series. This time around it's Allie Greene's turn to experience a bit of love at the hands of the author and her lifelong friend in Bash suddenly or perhaps not so suddenly becomes the man of her dreams.

Both Allie and Bash are great at avoiding the obvious. There is no question their chemistry is off the charts yet for some reason neither of them can see it. With both of their professional lives in the balance due to a suspicious investor, instead of turning to each other like they normally would, these two stubborn souls choose to face their problems alone. Or at least not with each other. Great secondary characters in the form of those who have already had their stories told provide wonderful support for these two and the small town of Charmed surprises the formally scorned Allie with their need to protect their own.

I loved these two together and their mutual surprise at their attraction to each other after so many years in the friend zone was a joy to read. There are a ton of stops and starts and in true Sharla Lovelace fashion, they don't get their happy until almost the very end. But there is so much more here than just a love story and the gorgeous way the author describes Charmed, you can almost hear the bell jingling over the door at the Blue Banana while enjoying one of Nick's signature dishes. She knows how to write about a small town with respect and a whole lot of affection.

Once a Charmer is well worth your time and I can only hope there is much more to come for these well-written characters and the almost mystical town they call home. It is a pleasure to give this book a solid 4 stars!!

A solid 4 stars!

I have fallen in love with Charmed in Texas. With each book, you get drawn into the story from the start. It shows you the small-town life, and you really feel like you are there. You feel the pain when the characters do, and you laugh, worry, and cry along with them. The characters from the previous books still had appearances in the story, and it continued down the same story line. I have been waiting to read bout Bash, and I was not disappointed. I really wanted to see what would happen with Bash and his bees. We did not get to see a lot of Allie and Bash’s relationship or interactions in previous books. Then I learned more about Allie, and there were plenty of interesting surprises along the way. The couple definitely faced their own set of challenges. There were moments where you got frustrated with Allie and Bash, and you just wanted to shake them! It was a friends to lover’s romance, with a little twist.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book.

This the first book I by this author and I have to say I was “charmed”.
This a heartwarming , and touching story . Allie Greene , a single Mom to a teenage daughter, whom she had when she was in HS, is a strong character whose life revolves around her daughter, the family diner and a father stricken by dementia. Her best friend, confident, father figure to Allie and at times a lead protagonist in Allie’s dreams is Bash Anderson. Bash owns a beehive company and until a couple of months before, there was no question the two of them were just friends. Until The Kiss.
To complicate matters, Allie has unexpectedly had her world shattered and her livelihood put in danger. How much more can she handle and overcome to survive?
The plot is complex, and the characters well developed. I would have liked a little bit more romance , but all in all, a story that engaged me from the start.
I was gifted this copy. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

very well put together. it kept my interest. you will not be disappointed

Frustratinly Beautiful!!

I LOVED this story! I am not normally a fan of best friends turned lovers but this story was so much different than the usual, it had me enthralled. This story is beautifully written and it was easy for me to get swept up in all the feelings the characters were going through. There are also some really fun parts the had me LOLing throughout. This is my favorite story so far in this series!! Highly recommended!!

Bash is known around town as a ladies man. But there are only two ladies in his life and that is his best friend Allie and her daughter Angel. He's always been Uncle Bash but feels more like her dad. And loves her just the same. But since Allie kissed him a few months back he's feeling something towards her that he shouldn't be feeling. 

Allie can't get Bash out of her head...or dreams. Dreams she shouldn't be having about her best friend. She can't risk him even to fulfill her fantasies. But things aren't right between them. And she needs him now more than ever. The Blue Banana is in danger and she must find a way to get control of it back. 

With Angel acting out, Allie wants nothing more than to confide in Bash but the more and more they're together the more and more their passions ignite. Sparks are flying and they are powerless to stop them. Without knowing what to do they drift farther apart until a town pageant throws them together. Will they win king and queen? Will they overcome their fears and let love in? When their unique family is threatened all things are revealed.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for my review. Once a Charmer is the third in the "Charmed" series by Sharla Lovelace. I have read all the books in the series, and although they all compliment each other, they all can stand alone.

Allie Greene and Sebastian "Bash" Anderson have been best friends since they both started working in Allie's dad's restaurant in high school. When Allie finds out she's pregnant, Bash steps in as a father-figure to Allie's daughter. They have been there for each other for years, until Allie impulsively kisses him one night. Now that kiss has turned everything upside down. They would love nothing more than to just forget it ever happened, but they have been nominated to be the town's Honey King and Queen, which means lots of time together. Sharla's books always have great dialog, plenty of steam and a happy ending, and who doesn't like that?

RATING: 4 out of 5

Allie Greene and Sebastian “Bash” Anderson are the BEST of friends. They have been in each other’s lives for years — with Bash also pretty much becoming a father figure to Allie’s daughter. They haven’t really crossed the line though, the fine line between friends and lovers. Until that kiss, the kiss that Allie gave Bash few months ago when she thought that he was shot. Now Allie’s nights are bombarded with sexy things that Bash does to her…

I think, compared to the previous two books, this is the first time I’m being quite comfortable with the story written from the heroine’s first person perspective. With A Charmed Little Lie (book #1) and Lucky Charmed (book #2) I missed the heroes’s thoughts. I wanted to understand how they fell for the heroines. Especially because Nick was a stranger to Lanie, while Sully was Carmen’s ‘one who got away’.

In here, I felt like I didn’t need Bash’s perspective. I KNOW without a doubt that Bash always loves Allie. He has been Allie’s person for years, the one who keeps Allie’s secret, the one who Allie turns to during times of need, the one who knows Allie inside out. The ball is pretty much in Allie’s court, so to speak. Allie, who is now dealing with a teenage daughter, a father with ailing health, and news that she might lose the family diner she’s been managing for the past seven years. It is definitely NOT the time for all sexual repressed feelings towards her best friend to coming like a torrent of rain *laugh*

Allie is probably my favorite heroine of this series so far. Allie becomes a single mother when she is seventeen, her father has a gambling problem and he pretty much gambled their live savings away after her mom died. So she becomes the responsible one. It must not be easy but Allie never gives up. She’s strong, determined, and I admired her so much. I liked how she dealt with her daughter too. Allie can be a tiger Mama but she’s not exactly restraining Angel as well. I thought their relationship as mother and daughter was pretty healthy.

My slight problem with Once a Charmer is in the romantic progress between Allie and Bash. Despite my certainty of Bash’s feeling I thought there were other important things happening in Allie’s life as well (her daughter, the diner) that the romance became slightly pushed in the background. Even if Allie constantly thinking about Bash and the sexy dreams. Which is too bad considering that Bash easily takes the title as “King of Charm” in my eyes. His speech for Allie alone … MAN, hands down, kicks Nick’s or Sully’s asses in the ‘big gesture’ department … I am dying for more Allie and Bash moments.

All in all, Once a Charmer is lovely, heartwarming, and sweet. I love this series and I hope there’s still more tales coming from this small town of Charm, Texas.

Nice little romance, quick read but nothing special.

This is book three of the “Charmed In Texas” series but it completely stands alone – you do not have to have read the first two books of this series to enjoy this one. This book has both cursing (including a lot of f-bombs) and some on screen sex. If those things will make you leave a bad review, you should skip this one. But you'll be missing the best book in this series if you do.

I loved this book. That sounds so trite, but it is the absolute truth – I loved it. After loving the first book and being totally underwhelmed by Carmen in the previous book (sorry, Ms. Lovelace!) I was 100% all-in with Allie from the moment she climbed into the back of Sully's truck in the previous book. As a matter of fact, I loved Allie and Bash (and even Angel) so much that it annoyed me to have to stop reading this book to do real-life things because I needed to know how they all worked things out. I say “how” because they were so perfectly right for each other that I had no doubt that they WOULD all work things out in the end. Bash and Allie's unexpected backstory (being vague so as not to spoil) was so beautiful that it made my chest ache when I read about everything they had been through together.

If you enjoy a book about a woman who is just struggling to keep it all together while fighting off her feelings for her best friend, and a swoon worthy man who is just a good, solid guy who wants nothing more than to love the girls in his life, you have got to read this book. It is not only my favorite of this series, it is one of my favorite books of 2017.

I requested and was generously granted an ARC of this book via NetGalley and the publisher – I was under absolutely no obligation to write this review or to pre-order the book. I did those things because I adored everything about this story.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I like this series by Sharla Lovelace and I really enjoyed this book. This was a wonderful, sweet, funny, heartwarming friends to lovers romance that takes place in that awesome small town of Charmed Texas. Throw in an odd pageant event, some teen angst and drama, some seriously steamy moments and some other quirky moments and interesting characters for sure and color me hooked.
I really like Bash & Allie because they are very relatable characters who are not perfect but are definitely perfect for each other yet they have been dancing around each other for quite a while now. I loved watching their friendship finally turn that corner. Talk about hot and steamy!! They have such an incredibly strong friendship that was truly bonded when Bash delivered Allie's baby at age 17. They are both so worried about messing that up and the implications that could have on them and Allie's 15 yo daughter Angel that they almost don't give into their growing romantic feelings for each other but I'm so glad they did!
There were so many enjoyable moments in this book and I highly recommend this series!

The Charmed in Texas series has gotten better with each offering. The first book was good, the second better, but I absolutely loved Once a Charmer. And that’s saying a lot because I don't usually enjoy the friends-to-lovers trope.

What made this work for me though, were all the other plates our heroine was doing her best to keep spinning throughout the book, making this a story about Allie’s whole life and not just her love life.

Allie Greene has lived in Charmed, Texas her whole life. Her parents owned and ran the local diner, and now it belongs to her. Well, sort of. She just found out her dad, who had a bit of a gambling problem throughout her childhood, used the diner as collateral a couple years ago and now the loan shark has decided to collect on his 51% ownership. And she can’t even take her anger out on her dad because he’s fighting Alzheimer’s.

The next spinning plate is Allie’s fifteen year old daughter, Angel, who she gave birth to when she was 17. As someone who survived the years of a teenage daughter, the pages with Allie and Angel on them were my favorite. Sharla Lovelace did a fantastic job portraying the joys and struggles of being a mother. Teenagers are fun, and funny, and a blast to be around on one day. But the next? You want to strangle them. (Remember the line: “I brought you into this world, I can take you out”? Yeah, that.) The banter between mother and daughter were hilarious and the portrayal of the mother/teenager daughter relationship is so incredibly accurate!

The other spinning plates are the wacky town of Charmed, and Bash Anderson, the one person who has been there for Allie ever since Angel came into the world. In the first two books we learn that a new entertainment complex is being opened in Charmed. To celebrate the opening the town is holding a festival and naming a King and Queen for the year. It’s a joint title, and Bash and Allie are paired for the contest. As per usual in this quirky town, hijinks ensue and hilarity follows. What also happens is Bash and Allie start to take a look at how they really feel about each other and explore the possibility of being more.

I don’t know if I’ll ever really understand the whole “I don’t want to mess up the friendship we’ve had for so long by having a romantic relationship” thing that the friends-to-lovers trope is built around. I don’t enjoy that plot because we have to spend too much time reading about how “they don’t want to lose what they have” and “becoming lovers will ruin everything”...yada yada yada. Aren’t you supposed to be friends with someone you marry? So yeah, this trope just doesn’t make sense to me. But I read this book anyway because Allie played a prominent part in the previous books, and I wanted to find out what her deal was. And also to see her find a happily-ever-after.

Bash and Allie’s relationship was a bit on the angsty side. Things are awkward between them, but then they’re okay. Then it gets awkward again. Then okay. Throw in a fifteen year old girl who you are kind of co-parenting with, and things get complicated. But it was sweet to see things play out between them. And the grand gesture at the end from Bash to Allie? Loved it!

As with the previous two books, the story is narrated by the heroine. Which leaves me feeling like I don’t know the hero as much as I would like. I want to know his thoughts and his feelings, but the only thing you get are his words and actions as reported by the heroine. It’s my only complaint about this book (all of them, actually) because everything else about the story (and series) is delightful. Once a Charmer is the final book in the Charmed in Texas series, and I’m truly sad to see it end. These were feel good, heartwarming stories that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, and the best one was saved for last!

(this review will also be published on the book blog Straight Shootin' Book Reviews after the book's publication)

Cute story of friends who become more. There isn't a lot of depth but it is an engaging read.

Allie and Bash have been friends for years, but after one kiss Allie can't stop thinking about him as more than a friend.

The first two books in the Charmed in Texas series are among my favorite reads from this year. So, I went into Once a Charmer with high expectations and I wasn't disappointed!

At their heart the books in this series are about romance. However, the author weaves in family, friendship, and a little bit of the supernatural. In all three books I think the friendship between Lanie, Carmen, and Allie is my favorite part.

Allie is a strong character and good mother to her daughter Angel. The armor she puts on each day to deal with a town who wasn't always supportive doesn't feel fake or contrived. You understand her pain and frustration.

I love small town stories and this one carries through some characters and plot threads from the first two, but can easily be read as a stand alone.

I highly recommend this book and the whole series!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's official, Sharla Lovelace has made it to my favorite authors list. I read Lucky Charmed a while back and thought it was insanely good. Like, it was so good that I added it to my favorites shelf on Goodreads. Then I saw Once a Charmer and I just simply couldn't bring myself to miss out on a Charmed in Texas novel.

Although I don't remember Allie and Bash starring in a lot of scenes in Lucky Charmed, I do remember that scene in which Dean went berserk on the squad and Allie went in to save the day then Carmen suspected something going on between them. Yeah, well I was a goner ever since.

The first couple of chapters made me laugh out loud. Especially that scene where Angel oh-so-innocently tells Bash that her mom has been having bad dreams -about him. VERY bad ones. That was super hilarious.

OH MY GOD Carmen talking about Lange with Allie and calling him MP with a straight face was the most hilarious thing ever. (MP is apparently Man Purse. Ugh that girl code)

Balie just fixing things up like a fairy godmother literally cracked me up! Then when Angel told the girls that Aaron has been really quiet and was taking 'a cooking class'. And Allie just coincidentally remembering Sully telling her that he brought Balie to see her father and 'that other stop'.

That town is the definition of crazy. But this series has genuinely become the absolute best small-town romance series I've ever come across. There's something to be said about how the townspeople stood up to Allie, Angel and Bash that night they got into a fight with Vonda. And then that unconditional sister love between Allie, Carmen and Lanie.

I don't know what to say about Bash other than that his love for Angel was the hottest thing ever. Okay that might sound screwed up, but seriously. He isn't even her father. The time he ran away pissed off because she blurted out exactly that shows how much she actually means to him.

And him freaking out over every single thing Aaron did was just so friggin sweet.

Let's not forget the 'big gesture' at the end which I'll never forget even if I wanted to. That was brave on so many levels. And incredibly swoon-worthy.

Overall, I loved this series since I read the first page of Lucky Charmed which was the first Sharla Lovelace book i read. This book, though, made me fall head-over-heels for the Charmed in Texas series. I'm pretty sure Ms Lovelace has become my second (ever) auto-buy author, which is something big for me. I don't even need to read her next book's synopsis to buy the book. Her writing style is hilarious, sweet and so genuine. The perfect combination, if you'd ask me.

Once a Charmer is a great continuation of the series about Charmed, Texas. Charmed is a "magical" little town, where the residents support and stand by their own. Allie and Bash have been best friends for years, but found themselves developing new feelings for one another. This story is about their zany path to love.

I'll admit I was crying at the end of this book. The third in the A Charmed in Texas Romance series was a great finishing touch (unless it somehow can continue and we find out what happens with Kia). 'Once a Charmer' was deeply emotional (hence the tears), with a delightful touch of whimsy and magic as only can happen in Charmed, TX. The depth of Bash and Allie's story was completely satisfying and a tender reminder of what family can be. I just skipped over the graphic sex and ignored the coarse and unnecessary language, and in doing that I can highly recommend this book.

Allie Greene and Bash Anderson are best friends and things are getting complicated. The stories within the stories are great and this novel is great! You will not want to put it down until your done!