Love and Other Words is a great fit for readers who enjoy emotional stories about the complex journey of first love, loss, and the possibility of second chances, told through a compelling dual timeline narrative.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

**SPOILERS**

I'm very late reviewing Love and Other Words because I'm such a mood reader. Since I was granted access to this title I've read and loved many Christina Lauren novels, so I was really looking forward to coming back to an older title. From the synopsis. I was a little worried because this sounds like a heavier story than I'm used to from this author duo. And it is. I wish I'd known of the trigger warning for sexual assault before I started reading this. I know this warning is a bit of a spoiler for the book, but it really threw me off and put a sour taste in my mouth. And the entire storyline surrounding this event left me uncomfortable. And it's... never addressed. This is a heavy, traumatic that Elliot has been through and it's just brushed aside. Elliot is also not a kind person and has a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde personality, so I didn't like him even though I felt for him. Macy is incredibly self-centered and super wishy-washy. I liked the idea of shooting back and forth from the past to the present, but the execution just didn't work for me. The sex scenes gave me the willies. I'm glad this was not my first Christina Lauren book, because this might have made me write them off completely.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think everyone has at some time in their life thought "what if." Especially, when it comes to love, we wonder how things could have gone differently. I am a big fan of second chances, so this book caught my eye. Although I generally love these authors’ books, I couldn’t get into this one as much. I think it’s that a big part of it was teenagers falling in love and it just made me feel weird and voyeuristic at the steamy parts.

This is a very sweet love story. Macy and Elliott were each other's everything since kids. We know something happens to hurt Macy but don't know until near the end what the reason she left was. They run into each other and the feelings are still there, even if Macy tries to fight them. There is just something so inherently sweet about the two of them together. At times funny and sad, this is a lovely little book that leaves you with all the feels.

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for a copy for review.

Absolutely loved this story! Another hit that completely sucks you in and keeps you captive until the last page.

Though Love and other Words is a departure from Christina Lauren's typical romance, it was beautiful and I loved it. I highly recommend it to fans of the authors.

Well, that was quite adorable. I wanted a cute romance after reading a few intense reads, so I decided to pick this one up. I always love the back and forth from past to future in stories, slowly revealing all the secrets. These characters were great. I saw a lot of myself in Macy, so I could really relate to her. Elliot was so adorable. An avid reader (love that!) with a heart of gold. This was definitely one of my favorite CL books.

I loved the premise and I enjoyed the book overall. It has great banter and chemistry between Macy and Elliot and then the conflict towards the end happened and it just soured my overall enjoyment. However, this is just my opinion. Other readers might prefer the dramatic conflict.

In Christina Lauren's Love and Other Words, book lovers Elliot and Macy meet when they are barely teenagers. Elliot lives next door to Macy's weekend cabin she shares with her widowed father. Elliot and Macy bond over books and their love of words. Eventually their relationship grows far beyond friendship, but something comes along to disrupt their plans. Eleven years later, they stumble upon one another at a coffee shop and try to work out what happened.

Told in alternating chapters of the present and the past, we slowly get to know their relationship as well as where they are now in their lives. This book was engaging and fun to read. It was a little racy in some parts, so keep that in mind if that kind of thing bothers you. I was totally invested in the characters, but something about the last little bit of the book really bugged me. I don't know if it was the direction the plot took or if it was that the characters suddenly seemed less likable, but it was a bit of a let down. Up until that point it was very good and the ending doesn't completely kill it. If you're in the mood for something a little fluffy and romantic, this would be a good one to try.

I loved this story. I loved the back & forth of time. I loved Macy & Elliott grow & fall in love. I loved everything about their relationship. It was all so swoon worthy, but at the same time so very real. There was hard stuff there & it was hard to process & go through. That's life. But they did it & in the end, ended exactly where they should have. It was absolutely perfect.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren.

Macy and Elliott are best friends from the get-go. Immediately bonded by their love for books and words, they have a weekend friendship, while going to different schools and living different lives during the week.

Flash forward into adulthood. Macy is now a pediatric doc, engaged, and hasn't seen Elliott in eleven years. But her breath is taken away one day when she runs into him, opening the flood gates of past longings and regrets. Will they rekindle their "friendship?" And why did they stop talking in the first place?

I have to be honest up front, I am not the right audience for this book. I don't mind romance, but there needs to be a bit more substance than what I got in this one. This was such a slow burn of a story that could have been solved from the get go had the two characters sat down and had A REAL CONVERSATION for two minutes. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that it's sweet and steamy and charming.

I have such a grand proclivity for this book. You know how there are books where you are so engrossed in the tale that you lose sense of the world around you—you lose yourself—your sense of life—you become infatuated with it. This book was that for me. I was infatuated with it throughout.

I was up all night reading it I had to force myself to sleep, cause with a colic baby, my sleep is already disturbed and then I go about my days like a zombie with a killer headache.

Anyway, this book. This author duo. They have outdone themselves.

I hart the characters in this novel. I lived their lives. I adored how this book was written. The one and then manner of revealing the storyline was crucial and just omg.

Elliot and omg.

I dote on their honesty policy, I want that with my someone.

The break that I had to have from this because of a death in family was hard and it made me sorta disconnect from the book but I still am gravitating towards this book, hard.

Ah, I just can't deal with what this book did to me. Just. This was so touching and endearing.

This was my second five star read of the year. Just perfect.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher’s, Gallery Books, for this review copy.

I can't recommend this book enough.

Wow! Literally just wow! There is no possible way I could have loved this book any more than I did, it consumed me. Completely. Wholly. Ugh, if I could read it for the first time all over again I do would. Instead, I’m forcing my friends to read it instead so we can obsess together!

Love And Other Words... what can I say? I’ve had it on my kindle for ages, book slumps are sent from the devil and he had me in his grip for most of the last year. Thankfully, it has been banished and thank the book gods because I have recently managed to read some incredible books, the best, being a 6 star read which is Love And Other Words.

Without a doubt, I hardly every give 6 star ratings out, but how I could I not for this book?? It’s beautiful, emotional, gripping, just all the great words that my mind will not think up. You just really need to read it if you haven’t already, you won’t regret it. An ultimate love story.

Favorite word? Friendship. This women’s fiction debut from bestselling writing team Christina Lauren is impossible to put down once you’ve started reading. The story of adolescent sweethearts, told in an alternating ‘now’ and ‘then’ timeline, is really the best of both worlds – a coming of age tale exquisitely blended with a second chance at first love. Elliot and Macy’s early friendship (the ‘then’ part of the timeline) reads like a tender slideshow of falling in love, from their literary common ground to their ‘favorite word’ game to their tentative romance of firsts. This flashback perspective unfolds in layers, mingling with the ‘now’ timeline until both culminate in a stunning series of revelations that hit all the feels. Readers will become deeply invested in Elliot and Macy, falling in love with them as a couple – not just once but twice – and rooting for them at each step along the way.

first appeared on RT Book Reviews, April 2018 / TOP PICK

Macy and Elliot had been friends from a young age with their joy of reading cementing their friendship. When they decide to take the next steps as teens would lead them both on a path neither expected. A chance meeting lets fate say you are the other half of each other soul work it out. Macy and Elliot have to bare the sins of their teen years and move on as adult into everlasting love.

I love Christina Lauren and all other their books! I can't believe I didn't read this sooner. I hope they keep writing more great cute books.

They are slowly becoming my go to rom com author. love love love them. :)

Loved this and was happy and relieved to discover that Women's Fiction doesn't hold back any of the Christina Lauren romance at all. Elliot and Macy's love story is so emotional. My main note is that there are too many "Then" flashbacks when I would have liked a heck of a lot more and longer "Now" chapters.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren blew me away. I went into it expecting the usual fun, light romantic comedy, but instead found something much deeper. Macy is a pediatric resident, recently returned to San Francisco where she grew up. She's in a decent relationship and is glad to live near her college roommate. Things change when she unexpectedly runs into Elliott, her childhood friend/boyfriend/best friend, who she hasn't seen in eleven years. Told in alternating time lines, this story kept me up all night, unable to stop reading. It surprised me, which doesn't happen that often. This is one I highly recommend.

I can not put into words how much I love this book. I can confidently say that Love and Other Words is my favorite book so far for 2018! And I have a feeling it will also be one of my top 3 too. I just love it that much.

The last two books that I have read from Christina and Lauren have been absolutely amazing. These two just keep writing the best books!

Do you believe in soulmates? I do! I am such a sucker for romance novels about soul mates too. Especially second chance ones. Sometimes when I read an amazing book, I have a really hard time writing a review on it. LOL I wish I could just say, "read it! I promise you are going to love it too!" So here is my review, and hopefully, without any spoilers.

Love and Other words is told in in THEN and NOW. I know that sometimes that can be confusing, but it really worked this time. I looooooved the THEN. I love how Elliot and Macy meet. That closet is the cutest thing ever. I wish I had one growing up along with an Elliot too! LOL I love watching their friendship grow into something special as they got older. You could just tell from the very beginning that they are meant for each other. Soulmates DO exist.

My heart ached while reading Love and Other Words. I was an emotional mess. One minute I was swooning and the next I was crying my eyes out. When you find out why Macy is mad at Elliot, you will understand. Your heart will break for her and you will be a hot mess like me. Ugh! I am tearing up right now just thinking about it.

Love and Other Words is a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It's a type of book that will still make you emotional every time you think about it. It is also a book that I will recommend over and over again. Christina and Lauren, you ladies have outdone yourselves. To say that this book is amazing, is an understatement. Keep writing, and I promise to keep reading your books and recommending them.

Second chance is one of my favorite tropes so I was immediately drawn to this book. Add in the fact that Christina Lauren have never let me down I was sold.

The story is told in an alternating timeline of past and present and it works. The characters were well developed and I loved their history. The story moves quickly and as expected, is well written. I couldn’t help but root for Macy and Elliot as they journey to find their happily ever after.

The book is touted as “Women’s Lit”, however it doesn’t really seem to fit into the category as it has the same romance and hint of heat as you would expect from a contemporary romance. But, no matter what you call it, Christina Lauren has delivered another winner.