Harlow was a socialite from Manhattan. She had always lived a privileged life but she wasn't satisfied with her life. Her father had been unfaithful and had died ten years earlier. She loved her parents but realized that she had missed out on a loving family life. News had recently come to light about a former mistress of her father's and her mother's seek for revenge against this woman. Harlow needed to apologize for her mother's behavior. Louisa, the former lover, was a kind woman who had taken in and adopted three boys who had come from less than ideal circumstances and raised them and loved them as her own.

Fender Blackstone had a horrible childhood and was determined to not be relationship material. He loved his mom, Mama Lou, as he and his brothers had always called her and he loved his adopted brothers, Nick and Landon but women didn't have staying power. His own biological mother had left him to be raised by an abusive father. Those scars ran deep. He was determined to stay that course. . . until he met Harlow and something began to change.

Fender was convinced that Harlow deserved someone better than him and when his father resurfaced in his life, he was sure that she would become a target for his father to get financial gain. In order to protect her, he needed to let her go but by doing so he not only broke her heart, but his, as well. Would things ever work together to make a relationship possible for them or were they post destined to be apart?

I really enjoyed this story very much. However, the constant f-bombs were a distraction and turn-off. Several times I set the book aside convinced that I wouldn't continue reading it. I did finish it and enjoyed the story but I wouldn't recommend the book to a friend because of the language and the descriptive sex scenes.

I was given an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After reading ‘Forever Yours’ which was a complete bust for me, ‘Only You’ was in contrast, heart-felt and emotionally nuanced which made the story an even bigger draw as Fender Blackstone (whose story I’ve been wanting) finally finds someone who is his opposite in every way.

‘Only You’ works as a standalone, but there is some history and a backstory to catch up on by the time we get to Fender’s story, all of which which are explained in the previous books and have been mentioned here. But I liked ‘Only You’ primarily because of the ‘adulting’ that’s mostly present in there: both Fender and Harlow acted their ages as they navigated the complicated waters of their relationship and the pages of dialogues and inner monologues did show that. Consequently, it was easy to like Fender for the solidness, and the self-awareness and perception that he displayed about his growing feelings for Harlow mostly—which I find sometimes blindingly lacking in heroes—as it was easy to like Harlow for her wanting to fight for the both of them and her way of doing so. Yet for all their communication, it got frustrating when I’d assumed Fender would come to his senses after spending most of the book being rather wishy-washy about wanting what he and Harlow had, including thinking about and eventually pushing her away—which was only unsatisfactorily resolved by a conflict in the closing pages of the book that made his mind up for him.

I thought the pacing lagged quite a bit in the middle, and I was able to put it down and pick it up numerous times (though without much difficulty) as both Harlow and Fender worked through the circumstances—not just the history between their parents but also a big issue in Fender’s past that he had to confront—that made being together very difficult. That said, there’s a neat HEA for all the characters involved of course, though I was left wishing I’d felt more for the series than I did.