<b>3.5 - 4 Stars</b>

First of all, let me say, my apologies to Natasha Anders. She's a total sweetheart and gave this ARC to me and how did I repay her?

By taking MONTHS to finish it.

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For real though.

Not cool of me.

I'm sure you can all relate to this, but I am a moody AF reader on super steroids.

I will binge on one trope of romance and blow through six books in one weekend and then I will turn around and not touch that genre for months.

Also, *confession time* straight contemporary romance (with no sports or military angle) is a genre that I am usually in the mood for the least.

What can I say, I am a paranormal, fantasy, MC club, mafia, dark romance slut of the highest order.

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And I think that accounts for the bulk of my lackluster pace here.

The other part is probably this:

The main character in this story, Daffodil, is one ginormous C-U-Next-Tuesday.

She was a bitch in the first book and she was almost even worse in the beginning of this one.

She treated Spencer (the H) like complete shit and I wanted to punch her ass in the face.

However.

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Once I pushed past that hump I was stuck behind, we got to see where Daffodil was coming from and why she was the way she was.

I still don't think it excused some of her behavior...but at least I didn't still want to smack-a-ho at the end of the book.

Is this book as good as <i>Unwanted Wife</i>?

No.
But then again, I love that book so hard I don't know if anything else in this vein will ever come close.

Still.
Once I finished this book, I appreciated the character development and I think I will like it even more when I re-read it in the future.

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I can't quite put my finger on what about The Best Man that initially grabbed my attention. Was it the hottie on the cover? Probably. Was it the fact that the hero is an ex-rugby player (a sport I don't often see in romance)? Most likely. Was it the fact that they are the best man and made of honor in their siblings wedding and have to play nice while the chemistry ignites between them? Abso-friggin-lutely!

I loved everything about The Best Man. From the locations to the characters to the author's writing style. Literally all of the above. Daffodil has had quite the journey. Ever since she was in school, Daff has always found herself conforming to what everyone else wanted. When her "friends" were perfect, she felt like she had to be perfect too. Even in her relationships, it was never about her. Instead, she focused on what made them happy. All of this hiding herself has turned Daff into a woman she doesn't know and doesn't want to be. She isn't the easier character to love, but once she started to reveal her true self to Spenser, I started to like her more and more. Spencer, on the other hand, I fell in love with from the moment I met him. Spencer's greatest desire to feel like he's part of a family. He's been in love with Daff for the longest time, but he knows that it is finally time for him to move on. Of course, that's when she finally notices him. It does take them a little bit before they start connecting as a couple, but they eventually click. I loved that, in the end, they brought out the best in each other. Daff saw the true Spencer, someone he doesn't show to the world. As for Spencer, he teaches Daff that it's okay to put herself first. Spencer wants Daff, not the mold she thinks he wants. They were amazing together.

The Best Man was my first Natasha Anders book and I'm pretty hooked. Hopefully I'll have time to pick up the first book in the series before Lia's book comes out. That brief introduction to her new romance was perfection!

I’m sorry but this book just didn’t work out for me. I’ve removed it from my shelves and will not post a negative review on Goodreads or my blog in respect for the author, whom I usually love. Maybe it just a timing thing for me. Best wishes.

Spencer Carlisle has liked Daffodil McGregor forever but they just never seemed to be able to come together without it ending in a bad way. There are a few minor glitches when they find out that they are acting as MOA & Best Man in a wedding and have to plan things without the whole even coming down around them. A great amount of sparks will fly and there is plenty of fun to be had in the pages between the covers of this book.

Author Natasha Anders brings us the second book from her ALPHA MEN series, THE BEST MAN. Since I enjoyed the first installment, requesting its follow-up was a no brainer. At times I really disliked the female heroine, but as the story progressed she let down her barriers and became absolutely genuine and easy to identify with. The male hero was a total sweetheart, and his ability to be patient was inspiring. Although this book is part of a series, it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

Boutique store manager Daffodil McGregor, or just Daff to her friends and family, is in a dead-end job that she hates. She has no love life to speak of, even though one man has crushed on her since childhood. In high school, Daff was quite nasty to Spencer Carlisle and humiliated him whenever she got the opportunity. Now Spencer is a successful businessman and a real catch. Daff’s sister is marrying Spencer’s brother, and as a result, their bridal party duties throw them together. They have to be nice to each other, which they both find difficult at first. As time goes by, they get to really know each other, and Spencer forgives Daff for her past actions while Daff realizes that Spencer has always been the man for her.

This is a nicely-paced story with well-defined and identifiable characters. I loved the way Ms. Anders evolved Daff and Spencer’s relationship, with tenderness, delightful banter, and longing. This novel incorporates many emotional elements, while Daff’s sisters provide depth and some humor. Spencer’s childhood situation brought me to tears, and his ability to make something of himself was quite uplifting. If you are looking for a contemporary romance with the perfect balance of sweetness and heat, an engaging plot, and a happily-ever-after that will leave a smile on your face, read this book!

LJT, Romance Junkies, 4 Hearts

I enjoyed some element sin the story - shy, clumsy hero, his attitude towards his family, his patience with the heroine. I didn't very much like the heroine - she kept going back and forth in her attitude towards the hero, her insults and the way she humiliated him were totally undeserved.
My biggest issue with the story was the way BDSM and kink were presented as something, violent and degrading. The heroine was in fact sexually assaulted but never realised it and stayed with her boyfriend for 3 years, involved in a BDSM sexual relationship which she hated? And all her subsequent boyfriends went for rough sex which she doesn't like? I find this problematic and unacceptable on all levels.
I can't recommend this book

I was so excited to get this ARC for the follow-up to The Wingman. This was Daff and Spencer’s story. We got a glimpse of Spencer and Daff in “The Wingman” and I just knew their story was going to be good.

Spencer and Daff’s story went all the way back to school, where Spencer had a hopeless crush on the popular Daff. Caving to peer pressure and the need to fit in, Daff was a typical “mean girl” to Spencer.

On the surface, this seemed like it was going to be a story of opposites attract, but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth with which we got to know Daff and Spencer. This book did not go in the direction I thought it would. In fact, based on the way Daff and Spencer were behaving in the beginning, I couldn’t see either of them getting it together in enough time to find their way to one another.

This is a story about two damaged souls. One who wants so badly to belong to a family and the other feeling like they don’t deserve to be happy.

“Let me know if you need help with the cleanup.”
Somehow Daff didn’t think she meant the cleanup of the house, and that made her feel small and petty.”


Daff really rubbed me the wrong way when we were first introduced to her. She really did not do herself any favours and came off as a very stereotypical shallow mean girl. It was so nice to really get to know her and see where her behaviours stemmed from. Though, I have to say that I didn’t really “get” her reasons for the choices she made, I enjoyed watching Spencer chip away at her wall.

“She wished that she could just wake up tomorrow and find herself living the perfect life. But she wasn’t entirely sure what constituted a perfect life, and she had no idea what would make her happy. It was a grim and disturbing awareness.”


What can I say about Spencer except that he was pretty much a perfect hero. God love him for sticking with Daff long enough for the two of them to develop feelings. We need to invent another word that describes someone who is patient to the nth degree and then put a picture of Spencer beside it in the dictionary. I seriously loved him! Every scene with the McGregors had me feeling such emotion at Spencer’s reaction.

“The news, while unsurprising, had shaken him more than he cared to admit. After Mason and Daisy left, he’d be alone once more. ”



While I enjoyed Daff’s journey to figuring out what made herself happy, I have to say that Spencer made the book for me. Very enjoyable read!!

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆
I enjoyed this book but Daffodil's demeanor at times was very off-putting. I understand where she was coming from, but I didn't like her very much in the beginning.

Spencer's understanding and charm worked miracles on Daff's attitude and everyone began to notice. Daff's inability to trust made it hard for her to relate to everyone around her.

The Best Man is my first Natasha Anders book and it won't be the last. I've already grabbed a copy of Book One in this series since I enjoyed this one so well.

Spencer was an adorable, vulnerable and amazing character. I wasn't sold on Daff, at least at first, but once we started to see her insecurities and vulnerabilities, I found myself rooting for their happily ever after.

Overall this was a very enjoyable story that I finished very quickly. The author teased us with hints of what is to come for Lia. I can't wait!

I really had trouble getting into the book initially and getting caught up in the emotions of the characters. The storyline was good, but it just didn’t stand out in my mind amongst other books in the genre. The blurb was great, but overall the book just fell flat for me.

3.5 stars this has two people who have past history when they were young...And those past hiccups and misunderstandings have left their marks. On our guy, he sees the object of his desire and wants to make things better and pursue her. With our gal, she has become a non believer in love... she is difficult, rough around the edges and it takes most of the tale for her to see how wonderful her guy is...

5 - "The menu has changed and you're now on it..." Stars!

Can’t lie Natasha Anders is an author that takes me to my happy place. I have adored every book that she has written and book two in the Alpha Men series, did not disappoint.

Daffodil McGregor had been treating him like a second-class citizen since… well, since forever, really, and he was done with her.

The Best Man gives us Daff and Spencer Carlisle’s story, we met both of them in book one; The Wingman and this story is based around Daisy and Mason’s wedding (H/h book one). You can absolutely read The Best Man as a standalone, but you do get more of an understanding of this couple if you read the first book beforehand. Because initially Daff’s feelings towards Spencer seem to be mainly disdain and dislike, while Spencer leans to ambivalence and disinterest. Its only as you get into both of their heads you realize that the reasonings for their behavior stem back to their school days, and Daff’s treatment of Spencer back then.

She was beginning to discover that she liked pushing his buttons…

I won’t lie it was difficult to like Daff initially, and it was wholly due to the authors characterization, prickly and sometimes outright rude, I struggled to find any common ground with her, or her behaviour towards Spencer, who was an absolute darling, but then I realized that the author was doing to Daff’s personality exactly the same thing she is so good at doing with her men on occasion, and making her dislikeable in order to have her redeem herself as the book progresses.

"I don’t know how to be what you want…"

"That’s okay… You are exactly what I want."

This was a quick read, the plot was pretty predictable, although the author did manage to throw in a couple of curve balls along the way. You can’t help but love Spencer, his actions towards Daff, even when she was behaving at her worst highlighted just how deep his feelings ran for her. As I said Daff was a tougher nut to crack, although as things were revealed in the stories progression, I did understand her behavior a little more.

"It’s not that I don’t like you… It’s that I like you too much. And that terrifies me… I don’t want to like you. Not when I’m just starting to like myself."

The stage has firmly been set for Lia and Sam to have their story told next in The Wrong Man, due for release in September, and once again it would seem that opposites attract. I cannot wait to see what type of story the author gives them, although I have an idea after the way things were left between them in this one.

"No regrets…"

As a long time fan of all things Natasha Anders, I don’t even bother to read the blurb before adding her books. But when I saw that this book will featured Daisy’s sister and Mason’s older brother from The Wingman, I was that much more excited.
If you haven’t read this series yet and are expecting it to be on the same level of angst as some of Natasha’s previous books, you’re in for some disappointment. While there’s definitely emotion brimming from the pages of these stories, it’s not that angsty overload the likes of The Unwanted Wife or A Husband’s Regret. I love a little variety from authors, so this didn’t bother me one bit.
With a delicious unrequited love setup in the previous book, The Best Man was sure to deliver some feels, and it certainly did. I’ll admit, I struggled quite a bit to stay engaged to the story in the beginning. This is a character driven story and was entirely too slow paced for my particular taste. Having said that, the pacing fit the story and anything more than that would have ruined the effect.
Spencer Carlisle was a bit of a bumbling alpha in the previous book, I fell head over heels for him in this one. You truly get to know the heart of this incredible man, and it was full of love and depth. He’s been in love with Daffodil McGregor since high school only to get her scorn and be ignored time and time again, almost cruelly. This is ultimately where my rating lowered. I’m a reader that has to love the heroine in my book, and if I don’t, it will color my entire reading experience. And truth be told, I struggled hard with Daffodil. The author did a wonderful job with her character development and peeling back her true self layer by layer to reveal the scared and somewhat insecure woman beneath the boastful and sassy exterior. And even though I wanted so badly to connect with it and empathize, most of the time I just wanted to throttle her. Her constant hot and cold personality with Spencer drove me out of my ever loving mind. I adored how understanding and patient Spencer was with her and even though Daffodil tried to wrong her rights, most of the time it just didn’t feel like enough.
Because of this, I really struggled to completely buy into their romance. That’s not to say I didn’t still enjoy the story, because I did. While it was frustrating at times, it was still satisfying. And the set up for the third McGregor sister is nothing short of delicious so of course I can’t wait for that.

Natasha Anders is an automatic read for me! I have always loved how much emotion she packs into her storylines and The Best Man is a perfect example of that!

In The Best Man we follow Daffodil (Daff) McGregor and Spencer Carlisle. The two have a lot in common- they grew up together, her sister is marrying his brother, they will both in the wedding, and lastly, Spencer has had a huge crush on Daff and she has made it abundantly clear she doesn’t reciprocate those feelings! Well now that she’s the Maid of Honor and he’s the Best Man they are forced to be around each other...a lot! And what may have initially come off as indifference from Daff may have been majorly misunderstood!!

I enjoyed the fact that I already knew all of the main and supporting characters from reading the first installment (The Wingman). In saying that, there were a lot about Daff’s history that was revealed throughout the book (which totally had me hooked the entire time). I loved Spencer immediately and wasn’t quite sure if it would work out with Daff, but Natasha truly worked her magic on this couple! I really enjoyed The Best Man and I look forward to reading the next book in this series!

I love Natasha Anders, but The Best Man did not really work for me. While I adore Spencer, which is a bit awkward, I just couldn't warm up to Daffodil. She was not nice, and it was hard for me to understand why Spencer wanted to be with her. Anders does reveal why Daffodil acts the way she does, but it took to long and my dislike was firmly established. I wish I had liked this more.

Starting with what I loved:

Let's be honest, Spencer is perfect. I'm usually not a pro-perfect hero reader, but with the fact that he did have insecurities also, I'm okay with this. Daff was a loveable mess. Together they were a wonderful journey.

Buuuuuutttt.....I had some definite problems with this book, most of which I'm blaming on the editor (sorry whoever that person is, but I assume you should have helped on this).

I didn't read the first book and felt adrift a lot. It takes 50% of the book to get the backstory which means that I have no idea what the heroine was angry about for 50% of the book and that means I thought it was HUGE when it wasn't. The heroine's issues seem to come out of nowhere. These things bothered me. It feels like having someone be a reader for this author to make this more solidly standalone would have been of great help. That said, I'm grabbing the first book and planning on getting the next one.

3.5 stars!

I love this author and was anxious to get this arc. I remember Daff from the The wing man, and honestly did not like her. While I still thought she could be a bitch, her behavior was explained. I just didn’t think it was a good enough reason. Poor Spencer bent over backwards for her, all the way back to high school (or before) and she was pretty mean to him.
That being said, I’m really looking forward to Lia’s book.

After Daisy and Mason's book, Spencer and Daff were a logical conclusion. After all, Spencer has been crazy about her forever. But this book had unexpected depths that elevated it rapidly and made reading it a pleasure.

Spencer has always wanted Daff. In fact, his pursuit of Daff caused the issues in Mason and Daisy's book. But now Mason and Daisy are getting married and Spencer and Daff need to get along for their sake and for the sake of the wedding. So get along they do.

Slowly, slowly, Spencer and Daff reveal themselves to each other. The tender, sweet side of Spencer. The vulnerable, frightened side of Daff. As they continue to spend time together and start to let go of old feelings, they begin to... gasp!... like each other. And then Daff likes other things about Spencer. He's hot, he's nice, he's great in bed, he's romantic. But Daff is... none of these things. She's hard and cold, she's not made for relationships, and she definitely is not made for anything more than casual sex. At least, that's how she sees herself.

But both Daff and Spencer go on journeys of enlightenment as they each discover that they are more than what they think they are. Together, they are better than apart. Even when the going gets tough, and it does, they still come back to each other.

And then the bombshell hits: one for each of them. For Spencer, it's a real kick in the heart. He has to work through a lot of guilt and fear and frustration and learn a whole new way of dealing with things. For Daff, it's the understanding that she was taken advantage of (putting it very nicely) and that she has merit as a person in her own right. These events lead to significant changes for both Daff and Spencer and really round them out as three dimensional characters.

The shock for each of them is significant and without the other the help them through it, could easily have undone them both individually and as a couple. It's a pleasure to see them working together and a pleasure to see Daff begin a new way of looking at the world.

I really enjoyed The Best Man and can't wait to see what more is in store for Daff and Spencer as well as what's in store for Lia.

No matter what Spencer is always willing to take care of his girl, “Jesus, have you been drinking? Come in, for Christ’s sake, it’s freezing and you’re turning blue.” He dragged her over the threshold..." Spencer's woman can easily read him like a book, “please, you say more with your noises than most people do in a full conversation.” Spencer says the nicest things, “you’re so effing beautiful, Daff. And when you turn into a hairy yeti in winter, I’ll still think you’re gorgeous..." I liked this book, I fell in love with Spencer.

I'll get my minor criticisms out of the way first so I can commence with telling you just how much I adored this storyline. The Best Man felt a bit slow moving at first, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. This story was the PERFECT blend of humor, heartache, angst and steam and I enjoyed every single second. There were some minor transitions that felt a little jarring in the moment, but other than that, this book was adorably unputdownable and I couldn't get enough.

Daffodil McGregor and Spencer Carlisle are like oil and vinegar. They don't mix well, they push and spar and compete, but they're absolutely delicious when they come together. This story is an enemies to lovers romance kicked up a notch by the bittersweet history this pair shared in high school. I fell in love with their story. I was addicted to their push and pull, and I loved the bumpy journey that evolves in this book. Sometimes I couldn't even tell if these two actually loved each other or if they truly hated each other because their mutual disdain was so palpable yet their chemistry was off the charts. Figuring these two out was entertaining, so emotional, and captivating from beginning to end. This is one seriously refreshing read.

Natasha Anders has such a unique voice in romance and I have been over the moon for every one of her books. But I have a newfound appreciation for her work with The Best Man. This story was lighter than some of her other books, but super super steamy, and it made me unexpectedly laugh out loud more than once. It tugged at my heartstrings (those notes!!! Sigh.) And it swept me away with how absorbing the romance is. I so enjoyed Mason and Daisy's story in The Wing Man but I think Spencer and Daff just knocked them down a peg with this book.

The more I think back on this book, the more I fall in love with it. Daff is infuriating at times, so relatable at others. Spencer is a big brooding jerk at first, but he truly stole my heart with his sweet words and his heartbreaking history. I adored these characters so much. I was enamored by their twisty, complicated romance and I am head over heels for this world Anders has built around the McGregor family. I may have started out anxiously waiting for the story to pick up but it didn't take long for me to never want it to end. The Best Man is a delightfully addictive gem of a romance, an unforgettable story of enemies turned lovers, and a uniquely smart story that's as sweet as it is salty. Now more than ever I can't wait for Lia's story just to see more of all of these characters! I really loved this book.