Loved Natasha Moore giving us an older hero and heroine, they are both 40! And I absolutely adore friends to lovers and it’s even better when they are neighbors, total catnip to me. But I was a little disappointed in the actual maturity of the characters when it came to their feelings and the central conflict, some of their internal conversations and actions felt like those of 20-something characters rather than people in their 40s. While I understand the “my time” theme it felt more like a crutch than an actual mantra and again felt a little young. Overall, I liked the book but was hoping for something that felt a bit more mature rather than just having characters that were 40.

I enjoyed this book. The story was well developed, for me it just didn't grab me like some have. A nice read for lazy Sunday afternoons.

4 1/2 Stars!

Katie lost her husband years ago and has raised their son by herself ... well with the help of Carter. Carter was Katie's husband's best friend and takes his promise to look after Katie and her son very serious. They even moved in next door to each other so that he would be close by if she needed help. But when Katie's son goes off to college, she deicides that she want "me time" to tick off things on the list she's been keeping for years of the things she wants to do when her son leaves home. When Carter needs a "girlfriend" to help land a big client, Katie volunteers so that she can tick a couple of things off her Katie List. And maybe Carter could help her get back into the dating game.

I loved this book ... it was just so real. I just loved Katie and Carter and could just feel the electricity between them jumping off the pages ... the only ones that didn't know it was them! This book has a little bit of everything in it ... romance, laughs, steam and drama! I also really liked that they were older ... not many books feature couples over 40. You don't wanna miss this down to earth romance!

I received an early copy courtesy of Entangles Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

True friends to lovers story!

Photographer Katie Dixon has always taken care of everybody else first since being widowed. Now her son Sean is leaving for college, she is taking time for herself and checking items off her bucket list she has been making for years. Katie’s best friend and next door neighbor, lawyer Carter Colburn promised her that he would help her find her mojo since she hadn’t dated much when Sean was young. A potential client of Carter’s wants a lawyer that is settled down so Carter and Katie faked dating which leads to real dating and so much more. Friends had already thought Katie and Carter were already dating and when they made it real, they were happy for them.

I liked The Standby Guy because you can really feel the friends to lovers story. Now I really want Beckett’s story!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Standby Guy is the second book I've read from Natasha Moore through Entangled's new August Imprint. I must say I am really enjoying these slightly older and more mature characters. In this one we have single mom Katie Dixon who after years of devoting herself to her son is now able to have a little "me time" when her son leaves for college. Reentering the dating game isn't so easy since she hasn't dated for years. She may need a few pointers. Enter Carter Colburn, Katie's next door neighbor and best friend. He needs a date to a company function and they both think this will be the perfect way for Katie to dip her toes into the dating pool. Let's just say things escalate quickly from there. Come along on this crazy ride while Katie and Carter navigate some murky relationship waters. I highly recommend it.

The Standby Guy by Natasha Moore is a best-friends-to-lovers read with a nice happily-ever-after. I really enjoyed the fact that Ms. Moore gave us two characters that I can totally relate to, being 40 and all; and while I enjoyed the chemistry and the interactions of Katie and Carter, I did find this read fell short of expectation due to my frustrations with Katie, her selfish side and total cluelessness at times.

Please note that an ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review of which this is both honest and completely voluntary.

4.5 Stars
It's a sweet best-friends-falling-in-love romance. I really enjoyed the story and the two main characters were amazing. I loved their friendship and I loved how they fell in love, slowly and then all at once...

3.5 Empty Nester Needs Love Too Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
Oh, how time flies, especially when you have children. One minute you are trying to figure out how to get them to sleep, then you are trying to wake them up for school. When they are marching out the door to college, you look back and wonder where the hell did the time go...

Katie Dixon had been raising her son on her own. As a talented photographer, she made a life for them. She had made friends with her neighbor Cater and was thankful to have him there to assist over the years. Now she is a free agent and can do whatever she wants...and dating has changed so much since she did.

Turns out Carter is in need for a "plus one" for a business dinner. Katie would do anything for Carter, after all, he was there for her during her many times of need with her son. They do the business dinner, have a blast and before you know it, the whole town thinks they are a thing...

The question is... could they really be a thing...for real? And what about all the freedom she was looking forward to...How does Carter fit into that!

A gifted copy was provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.

3.75⭐
This was an enjoyable best friend/next door neighbours to lovers story. That had little angst, was quick, easy to read, sweet and entertaining. And it had plenty of likable characters, including the main two Katie and Carter. And it easily kept me engaged throughout. Plus, with both characters over 40 it made a nice change to the romance I usually read.

I liked this book. My first by this author. I plan to go back and read the first book in this series. The connection between carter and Katie, was spot on. Too bad they didn’t see it years ago, but their eyes finally open and the see what happens. Of course the whole town thinks they have been doing it for years, since they live beside each other. It was a nice , easy read.

3 stars

henry kids are grown and off to college, I worry about al my alone time. The only thing I don't worry about is dating. This is exactly Katie is dealing with. Dating, and empty nest. I thought this book was meh.

Natasha Moore won me over as one of my new favorite, must-read authors with "The Standby Guy". The characters, Katie and Carter, had an unconventional love story that resulted in a happily ever after. Neither character was perfect, which made the book that much more enjoyable to read. I cannot wait to read all of Natasha Moore's book after falling in love with "The Standby Guy"!

Carter was Katie’s late husband’s best friend and became her best friend following her husband’s death 15 years ago. Carter served as a male role model and surrogate father for her 18 year old son. Now that her so has left for college, she has decided that it is time for her to make herself a priority. She has kept a to do list for years and is ready to get on with life. One of her priorities is casual sex, since she has decided that she isn’t interested in a relationship. She agrees to serve as a fake girlfriend for Carter in order to u,press a prospective client, but asks him to help her get her sexual mojo back in return. While they are both afraid that they might lose their friendship in the process, their chemistry is making it hard to stay away from each other. When the whole town gets excited that they finally got together, they struggle with how to endthe fake relationship, especially when they begin to realize that they are in love. The characters have tons of chemistry, and the situations seem very plausible. This was a very fun read!

The Standby Guy by Natasha Moore is my first book by this author. I found the story close to home since my age and the ages of my children are close to Katies.

Main character Katie, finds herself alone after her only child leaves home for college. With a sudden abundance of “me” time, Katie is faced with the harsh reality that her dating prowess is lacking.

I liked the dynamics between Katie and Carter. I found her a bit irritating at times, but I overall enjoyed the book. I would like to read the first book in the series since I didn't even realize it was a series when I started the book.

**Copy Provided by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing LLC, for an honest review**

I must admit that i was thrilled to find a book where the characters were no longer in their twenties and were slightly more mature, especially as i am now in my mid thirties.

Katie is 40 and her son has just fled the nest to college leaving Katie to her Me Time and to focus on her photography business. Her best friend Carter, the best friend of her husband lives next door and helped her raise her son when her husband died when Sean was little.

The pair are great together, but it is only once Sean has gone and Carter needs a date to go on a business meeting that the pair find there is more to their friendship than they thought. Pretending to be a couple has other people saying about time and that they thought they were already together in private. Which shocks them both.

Katie is ok with pretending for a while but does not want another relationship as it is her time to do things, but of course feelings get tin the way for both of them and they both have to realise that they can still live and be who they want to be with each other and that Katie does not have to give up her list.

I really enjoyed this book, i will be looking out more from this line by this publisher.

3 1/2 Star Review......

The Standby Guy is an interesting story of the plight of a woman who suddenly finds herself alone after her only child leaves home for college. With a sudden abundance of “me” time, Katie is faced with the harsh reality that her dating prowess is lacking. So what to do you do, but engage the assistance of your rather scrumptious, and very available friend and neighbour Carter when you’re in urgent need of a date for a business dinner that may impact your financial future.

I liked the dynamics between Katie and Carter, but I did on occasion find her behaviour a little self-serving and one-sided. Overall this was a fun, intriguing and easy to read story, but I would like to have read book one first.

**I received a copy of Standby Guy from Entangled Publishing and Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions expressed below are mine alone and not solicited**

The Standby Guy by Natasha Moore is the second book in her Men of Lakeside series. I read this as a stand alone without the first book with no problems.

Katie Dixon has just sent her son off to college and is ready to tackle her bucket list since she's now a empty nester. But when her neighbor Carter Colburn who has been her neighbor and best friend after her husband passed asked Katie to be his date for a dinner with a prospective client for his law office . What starts as one dinner soon turns into a "What if...?" between both Carter and Katie to explore the friends to lovers story that could possibly lead to maybe marriage? Both are afraid that their love could take away the friendship they've enjoyed forever.

This is a very quick and easy read with of course a happily ever after.

If you like the premise of two people who have been best friends for years but never involved romantically because he was the best friend of her deceased husband, then this book will appeal to you. I liked that friends-to-lovers part of the plot, but I could have done without their pretense of being romantically involved just so he can get a big new client. This leads them to lie to their friends and family who are so very happy to see them finally getting together when everyone apparently recognized that they should have been more than friends. Then there is this sub-plot that didn’t seem to go anywhere about how the hero is so busy because he’s trying to build his law firm in their tiny town while helping run his family’s salvage business because it makes perfect sense for a lawyer to be running a salvage business on the side.

So my conclusion is that there were parts of this story that I liked, but other parts that either irritated me or just didn’t seem at all believable.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I enjoyed this story and the writing was very good. It is part of series book 2 but it easily stands alone. This series is about brothers in a small town that own and work for a salvage business. This story is about Carter, the lawyer and his best friend and neighbor Kate.

They both are the same age, 40 years old and Kate's son Sean has just grown up and left home for college. She raised him as a single parent since her husband died young and he was Carter's best friend growing up so he helped out when he could.

This book is about Kate getting ME time. She has a book she wrote all the things she dreamed about in and so when he son leaves she decides it is ME time. Carter asks her to be his prettend girl friend and he agrees to help her get her mojo back so she can work on her ME list. But once they share a kiss Carter realises he wants her to be his family and well she wants ME time and so that is the issue with their romance.

I mostly enjoyed the book. My issue was a disconnect from Kate. I have children and I love them to pieces but I get ME time all the time. Kate had a lot of help with Sean so while she was a single parent, she could have had ME time anytime she wanted. I did not get why she waited 18 years at all. That was my issue with this book. It did not make sense to me in that sense.

I previously read the first book in this series and enjoyed it. I liked this one but parts were frustrating. I get that Katie wanted to have her time but it also seemed as if she was a little selfish. Carter was amazing. Overall I would give this one 3 stars.