This was my first experience reading Liora Blake and it won't be my last -- I loved everything about this book! It was different than the most recent books I've read in this genre so it kept my interest after capturing it from the first page. I loved JT's character so much -- he's everything I look for in a contemporary romance male character-- loyal, loving, sexy, compassionate, thoughtful. And Anya was a perfect counterpart to him--strong and capable in her own right which I loved. The secondary characters added some interesting and funny moments as well! Looking forward to more from this author. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an advanced reader's copy of What Matters More by Liora Blake from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first novel that I had read by Liora Blake, but after reading, she is an author I would definitely look for in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel and I found it to be well written. The primary characters' romantic start seemed a little awkward (first interaction was a little cringey), but it improved quickly and made me laugh. I enjoyed the primary and secondary characters' interactions and the steamy scenes were hot. A fun, quick read!

I have really enjoyed the Grand Valley series by this author and how they did such a great job of making us see the couple fall in love instead of telling us. What Matters More is another terrific read by this author which starts the romance in reverse, with the couple falling in bed first and the rest coming later. US Marshall JT is not in a good place, he is recently divorced, living in his parent's basement and paying off the debt his ex racked up. The best part JT is a really good guy and never once bad mouths his ex, despite the fact that he put himself in debt trying to keep her happy but admits that the failure of his marriage lies on him. Again, he doesn't become a woman-hater or womaniser either, instead ladies and gentleman in romance-land we get a hero who likes monogamous long-term relationships.

Anya is an artist and isn't having a great time either. Her job was made redundant and then she found her boyfriend (now ex) boinking someone which killed off her muse, so she needs some good old-fashioned sexual release and is bold enough to walk up to the hero and proposition him to come back to her room. She makes things clear to him, about what she wants and you've gotta love a woman like that especially who takes charge in the bedroom. We also get her kick-ass friend Tara and her husband Alec in this. This book is filled with a lot of sexy times I will admit and that worked, along with showing us the growing intimacy between these two.

The hero/heroine run into each other again when it turns out Anya is house-sitting where JT is crashing with his parents. What starts off as something casual soon turns into JT wanting more, and Anya not always obliging or as willing to open herself up like JT. Honestly, it was great reading about a hero who is more emotionally invested at first and willing to put his heart on the line. I really enjoyed this book.

A fun quick read by Liora Blake. What happens when your one night stand moves in next door? We will buy a copy for our library.

I liked reading this book, I mean you have a one night hook up, never expecting to see him again and then he is right next door. Gotta love that!! Thankfully they didn’t stay apart. JT and Anya, make the perfect couple. An enjoyable read.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must say she captured me from the first chapter. I loved the characters and their chemistry. I do not know if this will be part of a series or stand alone but I will definitely be looking into more books by this author.

I actually really enjoyed this book. This was a first for me from Liora Blake and it won't be the last.

The book started out really strong and I connected to the characters right at the beginning of the story. I really liked that the heroine was actually the aggressor for their one-night stand and not the hero - it was refreshing. And what a one-night that was - steamy!!

The pace was great, with no unnecessary drama filling the pages. I read this book in one sitting and then started searching Goodreads for books by Liora for future reads.

A book with a divorced hero and a heroine on the rebound will always be an interest for me. Total bonus that it was written well.

This book started off so strong, and I was so excited to get some new words from this author. I was sucked in immediately. The 3rd person narration didn't slow me down at all and I was charmed by the meet cute. And then, it sort of lost me.

I think the biggest issue for me is that the connection between JT and Anya is very physical and I prefer to have a heavier emphasis on the emotional connection. I liked them both as people, and there were certainly moments within their story where I got drawn back in and invested in their relationship. There were just also many moments where I found myself skimming to get to the "good stuff" - which for me involves more flirty banter, and sparky emotional chemistry than sexy times between the sheets.

Overall, it was a quick, fun, sexy little read. It was a little uneven for me and I would have liked a little more from it, but I still enjoyed the connection between JT and Anya, and the sweetness of their happy ending.

This was an easy read. I never really fully connected to these characters though...it all felt kind of superficial and quick and I wasn’t invested in their relationship. I was hoping for more.

Cute
This is my first book by Liora Blake.

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Dual POVs
Standalone
HEA

I look forward to reading more from this author.

I really loved this book. The hero and heroine we're so refreshingly different from other romance novels. I especially adored the hero and how he was a US Marshal but not an alpha-hole. He was so endearing and his relationship with his parents was sweet. I loved the strength of the heroine. Their developing relationship was realistic and I enjoyed immersing myself in their world

This was an enjoyable quick read for me. I loved both characters, but what I really loved was the history. Sometimes you read romance novels, and they give such a short history of a character that you never connect with them. Liora Blake did a great job explaining why her characters were the way they were, without slowing the pace of the book.

I enjoyed it!

4/5 stars

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

To be honest I had expected this to be cheesy and just plain awful but no no my friend! I had a great time reading “What Matters More”. The leads characters J.T and Anaya were so easy to like and the dynamic between them was fantastic. If you don't already know, this series was filled with some steamy scenes and despite the instant love, the hot action kept me hook to the read. Needless to say the flow of the book was great, the writing style drew me in page by page and characters were perfect, what was there not to like?

Meh. This book had a promising start but got really slow for me and I struggled to get through it. I give it 3 stars. Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

Once again Liora Blake proves why she is another on the top tier of my must read anything she publishes list. Two people still dealing with the aftermaths of their recent breakups have a steamy one night stand only to find that they will be living across the street from each other for the next few months. Sex starts to turn into feelings that neither of them are ready for. This was a short book so there was not a lot of room for real depth. It was still a really great read although I wish the ending had felt less rushed.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is Anya andJT‘s book, JT is a US marshal and Anya is a starving artist. JT thinks he has it all he has lots of tattoos and he looks like he belongs in an aftershave commercial unfortunately he is also in debt and going through a recent divorce ,his personal life is nonexistent but when a free-spirited artist approaches him for a one night stand suddenly things look really good! Anya Life is kind of s big mess! She caught her boyfriend cheating on her and she’d also be homeless if it wasn’t for a housesitting gig she just got, on top of all that her creative muse has all but dried up, if she doesn’t get it back her career as an up-and-coming artist will be over before it even get started but after she hooks up with her one night stand she seems to get her mojo back! The last thing she expects once starting her house sitting job is that The hot sexy one night stand is living right across the street! This book was good it was steamy had some angst light drama it was definitely worth reading but nothing major happens it’s just an all-around good even keel book! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

Relationship that starts unexpectedly!

Deputy US Marshal JT Maxwell just wanted to pay off some bills and sell the house he owned with his ex-wife so he could move out of his parents basement. JT was blowing off some steam with a co-worker after losing track of a fugitive when he was propositioned by painter Anya Alves who just wanted to blow off some steam so she can feel better after she lost her job and she found her boyfriend having sex with someone else. Anya was just marking time until she had a house sitting job rather than stay with her best friend.

Little did Anya and JT know that the house sitting job was across the street from his parent’s house and they would run into each other again unexpectedly.

JT was raised in a military family and after serving in the Maries he liked things very structured but Anya was raised by parents that were hippies and never had a long term relationship but they overcame everything to fall in love and make it work for them.

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

Yea...Anya doesn't beat around the bush, "...so let me be upfront: I’m looking for someone to spend the night with. Do you want to have *** with me?” JT can follow the bread crumbs, “you said they really do it for your creativity, and since I thought the *** tonight was particularly hot, I followed a hunch that you might be working off all the good boning energy we produced.” I liked this book, I loved JT.

I enjoyed the bulk of What Matters More, but also found parts of it lacking. The book follows Anya and JT, two people who are down on their luck and want to escape from the stresses of their lives by partaking in a one night stand. They spend one passionate night together, then part ways in the morning, each wishing that they were ready to give the other more of themselves than just their body. They both feel the connection but aren’t in any place emotionally for more than sex. When they run into each other again - and realize they’ll be neighbors for the next several weeks - things become complicated. What follows is the story of how they turn a physical relationship into a full fledged romance.

I loved JT as a character - it’s not often that you read about a guy who 100% prefers to be in a committed relationship, and hopes to pursue that with the heroine almost from the start. I also loved how JT and Anya helped heal each other. Unfortunately, I didn’t love that the relationship stayed mostly physical for as long as it did. I felt like there were almost more sex scenes than there were relationship-building scenes in the story. It was difficult for me to believe that they had truly developed a strong emotional relationship when most of what we saw between them was physical. Despite that, I enjoyed the book and the author’s writing style. Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I would read another book by this author in the future because the majority of it was good.

Liora Blake is a master at heartwarming stories, without all the over-the-top, unnecessary angsty drama. But where she truly shines is her relatable, lovable characters and her hilarious dialogue!

Anya meets JT at the bar of a chair restaurant where she went with the intent of picking up a man for the night. After ordering a greasy appetizer, she plants herself next to the best looking man in the joint and strikes up a conversation.

"Clean eating was a carryover from childhood, spent in what most outsiders would call a hippie commune, where her family had grown almost all of their own food. Today, though, she had made her dinner choice based on what she thought would work as man-bait."

It didn’t work as well as she thought it would. But after chasing him down in the parking lot and explaining what she wants, he reluctantly agrees to a one-night-stand, after which they’ll go their separate ways.

What neither of them expect is a deep connection to form during their night together. Or to run into each other a couple days later and find out they’ll be living across the street from each other for the next six weeks.

Anya and JT’s story is sweet. Well, really steamy actually - what do you expect from a couple whose relationship starts with a one night stand?!. But for as much of a mess their separate lives are, their falling in love is mostly uncomplicated. Fate gives them a chance to be together again, and neither of them fight it. Watching them fall in love was delightful.

However, I LOVED Liora Blake’s Grand Valley series - like, finished reading them, then immediately started re-reading them right away. So I had high expectations for What Matters More. As much fun as it was to see Anya and JT together, there wasn’t much substance to the story. It didn’t take me to desperate lows, or exalted highs. I didn’t connect with the hero or heroine, or their emotions. When things got difficult between them, I was barely sad. Which isn’t always a bad thing. Sometimes it’s nice to read a book that isn’t an emotional rollercoaster. But I was anticipating more from this author.

That being said, there were so many things I DID love about this book. I love a book where the characters - the male characters - think marriage, a steady and stable relationship, are the things to be attained, and not something to run from. I loved how Anya is a straight shootin, straight talking, pull no punches kind of girl. She hasn’t a coy bone in her body when it comes to telling JT what she wants. I loved how, even though they started out as a one-night stand, their relationship kinda developed slowly. They went in not expecting anything, and ended up getting everything. And yes, I liked that this story was uncomplicated and fun.

It’s always a little dicey reading a book by an author who wrote three of my favorite books in 2017. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to feeling a little let down by this story. But I believe that’s because I had such high expectations going in. Would I read this story again? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t really enjoy reading it a lot the first time!

* thank you to NetGalley and Liora Blake for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review