Everyone who is a Noyes fan has been waiting for this one, as it is the third and last book in the Fleisher sisters’ story. The book could work as a stand alone, but don’t do this to yourself, read the other two first as they will enhance this read which is the weak link between all three. Now, in all fairness, the other two books were 5+ stars books that I have read and listened to more than once since their release a couple of years ago.

Jana Fleisher is a lawyer practicing family law in Washington DC. A serial casual dater, she has not been able to find even the desire to date the same man more than a few times. Brooke Donnelly literally bumps into Jana and the pair strike a friendship. They quickly realize there are some romantic sparks that will not only require Jana to consider a woman as a romantic partner, but also her ability to be in a committed relationship. The leap of faith must also come from Brooke as she fights previous relationship ghosts and a disjointed family.

The story picks up after the last book and it is told in first person from Jana’s point of view. I can not say enough about Noyes’ first person POV and how it just clicks with me. Her witty thoughts and self deprecating humor are ever present and simply brilliant once more.

I couldn’t help but feel protective over Jana, as we have known her as Sabine’s little sister. Like I was screening Brooke and hoping she would be good dating material for Jana or, well, earn my disapproval. The pace of the book was good. It reminded me some of ‘Turbulence’ and how the relationship evolves on its own, but perhaps with the need of labels.

The story itself is much lighter and a departure from the previous two, which dealt with some intense topics such as PTSD and war. In that sense, it was a little of a let down since doesn’t quite fit with the intensity of the other books. However, just when I was thinking the only issue here is one of the mains has not dated a woman before, Noyes manages to inject some other challenges with Brooke’s family dynamics. I’ll be honest, I don’t have a lot of patience for those. To me, the decision is pretty clear when it comes to tolerating homophobic family, you just don’t. I need to also understand that it is not as easy to do for some people. In this case I became annoyed with both mains with the emphasis on family and how it was affecting them. To be fair, family has always been a central theme for the Fleisher sisters, it’s just this is the first time it has affected the romance in the story directly.

For those of us that have read the two previous novels, this installment will bring closure to the Sabine/Bec relationship. It was great to see those characters again. Sabine was neurotic as usual and Bec, well, she was just perfect (sigh). The continuity of the characters was great. Like Sabine’s hand talking and Jana’s troublesome driving abilities. Yes, new character traits but all within what we already knew and loved about them.

Overall another good story by Noyes that will please her ever growing fan base. 4.25 stars

ARC generously provided to me by BB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If the Shoe Fits has been on my most anticipated read list since it was announced. Sabine’s little sister quickly became one my favorite characters in two previous books, the marvelous Ask, Tell and emotionally charged sequel Ask Me Again. These two ground-breaking books are extremely difficult to top, but alas, this talented author has easily managed to make room for Jana to find the love of her life uniquely separate from Sabine and Bec but intertwined with the universe of characters we’ve grown to love . It’s been a hilarious ride to observe Jana going through man after man with no resolution in sight for every minute excuse to toss away the latest conquest and find the perfect mate. However, as we are gloriously immersed in Jana’s POV we find that she is not so shallow or superficial after all. I came to respect Jana and her unwavering resolution to never settle for less than The One and the ability to connect on a soul deep level. When that connection becomes glaringly possible in the most unexpected person, it is the communication through superb dialogue and subliminal physical cues that built a level of dramatic intrigue and burned into erotic moments between them even before their first kiss. Neither Jana nor her family (and us) expected this love story, but the outcome is more than everyone could have hoped for. I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When we pick up an E. J. Noyes book we expect intensity, characters with issues (circumstantial and/or internal) and a romance that builds believably. Considering this is Ask, Tell #3 we thought it would have all of the above layered with epic seriousness. We were pleasantly surprised and totally floored by the humour in addition to what was already expected!

Jana Fleischer is a successful divorce attorney. She is funny, friendly, gregarious, quirky, loyal, authentic and impossible to please when it comes to finding Mr. Right. She “goes on dates” but doesn’t “date” because the going-on-dates seldom, if ever, translates into wanting to really date a person. Her sister Sabine is bridezilla-ing about her upcoming wedding to the lovely Rebecca (yes, they are the military surgeon couple from the glorious Ask, Tell) and Jana is caught in the Sabine’s OCD turmoil over the wedding. Life for Jana is even and good. One fine morning, on her way to court, she bumps into a woman walking backwards and tragically breaks the heel of her shoe. The accident woman, Brooke Donnelly, works in the same building and since Jana and she are the same show size, lends her shoes to Jana. Now connected by shoes, they meet again to return/repair/exchange shoes and end up enjoying each other’s company and friendship burgeons between them. So-far-straight Jana is surprised by her own reaction to Brooke and starts wondering about her orientation.

Jana is absolutely adorable (taking a moment here to savour Jana’s adorability). We loved journeying with her as she first felt unexpected emotions about a woman, recognised them, questioned herself, admitted her feelings and accepted herself without unnecessary angst. We loved her for embracing herself and her attraction to Brooke and for being able to get into the relationship with Brooke fully and completely. Brooke started off as a likeable character but didn’t quite measure up to Jana as the book progressed. With terrible past experience with her family and a couple of not-so-great relationships, she is unwilling to commit to the new relationship with Jana. While we understand that people can be weak, we cannot forgive refusing to get out of your own head to give a new relationship an honest shot. We cannot forgive not pulling your weight or putting in the effort to make a relationship work – especially when the other person is obviously all-in and says so without any prevarications. In this one, Jana is carrying the entire emotional burden of taking the relationship forward and stabilizing it. She is the only one who seems to have the strength, the fortitude, the commitment and most importantly, the want to make it work. That is just unfair, no matter that Brooke shows flashes of nice.

Yes, we do have a problem with lop-sidedness in the relationship, but this book is lots of fun to read. The humour, the wit and of course, Jana make this a great read.

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

E.J. Noyes is definitely one of my favorite new authors and I really love how all of her works are versatile and unique. After reading "Alone", a book that in my humble opinion was one of my top 2019 reads, I was really excited to read this one about a presumably straight girl that becomes friends with a not so straight woman and suddenly starts questioning her sexuality and her previous relationships. This one is one of my favorite tropes so I couldn't actually wait to put my hands on this book.
The two MCs are Jana (Sabine's little sister from "Ask, Tell") and Brooke, two women that meet under the most weird circumstances . They work in the same building and after the first disastrous meeting they start seeing each other regularly at the same coffee spot on the ground floor of their workplace and slowly slowly they pursue a sort of friendship.
I don't want to spoil the rest of the book because I strongly recommend you to read it cause duh, it's Noyes! What I would really like to mention is that the first part of the book IMO would easily be a Five Stars rating for me. Unfortunately the second part was a Three and it kind of left me a little bit disappointed. I don't know, maybe I'm exaggerating but right after Jana and Brooke finally got together I just couldn't feel the chemistry and the connection between them. Considering that Brooke didn't have an easy life, I feel bad saying that she's the main reason I couldn't enjoy the second part of the book. Maybe because the book was written from Jana's POV and it was sometimes hard to understand Brooke's reasoning or maybe because I was finding Brooke really weak as a person and she reminded me of people I know that are always unsatisfied about their jobs/lives but really do nothing to change things.
Needless to say that when she finally decided to grow a backbone and confront her father, we had already reached the last few pages of the book so for me the resolution felt rushed and forced.

On the positive side I would put Jana who I absolutely loved because she was such an authentic and genuine person, the witty dialogue, the first sex scene and Jana's hilarious family. It's a quality book that I would wholeheartedly recommend and I hardly can wait for her next book next year!