I didn’t get on with this book. It failed to grab my attention at the start which unfortunately meant I struggled to get into it and therefore didn’t get very far with it.

I really enjoyed this small town romance! It was so sweet and honest and I loved that there were no unnecessary misunderstandings and twists, just a simple relationship between two old friends who slowly fell in love with eachother. Ok, and one marriage of convince 😉. It was really enjoyable and I loved the characters. The chemistry between the main characters was great 🔥.

If you're looking for a lovely and believable romance with great characters, I highly recommend this book!

I love small town romances and Like You Love Me did not disappoint! I fell in love with all the characters especially of course Holden and Sophie. They complement each other perfectly and loved the banter between them with them each trying to figure each other out. Beautifully written. A perfect start to a new series!!

4 stars

Like You Love Me by Adriana Locke is a sweet friends to lovers read.

The storyline is well written, it held my interest from start to end and I enjoyed getting to meet all the characters.

Looking forward to reading more from the Honey Creek series.

*Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the advance copy.*

A whole new series by one of the most romantic romance novelists? Yep sign me up stat!!!
Adriana Locke is fabulous at the small town romance novels, and she definitely proves it with Holden & Sophie’s book. A truly magnificent slow burn story that had me positively enthralled from start to finish. And with small town romances you usually find that some of the minor characters add so much to the storyline that you can’t help but want to see them with their own story in the future.
Now I think I know who the next story will feature and truthfully I cannot wait to read it. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

Like You Love Me is another great read from Adriana Locke. Sophie and Holden, childhood friends who met again as adults, both need something the other can help with. As they navigate this new situation they find themselves in, they begin to realize what they wanted isn't what they were working towards. Don't think twice, grab it and read! :)

I have loved Locke's words for a while now and this one hit every note needed. I swooned, giggled, felt the angst and the drama and found myself wrapped up in the world that Locke has given us with this book. I enjoyed the wit and banter. While the concept had it's cliche moments, Locke gives them new life and I found it very enjoyable!

Oh Adriana how I love your imagination and the characters that live there. We are once again visiting a small town filled with real people that pull you in and make you the reader want to visit them. Sophie and Holden are childhood friends that never crossed that lovers line. Sophie is now running the local B & B and Holden is fresh out of Vet school. They find themselves in need of a favor from one another and sure a Fake Relationship between friends could never go wrong! I loved their fabulously funny witty banter that soon became infused with sexual tension and smoldering undertones! This couple was fun, real and had so much sexual tension and I loved their wonderful families, friends and neighbors no matter how meddling they were..lol !

This is a super SUPER sweet almost second chance romance in a way.
Sophie is drowning in debt and about to lose her family business and Holden needs to wife to get a job. They make an agreement. All those summers ago when they'd spend days together there was always a pull, but never made it to that line. Now years later they get to play house to save on another, only that pull from so long ago is back.
Only this job Holden wants is not where Sophie calls home, where all her dreams are.

This book was so sweet and such a slow burn. I really enjoyed this couple. You see stories of marriage of convenience, but this has a nice small town spin on it.

This is a beautifully written story. These charaters really spoke to me, I was addicted to these charactersand this story right from the start. Highly recommended.

If you are a fan of Hallmark movies this is a must read!

Yes, this book is cheesy but oh it’s so good! It has the fake relationship genre that I love because you just know how it’s going to end and you root for the characters along the way.
Speaking of characters they were enjoyable and believeable which helps make for a great book. Cute storyline and even some steam added in!
Highly recommend it!

Thanks to NetGalley for this free copy in exchange for my honest review.

Fake romances are TOTALLY my jam, and one by one of my favorite authors, I was SO DOWN TO READ THIS BOOK! Holden and Sophie have a chemistry so strong that you can practically see it sizzling between the two of them. They were childhood friends and when they are reunited after years apart, both with their own situations, they are able to come to a solution to help each other- get married!

As mentioned above, these two have major chemistry and also a deep respect for each other that you cannot help but fall for. All in all, it is a fan-freaking-tastic romance that you should read right away! It was a little predictable in certain situations, but the way that the author writes their interactions and feelings makes up for it and I give it 4.5 outta 5 stars! This is the first book into a new series and I am DEFINITELY going to be look out for the next one!

PS: Thank you to Adriana Locke and Social Butterfly PR for allowing me an advanced copy of the book to read and review honestly!

A sweet romance read if you love watching cheesy Hallmark movies (like I do). Definitely love the friends to lovers/fake relationship trope. There are some sexy scenes as well so makes a spicy read. Love, love, loved it

Sweetly sexy and emotionally thrilling friends to so much more started out as a means to and end but unexpectedly twists to so much more romantic journey. This highly entertaining adventure is filled with witty and engaging charters and undeniable passion.

What a charming and delightful story! This is a small town romance about childhood best friends who find themselves back in the same town and both in need of help. These two had sizzling chemistry from the very start. It was so much fun as they navigate their friendship to a marriage of convenience. They are both so endearing that you'll be rooting for both of them. The banter is hilarious and the sexy times are steamy. There are some great secondary characters, and I can't wait to read more of this series. This is a fun, light, easy read. It definitely needs to be added to your TBR list!

Childhood friends reconnecting and a marriage of convenience... sounds like a match made in heaven if you ask me!

3.5 | I think the blurb sums up what's going on here pretty well; Holden is coming back to the town where he spent some of his summers to help his grandfather at his vet clinic while keeping his sights on his dream job. Sophie is trying to run the bed-and-breakfast that her grandparents left, but a failed marriage has her financially troubled.

And just like that a marriage of convenience is born, and so are the underlying feelings that fake dating trope implies 😉

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed the small-town (nosy) vibes here and I'm excited for what the rest of this series promises so far. I'm only giving it such an "average" rating because past 50% the story felt a bit dragged at times, but overall, I liked Sophie and Holden as characters and as a couple, and also as friends.

From the beginning they had a great banter and immediate trust and respect even after years without seeing each other, and they served a lot of ✨cute moments✨, typical of fake dating where small gestures are genuinely born but neither of them knows if they are reading much into things and it's just for show, or if there's really something else going on between them.

I love Adriana Locke’s writing style, it’s easy to get used to and easy to fall in love with her sweet characters. ‘Like You Love Me’ is the first book in the Honey Creek series, and it focuses around Sophie and Holden.

This makes for an entertaining read, with two characters who mutually agree an arrangement which is destined to benefit them both, and somewhere along the way they start realising that amongst their lie is some genuine feelings.

I love Holden, he’s confident and I love how he’s trying to prove he can be committed and dependable. Sophie is in a bind to save her business and due to the history her and Holden share, it seemed like a no brainer for the two to pair up.

Overall this is a fun romance, it’s exactly what you want it to be and gives you all the happy, inspiring vibes which I look for as a reader.

I am excited to see where this series goes, and would recommend to those who enjoy friends to lovers, small town romances which give off swoon-worthy vibes.

This was.... so-so.

The premise was so interesting to me, because you know I love childhood besties need to have a marriage of convenience to achieve their own goals. You bet I wanted to read this ASAP. It's a very fast book tbh, the chapters are quite short so I did enjoy that because quick reading!!!!

Things that I liked:
- veterinarian hero!! CUTE ANIMALS but not enough sadly
- the romantic tropes
- no angst (BUT I KINDA WANTED SOME? IT NEEDED ANGST!!)

Things that could have been better:
- the romance itself idk like I didn't find it so believable? It happened so fast? I dont know man

This was a very okay book. I probably won't remember it in a few months but I mean, I'm sure if you all read it, you aren't going to hate it either. It's fun, the characters are entertaining and there are some cute scenes as well. But idk... I kinda expected more? It's probably me!

“That’s marriage for you. Taking two people and their hopes and wishes and passion and creating on life out of all of it.”

Sweet, swoony and a little saucy. If you’re looking to escape into low angst, friends to lovers marriage of convenience romance with a small-town setting, then Like You Love Me, the first book in the Honey Creek series by Adriana Locke might be just the ticket to make your heart flutter.

“Second chances are the most romantic of them all.”

The last time Holden McKenzie visited Honey Creek was the year he graduated high school – and the last time he saw his friend and crush, Sophie. But the sexy vet is back in town to run his Pap’s veterinary surgery whilst he’s vacationing in Florida, but he didn’t count on the gorgeous Sophie Bates knocking the wind out of his sails. Holden stole our hearts!

“I wouldn’t have turned you down when I was seventeen.”
“I wouldn’t have turned you down either,” he says.

This is a temporary step for Holden who has his sights set on his dream job in Orlando. The break comes just in time as Holden leaves behind a life turned upside down in Arizona. A change of scenery for a few weeks is just what he needs, and the scenery doesn’t get much better than Sophie Bates! Sophie lives and breathes Honey Creek. Running her late Grandmothers B&B is her passion – it’s something close to her heart and she needs money to keep it afloat. Holden needs a wife to convince his prospective employer that he’s stable – maybe a marriage of convenience could benefit them both? But can they convince the gossiping Honey Creek residents it’s the real deal? And can they keep their chemistry and hearts out of the equation? We loved their journey from friends to lovers as they both had to dig deep inside themselves to realise what’s important.

“You aren’t supposed to mix business and pleasure.”
“I bet that man would be a whole lot of pleasure.”

Set in Honey Creek, Tennessee we meet an array of quirky characters, including Holden’s sweet Pap with his corny jokes. We were caught up in the small-town gossip and tall tales and look forward to Sophie’s supportive sister Liv’s story and her protective womanising brother, Jobe’s story. We do love small-town romance and the townsfolk of Honey Creek have stolen our hearts! This romance is a sweet and lovely read which we highly recommend.

‘I was finally right where I wanted to be – on the precipice of acquiring everything I ever wanted.
So why does it feel like I’m about to lose something in the process? And why does that hurt so damn much?’

*5 Stars*

Copy kindly received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Sophie and Holden were lots of fun and they had a really great connection. They both had some things to learn about themselves, but discovered them both together and whilst apart. The town of Honey Creek seems really cool and I look forward to reading more about it and continuing this series.

Going to keep this one short and sweet, enjoyed the book and recommend!