4 1/2 "fated" stars

This book had a little bit of everything that I enjoy - - wonderfully developed characters, a mystical fate themed storyline, a somewhat taboo relationship (he's the best friend of her ex) and an ex that you love to hate. Ms. Scott did a lovely job of blending these all together into a book that kept me glued to my e-reader.

When Susie inherits a fixer upper from her aunt, she calls the most reputable company in town to bid repairs for it. Of course, they send out Lars, her ex boyfriend's best friend. As awkward as it is for both of them, she doesn't want to send him away because she knows he'll do great work. But when he finds a divorce certificate with both of their names on it dated ten years in the future tucked in a wall, he's livid. He's convinced that she's pranking him. Once they realize that neither of them had anything to do with it, the mystery becomes one that Susie becomes obsessed with trying to solve. Meanwhile, it opens the door for them to entertain the idea that if that certificate of divorce could somehow be from the future, then at some point, they actually get married which means they must give in to the attraction they try to ignore. From that point forward, the way they try to ignore the attraction becomes pretty deliberate. Lars even goes as far as to try dating other women to avoid Susie. But nothing works. Chemistry will eventually win out.

It's a fun and spicy read. I really liked the push and pull between these two characters. It's evident that there was a connection between them long before they were willing to acknowledge it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained with are my own.

End of Story by Kylie Scott was a fun and charming out of the box opposites attract romance. I loved Susie and Lars so much. Susie is excited to start working on the fixer-upper she inherited, but she did not expect to see her ex’s best friend. The one who saw her very humiliating breakup. This puts them in forbidden territory, right? But then they find divorce papers dated in the future, with their names on it. What does it mean? Who put it there?

I loved the banter and chemistry these two shared. Susie was easy-going and determined marriage was not for her. Lars wanted to follow bro-code but was falling for her anyway. He was a carling and likable guy. I liked how they became friends and the push and pull between them. This was a fun and light read with some paranormal aspects.

Happy reading!

Thank you to @valentine_pr_ for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.!

This was cute friends to lovers take with a twist. Would you engage in a relationship if you thought you knew how it was going to end? That is what Lars and Suzie have to decide, upon finding evidence of a future divorce between the two of them.

This story was a quick read with plenty of spice built in. Hated the Ex, always happy to see a jackass be put in his place! I was frustrated with wanting to know the real answer for the document they found, but otherwise I breezed through this book. If you are looking for a cute read, pick it up!

What I liked: Stories with a hint of magic are tricky for me sometimes. Unless the magical element is done really well, I tend to find that part of the story distracting, and I end up not loving it.
This was a pleasant surprise though! I really enjoyed this funny and swoony rom com that contained just the right amount of magic to make the story unique and intriguing, but not so much that it took away from the actual plot. I love the romance between Susie and Lars. Even though the very thing that brought them together was forced, it didn’t feel like it. The author did a great job making their attraction and connection believable, even in this odd situation. I highly recommend!

What I Didn’t like: I really wanted some answers about a key part of the story, and we didn’t get that. Also, this may just be in the ARC, but the “prequel” called Beginning of the End should definitely be included in the front instead of the back. Even though you can start with chapter 1 and understand everything, it would have been helpful to read this snippet first.

End of Story by Kylie Scott is the perfect kind of rom com where the reader knows the inevitable for the characters. The fun is watching them figure it all out. It’s not deep. It doesn’t require heavy thinking or figuring things out. It just is…and it’s lots of fun.

Sometimes characters in a rom com are unrelatable due to age. It is a talent of this author that I didn’t feel that disconnect. (Even though the characters' ages are much younger than mine).

For example, Lars is the perfect kind of hero. Good work ethic, a strong personality, and is just an all-around great guy. My favorite part was when he stood behind Susie (both literally and figuratively) and said that he was the man who had her back.

Definitely swoon-worthy.Then there is Susie, who is a little bit of a hot mess. But he embraced every part of her, which totally fit an “opposites attract” portion of the plot.

If I had to complain about anything, I would say that I wish the catalyst for their relationship arc got more attention. It felt like that would figure more heavily, but then they got away from it, and it was almost forgotten.

I suppose that is the point of the entire book. Is fate pre-ordained, finite, and unmoving? Or do we control our own fates as we grapple with our pasts to create our futures? That might be a little deep for a rom com, but the sentiment is there.

A side note, I loved the scene where Aaron’s thread is resolved (no spoiler). It’s funny because I had just watched "The Wedding Singer" prior to finishing this book. I totally saw Aaron as Glen (Julia’s smarmy fiancé). The whole scene was easy for me to picture.

Oh, and if you’ve read the book also, you’ll know the point of the cat. Or at least you should know. It’s pretty obvious and ties back to that catalyst (no pun intended) I mentioned earlier.

End of Story provided the perfect antidote to the multiple psych thrillers I have read lately. Kylie Scott has written a charming rom com, and I can’t wait to read more from her.

For more reviews like this, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks.

Heat Factor: Sometimes when you go hiking, you just have go bang against a tree

Character Chemistry: Reluctant, then sizzling

Plot: Susie and Lars find a certificate of divorce with their names on it—dated ten years in the future

Overall: Angstier than the marketing led me to expect, but still an excellent read

This review will be presented as a series of conversations with my husband.

Me: I’m reading a time-travel romance! You love time travel!

Husband:…

Me: So, this woman is renovating a house and she finds a divorce certificate with her name on it—and the name of the contractor. Awkward! Dated ten years in the future! Double awkward!

Husband: Can they change the course of time? Because if they can then they aren’t doing time travel right.

Me:…

Husband: It’s obvious that you shouldn’t be able to change the course of history, and that when you travel you might think you’re going to change things but you’re always doing what you’ve already done. Like in The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Me: *rolls eyes*

**Conversation devolves into a debate we’ve had approximately 657 times about whether The Time Traveler’s Wife was a good book. Obviously, my position is the correct one. If you like this book, you can talk to my husband about it.**

Note: I do not have a follow-up conversation about whether or not you can change the future (because no spoilers, even for my husband), but I did think this book handled the tension between destiny and free will well. Great premise, great execution of that premise.

Me: Look at this bubblegum book cover! This book has gotta be a comedy, right?

Husband:…

Me: I mean, it’s got aqua and fuchsia and she’s smiling and wearing cool sunglasses!

Husband:…

Me: But it’s actually about grief and toxic family members and toxic friends. Is having sharp banter enough to make something a comedy? No, it does not! Does a banging romance mean that there has to be pink on the cover? No, it does not! Illustrated covers can be great, but this is NOT the right cover for this book.


Husband:…

Note: There’s a prequel novella (which was included at the end of my ARC). The cover for that book—also illustrated—was perfect for the setup, but would be too sad for the book as a whole.

Additional Note: To be fair, the marketing materials do not call this a comedy. This is purely about the cover art, which I think is beautiful—but not really a good fit for the content of the book.

Me: *gleefully* They’re at the denying their feelings stage of the relationship!

Husband: I think you read too many romance novels.

Me: Stupid boy!


I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

They weren't quite friends. They were hardly enemies, either. But seeing Susie and Lars make it from whatever-they-were to lovers is charming and entertaining. Even as they annoy each other, they share food and desperately try to avoid mention of Lars' best friend who is also Suzie's awful ex as they puzzle out the mystery of a future-dated divorce certificate found in Suzie's wall.

Susie is delightfully practical with enough flaws to make her believable and relatable. Lars might have terrible taste in friends, but he has an awful lot going for him otherwise. Their supporting cast, led by Susie's bestie Cleo and Lars' brother Tore, add just the right level of flavour.

Smoking hot chemistry and witty banter aside, the little character moments are what makes this book shine and Kylie Scott does them so well! From working through grief and having heart to hearts about cheating to solidarity against a grasping sibling and converting Lars into a Romance reader, they make every page an enjoyable ride.

For a great contemporary romance with just a touch of the paranormal, I definitely recommend this book!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Valentine PR; all opinions are my own

End of Story is such a fun book. Like several others, I was reminded a little of The Lake House, but only a little. This one stands firmly on its own with lovable characters and witty dialogue. The whole thing, from start to finish, has a charm about it that kept me turning pages long past bedtime. This is one of those 'just one more chapter' kind of books because these characters get under your skin and stay there. I was totally invested in Susie and Lars as a couple almost from the beginning. They're just that easy to root for. I also really enjoyed the bit of supernatural-ish storyline. This is a great way to start a series, in my opinion, and I'd recommend it for an entertaining escape from the stresses of every day.

This is my second Kylie Scott book and I DNF the book. Not because it wasn't good but rather just wasn't something I was enjoying. A bit cheesy for me and yes I enjoy cheesy rom-com books but this one just wasn't working for me.

I enjoyed the prequel and was really looking forward to this book. Obviously, these days, it all depends on my mood, but I could just not get into it. I love a Kylie Scott book, but when I get turned off, I get turned off. I’m counting this one as a loss, but there will obviously be more winners in the future.


I voluntarily read an early copy.

I am a huge fan of Kylie Scoot - she knows how together a sweet-ass romance. Susie and Lars have a connection as in she's the ex of his best friend. Lars is a contractor and she needs her late aunt's house fixed up.

While amid this awkward reunion, they find a divorce certificate from 10 years in the future. And that's where things get a little weird

I loved Susie and Lars - they had the most open and honest relationship even when they were trying to be friends. when they start to get together I was rooting for them. they had some super sweet moments and some super spicy moments - a great mix

now the whole divorce certificate thing - I am not sure that part of the story was needed. The fact that she was his best friend's ex and they start to be friends then loves - and considering how much of sick the ex was - the whole certificate storyline was second nature and almost seemed unneeded the story was messily bought without it

Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend

If my memory is correct, this is my first Kylie Scott book and it was a fun, light read! With callbacks to Il Mare/The Lake House, there's a sort of "ending" that we work back to. I thought the premise was an interesting one, but I did find it a bit hard to get into. The story picks up a bit in the middle, but the action didn't quite hit as much as I had hoped, based on the blurb. Still, it was a solid read and engaging enough!

The formatting was really off, which made it difficult to read, but it appears normal in the published copy.

Susie Bowden is trying to remodel her life and her inherited house after a particularly difficult breakup. When she opens the door to the new contractor, it's none other than her ex's best friend, Lars. She was close with Lars while she dated his best friend but lost contact after the very public breakup. While Lars is working on the remodel, he finds a divorce decree buried in the walls with Susie and Lars information set for the future. They spend the majority of the book trying to find out if the future divorce could be real and how to avoid making it take place in the first place.

I really liked this book. It took me out of the book slump that I was in. Normally, I steer clear of books with magical realism in a contemporary but I wasn't paying close enough attention when I "one clicked." I'm really happy that I picked this one up. Susie is very averse to the thought of getting married. Her family is dysfunctional and frequently gaslights her. It was very easy to see why marriage would not be for her. Lars is the type of guy who always has a girlfriend but breaks up with them before anything gets serious. I loved seeing their friendship grow into a more romantic relationship. Lars falls first and spends the back half of the book trying to convince her to make their relationship something more serious. I adored the detail of them splitting their meals halfway through. That was something they did even when it was just a platonic relationship. It took entirely too long for Lars and his mother to see what a trash bag Susie's ex was. The side romance between Lars brother and Susie's best friend was such a bonus. I can't wait to pick up more of Kylie Scott's books.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kylie Scott and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House for a copy of this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

#netgalley #kyliescott #harlequintradepublishing #graydonhouse #endofstorybook

Thanks so much to the author, Graydon House, Valentine PR, and Netgalley for the gifted advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and participation in the blog tour. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner} All of my reviews can also be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog.

TW: toxic relationships (romantic and familial), loss of a family member, injury from a car accident

I was excited to read this book when I initially read the description, but this Seattle-based girl really fell in love once I started reading it and realized that it was set right here in my own back yard! Is there anything more fun for a reader than reading books set in your hometown?

Let's talk about the characters. I really enjoyed Susie and Lars as our main character and love interest! I thought that they were both fun characters to read, and that they played off of each other nicely. I can totally see how these two characters would fall for each other. I wish we had gotten a dual POV so that we could see a bit of the process of him falling in love with her - especially since Susie was so reluctant to love all the way until the end of the book, I think it would have been nice to get a bit of his side of the love story too and maybe get a bit more of the he-fell-first side of the story.

I thought that the story itself was a really interesting idea, with a mystical and mysterious divorce certificate appearing out of nowhere, but obviously you do lose a bit of the realism in the story that way - so if you are someone that prefers to read stories that could really happen to anyone, keep in mind that you'll want to go into this one with an open mind for the unexplainable.

I will say that one bit of the writing style took me a little bit to warm up to - and that is the way Susie's inner monologue played out in the book. There were lots of sarcasm and slightly silly asides to herself that I wasn't expecting, and like I said they took me a little bit of time to warm up to. I think partially because this book jumps right into the story (I think they find the divorce certificate on page 8 or 9), so there wasn't really a ton of time to acclimate to the story or writing style.

I will also say that at times during conversations between characters it was a little bit tricky to determine which character was talking, but I'm not sure if that was the way it was written or if it was the fact that the galley I read had not yet been properly formatted, so take that bit with a grain of salt - entirely possible it is fixed in the finished copies!

Over all I would absolutely recommend this book to my friends and my fellow readers, especially my friends who live nearby - I mean really, reading a book set in your city is so much fun! I think that the perfect way to read this book would be curled up with a cat and a pint of ice cream. Molly Moon's would be preferable, but if you're not local, then anything delicious and sugary will do in a pinch!

Kylie Scott is one of the contemporary romance authors I’ve been reading for the longest, so every time I get lost in one of her stories, it feels like a warm embrace by an old friend. End of Story has that trademark wit and charm I expect from any Kylie Scott book. The writing is smooth, the characters well-developed, and the romance cute and easy to read.

I really liked Lars and Susie. Kylie Scott writes the best female leads- capturing independence, fun, intelligence, and vulnerability to create someone I root for, look up to, and can see a bit of myself in. Lars makes a great hero and partner for Susie. He is sweet and patient, and I really enjoyed watching Susie and him rewrite their ending.

If you’re in the mood for a good story that has laughs and sweet, romantic moments, End of Story is worth the read.

Susie and Lars' story was an enjoyable sweet romance with a bit of magical realism, but everything is done for a reason; we have two characters that are well constructed, their interactions are honest, and their chemistry is undeniable. However, they are stopped by the fact that Lars is Susie's ex-boyfriend's best friend and that they find something special. The audiobook, narrated by Andi Arndt, enhanced the story. I recommend you get the audio version of this story.

pov: You inherit a house from your late aunt in the PNW and the person that shows up from the hired contractor is none other than your terrible ex’s best friend. While fixing up the house, you find a seemingly real divorce certificate trapped in the wall with both of your names on it… dated ten years in the future.

An ex’s best friend magical realism romance with some cuteness and humor. And no second act breakup! I was excited for this one because of the PNW setting (where I am currently located). I could not get over the totally unrealistic plot of the divorce certificate in the wall, though. I guess that was the magical realism part. Thankfully, Valentine PR also gifted me an ALC. The audio narrator (Andi Arndt) was fantastic, which that and 2.5x speed was why I was able to stick with this one. Otherwise, I probably would have dnfed near 10%, which I hate to do ever. There were also some grammatical style type things in the e-galley that drove me nuts and made it difficult to read, but that was perhaps fixed in the final copy so I don’t want to be too specific since I know uncorrected proofs are just that, uncorrected.

Thank you to Kylie, Graydon House, Harlequin Audio, Valentine PR for the e-galley and ALC via Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.

Kylie Scott’s End of Story is a fun, quirky romance. It is a unique blend of micro-genres; there is a tiny bit of magical realism, humor and friends-to-lovers.

New homeowner Susie hires help to renovate the house. When hunky, handy Lars shows up at the door both the trouble and the sparks begin. Lars is the best friend of Susie’s ex-boyfriend, and he is also impossibly handsome and truly a good guy. Both characters are well developed, but neither truly pulled me into the story. While I enjoyed their chemistry and banter, I wasn’t in love with the amount of time focused on the mystical divorce certificate.

Readers who love mystical realism, will undoubtedly enjoy this book more than I did. I did enjoy it, but I was hoping for more humor than I found.

I loved this story! There was a little magical aspect to the story that was really unique and new to Kylie Scott stories that I’ve come to know and love, and it only made me love this even more! I was hooked from the start. Now I did read the little prequel before I got this, and the prequel does come with the full book once you get it. I do have to say this short and sweet prequel was perfect in that it had me hooked and wanting more, but it wasn’t necessarily one that I was left disappointed I didn’t get more. Of course that could be because I read it right before I was able to read this one, lol.

The characters, let’s just say I loved them all! I loved big old Viking-ish Lars. I mean it was understandable why he and Susie would be a little awkward around each other at first after all her ex was Aaron and that relationship hadn’t ended great, because of Aaron, not Susie. I adored Susie’s BFF Cleo. And then other than the ex-hole Aaron, Lars’s brother and friends were great fun as well. While I loved how Lars’s family was a close family, it took a minute to be completely okay with his mom. I mean she took her own time welcoming Susie, because of her own friendship with Aaron, the ex, and his mother. Now Susie’s family, well, there was a reason for why she felt the way she did about marriage and relationships in general, and they were a big part of it.

The setting was great. The building of their relationship was great. The sex was great. The banter between the two was great! And I loved Susie’s quirky personality. The divorce certificate was such an interesting way to get all of the story rolling, and keep them going in their building a relationship. While nothing was ever said or necessarily pointed out, I really wonder if the cat that showed up at their house, who Lars named Kat, had any kind of magical-ness or other extra with what was going on.

And I love how the big dramatic final event went exactly the way it did. How the one of them that might have gotten upset in many stories knew to trust the other, and handled it the way they did. I sped through this book with every free minute I had to read, and I was left smiling and loving the latest romance from Kylie Scott!

QueenZany 4 Star Review
End of Story
by Kylie Scott







End of Story is a one-of-a-kind book. With such originality, you cannot help but become enchanted by the storyline. Just a fun, good read.