I had never heard of the author of this book but the cover & the blurb caught my attention & piqued my interest respectively. I went in with no expectations & was pleasantly surprised by the well-written story & the way it segued smoothly from one thing to the next. It was full of witty banter & good humor. There were so many instances where I was either grinning from ear-to-ear or laughing out loud.

The FMC, Regan is exactly the kind of heroine I like & admire - confident, sassy, clever, capable, a total go-getter & has the good looks to match it with. I enjoyed the MMC, Van's groveling for a second chance with Regan a lot. He truly earned it with the way he faced Regan's anger head on. He was patient, loving & perseverant - the perfect balance to Regan's short-temper, hatred, resentment & deflection of her feelings for him.

The fact that it was kind of an enemies-to-lovers book earned it anothet brownie point. It was a 3.75 ⭐ read for me because I felt the story was a bit slow in the middle and then rushed at the end but other than that overall, this is a fun read & definitely worth checking out.

Thank you NetGalley, Sugar Beaver Books & the author for the ARC in return for my honest review.

Earning it was an amazing fun read with just the right amount of story and quirk. It's a story of a woman named Rae who met his old flame in her best friends wedding where she's the bridesmaid. Her ex, who is super hot-delicious looking- FBI agent, who had done her wrong in the past due to his job, is also the best man. The guy is very very sorry to cause her pain but hell hath no Fury like a woman scorned and fury she showed in the entire and wedding and "group" honeymoon.
As much as i find the idea ridiculous it is actually practical. I loved all the characters, and the only thing I couldn't figure out in the beginning was why does every character need to have a pet name, but I'm glad that sticked to one pet name throughout. The ending was a little low for me but the sex scenes made up for it more than enough. The entire time I feel like this book should be made into a movie!!!
Reasons why you should read this book
• Lovers to enemies to lovers trope (essentially enemies to lovers)
• Crazy as sex scenes (yes plural!)
• Quick guide on how to be mad at your ex and torture them
• Girl friendships
• Just pure love

So get this book and assemble your squad of friends and partner cause you want to hug and kiss all of them over wine and Italian pasta. Bon appetite and bon reading!

I really enjoy second chance romance so this appealed to me.
At first I didn’t realize it was part of a series.
Risky Restoration book 1 (Kez & Jackson)
Earning it (Rae & Van)
The author brings us to Kez and Jackson’s wedding where both Raegan and her ex-boyfriend Donovan are standing up. They broke up years prior due to the lies he told her during their relationship and putting his job before her. I wish we saw more on this.
What I enjoyed was Rae is a no-nonsense heroine. She’s sharp witted and will make you laugh.
On the whole this was enjoyable and I enjoyed this group. I am looking forward to V’s story in the future.

Rae is done with love. She walked out on her ex and moved on with her life. But when her best friend, Kez, asks her to be her maid of honor, she convinces her to bury the hatchet for her sake, even if her ex, Van, looks so good when he shows up at the wedding.
This second chance romance was sadly not for me. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, there was no chemistry between Rae and Van, and I felt that there was not enough backstory. The dialogues are repetitive, and the flow of events felt weird at times. And the ending was rushed. However, the setting was great (in the second part of the story), and there was great humor and friendships in this fast and easy read.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am a little late to review this, but I'm obsessed. I didn't expect there to be so many spicy scenes and I'm here for all of it. E.F. Dodd did such an incredible job of pulling the reader in. I have already recommended it to multiple people and can't wait to hear their opinions/reactions!

Thank you for allowing me to review this book!

What do you do when the man who you thought was the love of your life suddenly re-enters your world without warning?

I had a good time reading this book! I enjoyed slowly learning about the events that unfolded in years past. Both main characters showed real character development. Many of the events and timelines are unrealistic, but sometimes that is what makes for a good "escape from reality" beach read.
I had a hard time because all of the names were uncommon names, but they were similar enough to each other (all three letter nicknames, Van & V, gender ambiguous) that I got them mixed up.

I didn't know this was a sequel to Risky Restoration, I think it would have helped to have the background story from that book.

Thank you to Sugar Beaver books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this eArc.

Rae Murphy moved to Charlotte 5 years ago from Charleston after the most devastating heartbreak of her life. Since then, she has made a tight group of friends, V and Kez, and is gearing up to help Kez celebrate her wedding. As Maid of Honor however, she comes face to face with her ex, Van, who just so happens to be the Best Man. Van is desperate to explain everything that happened and win Rae over. Rae is determined to play hard to get and struggles with the conflicting tug between her head and her heart.

The premise of this book sounded really good! The female characters are powerful and own their sexuality with no apologies. They are funny, have strong banter, and have each others back. Exactly the kind of friendship group any girl would want! I also really liked they all had personalities, jobs and a reason to exist that didn't center around a man, even though this is a romance that sees them all finding their perfect man.

The first half of the book takes place at the wedding. I found this particularly slow from a plot development point of view but it did allow us to get to know the characters. I think it would have benefited with some stronger/longer flashbacks to Van and Rae's relationship in this section as I struggled to truly grasp how in love they had been and how bad the betrayal was to have such a strong reaction from Rae.

The time spent on the group honeymoon fills the second half of the book. The bride has sneakily ensured Van and Rae have joining rooms setting us up for either the steamiest vacation to happen or the entire hotel to go up in flames from their angst. I lived in the Cayman Islands for two years so it was super fun to see it featured in the book. I guess I wish we could have seen the group do more than have sex, flirt, roast and stay in the hotel. Could have been fun to see them on a boat trip to Stingray Island or going snorkeling/diving.

Overall, a fun quick read!

This book was ok. It was interesting and yes the main character did drive me a little batty at times but then she'd do something that would surprise me at times too.
I did finish this book in a day. I had to see what Rae would do next do I kept turning the pages lol.
I

Reagan and Donovan have major baggage and betrayal that most people would not be able to come back from but somehow their love is stronger than everything they've been through
A wedding, a group honeymoon, and the most meddling friends I've ever read about help keep Rae and Van's love alive.

If you’re into groveling this is the book for you. For me, I skimmed most of the book because the plot was just not my thing and started getting repetitive. Van screwed up with Rae a few years back, and they ended up reuniting for a friends wedding. You follow the couple around while they join their friends week long honeymoon vacation, and Van tries to get Rae to forgive him. You think all is well by the end of their trip, but then Rae ends up being indecisive and Van takes the cowards way out. It seems like they both want each other, but can’t figure it out. All this back and forth would have made me want to move on and forget about the other person. The only good thing about this book was the sex scenes, but I skimmed those for the most part too. Honestly I just don’t recommend. I feel like the whole storyline needs to be reworked, and not done with your friends wedding and honeymoon being the main background of it all.

When Reagan “Ray “Murphy attend her best friend Kess’s wedding to Jackson Jenkins, the last person she thought she would run into would be the love of her life and the man who also ruined it Donovan McCloud. Unbeknownst to relay “van“ is Jackson’s best man and best friend. Not only does she have to be in the wedding party with him but walk down the i’ll with him but oh yes he’s going on the group honeymoon as well. A whole week in a tropical getaway with the honking Donovan McLeod maybe more then she can take and how can she keep telling him no she won’t go back with him when her body is screaming yes yes yes! This book was not only funny and sweet I loved the friendships in the relationships between the married couple and her other best friend and boyfriend everything about this book is great I loved it it’s totally awesome and a definite must read. Did I say how much I loved this book!!! I received this book from Net Galley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of "Earning It" by E.F. Dodd!

Overall, I rated this novel a 4/5 stars!

This novel follows Rae and her best friend Kez. Kez is getting married to a man named Jackson, who happens to be friends with Rae's ex named Van. Once you're able to get past the disbelief that Rae doesn't speak about her love life at all with her friends, this book makes for a really interesting and good story. I personally tell my friends way too many details about my own life, so I wasn't able to personally relate. But once Kez finds out that the best man in her wedding is the one who did her best friend wrong, she is fierce, loyal, and offers to throw him out of it only hours before she is scheduled to get married. That's a true best friend right there!

Donovan spends the story trying to win Rae back, and you find out the reason why the two of them broke up in the first place, which is a pretty unique one that gave the story an interesting spin. :)

Earning It by E F Dodd is a light, fun read. A second chance romance told through the dual narrative of Rae and Van.

A chance encounter at her best friend's wedding has Rae reeling when she comes face to face with the man who broke her heart and ruined her life five years ago.

There is bucket loads of angst in this story as Rae gets all that hurt off her chest. Van is ever the gentleman as he works toward redemption and boy does Rae make him work for it. I give him ten points for tenacity!

This was an easy read. I enjoyed the banter between Rae and Van's friends and how they gave each other sound advice without interfering too much in each others' lives.

Even though I am not a fan of overly angst ridden romances I did enjoy this second chance romance. However, we never see how broken Rae was, only read about it in backstory, which made it hard to connect with her.

Earning It, I am sure, will be enjoyed by readers after a light romance read.

Earning It.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. Part of me really wants to like it, and another part of me is very aware that I found some scenes in the book problematic. I'm not sure what to say about this book. Part of me really wants to like it, and another part of me is very aware that I found some scenes in the book problematic. I think that this might be a good book for other people, but it just wasn't a great fit for me.

This book will be good for people who are more into sex than romance. For me, it feels a bit contrived to have people be/fall in love when all we read about is their physicality and attraction to one another.

Additionally, I am a bit put off by the toxicity displayed by some of the characters. Unfortunately, I'm not into cattiness and things of that nature, and it felt a bit convoluted to me, although I understand that this is an enemies-to-lovers type book. Perhaps it's because it was a book where they had a relationship prior that IMPLODED, I felt like "why go back to your mistake?" I think I thought that quite a bit during the book and questioned the plausibility of it, which took me out of the space of the book a bit.

4 stars - The perfect beach read, I really enjoyed this one. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the arc!

After going through ups and downs with what is going on between them, Regan “Rae” and Donavan “Van” must figure out if these feelings are still there And with the wedding of their closeest friends, including being invited on the honeymoon together, they’re closer than ever.

I gave Earning It 3.5 stars, enjoying te overall relationship between Rae and Donavan. I. liked the enemies to lovers aspect and the fact that they had to give each other a second chance at a relationship, especially Rae who was deeply affected by Donavan’s past mistakes.

I found Earning It enjoyable and Rae and Donavan’s relationship to be interesting, however, there were some parts that I just felt were a little bland and uninteresting. First, I’m not a fan of having Donavan’s nickname be “Van”. While it makes sense, it just sounded too feminine. For me, calling him Van didn’t make sense, it just seemed as if I were calling a girl to me, not a man. Second, I wasn’t a fan of the fact that Rae just seemed immature throughout the whole book. She just seemed petty and like a child throughout the book that made me somewhat dislike her. She just seemed like all she wanted to do was sabotage Donavan and feel anger towards him the whole time. Let the air breath Rae!

While Earning It was cute and I was finally happy to see them clear the air. the fact that Rae was so insistent of never forgiving Donavan made it seem like she should have just moved on from their relationship. Rae just seemed irritated at Donavan, and of course, for good reason, but sometimes it felt that this relationship simply would have been better off.

Overall, this ended in a cute manner and I did like the general second chance romance that we get to see with Rae and Donavan.

Thank you again to NetGalley for inviting me to read Earning It and for providing me with and eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Earning It was a quick, fun read. It’s a second chance romance. I’ll say I enjoyed the second half of the book better, the first half was a little slow to start.

Thank you to NetGalley and sugar beaver books for the eARC.

Earning it was a cute vacation romance that I enjoyed while travelling around Italy. Van and Rae have an original story, and their background was unexpected to me as I continued the story. Van had brutally destroyed Rae's trust in their relationship and him after a huge event 5 years ago. During Rae's best friends wedding, Van shows up and makes her reevaluate what she knew about him and their past.

After the wedding, the wedding party heads on the bride and grooms honeymoon where Rae and Van get a lot of alone time to work things out. However, the issues of why they broke up in the first place are still present and Rae and Van have to decide if they are willing to work things out or cut ties altogether.

Reagan Murphy is proudly serving as the Maid of Honor at her best friend Kesler's wedding.  Before moving to Charlotte five years ago, Reagan's life was upended from a traumatizing relationship.  Reagan found comfort and stability in her new friend group.  The last thing she was expecting is her ex to show up as the Best Man.  Donavan McLeod blew up Reagan's life, now she has to act like everything is fine between them so they don't ruin Kez's wedding.  Furthermore, Van wants a chance to redeem himself.  Reagan reluctantly gives Van a chance to earn her trust back when they are forced to be together for a week in the Cayman Islands for Kez's honeymoon. 

Earning It is a cute and steamy lovers to enemies back to lovers romance, perfect for a beach read.  I immediately clicked with Reagan's character as a woman scorned.  She is strong, fierce and not about to let romance burn her again.  I don't blame her at all for how she acted when confronted with the person from her past that she believed lied to her and used her.  The first half of the story took place on Kez's wedding day as they prepare for the wedding and Reagan is confronted with Van's presence.  This did feel like it dragged on a little.  I do wish we had some full chapters from Reagan and Van's past together instead of just a few short flashback scenes, I think this would have brought more perspective and made the beginning feel more on pace.  The second part of the story took place in the Caymans.  I could feel the sun's rays and the steam that the group brought.  Van and Rae's antics brought the heat the entire time.  I had no trouble with Rae making Van earn her trust back, but I do wish she had heard him out earlier.   

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

First, thank you so much to the author and publisher for an ARC of this book!

Second chance romance is one of my absolute favorite tropes 💛 Rae and Van certainly didn't start off in the best way, but when a wedding forces them to see each other again, they realize how much intensity and chemistry still lives between them. Rae is certain that Van is the villain in her story, but he throws everything he has at convincing her that what they had was real, and it made for some swoon-worthy moments!

I laughed out loud at some of the banter between the characters, and found myself wanting to hang out with this friend group. I'm so excited for this book to launch this week - it's definitely worth the read!