DNF at 20%- I just couldn’t get into this book. I took a break at around 20% through and realized I was kind of dreading reading more. I liked that the main characters were a little older, but not that the Mmc was divorced twice. Maybe it’s just because the last book I read was especially great, but the writing was not great. I knew when I was dreading continuing that it was time to DNF.
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me access to this eARC!

My only complaint is that netgalley never indicates if it is in a series. I received this but took a while to review because I had to read the prior books first.

Regardless, I loved this book. From start to finish! What I like most about her romance is that they are not all 25 year olds as usual. They are late 30s, 40s women experiencing love again or finding love.

I so enjoyed this fun story of a small town and their battle of the businesses. In many ways, it felt like a more true to life Stars Hollow. The characters had real depth, and the plot moved at a great pace. Really enjoyable read!

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would! This was my first time reading about adult romance so it was a whole new experience. It did start a little slow but the build-up till the end was interesting. Can't wait to read more from the author.

I really enjoyed this book, it's the perfect read when you don't want to break your head with a long ass book. I did found some repetiveness in how the characters speak or in narration, like they kept saying the same thing about the other, that's what synonyms are for, so you don't use the same word over an over.
Over all I think the book's good, I liked how it isn't all about the smut like other book's in the genre tend to be.

“Not betting on forever” is a childhood-crush, sister’s ex husband, neighbors, single mom, rivals romance. Yes, these are the important tropes in this book. I really liked it because I think they were all well developed and written and - even though it could feel like too much - they fit al together in a way that makes sense. This book is a 4,75⭐️ for me.

Thank you Net galley and Entangled publishing for sending me an e-reader copy of this book.
Every word in this review is fruit of my own mind.

Thank-you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC, Entangled for the chance to review this ARC.

I really liked the tropes in this book. I mean it checks all the boxes.
Although I enjoyed it quite a bit. I felt like I was missing more of an emotional connection between the leads.
With that said I still really enjoyed the novel and would recommend to those who love these tropes.

This was a such a delightful story! It had so many of the things I love:
- later in life love (40s)
- Childhood crush to lovers
- Forced proximity (next door neighbors)
- Competition/rivalry
- Forbidden love (he’s her sister’s ex-husband…but that was 20 years ago, so it’s fine 🙈)
- Small town

I really adored the dynamic between Melanie and Nick and their mutual attraction from page one. They had the perfect balance of snark, sweetness, and spice, with a touch of angst. I love rooting for forbidden couples to end up together.

The writing had a fun, easy flow and kept me entertained. I also enjoyed the side characters in this cute small town and am definitely interested in the rest of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love small town romances, and Not Betting on Forever had the necessary amount of built up, good chemistry and banter to make it an enjoyable read. I also really appreciated the dual points of view/narration.

Not Betting on Forever by Natasha Moore jumps directly into the story of Nick who moves back to his family home where he has an instant attraction to his pretty neighbor Melanie. The only problem is that Melanie also happens to be his ex-wife's sister.

Sometimes books have a slow burn to a confession of attraction, but this book starts off with a confession of attraction and slow burns and burns and burns and burns for almost the length of the book!

Dual POVs give you both Nick and Melanie's perspectives, and reading them both is a little like watching your two best friends that are meant to be together but refuse to seal the deal.

If you love dual points of view, childhood friends to lovers, forbidden romance, or slow burn romances, there is a little something in this book for you!

Thank you so much Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this book! In return for the early copy, here is my honest and unbiased review.

Now, this is a bit rough because when I read the blurb for this book, I thought I would enjoy it so much. It has the tropes that I've been super into lately and it brought all that. I mean, it certainly gave me those tropes but personally, it was not for me.

I got 20% into this book and things were already confusing, and I had hoped it was because I was only 20% into it and it would gradually get better, but it didn't. I just could not for the life of me connect with the characters and don't even get me started with all the other characters. I felt as though I had characters thrown at me from left and right and it was just so much to comprehend.

I don't want to lie and say that I read the rest of this book with my total interest because I certainly did not. My attention span was at 50% completing the rest of this book and all I got from it was the fact that Nick Campagna is a try-hard and Melanie Hayes was a bit of a mess. Their overall relationship was just way too messy for adults over the age of 25 for me.

So, while this review is short, I expressed the reason for that. This book was just not it for me, sadly.

Melanie and Nick return to being neighbors again when they both buy their childhood homes. Nick was briefly married to Melanie's sister in their early 20s, but now that Nick is 48, he's seeing his ex-wife's kid sister in a whole new light.

I liked the premise of this book, but the execution fell flat. Even though they knew each other as kids, with their 6 year age gap, they didn't know each other very well so meeting again as adults didn't create a friends-to-lovers vibe that I expected, and instead felt like a strong sense of insta-love. That, coupled with some old-fashioned phrases around love also with lots of cursing, felt like the tone was trying too hard. The dialogue just never quite worked for me and I found Nick especially to be very flat. He came off as robotic, not the workaholic he was supposed to be. Melanie had more depth but I just didn't care enough them as a couple to root for them.

I received an eGalley of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

2.75 rounded to 3 ☆

Melanie is a 42 year old, divorced, single mother & small business owner who's back living in her hometown with her daughter. Nick is 48 year old, twice divorced gym owner who grew up next door to Melanie, was married to her older sister 20 years ago and who just moved back into his family home next to her. She had a huge crush on him when they were younger and turns out she's still very much attracted to him 30 years later. Betting on their respective businesses success in the town's Battle of the Business competition, with an important piece of land at stake, their competitiveness brings them closer together. But with 3 failed marriages and other priorities to consider, is a relationship possible or can it only ever be a fling?

I did enjoy this one. I liked the build up and the tension and I found myself wanting to read on, hoping they'd finally hook up. I love the idea of a mature romance with older main characters because we don't see them a lot, and I think there's untapped potential in these stories. I enjoyed the dual POV, the small town vibes and some of the side characters, too. What I wasn't crazy about was the repetitive internal struggles, it got a bit tired and annoyed me by the end. The constant repetition of why things couldn't work was a little off-putting but also a little odd- why does them being next door neighbour's mean they couldn't be in a relationship? I felt like it was a bit drawn out and then wrapped up a little abrupty. Also, the dialogue felt a little stiff at times. All in all a nice, easy read with some good tension & spicy scenes.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 41%

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately the slow pacing and lots of inner dialogue were too much to keep my interest.

For a mature adult novel, I was hoping for developed characters and faster pacing. Melanie and Nick spent a lot of time talking, but not communicating. Lots of characters to keep track of, which was difficult.

Melanie is a single mom who denies being attracted to her neighbor, Nick, because even though it was a long time ago, he is her sister's ex. and in the middle of the Battle of the Businesses competition, he is her competition.
This second book in the Single Ladies of Lakeside series is a slow paced, small town/forbidden/forced proximity romance told in dual POV. The premise was great, but it fell flat. The lack of maturity of the two main characters bothered me; they are in their forties but both act like teenagers. There were too many side characters, it mad the story hard to follow, but I loved the community and the tightness. I couldn't feel the chemistry between the main characters, and the fact that Nick is Melanie's sister's ex was cringey (it's a big no-no for me).
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

thank you netgalley for the earc!

3 stars!

okay, this was cute however i didn't feel like it was anything special which is why i didn't give it a higher rating, but i did have fun with it!

it was a little slow at first, and i also didn't really like how much they emphasized that he knew here when she was 12 and he was 18, how she was like a "little sister" to him, but they did make it better after a while i guess? it still felt a little icky for me.

i did like that it was a more "adult" romance in the sense that both mc's are in their 40s. the spice wasn't too detailed but it was fun and cute, i felt butterflies at it too just by how cute it was. I also really liked how the family relationships were developed! It did drag the miscommunication trope a liiiitle too much for my liking, and i was really hoping to get a cute epilogue in the end which didn't happen.

all in all, a cute easy read!

DNF, didn't hold my attention enough as her previous books. Wishing you all the best on publishing day!

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This is a super sweet, quick read. I loved the characters, Nick and Melanie right away. The side characters were full of detail as well and the plot was full. I believed in their romance and it was a fun read. I would definitely read another by this author!

dnf at 50%

Right off the bat, this story didn't pull me in. I was never genuinely interested or hooked into the story.

Not Betting on Forever is told from the 3rd pov, which I don't dislike, but it did surprise me in a way because when it comes to romance novels, I default them to 1st person.
I do prefer 1st person because it allows the reader to be able to know that character's inner thoughts, and you just get to understand the character more, and because this book is in 3rd person, that may be why I didn't feel that interested in the main characters.

As for the romantic relationship in this novel, it didn't feel like a relationship that was between adults. The main characters felt more juvenile than I was expecting and so did their actions, and I couldn't feel the chemistry between them.

thanks netgalley & entangled publishing for the e-arc!! :)

3.5 ⭐️
this book was such a fun and cute read, I love a small town romance and characters being in their 40s was a nice change from the typical age groups in romance books
if you love Mariana zapata books this one has a similar vibes to them
my only issue is that it was a bit slow in some parts