Thank you @netgalley and @putnambooks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review of Only Love Can Hurt Like this by @paigetoonauthor.

5/5⭐
As I've mentioned before, the human condition intrigues me. Relationships are complex because people are complex. Different reactions, opinions, perspectives, experiences. Life is rarely simple and this book reflects the messiness of life. I love it so much because of the multi-layered characters and relationships. You empathize with them and go on their journey with them. You care and you root for them. That, to me, is part of a successful book, even if you may disagree with characters' actions.

The book has depth, great place setting, great character development, and good plot development. Though I was able to anticipate the twist towards the end, I didn't care because I wanted to know what happens. Even with the side characters.

Readers follow the characters through the UK, Indiana, and Phoenix but it's not confusing. The pacing and tone of the book are appropriate and right. The writing is wonderful and engaging. It's told through Wren's POV almost exclusively but I had a praise the Lord moment when we finally get Anders' POV 🙏. As I was reading, I kept thinking that the book needs his perspective at some point and Toon delivers! My prayers were answered and it pushed the book to 5 ⭐.

Expect this book to come out in April!

I enjoyed this book, but it did seem a bit YA at times. I know the main character is older, but Wren just acted... young. She is British, just out of a relationship where her fiancee was falling in lover with someone else and heads to a farm in Indiana for the summer. She stays with her dad, who left her mom when she was younger and now has another daughter. Wren and her step-sister work on their relationship while Wren is working on herself.

She meets brothers Anders and Jonas. She tries not to fall for Anders, but she does anyway. He's made it clear that he is not looking to get into a relationship (which is always a sign that the main character will inevitably try to get into a relationship with this character). The twist as to why was a bit of a surprise but made sense (although it was a situation where with better communication we could have eliminated about 100 pages of this book). Overall, it was a good story, but nothing that stood out.

Wren is an architect in the UK, seemingly has it all, when she discovers that her fiancé has fallen in love with someone else. She decides that she needs to get out of town, take a vacation to clear her head, and visit her father in Indiana, USA.

I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamics of Wren’s relationship with her father and half-sister. The complexity of a divorced family, and how it affects the children made me want to give both Wren and Bailey a big hug.

Paige Toon is a beautiful descriptive writer. When she set the scenes in the beginning, I was hanging on every word, and envisioning as if I was there in the moment.

The love story in this novel is where I struggled-and, of course, this is supposed to be a romance novel. The relationship between Wren and her love interest left something missing. I wasn’t engaged in their story, and found the side characters more captivating. The “plot twist” at the end felt unrealistic. This is a small town, and I’m supposed to believe that Wren wouldn’t have found out sooner? I know this is supposed to be a slow burn, but nothing happened from 10% to 90% of the novel, then everything finished at once. I wish more had been given to let me connect with Wren and her love interest.

The moral of the story is that it’s okay to love after loss and trauma, and you can’t help who your heart falls for. The reality for me is that I was bored throughout the love story of this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have been a fan of Paige Toon for a long time, so given the opportunity to read Only Love Can Hurt Like This was such a treat! Thank you to NetGalley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Penguin Publishing Group for the ARC.

In Only Love Can Hurt Like This, Paige Toon puts you firsthand into a heart-wrenching love story, with a twist that will have the reader questioning what they would do for love.

As with all of Paige Toon's books, I enjoyed experiencing this journey through the lens of Wren's POV, and is a must-read for 2023!

Thank you to Netgalley & G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC. I was in the mood for a palate cleansing fast paced rom com read and this was just eh. I thought it started strong and the premise was promising. But, I felt like it was really predictable and about 100 pages too long. Just okay overall.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This was easily a five star read for me. Easily. I loved this so. stinking. much.

I loved that all of our main characters are complicated, but entirely likeable. I loved the complicated and evolving sibling relationships -- and I loved watching Wren worth through childhood misunderstandings/misconceptions with her dad and stepmom.
The main plot twist was *chefs kiss* and completely took me by surprise. Gut wrenching, seriously.
Mostly, I loved that this wasn't just your typical romance, it was such a multi-layer story and it unfolded so beautifully.

I was so invested the entire time.
Beautifully written, incredible story.

Highly recommend if you like: emotional romance, small town romance, "can't help you who you fall in love with" romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Paige Toon for the arc of this book!

Fair warning, this book will BREAK you in the best way possible way.

Wren is newly single after her fiancé left her for another women so she decides to come back to small town Indiana & spend some time with her father, step-mom & half sister, Bailey. Her first night in town, she meets brothers Anders & Jonas. After spending more time with Anders, Wren starts to fall head over heels. But does he feel the same way? What’s his secret that’s stopping them from being together? This heart-breaking yet heartwarming love story tells the tale of just how relationships have a funny way of working out in the end.

This book was incredible. I loved the small town farming aspect & how comforting it felt overall. It was definitely a slow burn but the last couple chapters really heat up & make you not want to put it down. This book may be my new comfort book.

Anders is struggling with loosing his wife four years ago, he’s still trying to move on.

Wren has just suffered a heartbreak. To escape she leaves the UK and ends up at her dad and stepmoms door. She’s hoping that spending some time with them on their farm in Indiana will allow herself to get over her loss.

When Wren and Anders start developing feelings for each other, Wren starts considering the future, but Anders is harboring a huge secret. Will his secret be their undoing?

This was a slow burn, closed door romance story that felt more like a coming-of-age story. This book was also long coming in at 400 pages. I really felt the story was too long and drawn out. The pacing on it was incredibly slow up until about the last three chapters. I really just wanted more from this one. I felt that there was so much effort put into Wren trying figure out her life, then Anders keeping secrets. It just all rubbed me the wrong way. I did really enjoy the end where we saw some things from Anders perspective. I feel that if there more of his chapters throughout the book it would have been better.

This mentions its for fans of CoHo and Jojo Moye’s but I got strong Lucy Score vibes. This one is out April 25th – make sure to grab a copy.

I had not previously heard of this author so I didn’t realize how many romances she had under her belt until after I finished reading. This was a sweet story with likable characters. Wren’s fiancé decides he is in love with another woman. He was the most respectful “bad” fiancé I have ever encountered in a book. But anyway, Wren decides to lick her wounds at her father’s farm in Indiana. Her father had also left her mother when she was a child so their relationship has not been a great one.

While hanging out with her half sister, Wren meets brothers Jonas and Anders, who at first glance seem like they could be surrounded by drama but just wind up being really nice guys.

This is a slow burn romance, low on spice with a twisty part. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy on exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Paige Toon for the ARC of Only Love Can Hurt Like This for an honest review.

This was the first Paige Toon book that I have read. This book was beautifully written. The scenery descriptions made me feel like I was right there with Wren, Bailey, Anders and Jonas. The farm sounds like a magical place and the addition of the airstream made it fun!

Wren, who is staying with her dad and stepmother is fresh out of a relationship that ended. She meets Anders and Jonas and the sparks fly on her end for one of the brothers. This is definitely a slow burn romance with more emphasis on the emotional side than romantic. There was enough back and forth that made you wonder what was really going to happen. Was Wren going to go back to the UK or stay in the US?

The twist towards the end of the book was so unexpected and heart breaking.

4.5 ⭐️ this books ripped my heart out.. then put it back! I loved the story and characters. I felt very attached to the characters and invested in the story! Overall great read!!

5 star read for me. It was the perfect book to get me out of me my reading slump. Loved it and the ending was well deserved. This book would live in my head for a few more days. Lol

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin group, and the author Paige Toon for my first ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a much lighter read than what I am used to. The character development is superb and truly had me envisioning every part of this book.

There was a lot going on in the book, however, I do feel it fell short for me. It was a slow burn, until maybe halfway through the book. That’s when I was really getting into the story, and I wish it had felt like that the whole time.

Beautiful story, beautiful characters, I just craved more from it!

Honestly and incredible read. I felt so much for all of the characters in this one. I laughed, I cried (more than once) and overall couldn’t put it down.

After an unexpected heart break when her fiancé leaves her for another woman, Wren decides to go visit her father, step mom, and half sister in America. She’s not looking for love or for anything really, other than a break from running into said ex fiancé. She definitely isn’t expecting Anders, the man from the neighboring farm and Anders definitely isn’t looking for anything after dealing with his own heartbreak.

I was so wrapped up in these characters my heart broke for each of them for different reasons and at the conclusion I felt nothing but happiness for them. I will definitely be reading more Paige Toon books!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This written by Paige Toon. This is my first book ever written by Ms Toon and it WILL NOT by my last! She broke me in the best way possible and let me bleed a while before she decided to put me back together. This story has probably taken place many times before, or some variation, in the world. How much is too much to give for your spouse? I loved this story and I could totally see the characters as my best friends. I will miss spending time with them.

This might sound weird, but this book was exactly the right amount of devastating. I probably should have expected some pain from the title, but I didn't expect how *real* this book would feel. It was sad, and there were some dramatic revelations of course, but it felt so--I don't know how to put it. Reasonable? It felt like real people making real decisions in a really tough, complicated situation that can easily be seen from very different perspectives.

I would definitely recommend Only Love Can Hurt Like This to fans of romance, drama, contemporary fiction, and character-focused stories. I loved this book and definitely want to read more of Toon's work now. Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the chance to read and review this ARC.

This was certainly a slow burn and didn’t demand my full attention until precisely 70% through. At that point, though, I had to read into the night to finish.. I cried, so if you enjoy painful stories as I do then you’ll be satisfied. This is the first book from Paige Toon I’ve read but I’ll now consider her other works.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

It’s been a while since I read a book in less than a day. But this was one I could not put down! The story did develop a bit slowly but I never once lost interest. I loved the midwestern country setting, as it gave me a bit of a homey feel. I also loved the character development in this story and the twist near the end. What a great feel-good, quick read! I will be reading more of Paige Toon’s books after this one.

Thank you to Putnam for the ARC! Definitely recommend this read when it’s published 4/25/23!

This was good, it was written well, it just never worked for me. I really just don't know what it was, but I never clicked into it.

Sorry, I tried but just couldn’t get into this book.. The main character did not appeal to me and the story seemed long and repetitive.