This is my first book by Paige Toon and it hooked me from the very first page. Anders and Wren were such likable characters in the book that I couldn’t help but root for them from the beginning. Wren’s long time boyfriend broke up with her so she went to visit her dad and his family from the UK to Indiana. I really enjoyed the story and loved the twist at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published April 2023.

This is my first Paige Toon book but definitely won’t be my last. I instantly fell in love with all the characters. This story is about loss, grief, and letting go. Anders’ story was heartbreaking. He has to navigate learning how to let go and start to living again. The story also touches on depression, and how common it is among farmers. Definitely would recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of Only Love Can Hurt Like This.

This was an amazing read. It was so easy to get into and wanna keep reading. The story brought tears to my eyes a couple times. What even made this book more amazing is that some of the story is set in Indiana, which is where I'm from. I loved to read about the places that are in Indiana and the things that take place here. The ending did feel a little rushed, but did not ruin the story. This is my first book by Paige Toon and now I want to read all her books. I highly recommend reading Only Love Can Hurt Like This.

A wonderful story of finding the right one and not settling. Needing a fresh start and a place to heal her broken heart, Wren decides to visit her dad and stepmom on their farm in Indiana. There, she crosses paths with Anders, the son of the family who lives next door and the two begin a special friendship. As feelings start to emerge, Wren is hesitant to move forward as she’s been left behind one too many times while Anders is harboring a secret and afraid to get too close to dealing with his past. The character are torn between doing the right thing for those around them and the right thing for themselves and it amounts to a bubbling mixing pot of heartbreaking raw emotions. There’s no puzzle or huge plot twist it’s just a story of love with a couple of little twists to keep us in our toes although be warned it is a very slow burner I can’t wait to read more from this author. Really enjoyed this love story it felt very real and sincere, every love faces issues and it is nice to see how people deal with those issues so true to life and not a fantasy.


Thank you to netgalley, penguin and the author for opportunity

I would like to start by thanking Netgalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, and Paige Toon for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

*4 Stars*

Everything Wren thought she knew fell apart when her fiancé fell for another woman and left her. To get away from it all, Wren decides to visit her estranged father and stepmother in small town, USA. While there she meets Anders, whom she forms a quick bond and friendship with. However, Anders has his own demons he's fighting and doesn't and can't let Wren get too close.

I thought this book started out a little slow, but once I got into it I thought that it was paced very well. I felt so bad for Wren at the beginning of the book - she's been left by so many people in her life and it's easy to see how that has affected her. Wren found out that sometimes you can't control who you fall in love with and sometimes it comes when you're not looking for it. Anders had a lot of the same interests as Wren and I felt like they had a lot in common.

I did feel like they bonded a little too quickly, Anders was calling her about family problems after they'd known each other only a few days. However, their feelings for each other did take time to develop.

I thought the characters, especially the supporting cast like Bailey felt one dimensional and most of the problems between the characters and the families are resolved quickly with one or two conversations. <spoiler> Like the chemistry between Bailey and Jonas, Wren was so worried about something happening between them and was satisfied with Bailey saying, "You don't know me."</spoiler> The plot was a little predictable and I felt like I knew what the twist would be close to the beginning of the story.

Overall, I think it was a very good book and really enjoyed the relationship between Wren and Bailey.. This is the first Paige Toon book I've read and I really enjoyed it and will definitely be reading more in the future.

This book was such a breath of fresh air. This is my first book by this author and definitely look forward to their next one.

I really liked this book. There was good character development. The plot wasn't easily guessed which was nice. It brought on a few tears but in a good way. Ultimately, loved the ending. The book really built up nicely and ended really well.

I adored this book. It’s a fade to black dramatic romance. Two wildly different grumpy and sunshine characters fall madly in love but one huge hurdle stands in their way. It’s a beautiful and heartbreaking story. The character development was solid and the author does a great job mixing American and British culture. You’ll read about death, divorce, loyalty, breakups, and guilt. It has a great ending and everything is wrapped up perfectly. It was so easy to fall in love with ALL the characters in the book.

A pretty standard romance, notable for its vague comparison to Jane Eyre, and it’s lengthy, extended, repetitive focus on the heroine’s passion for her seemingly unavailable love object, There’s something very simple and naive to the writing style - flat, humour less, and very focused on rather dull items of clothing. And hair. Everyone turns out to be very nice except one secondary character who is a bad mother. Absorbing in its own way, and not one to linger long in the rear view mirror.

*Received a copy for review.*
Although their is a romance in this book, it felt like it was more about family & complicated relationships.
Wren has a lot of complicated feelings about her dad, step mom and 1/2 sister. When her engagement blows up, she decides to leave England to visit her dad to get away from everything.
Anders' family is a bit of a mess. His parents need to retire. His brother needs to get some help for his depression. Anders is living in a limbo that he cannot escape.
I really liked Anders & Wren. I did not like Bailey and I cannot even imagine what her marriage is really like.

It's not an easy story but it was a good one.

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒
Paige Toon
Pub Date: Apr 25, 2023
•••
↠ swipe for the @goodreads synopsis
•••
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩."

𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖: wren and her fiancé have split up and she decides to leave the UK and head to the states to be with her dad for a few weeks. there she falls in love with anders but he’s harboring a big secret.

𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒: a completely new to me author but i recognized the name & decided to give this book a try. i am SO glad i did. this book completely wrecked me from beginning to end. wren had so much growth in this book and i loved watching her grow in her relationship with her father, her sister, her step mother and all of the people in the small town. and anders - ugh my freaking heart. i can’t say too much about him without ruining his character and everyone needs to experience him for themselves!! i highly recommend this one - it’s a SLOW burn and not a whole lot of steam but the story was so worth it.

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: i loved it!

*Special thank you to penguin group putnam, netgalley, and paige toon for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a fan of Paige Toon, I had really high hopes for this one. To be completely honest, this one took me a while to get into. Initially the dialogue felt very dry and almost childish. However, I loved where I felt the story was going, so I held on.

So although it felt a little dry at first, things really started to work at some point. Suddenly the characters had more depth and the conversations felt more real. It was almost like the first half and the second half of the book had two very different tones.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It was a beautiful slow burn. A second chance at love after heartbreak. I loved that the two main characters made well thought out decisions and had so much respect for one another's boundaries. It is always a breathe of fresh air when two love interests in a book are responsible with their hearts.

This book was so unexpectedly delightful.

Anders and Wren's romance, one centered around coming home and healing, was a slow-burn that felt so rewarded by the time it reached its conclusion. Both characters had experience moments of loss and doubt and guilt, stumbling into each other's lives when neither was even thinking about finding a life-long partner. The connection they built gave way to such a wonderful bond, a bond that both comforted and terrified them.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This had some really great side characters and plot twists that kept my attention the whole way through. And the epilogue was just the sweetest thing! I had a smile on my face the entire time.

Side note: though I couldn't exactly pinpoint the reason why, Anders and Wren reminded me of Jonah and Calla from KA Tucker's The Simple Wild series, a similarity I really enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Putnam and Paige Toon for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It was emotional and pulled the heartstrings! The beginning was a little slow at first but I really enjoyed the ending! I would highly recommend!

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Wow, this book really tugged at the heart strings. Two people with difficult pasts and one not overly open about it leads to some serious heartache.

I seriously was not expecting the curveball at the end of this book which made it all the more heartbreaking. Glad for a HEA ending though.

I am new to this author but will definitely be reading more!

OH MY GOSH! I love this book. I can't wait to buy my own physical copy and mark it up. I felt all of the emotions while reading this book.

I felt like the main and secondary main characters were all really well thought out and had depth. There was growth in multiple characters, mostly the main female character, Wren.

There was a twist that I honestly didn't see coming until the sentences leading to the reveal occurred.

I could've finished it in one sitting. It was so well-written and as I mentioned above, I felt all of the feels!

I really loved this book...I have been in a reading slump for a few weeks and this one got me out of it. I fell in love with the characters and their stories. There is a mix of laughter, love, grief and secrets- a great beach read! I hope we see a sequel- I want to know so much more about Wren, Anders, Jonas and Bailey!

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam, NetGalley, and Paige Toon for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I adored this book. It definitely started out a bit slower, and the ending was a bit (in my opinion) disjointed/rushed for me (I think if the big resolution moment had been fleshed out instead of done in a flashback moment it wouldn’t have felt this way for me, but this may just be a personal preference thing for me and others may love it!), but overall I found the story of this book to be an emotional and charming tale. I loved Wren’s character and her growth throughout the story. I throughly enjoyed that this wasn’t just a story of romantic love, but also of platonic love, familial love, friendship love, and every kind of love in between. Anders battle with grief was heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and raw; I felt it in my bones as I read those scenes. I loved Jonas and Bailey as secondary characters. Seriously, this book was a joy to read.

I honestly found this book to be so boring. There was too much unnecessary detail and the entire story was suer drawn out. I also don’t like how she basically guilt tripped him into being with her when he clearly wasn’t ready yet.

Oh. My. God. What a journey! This book was an extremely slow burn but I completely understood why. It had a realistic time frame, showcased the struggles and heartache to allow for a healing partnership. It was great, emotional and what a secret!!! Fantastic. 5 🌟

This story is the true tale of "you can't help who you fall in love with."

Only Love Can Hurt Like This...with lead character Wren, who witnesses a moment that totally changes her life - her fiancé realizing he's fallen in love with someone else. She decides to head home to Indiana to visit with her father, stepmother, and sister and use some time to move forward and refocus. There are layers to this visit - her desire to mend her relationship with her father and stepmother, and to grow closer to her stepsister. She finds a down-in-the-dumps Airstream that she decides to renovate and fulfill a dream of having a 1960s Airstream to road trip around the country in. She realizes that she isn't completely fulfilled in her job, and decides to make changes. And most importantly, she meets her neighbors from a farm over, Anders and Jonas. After seeing Anders at a bar, she knew there was potential to fall in love again.

Every time she's around Anders, she falls more in love. However, their relationship doesn't come without hurdles. She's frustrated by the fact that he isn't affectionate, and he always seems to run away from her when platonic might seem romantic. She learns he's fighting his own demons, and a secret from his past upends the trust she had grown in him. However, after realizing that she can't help that she's fallen in love with him, she's going to have to commit and fight for the relationship more than she ever has in her life.

This was a really solid romance novel - not the best I've ever read, but I still found it a page-turner. I truly enjoyed all of the characters and loved that it wasn't just a love between Anders and Wren that grew, but that she also found a loving place with her father and step-family after feeling "on the outside" for so long. She found a passion in the Airstream, she opened herself up to new work as an architect...outside of the love story, there was so much growth in all of the characters and that's always inspiring to read.

On another note, I felt like the cover of this book could have been so different! I wouldn't have known the premise or the category of the book by the cover alone. Would have been so cute to see an image depicting Wren and Anders within farm life!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, G.P Putnam's Sons and author Paige Toon for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.