I don't know why I requested this one as I don't normally enjoy small town romance vibes. Not enough danger, action, or passion for me.

I seriously waited way too long to read Truly by Ruthie Knox. After a round of books that were okay, some good, but none that made me really feel anything deeply, Truly just begged for me to read it. I am so glad that I finally got to this book which was just languishing on my Netgalley queue, because it is excellent. If you like contemporary romance, you absolutely need to read this book.

Truly follows main characters May and Ben – both Wisconsin born and raised – who happen to now live in New York City. May is having a terrible go of it — she dumped her Jets quarterback boyfriend Dan in a way that went viral. After leaving his apartment and attempting to go home, her purse ends up getting stolen – which had her wallet, ID, and phone. So, May goes to the local Packers bar – Pulvermachers – in hopes of finding a person who would be sympathetic to her plight.

Enter Ben. Ben is currently a beekeeper who is super gruff and holding onto a lot of anger and bitterness. Somehow though May wiggles through his defenses and he ends up letting her stay with him for a little bit. The two get to know each other at their most honest – without pretension or falseness. Plus, Ben who is an excellent chef makes all this delicious food for May.

What we get is this spectacular romance with actual chemistry. The adult scenes are actually well written and not anything where I felt awkward to read. I found myself rooting for Ben and May to truly make it. They’re easy to relate to in different ways – Ben’s anger and May’s conforming to other people’s expectations of her. I found myself so excited to read this book every time I had a little bit of downtime and just hope this streak of enjoying what I’m digging into continues. I will definitely be reading the other two books in Knox’s New York trilogy.

Our apologies, this book was never reviewed by the requesting reviewer. If a review is written in the future, we will forward a link.

Never completed this one. Sadly lost interest almost right away. Way too much internal dialog going on.