Whew. Older is the kind of book that grabs you by the soul—and other places—and doesn’t let go.

Jennifer Hartmann serves up an age-gap romance that is equal parts emotional wreckage and toe-curling tension. This isn't just a story about a younger man falling for an older woman—it’s about grief, guilt, healing, and unapologetic desire. And let me tell you, the chemistry? Off. The. Charts.

The angst? Delicious. The forbidden moments? So good they should be illegal. And the slow burn? Torturously perfect. Hartmann knows exactly how to drag you through the emotional dirt and then make it worth every single second with scenes that will have your heart racing and your Kindle overheating.

If you're into complex characters, heavy feels, and steamy scenes that leave you breathless, Older will wreck you—in the best possible way.

Well, Well, WELL! This was quite the little scandalous read! It’s been awhile since I read something gasp worthy. Literally, as soon as I started reading it I knew this book was going to be a doozy! It’s definitely one of those books you aren’t sure if you should be reading. And then you start reading it and you start rearranging morals and suddenly you don’t even care anymore. 🤣

Tropes:
💙Age gap
🌼Best friends dad
💙Forbidden romance
🌼90s setting

There was so much about this book that I loved. The 90s vibes were vibing. Loved all the references to the culture and music. The story to our FMC was heartbreaking. Her struggles with trauma and healing were a huge l focus in this book. I was back and forth giving myself whiplash on how I felt about the romance. I was gasping, I was sympathizing, I was swooning, I was shaking my head. I was doing all the things. I felt the book started very strong but it did kind of stall out a bit somewhere in the middle.( this is sometimes a me problem ) But it kicked back up eventually. This was some messy shit and I loved it.

⚠️possible trigger warnings

Thank you to @read_bloom and @author.jenniferhartmann for allowing me to read this ARC!

I am a big lover of Jennifer Hartmann books. However this one was a miss for me. The 17 year age gap felt like it was written more for shock value and the overall pacing was difficult for me. There were large jumps is time were hard to keep up with and not a whole lot of explanation why. Reed, our MMC I felt like was well written for the book. He struggles with the relationship and how it will look in eyes of his daughter, who happens to be friends with the FMC. I will always pick up a JH book, this one just wasn't for me.

I don't normally choose books with a high angst content, but Jennifer Hartmann is on another level and I will always pick her books knowing that she will break my heart and put it back together in a re-arranged way. She's so good, so careful with her words, that she has me at her feet craving every beautiful phrase and description that falls from her characters. I fall for them every time and carry them in my heart forever.

Halley and Reed are much more than an age-gap romance . Their story is about the connection between two people, two survivors with different wounds, trying to be strong and fight against this intense feeling until they understand there’s more to it, this connection between souls and a deep desire that got me hanging to every page waiting for the moment, the first moment they decide to surrender to that inevitable feeling of being close and learn to love and be together.
.
Halley comes from a difficult home with vd, and when she finds a refuge, a friend, a family willing to give her love and care, she discovers that the person she met the summer before, the first one in actually seeing her and who with a conversation changed her world and who she dream about, is her best friend's father.
.
“You just had to be so perfect. My white knight. My rescuer. You had to be everything I’ve dreamed about, every wish I’ve made on falling stars and birthday candles and pennies in mall fountains”
.
I only want angst if she writes it. It's so beautifully crafted that I enjoy holding my heart in my hand while reading, tears are always escaping my eyes but they do it knowing she'll give me a beautiful ending that will make me sigh happily.
.
And yes, there is steam, very good steamy scenes that really blend with the characters' personalities and the journey through the path of nostalgia of the end of the century and the beginning of 2000, the songs and bands that accompany the characters like Oasis
.
No one of her books is the same, but they're all my favorites.
.
.
Thanks to Jennifer Hartmann and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion
.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read this ARC!!

Jennifer Hartman is such an amazing author. Just like her other works, this story is visceral, gritty, a little uncomfortable, but weighted with depth. The taboo element to the love story doesn't feel out of reach - her stories have roots, her characters are extremely well-fleshed out. This was an addicting read!!

Older by Jennifer Hartman has been one of my favorite books that Jennifer has written. There is a lot of angst, the forbidden trope is very prominent here. And if I am honest, this is a well written age gap romance. I kept comparing this to Still Beating, and it took me a lot to realize that they were not the book, yet they were interconnected in some parts. Towards the end of the book it becomes a little slow but not too slow that it became overwhelming.

Truly, a really good book and I loved it

I usually enjoy a good age-gap romance, but this one felt a bit cringy to me. Although she was technically a consenting adult, considering her background, it didn’t feel appropriate for her to jump into a relationship when what she really needed was time to heal. As the older party, he should have prioritized her well-being. That said, I really appreciated the presence of the mother figure in this story—she was there in a meaningful way during a very vulnerable time, which added a lot of heart. Overall, it was a compelling story, but the romantic dynamic just didn’t sit right with me.

Jennifer recognizes how to write a persuasively tragic story that will mesmerize and emotionally destroy you along the way. Reed and Halley are so much more than words on paper. They are the epitome of a soul connection. The intense bond was felt from the beginning and only continued to grow as the pages turned and they fought against their rising attraction. This may be an age gap romance, but the crux of the story is so much more than that. It’s about love and compassion. It’s about fight and determination. It’s about healing and acceptance. My entire soul was aching while reading this from essentially the moment I started until the very last page. You know a book is good when your feelings are so intertwined with the story that when they hurt you hurt.

Halley broken, battered, and bruised lived a life filled with pure sadism. Her tragic past has aged her well beyond her years. But all that she lived through did not shatter her completely. She fought tooth and nail building herself up from the sheer ground, slowly stitching and mending her broken and battered soul piece by piece. And across each phase and within each accomplishment and trial that she battled Reed was there facilitating and aiding her. Halley’s character arc and growth throughout the story was uplifting. She never stopped fighting. She worked through all her trauma to become so much more than what her upbringing led her to believe she could be.

Reed was something else. He really did attempt to stay away from Halley and their growing lure. He was admirable and resolute. But Halley was so much more than he was prepared for. She may have been young, but her soul was not. They fit together so impeccably, so flawlessly there was no option for either of them, you can only fight fate for so long. The age gap between them is a large one, but Jennifer so eloquently wrote the words that you can’t even tell there is an age difference when they are together. They were that seamless. Jennifer has created a brilliant journey that will leave you wrecked and depleted but emotionally complete by the end.

I am a big fan of age gap romances and really loved the premise of the FMC’s love interest being her best friend’s father. Unfortunately, I felt like this was a miss for me. The pacing of the novel threw me. There were lots of time jumps that occurred, some weeks/months apart and there was no thorough explanation regarding what happened/how these characters moved through that period apart from each other.

I did enjoy the inner turmoil Reed was going through when it came to acting on his feelings for Halley. That was well done, especially when he was considering the repercussions this would have on his relationships with Tara and Whitney. In regard to the slow burn aspect, I didn’t necessarily consider it one. The feelings they had for each other were pretty obvious to the reader and each other. Halley & Reed were also physical within the first few chapters even though the relationship didn’t fully progress again until later in the book.

I also really enjoyed the fact that Tara didn’t automatically pin the blame on Halley when her relationship with Reed was revealed, but chose to blame him instead. That was a very refreshing take that I don't think I've seen before. Overall I didn't hate it, but it fell a little flat.

This book was hot.

It threw me off a little because of her being underage in the beginning.

But by the end of the book I was rooting for them

UNREAL. I think that Jennifer Hartmann has a knack for tearjerkers because I was unhinged during the last 20%. This was a beautiful age-gap forbidden romance that was done so beautifully it felt like it was written in the stars. As long as you are good with 17 year age gaps, then I think this is 100% the move. I will be purchasing the re release in May!

💔 “He called me Halley, like the comet. I called him Reed. And my best friend? Well…she called him Dad.”
📸 OLDER by Jennifer Hartmann is the kind of story that lodges itself into your chest and refuses to leave. It’s heart-wrenching, forbidden, achingly tender—and beautifully written.
The connection between Halley and Reed is instant, but their slow-burn journey is packed with every ounce of angst you could crave. I felt every moment—every ache, every stolen glance, every whispered word of devotion they tried so hard not to say.
✨ Reed is the kind of hero who sees you. The kind who helps you heal without trying to fix you. Halley’s resilience and love for photography made me fall for her immediately. Their shared scars—literal and emotional—brought me to tears. And don’t even get me started on Gideon Frost’s narration in the audiobook 😮‍💨… voice crush for days.
The ONLY thing I wish? That we had more of them together. I would give anything for 50 more pages of warmth, healing, and the happiness they *earned.*
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // A must-read if you love:
✔️ Forbidden Age-Gap
✔️ Best Friend’s Dad
✔️ Slow Burn
✔️ Healing from Trauma
✔️ “He sees me” energy 😭
🎧 Audiobook rec: A+++ performance from both narrators. You will cry.
💬 Have you read this one yet? Let’s sob together in the comments.
#OlderJenniferHartmann #JenniferHartmann #ForbiddenRomance #AgeGapRomance #BestFriendsDad #SlowBurnRomance #HeartbreakingLoveStory #HeFallsFirst #EmotionalRomance #ContemporaryRomance #RomanceBooks #BookReview #RomanceBookstagram #RomanceReaders #DarkRomance #NewAdultRomance #BookRecs #VoiceCrush #GideonFrost #AudiobookRomance #EmotionalReads #literaryhavocreviews #Sourcebooks #BloomBooks

“Falling for you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” I confessed through the anguish. “Everything else? Painful. Torturous. Difficult beyond belief. But loving you…” The anger died out, flatlining to a dead pulse. “Effortless.”
-Halley

I’m not gonna lie, an age gap romance has to be done right or it isn’t good at all. This was done so incredibly well and I loved every single minute of it.

Reed Madsen alter my brain chemistry for the better, and Halley was the embodiment of strength and courage in times of hardships.

I’m not gonna lie, I was really worried they wouldn’t get there happily ever after but I’m so glad they did because I would not have been happy with the ending. They are two people who healed each other in really difficult times, yes, he is 17 years older than her but age is just a number lol.

Spice: 🌶️🌶️

Tropes:
✨ best friends dad
✨ age gap
✨ slow burn
✨ DV survivor
✨ he calls her comet

5 Pierogi Stars⭐️, 5 It’s My Favourite Stars⭐️, 5 Wonderwall Stars⭐️, 5 Hoppity Stars⭐️, 5 Bones Stars⭐️, 5 He Sees Me Stars⭐️, 5 Morning Glory Stars⭐️ 5 Oasis CD Stars⭐️, 5 Photograph Stars⭐️

Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5

I have never had such difficulty assigning a "word" to my star rating that I have had for this book! There are just so many things that stood out, made a mark that I wanted to "immortalise" in my review and I just couldnt decide... SO I decided instead of just picking one. I WILL JUST USE THEM ALL!

I know I probably shouldn’t have liked this. It’s a taboo romance with a significant age gap (Halley is 17 when they meet but she lies about her age and says shes 21 and Reed is 34) so given I am BASICALLY the same age as the MMC, there was a part of me that kept going, would I ever be okay with this? Would I be attracted to a teenager? And I still don’t really have an answer… but damn, this book got me. And I mean there are definate "<25 year old" actors I find ATTRACTIVE...

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Halley Foster is in a very abusive household with a very neglectful alcoholic mother and a physically abusive father. One night, she is locked out of her house and so she decides to go to a house party, but instead ends up just sitting in the lake. Reed Madsen finds her in the lake looking for someone and they strike up a very philosophical and metaphorical conversation and have an instant connection. They end up fooling around a little and just as they decide to take things further, it comes out that she is 17 and not the 21 she told him. A couple of months go by and both of them can't get each other out of their minds. One day her dad gets violent, and after breaking her arm Halley moves in with her best friend and her best friends mom. Soon she realizes that this man who she keeps having encounters with is none other than her best friend's father. So now she's put in a situation where she has feelings for him, he has feelings for her, but there is no way that they can be together.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
Firstly if you pick up a book labelled taboo, you can’t get mad when it’s actually taboo, do not get upset by the age gap. I get it... this is not a book for everyone. The age gap is a little daughting but its stated right from the start what you are dealing with, so if this is not your cup of tea - do not read it... BUT while there is this gap you should know Reed never sexualises Hayley’s youth. Their first connection was based on a lie where he believes she IS OLDER, and I appreciated that nothing physical happened between them until she was over 18 after he found out her real age. And Reed never sexualised her being young. It wasn’t written to be creepy or gross, it was written as two people caught in something bigger than themselves.

This book physically wrecked me. I was sitting in a café reading with friend trying not to cry and totally failing. The last 20%? Pure emotional carnage. The whole book is fulled with the most beautuful longing, emotional pining and utter heartbreak as these two people who love each other deeply just can’t be together… it tore me up. I’ve always said that if a book can make me cry, it’s an automatic five stars... and this one did.

I adored Hayley. She’s young, but she’s had to grow up fast. Her home life has forced her to be independent, to take care of herself. She’s so hard on herself because she’s been conditioned to believe that mistakes are punishment. She’s traumatised, but she’s trying. She’s just trying to exist and make it through. I adored how much Tara and her Mom did for her, they became her safe haven, her family and it was precious how much they welcomes her into their home.

And oh my gosh Reed. He is not a perfect man, he is flawed, selfish and often doesnt make the right choices. But I loved how supportive he is. At the start Reed asked if Halley is lost, and while she might not have fully been, by the end of the book he is the one who helps her find herself. She finds her strength, her voice, her passion, her worth. That’s love and that is why this book was so emotionally impactful. It’s not about saving her, it’s about seeing her. He is one of the first people who not only supporting her, uplifts her. He Sees her and he does this over and over again. He chooses her happiness at the detiment of his own.

This was my first Jennifer Hartmann book, and I was completely captivated. The imagery, the emotion, the way she writes is like lyrical poetry. I stayed up way too late, woke up in the middle of the night to keep reading, and couldn’t look away. It had that “car crash” effect but not because it was bad but because I couldn't look away. I couldn't look away because it was raw, emotional, uncomfortable, tragic and so beautifully done.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Taboo/Forbidden Romance
▶ Best Friend's Dad
▶ Found Family
▶ Age Gap
▶ Secret Pining
▶ Touch Her You Die
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Tending to Injuries/Takes Care of Her when Sick
▶ Strangers to Lovers
▶ She Falls First - He Falls Harder

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Car Sex
▷ Grey Sweatpants
▷ Nicknames
▷ Hand Necklaces
▷ Forhead Kisses
▷ Steamy/Spicy Water Scene
▷ "More"

Some people are going to hate this book. And that’s okay. But if you’re open to reading something that pushes boundaries, challenges your comfort zone, and still makes you feel everything like it did for me... Then this book might just break your heart… and then put it back together again.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Bloom Books, Jennifer Hartmann and Netgalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.5 🌟
As a 33 year old mom....sorry, can't.
As a once 17 year old with a best friend who had a 34 ish year old dad, ....sorry, can't.

Tara was the best friend. Not only did she constantly support Hailey and held back judgement, but she also immediately went to her side over her own father. The speed at which she accused her dad of grooming and telling Hailey that it's not her fault was amazing.

I fear I have too many notes that might not be worth it. This wasn't for me.

What happened to her mom?! Did she die or literally just fall off the face of the earth because there is no way you run into your supposed-to-be in jail, dad, but not your alcoholic mother

This book was too intense for me. I know there are trigger warning but it had been a while between when I requested the book and when I actually started reading it I had forgotten the plot. Then I didn’t check them again before I started reading it. I was really excited for a big age gap
romance. However I couldn’t get through the on page abuse of the main character that starts on page one. I read romance books because the real world is horrible and I want to escape from it. This book was just too dark for me. If that stuff doesn’t bother you or you can handle it, you may enjoy this book.

After reading the synopsis of Older, I was immediately intrigued. I’ve read age gap romance before, so I’m no stranger to this trope. Though I knew a background of the story and the characters going in, I wasn’t prepared for how triggering this book would be for me.

First off, the first meeting between Halley and Reed was very weird. I think the Author was going for a “meet cute” vibe, but it didn’t deliver that way. It was just odd.

Another reviewer said Reed gives off a predatory vibe and I have to agree. The age gap with Halley being a teen when they meet (even though she lied about her age) and around the same age as his daughter isn’t “forbidden fruit”, it’s Pedo territory IMO.

Maybe if Halley didn’t come from an abusive home life, it wouldn’t be so bad. But it feels as though Reed almost takes advantage of this. It’s like he’s preying on her under the guise that he’s protective of her.

I think that this would have worked much better if Halley wasn’t in High School at the start. Even though she’s not 17 for the duration of the book, it still gives major ick.

I did really enjoy the 90’s backdrop! As a child/teen of that decade, it was the only thing I loved about this novel.

I didn’t expect to like this one as much as I did for how long of a book it was. But I love a good age gap and Jennifer Hartmann story. 4/5 ⭐️

“Falling for you has been the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” I confessed through the anguish. “Everything else? Painful. Torturous. Difficult beyond belief. But loving you…” The anger died out, flatlining to a dead pulse. “Effortless.”

Thank you to Sourcebooks/ Bloom Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of Older, by Jennifer Hartmann.

Rating this a 3.5⭐️- but rounding up!!

Jennifer has QUICKLY become one of my favorite (new to me) authors I’ve recently read.

A few thoughts:
Just like her other books I’ve read so far, OLDER was really well written, and heart wrenching. Jennifer knows how to drag you through the trenches and throw your heart around, and then slowly put it back together.
🎢🎢🎢

Unfortunately- personally, I found out an “age-gap” trope is not for me. I felt weird reading this one. Maybe bc my girls are close to this age 🤷‍♀️

I don’t want to take away from the writing, so if you are into age-gap… you’re gonna eat this UP!!

I don’t usually read age gaps romances however I kept hearing good things about this book. While it does starts out slow, like a snails pace. I Love the intensity of it. Makes you want more and the story to keep going. Definitely enjoyable. But I like the Hartmann writes. GOOD READ!