I have to say this is one of those "Kept me up all night reads" literally. I started this book around 9pm and yes I stayed up until 9am and I finished this book in one sitting. I couldn't seem to stop. The characters drew me in. This is a "friends to lovers" story. With the heroine being the "ugly duckling" who finds her confidence to go after what she wants, her best friend, the hero, Deacon. I loved watching Deacon come to terms with his feelings, it felt real and natural, not forced as some stories tend to be. I enjoyed watching/reading as Hannah found her confidence in herself and what she wanted, where her happiness was even if it meant in the long run she might be hurt. There were a lot of secondary characters to love as well, including Max. I now have to go get the other titles in this series and read them, I want to know more about these characters and can't wait to see them all again in a future novel. Fans of great contemporary romances with the friends to lovers storyline will enjoy this one a lot. I do wish we'd seen a bit more flashbacks but mostly only because I think it would have given me more of an idea of what BOTH characters saw as kids but overall I don't feel it affected my enjoyment of this story. The characters are well written and believable. The backdrop of the country music world did add a bit to the story but honestly this one felt like it could have happened anywhere and still be a good story. As this is part of a series I always worry that I'll be lost or need to read the stories in order but I found that wasn't the case. I was fine not reading the previous stories, although now I do want to find them and read them. I do hope we see more of Deacon and Hannah in future stories, as I'd like to know what the future holds for them. This was a highly enjoyable read that I feel should be added to your "to be read"pile today.
