Review: “Like You Love Me” by Adriana Locke

Series: Honey Creek, #1

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Release Date: February 16th, 2021

Add to Goodreads | Amazon.in (Available on KU)

Two childhood friends are playing house—and maybe playing for keeps—in this sexy, and unpredictable marriage-of-convenience romance.

To save her Tennessee bed-and-breakfast, Sophie Bates needs a fast-cash miracle. Holden McKenzie, her childhood best friend, needs to prove to a prospective employer that he’s a committed man. Their fortunes on the line, Holden proposes…a solution.

He’ll take care of Sophie’s bills if she agrees to a temporary marriage of convenience. And why not? They’re comfortable together, they have fun, and they trust each other. It’s as simple as saying “I do.” But the off-the-cuff wedding has all of Honey Creek talking—and Sophie and Holden realizing that their perfect arrangement is working too well. If they’re not careful, this marriage could turn into a love story.

 

“I’m definitely a sucker for Holden McKenzie’s smile.”

You know who does small town romances well? Adriana Locke. And with this new series, you know you’re in for a big treat! And when combined with some of the best tropes, Like You Love Me is everything that you could ever ask for.

Sophie and Holden grew up together every summer. With his grandfather living in Honey Creek, Holden would visit the town every year and he and Sophie would spend their time together. They shared their first kiss, they explored parts of town and discovered parts of their friendship together. But like always, you grow up and life changes and they don’t see each other for a few years.

Now as adults, Sophie and Holden are brought back together in the most adorable way possible. She’s grown up to be beautiful, sassy and too much for Holden, while he’s gotten hot, sexy and distracting for Sophie. So you can only imagine what they believe is the right thing to do – get married. For a reason, obviously. They both need the help and assistance to make something happen and they both can offer something the other wants to make their lives a little easier. So why not get married?

It’s a marriage of convenience, of course. One only Sophie’s sister knows about, but one that has many benefits. They make a deal too, no kissing, touching or sex, because this not a real marriage. It’s one to get what they want and none of those things are happening in the bedroom. But when you’re two people who’ve had these secret feelings for each other for so long, there’s only so much a deal and a fake marriage can hide.

“I know now without a doubt that I know what love is. I understand what it’s like to be appreciated. For the first time, I stayed up late with a man and just laughed. Someone made me breakfast. Another person cared whether my doors were locked.”

Sophie and Holden. Holden and Sophie. Gosh, the chemistry is insane. I love their friendship, obviously, but that’s what really ignites the relationship too. They are just so great together and so much fun. The banter, the sass, the constant support to make sure the other is okay. And I love how unintentionally they fall into this husband-wife pattern of cooking and looking out for each other. But that obviously comes from years of being friends.

But outside of the two of them, their relationships with other members of their families and people in town is just perfect. Sophie’s got a great relationship with her two siblings, while Holden and his grandfather have an incredible bond. And these are the people that give the two leads the strength to realise that what they have is not just fake. It’s real as real can be and it’s what they’ve both been waiting for.

“Sophie has a way of making you feel like a light has been turned on inside you and that she sees you.”

And let’s not forget the steam. If every book had kitchen counter sex, I would die happy. Holden and Sophie’s physical relationship warms you up just as much as their emotional connection. From their fake wedding to the first time they kiss as adults and all the steam they build between the two of them – it’s explosive! Did I wish there was more steam? Most definitely, because I love the way Adriana writes her sex scenes, but what we got was perfect and absolutely delicious.

I am so excited for the rest of the books in the Honey Creek series, because these characters completely have my heart.

Thanks to Adriana Locke, Social Butterfly PR, NetGalley and Montlake for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.