28 Dates, a captivating all-new friends-to-lovers romance by Stacey Lynn is now live!
In the age of apps and social media, how many dates does it take to find “the one”? The author of Knocked Up and Fake Wife swipes right on love with a captivating friends-to-lovers tale.
Caitlin Pappas is a lifelong commitment-phobe. The closest thing she’s had to a relationship in the last few years was a friends-with-benefits thing that fizzled out because the guy wanted more. So when she and her best friend design a new app that promises to find “the one” in 28 Dates, Caitlin is the perfect guinea pig. Little does she know that she may have already met her match. . . .
Jonas Reeves has tried his best to move on after Caitlin didn’t want take things to the next level. Now they really are just friends . . . without benefits. Caitlin’s even a regular at his bar, The Dirty Martini. But when he learns that Caitlin plans to beta-test a new dating app on his home turf, Jonas senses a golden opportunity to win her heart. Even if he has to slide into her DMs to do it. . . .
Download your copy today!
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2IsV1DS
Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/28Dates
iBooks: https://apple.co/2zJHLYR
Nook: http://bit.ly/2Nf1L9b
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2NUKjMx
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2xU12Fz
Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2IsKTLf
Sunny Shelly’s Review: 5 Stars
These books make me smile! 28 Dates is another standalone in the Crazy Love series from Stacey Lynn — but if you read Fake Wife, we get some catching up with Teagen and Corbin. Yay!
So the prologue starts with Jonas, after two years of being FWB with Caitlin, asking her to let him take her out on an actual date. Caitlin is carrying around some major relationship baggage thanks to her parents (pretty much thinking she’s unlovable) and isn’t interested in dating. Even though she soon realizes she’s made a huge mistake.
Six months later, Caitlin agrees to test out a new dating app that her boss/friend Trey created, hoping that she’ll get over Jonas. Meanwhile, Jonas has been dating someone else, but hasn’t gotten over Caitlin. I was so glad that he broke things off with Ashley before signing up for the app himself. Otherwise, he would have been a major d-bag and this book would have gone right down the drain. What follows is Jonas and Caitlin trying to rebuild their fractured friendship while Jonas — as Michael — is chatting with Caitlin through the app. There are clever ways that he avoids letting her know who he really is, like when “Michael” stands her up and Jonas hangs out with her at his restaurant/bar.
There’s nice growth with Caitlin as she puts on her big girl panties and realizes what a great guy Jonas is, and that she misses his friendship and company just as much as being in his bed. But will she be too late?
Overall, 28 Dates is a feel-good best friends romance. Little angst, little drama. My only complaint is that the girl on the cover is not a redhead like Caitlin. (The last Crazy Love cover did not feature a tattoo Jesus like Braxton, which bugged me while I was reading it.) And I didn’t really get the connection to the title — It doesn’t seem like Caitlin goes on 28 dates, either with Jonas or anyone else.
I’m still trying to figure out if Braxton and Cara from Knocked Up have any connection to these other characters, and I hope that Trey gets a book of his own! I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Excerpt:
She nods against my chest and mumbles something I can’t
understand since her face is smashed to my coat. I lean back,
brushing hair off her face.
“What was that?”
Her lips pull to one side, and then she nibbles on her bottom lip. “I
asked if you wanted to come in.”
Fucking hell. She’s killing me. My hands are at the sides of her
face. “You’re drunk.”
“I’m not that drunk.”
If I wanted to be any other guy for her, hell, even how we used to
be, the answer would be so easy. My dick already thinks the
answer is obvious. I’m hard as a rock just from hugging her and
getting to hold her for the first time in so long.
“I can’t, Caitlin.”
She blinks and looks away, frowning. “I figured. Of course you
don’t.”
“Hey.” I pull her back and bend down so I’m close to her. So damn
close I could easily press my lips against her, slide my tongue into
her mouth, feel her small but strong fingers dig into my hips.
Visions and ideas of what I want to do to her body flash in my
mind so quickly I groan. “I can’t go inside with you, honey. I don’t
want to go back to what we used to have. You mean too much to
me.”
She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, any hope or
emotion is gone. “I understand.”
She doesn’t. Caitlin can’t have any clue of what she means to me
or what I want from her, and the time for this conversation is not
when she can barely stand. But soon, very soon, because there’s no
way I can continue this charade for much longer—especially if it
means seeing her prance into Dirty’s with more guys.
Before I know it, she’s on her tiptoes, and her lips brush against
mine. I inhale the sweet scent of her perfume, and it’s impossible
to deny her.
My hands yank her to me and I step backward, pulling her into her
apartment. The door slams closed behind us, and her back is
against it. She’s already rolling her hips, and I’m swallowing her
groans as she takes mine, accepting my tongue that I slide against
her lips.
And fucking hell in a handbasket. She’s fire and ice and even
drunk she’s still the best damn kisser. It’s the kind of kiss that boils
my blood and shoots desire straight down my spine.
I pull back, breathless. “We can’t,” I say, although I’m gasping and
my hips have her pinned to the door. “I can’t do this with you,
Caitlin. Not like this.”
With secrets and uncertainties.
I press my head against her forehead even as her hands slide to my
waist. “I miss it,” she says, and it’s so sweet, so sad and faint, I
want to fall to my knees and explain everything, carry her to bed,
and make it all better.
About the Author
When Stacey Lynn isn’t conquering mountains of laundry and fighting a war against dust bunnies and cracker crumbs, you can find her playing with her children, curled up on the couch with a good book, or behind closed doors, imagining the next adventures she’ll soon write.
She lives off her daily pot of coffee, can only write with a bowlful of Skittles nearby, and has been in love with romance novels since before she could drive herself to the library.
Stacey Lynn lives with her husband and children in North Carolina.
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