Cole and Laila have been inseparable since they could crawl. And they've never thought about each other that way. Except for when they have. Rarely. Once in a while, sure. But seriously . . . hardly ever.
Cole Kimball and Laila Olivet have been best friends their entire lives. Cole is the only person (apart from blood relatives) who's seen Laila in her oversized, pink, plastic, Sophia Loren glasses. Laila is always the first person to taste test any new dish Cole creates in his family's restaurant . . . even though she has the refined palate of a kindergartener. Most importantly, Cole and Laila are always talking. About everything.
When Cole discovers a betrayal from his recently deceased grandfather that shatters his world, staying in Adelaide Springs, Colorado, is suddenly unfathomable. But Laila loves her life in their small mountain town and can't imagine ever living anywhere else. She loves serving customers who tip her with a dozen fresh eggs. She loves living within walking distance of all her favorite people. And she's very much not okay with the idea of not being able to walk to her very favorite person.
Still, when Cole toys with moving across the country to New York City, she decides to support her best friend--even as she secretly hopes she can convince him to stay home. And not just for his killer chocolate chip pancakes. Because she loves him. As a friend. Just as a friend. Right?
They make a deal: Laila won't beg him to stay, and Cole won't try to convince her to come with him. They have one week in New York before their lives change forever, and all they have to do is enjoy their time together and pretend none of this is happening. But it's tough to ignore the very inconvenient feelings blooming out of nowhere. In both of them. And these potentially friendship-destroying feelings, once out in the open, have absolutely no take-backs.
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I just finished Cole and Laila are just Friends by Bethany Turner audiobook Narrated by Talon David; Andrew Eiden and here are my musings.
Cole and Laila have the kind of friendship that spans decades. They can be themselves around each other and need stability in their lives. Everything changes when Cole's grandfather dies and leaves the family restaurant that Cole has built from the ground up, to some corporation that already owns it.
Cole cannot believe what has happened and cannot bring himself to now stay in the town he once loved. Laila on the other hand cannot bring herself to leave. When Cole is given the opportunity to interview for a top restaurant in New York, laila wants to support him and offers to go too.
They make one rule, Laila won't beg him to stay and Cole won't try and convince her to move and they give themselves one week to enjoy the time they have left together before it all changes. Problem is that things are starting to change for both of them and trying to tell each other could break apart their once rock solid friendship.
I am going to admit that I have never read a christian romance. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. I thought the narrators did a really great job of portraying their budding romance too.
It was really cute. The characters were really well developed and that includes all the side characters too. I loved the friendships and connections that all the people in the friend group had.
The plot was a lot of fun. I love that Cole got to break away from the monotony of the life he had stuffed himself into and the devastation of what his grandfather did gave him the shake up he needed to really step out of his comfort zone and with it, view Laila as something more than just his best friend. It put his whole life under a microscope and it was very well written.
I am not a massive fan of friends to lovers as a trope but I think this one actually worked because they never really had anyone else in their lives that could have been a lover for either of them so it was a pretty natural progression.
I actually thought the ending was the best part. Seeing what actually happened was a really great twist! I highly recommend this book!
4 stars
Thank you to @netgalley and @harpercollins for my gifted copy
