Ratings15
Average rating3.8
The deal is simple: he’ll wipe out my debt if I find him a wife.
Holden Rhodes is grouchy, unfairly hot, and has hated me for years. Now we own an inn together. As we renovate the inn and practice his dating skills, I see a different side of him, though, and wonder if I was all wrong.
When we add ‘friends with benefits’ to the deal, our chemistry is so hot the sparks could burn down the inn. Holden’s a secret romantic, and I’m secretly falling for him.
I’m terrible at bartending, a video of a bear stealing my toy went viral, and everyone in this small town knows my business, but Holden Rhodes is so much more than I expected, and now I’m not sure I want to leave.
Featured Series
4 primary booksThe Queen's Cove Series is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by Stephanie Archer.
Reviews with the most likes.
3.75/5
It was cute and I enjoyed it though I didn't love it.
It was interesting to see how Holden is different from what he seemed in the previous books. I thought that was the guy who never wanted to marry, or be in a relationship with someone. Instead, he's really into it. I liked him.
Sadie was an interesting character, though I usually don't like it when C has to be the one to give up her dream job and the life in a city for a guy. It's never a male character who temporarily returns to hometown and then decides to stay for the woman who stole his heart. Why is that?
That being said, I hate Miri or whatever her name is. “Don't be ashamed of using a sex toy but I WILL bring it up all the time, tell everyone AND drop your name on national TV, but don't be embarrassed!! But I love humiliating you!” Seriously? That running joke with a dildo wasn't funny at all. I was embarrassed just like Sadie was. Seriously I wouldn't even move to a town with people like that if that happened to me. No way. They can go fuck themselves with their jokes and whatever. Just no.
I liked how much Holden loved Sadie, ever since they were kids, BUT what I didn't like that memory he had. So Sadie had said something like “who would ever choose Holden if they could have his brothers?” And that stayed with Holden for the rest of his life. But then we only got 1 line of explanation that Sadie said it after Holden had been acting like a dick all summer. That's it? Jesus, with the way he's been thinking about this, I thought that she said it first and that's why he was an asshole to her. But no, SHE WANTED TO BE FRIENDS WITH HIM AND HE DECIDED TO BE A DICK. Ugh.
I LOVED how obsessed with her he was though. HE BUILT HER A TREEHOUSE AND A BAR AND USED HER WALLPAPER AND HE TOOK HER PAINTINGS WHEN SHE THREW THEM OUT AND HE WAS JUST SO SUPPORTIVE!
Another thing I didn't like was that whole groveling that wasn't. Seriously, she just saw him standing there and she took the blame? No! It's okay if a woman doesn't want to get married! Let's normalize it! You can still have a healthy and fulfilling and stable relationship without marriage. And YET she was away for maybe 2 weeks and she was so miserable she did the thing she hated the most and married him. And she proposed??? That was so out of nowhere! It was only 3 days after they reconciled and she was suddenly ready for marriage even though she wasn't?? Ughhhhhhhh that took me out.
While I liked the book, there were just some things I can't stand so it's not really a good fit for me lol. Hopefully Finn's story will be better!
Once again an adorable read. I probably rated this a wee bit high but no regrets.