Love & Alliteration Collection

Perfectly Played
What an absolutely delightful story!

I adore Flora and Dean - their meet-cute is definitely on the memorable side, they make great friends and an even greater couple.
I also enjoyed M.K. and Clay's romance - and the part they play in their respective BFFs' lives.

Bonus points for Flora's dislike for heels, assorted geeky references, and - last but not least - for Dean's last name being Coulson. ‘Nuff said.

Beautifully Baked
I liked how “Beautifully Baked” started off with Flora and Dean's non-weddings - but from M.K. and Clay's perspective, of course - and continued to show glimpses of already familiar events throughout the story.

I knew I already loved M.K. and Clay before I even started this story, so I was rooting for them from the get-go, even if it was no secret that they'd get their HEA.
But... all those near-misses in the beginning! Gah! :D And I particularly enjoyed the close friendships between M.K. and Flora, and Clay and Dean respectively.

An unexpected yet absolutely delightful crossover with Holly Kerr's Oceanic Dreams story “I Saw Him Standing There” added an extra layer of happy for me. (Perfectly played, Ms. Kerr, so to speak... ;) )

Pleasantly Popped
While Ruthie may not be everyone's cup of tea, she sure is an entertaining heroine, and there is never a dull moment when she's around.

“I'm very good at offending people, even though that's not always my intention.”
With her take-no-prisoners approach to life, the universe, and everything, Ruthie is a force to be reckoned with! And while I found it not always easy to like her - in a way, I can relate to Trev's initial prickly reaction to her - my heart was breaking for her, and I fouond myself enthusiastically rooting for her to go and get her man.

Predictable, routine-loving me found Trev to be a lot more relatable - though he sure had his judgmental and jerky moments, and his own share of hang-ups to overcome.
“Ruthie is a whirlwind; moving at tornado speed and sucking up everything in her path. But I'm not a storm chaser. I don't even like high winds.”

I loved watching these two squabble and banter while they were slowly falling in like (and more) with each other - against their better judgment - and it was fun to reconnect with the usual suspects (Flora and Dean, M.K. and Clay, Adam and Patrick, and, of course, Reuben).