Author: S. Walden
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Arrive to work at 7:58 A.M. sharp. Check. Count forty-seven steps to cubicle. Check. Arrange pens in their red-blue-black-green-purple order of importance. Check. Apply hand sanitizer before opening email. Double check.And that’s just the first few minutes of her work day.Thirty-one-year-old proofreader Bailey Mitchell is a slave to her tics. She inherited Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder from her father, and it’s done nothing but inhibit her love life. She’s run the gamut of boyfriends—none of them willing or able to cope with her condition.Enter 32-year-old Reece Powell, her new coworker at Beach Elite Marketing Firm. He’s more than willing to cope. He finds her habits cute and quirky . . . for now. Reece wins her over, and life coasts along for them until Bailey experiences a devastating blow. Tragedy exacerbates her OCD, and Reece realizes her tics aren’t so cute and quirky anymore. Just like all the others, he has the choice to leave.But Reece isn’t like all the others.The Wilmington SagaFollow the stories of Wilmington, NC residents as they fall in and out of love, mend and break hearts, grow, change, lose, win, and experience what it means to truly live in this small coastal community.
Reece just warmed my heart…
Keep reading to see the full Love Note!
Bailey Bailey Bailey . . .
Could I have ever planned on you–the way you bebopped into my life? Those cherry lips. That swinging ponytail. You don’t even know the things you’ve done to me, the way you’ve opened my heart. You didn’t make it easy, and guess what? I didn’t want you to. I wanted you complicated. I wanted you “just so.” I wanted you all the ways you came to me because when I saw those pens for the first time lined up perfectly on your desk, I knew the search was over. It was you. And I listened for the sound of the clock–tic tic tic–counting down the moment when you’d stop being scared, stop thinking you had too many issues, and open your heart to me, too. Whew! I’m so glad you did. I’m so glad you love me, Bailey, because I’m head over heels in love with you. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Yours forever,
Reece
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
*ARC given to Blog for Honest Review*
5 “Puddin’ Pop” “Beboppin’ Bailey” “You’re bigger. You’re stronger. And I give you mad props.” “The thought of him. The very thought of him.” Kisses
My eyes are sore, red and puffy…but my heart is full of love, joy and happiness. Yup…that’s what this book just did to me. I have been a fan of S. Walden’s for a while now…she’s an amazing writer and I was really excited about LoveLines because it’s a little different from her “norm.” This book blew me away…to another dimension – I loved it. Definitely my favorite book that she has ever written. It took me all over the map…made me laugh, I totally swooned, my ugly cry was epic…the giddiness, the anger, the frustration…I loved every second of it!
Bailey Mitchell… ‘Beboppin’ Bailey’ …first of all – I believe it is absolutely impossible to not love a character named Beboppin’ Bailey. Now…even before that, I loved her. I was compelled to love her because she is an incredibly endearing character. Not just because of her OCD, while that was a huge draw for me…how could it not be. She was diagnosed when she was 6 years old, which she inherited from her father…now at 31 she cannot fathom having the life that she wants because of her tics. She wants to be happy…have a relationship…be in love…and after having her heart broken one too many times, she’s doubting that that possibility will ever be in her future. She has a great life…an awesome job that she excels at, a great best friend and the most amazing dad ever but it’s hard to not want more when you’re surrounded by it. I loved Bailey’s personality because despite all the OCD stuff…she’s just a normal girl. She’s funny and cute and spunky…I loved her style and her quirkiness…I loved that she surfed…and even through those oh so frustrating moments when I was in tears and wanted to shake her, I still loved her. She was a definite change of pace from the usual heroines that I’ve read, but it was a welcomed change and I’m seriously hooked on some Bailey right now.
‘Yes, these are the thoughts that occupy my brain on a daily basis: How many steps to take. How many hairbrush strokes. Making sure I line up my proofreading pens just so. Making sure my make-up is just so. Sitting in my fucking desk chair just so. It’s exhausting living a “just so” life. And I don’t want to do it, but the idea of not counting, not arranging, not tic-ing sends my heart reeling with anxiety.’
Reece Logan Powell…OMG I need him, I want him, I love him – can I have him? I’m adopting him. (That will make more sense once you’ve read the book.) I’m not joking…he’s amazing. Not only is he cute…he’s sweet and funny and just as quirky as Bailey, just in a slightly different way. He’s also creative and smart and has a very magnetic personality. But…as usual, the one thing that makes him so attractive to me is the way he feels about Bailey. He doesn’t care if she has tic’s or needs to count or whatever…yes, he wants to help her and I guess in some ways hopefully fix her, but he doesn’t want her to change for him. His love and devotion to her was amazing…like best book boyfriend ever kind of stuff. He was patient and kind, he was loving and attentive, he was honest and reliable. I feel like I am painting him out to be this almost definition of perfect…which he kind of was – it was like he was carved out of the woodwork to fit every need and want Bailey could possibly come up with. There were so many times when he could’ve/would’ve/should’ve given up on Bailey…but he didn’t…his love for her knew no bounds…just as mine does for him.
‘“I’ll hurry. Especially since I plan to kiss you when I get back.”
He watched her face. He couldn’t see the circles of deep pink he’d painted on her cheeks, but he suspected they were there. They had to be. It was too bold a statement not to evoke some kind of response. He wanted her shifting relentlessly in her chair the entire time he was gone. He wanted her heart racing. He wanted her panties the slightest bit moist. He wanted this girl.’
Reece and Bailey are a lot of things to me…separately they have a lot of issues but when you put them together they just work. It doesn’t make sense on paper…it shouldn’t make sense logically…but it does. He’s the unloved/unwanted orphan…she’s the crazy girl that nobody can tolerate forever…and yet they’re a match made in heaven. He loves her in spite of her OCD…heck that’s part of what drew him to her…which just typing that sounds like it would be a crazy reason to like somebody but I think the fact that he does like it and doesn’t care is what made me love Reece for Bailey. Of course I loved just about every aspect of their relationship, not only what Reece did for Bailey’s condition but also…how he broke her out of her shell (which I guess the two go hand in hand). I was not expecting the level of hotness between Reece and Bailey and I definitely was not expecting to love the little Dom side of Reece but trust me…it works. Really works. Bailey is all about control and letting Reece take that control from her is exactly what she needs and I loved every single second of it. It was hot, sensual and kinky.
“I know I’m not the easiest person to love…”
“Are you kidding me?” Reece hopped up from the desk and took hold of Bailey’s shoulders. “You’re too easy to love. That your real problem. You know how I know that? Because I can’t stay away from you. I just wanna be with you all the time. You’re my favorite person, Bailey. That’s not hard. That’s a cakewalk.”
This story is not just about Reece and Bailey falling in love…at least it wasn’t for me. Bailey’s condition is not a joking matter and I didn’t take it as one…yes are there moments where even she pokes fun at her OCD, but there are a lot of serious moments and I appreciated the care with which they were handled. The entire time I was rooting for Bailey to not only find happiness with Reece but also happiness with herself and her condition. I think in the beginning she was resigned to it…she didn’t think she could get better so she was just set to live her ‘just so’ life and see what happened. I loved her development and seeing her grow and it killed me when she had set backs and regressed…but it was all necessary for the end result. Bailey’s family is also a huge part of the story and I have to say that her dad is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Like…best dad I have ever, ever read in a book. I love him…the end. I also couldn’t get enough of the relationship that Bailey has with her best friend, Erica…they’re a perfect balance and I love their banter. And…I guess I might as well address it now…there are two characters that I didn’t care for in the beginning but…they may or may not have grown on me by the end of the book…Nicki, Bailey’s sister – she’s a twat, but in the annoying-perfect-younger-sister way. And then there is Bailey’s mom, Georgie…now she just irk’d me. For a lot of reasons…but once they were explained…I have to admit, I was shocked at my acceptance of things.
“I’ve never belonged to anyone,” he said. All the playfulness was gone. “No one’s ever belonged to me.”
I was too vulnerable to hear this. I knew I would cry.
“You’ve made me so happy Bailey. Happier than any man deserves.”
S. Walden just has a way of writing things that might raise your eyebrow and making them work in this magically fantastic way. I can’t even describe it because she continually blows my mind. The way she is able to combine flawed but loveable characters in a fresh and inventive story line that keeps me engaged from page one is just amazing…because she literally does this every time for me and it just keeps getting better with each book I read. Her writing style is crisp and clean, yet she has the edge and whit that I can’t help but be drawn in by. Her pace and flow is spot on, it never drags, the dialogue is fabulous and above everything else that I love about her writing…she never holds back. Nothing she ever writes about it clean or cut and dry…it’s emotional and it stirs up all kinds of feelings and some of them are messy and hard to deal with and that’s the stuff I can’t get enough of. I thrive off her ability to make me think and feel through her characters.
‘While in the past I enjoyed the solitary nature of proofing, I knew my heart and mind had change. He changed me. He left something inside of me I couldn’t get rid of. It was a small pinprick of light that glowed deep in my belly that suggested he irrefutable change. The love had been planted, and now I couldn’t escape it. I battled it. I knew I was no good for anyone, but the love remained anyways, pulsing a message of hope: You don’t have to be alone.
And I didn’t want to.’
Alright…so the epilogue has me so freaking excited for the next book it’s like…unreal! If I wasn’t already hooked on the other characters that were introduced throughout the course of the book, then I sure as heck am with the last few lines of that damn epilogue! I didn’t know who’s book would be next (I can’t lie…I was hoping for Camden or Christopher – Reece’s friends) but knowing that it’s Taylor (Erika’s employee) and the story line that is going with it…I’m very excited. I can’t wait to see what S. does with this series…EEEP!