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BLURRED LINES
Lauren Layne
Releasing Aug 25th, 2015
Loveswept
When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they’re still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland’s trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker’s boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben’s no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can’t seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.
The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker’s ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can’t go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.
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My Review
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a fantastic story. If you like this trope, it is a MUST READ. It was everything I wanted in a friends to lovers book.
Parker and Ben are the best of friends. No really. They are only friends. They've totally shattered the idea that men and women can't just be friends. They met 6 years ago and their totally platonic relationship is still going strong. Then Parker gets dumped by her boyfriend of 5 years. The man she thought she was going to marry and give her a happily ever after.
After being dumped, Parker, realizes that she needs casual sex. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out. She realizes that she needs to experience casual sex with someone she knows and cares about. ENTER BEN (who is also her roommate). They talk about it and it makes sense to the both of them to start doin' it. So they do. And it's amazing. They actually wonder "Why didn't we do this earlier?" The arrangement ends up being a great success, but it doesn't take long before their feelings become much more than casual.
I liked Parker and Ben as friends, but I LOVED them as a couple. As best friends, they knew each other better than they knew themselves. Their relationship was playful and they were so at ease with one another, but never once did they even think of crossing the friendship line. But as lovers they still had all of that but, throw in some ridiculous chemistry and off the charts sex and their relationship reaches a whole new level. I'm talking ereader melting HOT. And is there a better foundation for a relationship than being best friends first? I don't think so.
“You recently pointed out that I haven’t had a serious girlfriend for as long as I’ve known you,” I say roughly. “Don’t you want to know why?”
She hesitates, then nods.
I gently kiss her mouth before continuing. “It’s because I fell in love with this incredible girl my freshman year. Only I didn’t know how to be in love, so I did the only thing I could to keep her close. I became her friend. I became her best friend, and buried all of my own feelings so deep that I didn’t even recognize them, because her feelings were all that mattered, and she wanted this other guy.”**SWOON**
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
