If You Were Mine by Melanie Harlow
My Review:
Theo is a troubled man that still carries within him the broken boy left by his mother and hurt by his drunk of a father.
The fear of being abandoned keeps him from letting people truly care for him.
If he’s the one that leaves first no one we’ll have the power to truly hurt him.
He believes he’s happier that way, safer, even if sometimes he also feels lonely.
Life often doesn’t follow our plans though and meeting sweet art teacher Claire challenges Theo.
She makes him want to stay, fight his demons and become worthy of her.
30 years old Claire loves her job, her friends and her family but her insecurities are a weight that keeps her far from working on her big dream of sharing her art and her true self with the world.
She believes she’s not good enough and she fears she’ll get her heart broken if she put it out there.
That’s why she’s also single.
Tired of being banished to the “singles table” every time she’s invited to a friend’s wedding, she answers to the latest invitation that she’ll attend with her boyfriend of two months to avoid the pitiful experience.
Next step? Hiring a fake boyfriend to be her escort!
When she finally steps outside her comfort zone, forced by circumstances and a little liquid courage, she finds out there’s a different side of herself that she never knew existed.
Meeting Theo nourishes that part of her that can be brave and reach for the things she wants, even if it scares her.
Sweet romance, great chemistry between the MC and nice development of their story.
I Loved the hero’s relationship with his brother, his sister in law and his 3 little nieces.
Like him, his brother has scars that have never healed because of their upbringing.
He was able to built a family that loves him unconditionally but his addiction to alcohol was slowly taking him away from them.
The bond between the two brothers is strong and they end up helping each other fight for their respective happiness.
Lovely and super romantic ending even if I wished for an epilogue at least a couple of years into their marriage given Theo’s previous tendency to run away from Claire instead of staying and fight.
That’s what bothered me most about Theo, the unnecessary heartache he gives Claire.
He’s always upfront about his issues though and he makes up for it by the end of the story.
Also, the marriage proposal is super sweet and the author states they live happy ever after therefore… that’s what I want to believe.
^_^
Overall…
⭐ 4 Stars ⭐
~ My Ratings ~
Writing: 3.5 /5 I listened to the audiobook
Plot: 4 /5
Hero: 3.5 /5
Heroine: 4 /5
Secondary Characters: 4 /5
MC’s chemistry: 3.5 /5
Steam: 3.5 /5
Triggers: hero is a platonic escort, no cheating or OW/OM intimacy, explicit sex.
Recommended to: Contemporary Romance Readers!
If You Were Mine by Melanie Harlow
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