Mini-reviews: Love Story and Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne

Love Story by Lauren Layne
Publisher: Loveswept
Publication Date: February 14th 2017
My rating: 3 stars 

When Lucy Hawkins receives a job offer in San Francisco, she can’t wait to spread her wings and leave her small Virginia hometown behind. Her close-knit family supports her as best they can, by handing over the keys to a station wagon that’s seen better days. The catch? The cross-country trip comes with a traveling companion: her older brother’s best friend, aka the guy who took Lucy’s virginity hours before breaking her heart. After spending the past four years and every last dime caring for his sick father, Reece Sullivan will do just about anything to break free of the painful memories—even if it means a two-week road trip with the one girl who’s ever made it past his carefully guarded exterior. But after long days of bickering in the car turn into steamy nights in secluded motel rooms, Reece learns that, when it comes to Lucy, their story is far from over. And this time, they just might have a shot at a happy ending.

Once again Layne brings another one of my favourite tropes to this story; second chance romances. Lucy and Reece have known each other practically their entire lives. Reece is Lucy’s brother’s best friend, so they’ve grown up together. However since a few years ago, things haven’t been the best between the pair, Layne gives us hints of Reece and Luce getting together, but we’re never told about what could have caused their massive fall out, the two don’t seem to get along without bickering, and things don’t help the matter when they’re forced to take a two week trip (Lucy’s original plan was to go to on her own) by Lucy’s parents as they both will be travelling to the same place, so it makes sense too. I for one couldn’t wait to see how this road trip would turn out, could both Reece and Lucy finally get over the disaster that happened all those years ago or would this trip just be another disaster?

I really liked the way Layne gave us Reece and Lucy’s story, we weren’t immediately given their back story and what went down, but small snippets of their history together which built up to the present day. This really worked for me, as I was constantly left intrigued and wanting more. The only reason I wasn’t able to rate this book higher was despite clearly seeing that Reece and Lucy were meant to be together, it just felt as if there were a lot of hold backs (particularly on Reece’s side) and miscommunication which kind of put a dampener on things for me. This aside Love Story was still a great read, I particularly enjoyed the road trip aspect, but probably not one of my favourites by 
Layne.

Walk of Shame by Lauren Layne

Publisher: Loveswept

Publication Date: April 18th 2017

My rating: 4 stars

Pampered heiress Georgianna Watkins has a party-girl image to maintain, but all the shopping and clubbing is starting to feel a little bit hollow—and a whole lot lonely. Though Georgie would never admit it, the highlights of her week are the mornings when she comes home at the same time as her uptight, workaholic neighbor is leaving to hit the gym and put in a long day at the office. Teasing him is the most fun Georgie’s had in years—and the fuel for all her naughtiest daydreams. Celebrity divorce attorney Andrew Mulroney doesn’t have much time for women, especially spoiled tabloid princesses who spend more time on Page Six than at an actual job. Although Georgie’s drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also everything Andrew resents: the type of girl who inherited her penthouse instead of earning it. But after Andrew caps one of their predawn sparring sessions with a surprise kiss—a kiss that’s caught on camera—all of Manhattan is gossiping about whether they’re a real couple. And nobody’s more surprised than Andrew to find that the answer just might be yes.

Walk of Shame was a book which reminded me of why I love Layne’s books so much, Whereas Love Story didn’t leave me feeling my usual giddy self afterwards, Walk of Shame had everything I love when it comes to reading, hate to love and trope, a slow burn romance and a swoony character to die for in Andrew. The constant jibes aside whenever Georgie and Andrew accidently met up in their lobby at 5am nearly every day, I couldn’t wait until things started to get a bit more heated up between them. I knew that there was real sexual tension and chemistry between them and I could honestly say Layne did a brilliant job at building up their relationship. There wasn’t an instant from enemies to lover’s moment and I appreciated how Andrew wasn’t your typical confident guy, yes he was a pretty good divorce attorney, but when it came to dealing with his feelings, he was known for saying the wrong thing and not getting ahead of himself. Whereas Georgie you could say was his opposite in this respect, she knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to put her heart on the line for it. You might be thinking how the heck did Layne even make this relationship work? There were a few road bumps and misunderstandings along the way (but these didn’t at any point take way the enjoyment of the story), but Andrew and Georgie just clicked and it was truly something to watch their relationship develop. 

Walk of Shame is definitely one of my all time favourite reads that Layne has had to offer. Ladies if you want to add someone to your top ten fictional boyfriends, Andrew is your man!