Melissa West stories always warms my heart, and Merrily in Love provoked it just as well. I read it around Christmas, and it was such a perfect read for the time. I adored this story and rooted for the couple. I can't wait to read more from Melissa West.

I loved this book. It reminded me of a hallmark movie. Brady and Kylie were once in love, but they went their separate ways. Now Kylie is back in town to help her grandmother with her Christmas shop. Unfortunately the Christmas shop is not doing so well and the dive shop next door is looking to expand. The dive shop is owned by Brady and his brothers. Kylie refuses to sell and Brady refuses to back down. They make a compromise, if Kylie can sell enough inventory, she can keep the shop. However if she falls short, Brady and his brothers will be able to buy the store for less than what it is worth.
Kylie and Brady must get beyond themselves so they can can move on with their lives. This will take a lot of effort on their part.
I look forward to reading more by this author.

Brady Littleton is determined to help his brothers expand the family dive shop and that means securing the chance to buy the Christmas shop next door. However, there's just one problem -- Kylie Waters; the only woman Brady has ever loved and the woman he hurt years ago when he broke things off between them. When Brady strikes a bargain with Kylie about which of them achieves the most sales by Christmas Day will get the shop, he never imagined it could lead to a second chance with the one woman he's never been able to forget. Will Kylie be able to accept Brady's terms or will their second chance at forever after be impossible because it means one of them will lose their dream?

What a splendidly-crafted, fast-paced, captivating read Ms. West has delivered in this third book of her Littleton Brothers series where the competition makes things interesting; the main characters were fantastic; and the dialogue had me smiling at various moments throughout this story because Brady is so charming. The way this story started had me loving Brady immediately, as he's such a flirt and his brothers love to tease him. However, I loved that sometimes his charm isn't enough. Then again, it could be that Brady is just picky when it comes to the women he meets.

As for the dialogue, it was well-written and extremely entertaining due to the history between Brady and Kylie and what happened to make them go their separate ways years ago; the intense chemistry they have; and the race to see who will come out on top. Will Brady and his brothers end up getting the building or will Kylie be able to save the Christmas shop? Moreover, the main characters were relatable, likeable and I loved how determined the heroine was to win. Really, she's very smart with the ideas she comes up with to bring more customers into the shop and I liked that she didn't back down when the going got tough.

Overall, Ms. West has delivered a story that I loved from start to finish where the chemistry between this couple is powerful and just kept getting stronger; the romance was nicely-detailed; and the ending had me smiling because Brady is a good guy with what he does to make certain that Kylie will be in his life always. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up wonderfully, as Brady would do anything for Kylie, which is proven by the gift he buys her and the words he gives her that show that they're meant to be and that he'll always be there for her. I would recommend Merrily in Love by Melissa West, if you enjoy second chance romances or books by authors Allison B. Hanson, Jody Holford, Tilly Tennant and Samantha Chase.

Merrily In love is an ok book. Has a good storyline but personally I could do with out the cursing.

A good, sweet book. I love this series!

3.5 stars -- I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

This one had its ups and downs for me, but I finished it with a smile on my face, and shed a few tears (well, more than a few, but I'm blaming PMS for the overreaction), so I'm calling it a win.

Both Kylie and Brady spent a lot of time aggravating me.  But I also felt for both of them.  Kylie with her fear of abandonment issues.  Brady with his over the top sense of guilt when it came to his family.  So while I wanted to smack them for some of the decisions they made, and how long it took for them to grow, I also felt for them and how their past and choices had scarred them.

And even as aggravating as they both were, they were also really endearing!  They could be really sweet, and some of the moments when they were together actually had me sighing in happiness and swooning.  You can't go wrong with swooning.

Honestly, the only reason it's not a full 4 stars is that I always find it aggravating (jeez, is that like my word of the day or something?) when authors elude to something in the past, but don't just explain it to the readers.  Like in this book, we know something happened to break up our characters, break both of their hearts, have them each blame the other, and develop some animosity.  But the author just kept teasing us with it, occasionally dropping breadcrumbs.  Eventually it was basically explained, but it's the kind of literary technique that just makes me want to abandon a book...because I spend so much time wondering what happened, that I just want to skip pages to find out.  Not always, I do get that there are certain instances where it makes sense, but I honestly don't understand what the point was of keeping the reader in the dark in this case.  But I'm about to get ranty about something that's really rather small, so I'm gonna stop.

I must say, I did NOT like either of Brady's brothers...they were kind of selfish and not understanding.  I got their worry, but they were kind of dicks about some stuff.  However, Brady's parents were da bomb.  And Franny and Ally rounded out our fabulous secondary characters nicely.

So yeah.  Some aggravation, but a WHOLE LOT of swooning too.  I mean come on, the whole ending was one big swoonfest.  So all in all a winner.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F Second Chance Romance

Kylie and Brady have history. They loved each other once, before life went on and they were left in the dust.

When Kylie comes home to help her godmother, Franny, run their Christmas shop, she knows that she will probably run into people from her past. Rather than cower, she sets out to make sure that Franny's shop is a success. What she doesn't anticipate is Brady already trying to buy Franny's shop to expand his family's business.

Brady has been trying to prove to his brothers that he will never let their family down again. However, it seems that no matter what he does, how well he does, his brothers are still looking down on him for past decisions. He sees Kylie and he remembers what they had and all of what he lost.

Kylie and Brady kind of dance around each other. I liked that they didn't just jump back in to their relationship. There was a lot of pent up emotions and hurt that they had to work through. There were insecurities for both of them and they had to come together and figure out if what they had truly was found at 17 and could they have it again.

This had great Christmas spirit and cheer and was a good, heartwarming, second chance romance.

This book contains on screen sex in the form of two scenes but nothing that overwhelms the story at all, and some very light cursing but no f-bombs.

This is a really cute story about a second chance romance between first loves. Although Brady had a few moments that made me want to smack the crap out of him - the v-card conversation, specifically - I wound up really liking him. And while Kylie wasn't perfect (she really needed therapy years ago to heal her old wounds) I found myself rooting for her and hoping that things worked out for her for a change.

If you're looking for a story that is based around Christmastime in a little town and lost loves reuniting at the holidays, you'll enjoy this story.

I requested and was generously granted an ARC of this book. I was under no obligation to write this review.

5 STARS FOR MERRILY IN LOVE!! Love, Love, Love this book so much, Melissa West books are always a 1-Click for me. Her writing is always intriguing, beautiful and characters are so believable. I loved Brady and Kylie's story, it was so good. I highly suggest this book of any by Melissa West. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book from publisher via NetGalley.

I adored this story. It's a fantastic second chance story as the youngest Littleton Brother Brady is reunited with his first love Kylie Waters. I loved these two together and I couldn't help but chuckle as they make their way through the holiday season.

Originally Brady was hoping to take over the shop space where the Christmas store - Merrily - is currently operating. Since the owner is getting older and ready to retire it should be no problem. Not until her Goddaughter Kylie returns to Crestler's Key and declares she's taking over the shop and has no plans to sell. That's when Brady comes up with his plan. A competition really. Now hopefully he can win the store without losing his heart in the process.

I definitely recommend this one.

3.5 stars - A sweet, cute second chance love story, Merrily in Love is the story of Brady Littleton & Kylie Waters. They were a couple in high school until college tore them apart. Brady was applying to schools on the West Coast & assuming Kylie would follow where Kylie wanted to stay close to home & her godmother. Instead of talking about it, Kylie ran to college. Now, they are both back in town. Can they find a way to be friends again? Will it grow to something more?

Christmas time is a time for miracles, family, friendship & togetherness. This story hits on all fronts. Brady & Kylie both have to get past their hang ups from the past to attempt to find a way to be together. They realize they weren't the only ones affected when they broke up. The chemistry between them is apparent from the first & it is evident they still have feelings. This is a good second chance love story.

This book was fantastic it's about two people that was madly in love with each other as teens, and for some reason being stupid and not thinking or the past scared her off they split. But then they found each other but this time with more maturity..

4.5☆
This is my first book by Melissa West.

What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: The Littleton Brothers
Standalone
HEA

I look forward to reading more from this author.
I voluntarily received an ARC from NetGalley

Young love gone wrong is what happened to Brady and Kylie during high school. This story takes place a decade later when Kylie returns back home to help with her godmother’s Christmas store – Merrily Christmas. Her store is next to Brady’s store and Brady wants her store in order to expand his online portion of his business. Long story short - they agree whoever has the most sales by Christmas gets to keep the Christmas store building. So not only are they in a competition, but they also start to develop feeling for each other the more time they spend together. Feelings, they both realize never went away. Even though Brady wants her store, you need to read this story to find out what happens. Will she lose the store to Brady? Will he give her extra time to meet the amount she needs to make by Christmas? Such a sweet and romantic Christmas story.
This is the first book I have read from this author. It is the third book in this series, but can be read as a standalone. I plan on going back to read the prior ones since it would be nice to know certain things that were probably previously addressed.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this story.

I received an ARC of this book from netgalley. This was a great romantic read and the love story between Kylie and Brady was beautiful. I couldn’t wait to find out what had pulled them apart so many years ago but to see that same thing threaten to tear them apart again was heart wrenching. The book truly showed how love concurs all and no matter what may come working it out together makes all the difference. Love this HEA story!

I’ve read the previous books in this series and enjoyed them, so I was pretty eager to get to this one.

I loved Kylie and Brady. She’s sweet and stronger than she thinks. Brady is a really good person who’s sort of stuffed into an impossible role in the family. Together they have a lot of history and the slow burn was absolutely delicious.

Plot wise, it was a lovely second chance story. The push and pull and the miscommunication were both at an all time low. And while I was expecting a deep dark story in Kylie’s past, like the previous stories, it wasn’t here.

Overall, it was a mostly fluffy and cute read. This one was definitely my favorites of the series and I can’t wait to see what Melissa does next.


**Huge thanks to Lyrical Shine for providing the arc free of charge**

Kylie and Brady's story was completely engaging. The attempt to recapture young love is totally realistic with two flawed people who are good at their cores. There is great parental advice, more graphic sex than I like and a wonderful sense of family in 'Merrily in Love', all wrapped up in the Christmas season. I'm now going to go read about the other Littleton brothers and I recommend you do also.

What would it feel like to have someone love you so much that they can't move on with their love life because the others aren't the one that got away? Both Kylie and Brady have to figure this out in order to move on. It was fun reading about them falling back in love and being to afraid to say something because it might not be the right time, or it might be rejected.