Only You by Addison Fox is a good fit for readers looking for a heartfelt romance that explores the power of love to heal past wounds and create a sense of family.

I loved reading this story and I have been fortunate enough to read all the stories in this series. This one is about Mama Lou’s boy Fender who was one of the boys she adopted when she saw them all alone on the playground. Harlow is a uptown girl who is also the daughter of Mama Lou’s greatest shame but Harlow isn’t uppety like you would think. When she and Fender meet he thinks she is too good for him but she doesn’t, then as she just about has him convinced his deadbeat dad comes back to town. Harlow is adorable and so down to earth you want to be her friend and Fender is gonna have a hard time letting her go.

Well written and an enjoyable story. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

Only You wraps up the Brooklyn Brotherhood series of books. While it wasn't necessary to read previous books but it sure does help fill in some of the missing pieces of their lives and backstory of the guys. Fender has had a rough start to life with an abusive father but that has made Fender keep his circle of trust small and close to his heart. Enter in Harlow to his world, as the chemistry seems to be off the charts for these two the way they handle the differences between them is very grown up. I was a little put off by the conversation when Fender's father is dead. Otherwise a good book in this series.

Interesting read of the romance between Harlow and Fender. Both characters have complicated pasts that impede the way to their HEA. I liked the chemistry between Harlow and Fender. I also liked the exploration into complicated familial relationships and how families are sometimes made rather than created at birth. All in all, not an awesome read, but still a good one.

Fender Blackstone had a bad childhood being raised by a violent drunken father who was also a criminal. But Mama Lou rescued him. Mama Lou adopted the boys when she seen them alone at the playground. Now Fender owns his own garage but the mental and physical abuse he had endured as a child still haunted him.Mama Lou had an affair with a married man a long time ago and the man was Harlow's father. Harlow is a socialite and the owner of an art gallery. Harlow’s mom still held a grudge even though her husband had passed away held a grudge for Mama Lou. The woman wanted to ruin Mama Lou’s after all these years as Mama Lou was running for a local office. Harlow’s mom had went so far that she almost went to jail. Fender was very protective of Mama Lou and would do whatever he had to in order to protect her. Harlow and Fender meet at a rally when Mama Lou is running for office. Harlow had intended to apologize to Mama Lou for her mother’s behavior but instead met Fender. Harlow and Fender are total opposites. Harlow is well educated and elegant and …. Fender is not. But they have very hot chemistry. Fender is a very caring man but keeps pushing Harlow away as he feels he is not good enough for her. Breaking things off with her then getting back together. Harlow seemed to have convinced Fender they were good together then Fender’s father -Trent - showed back up in town. And it messes with Fender.
I liked this book a lot. I liked the plot but this did drag for me quite a bit. I loved that Mama Lou adopted the boys and loved them as she did and raised them as she did. I loved how this showed a family that wasn’t biological but nevertheless family. You should read the books in order of this series so everything fits together. I loved how Fender was so protective of Mama Lou. There was a lot in this book: suspense, trauma, mental and physical abuse, criminal father, family adopted mother and brothers, drama, an old affair, opposites and so much more. I love the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend.

This is a great book and the author has done a great job with this story too. Was well written with amazing characters and the romance was just right and had the story flowing through the pages as you read the journey the characters go on in this story. A really great book I would recommend

I received an ARC from Netgalley. This book was a sweet romance of opposites attract. Fender and Harlow come from opposites sides of the track but true love cannot be denied in this book. Through all the obstacles thrown their way and past issues returning to wreak havoc Fender and Harlow still get their HEA ending. Great read. 4.5 stars

Only You ties up the love stories of the Brooklyn Brotherhood, three boys from troubled homes adopted by “Mama Lou.” Each of them has grown up to be respectable, hardworking men. Each is on a course as different as their personalities, but together, they make a close, if unlikely family. This last story is for Fender Blackstone, the poor boy who’s father was not only alcoholic and abusive, but criminal. Fender has learned to be defensive, careful, and to keep his world very small.

Fender finds himself in love with a girl from the right side of the tracks, Manhattan’s elite Harlow Reynolds. Harlow curates a gallery, she’s well educated and elegant—and the daughter of the man Mama Lou had an affair with decades before. The books should definitely be read in order as many parts of previous books weave together in this last installment to make the idea of Harlow and Fender being together more than just inconvenient.

It may have started in simple chemistry, but as these two get to know each other, the impediments grow larger. I appreciated that they handled their differences primarily in adult ways. There was no immature pouting or walking off before someone could explain relevant circumstances. There were, however, significant circumstances to work through. It’s disingenuous to suggest people should just go be with anyone they want to be with. The reality is that when someone loves their family too, you can’t live in a love bubble and just expect everything to be alright. You have to deal with the hard stuff. Most of Only You deals with the hard stuff and does it pretty well.

Note: the following paragraph contains a ***SPOILER ALERT*** which is included because it impacted my rating of the book

In an effort to conclude the story quickly, there was a sexual innuendo made between Fender and Harlow, cementing their new relationship as a real thing. There was nothing wrong with the comment, just the placement. At that point, they were still standing over Fender’s dead father, well near it. No matter how relieved Fender was to have Trent out of his life and Harlow in it in that moment, the sexual comment was just really out of place. It tweaked my enjoyment of the story and was still lingering even though Fox pulled the mood back up in her epilogue.

********END SPOILER ALERT********

My Rating: B, Liked It

A story about two people Fender Blackstone and Harlow Reynolds. Both are trying to overcome their child hood. Fender did not have a good one and when a local woman Mama Lou step in and adopted him and two other boy’s his life changed. He still sees himself through his father eyes even after everything he has accomplished. Harlow meets Fender at a rally in Brooklyn as Mama Lou is running for borough president. She is there to apologize for her mother and the actions of her mother but instead meets Fender and this begins their time of sorting out each other. Fender is not the most pleasant person all of the time and she calls him on that. It is their differences that make this story, but will it keep them together because Harlow sure fights for it. She is up against a person who is locked up like fort Knox, maybe she can break through. Read this story to find out. The secondary characters really add to this book.

the brooklyn brotherhood closes out with only you, and fender and harlow get a chance for their own very happy ending after first meeting in just once and having sparks fly. from the moment they meet again in only you it's clear that everyone in park heights is rooting for them.

but both fender and harlow have a lot of childhood baggage and mistrust to overcome on top of the differences in their backgrounds. and when fender's abusive father comes back into the picture, the trauma of abuse and neglect add some unexpected challenges to their burgeoning connection. that's above and beyond the fact that the woman fender calls mama lou, is the same woman who helped harlow's mom become a bitter and vengeful shell of herself. while louise shouldn't take the full blame, she's also not entirely innocent. and her actions did negatively impact harlow and the way she sees relationships.

for novels that take place in the city, the brooklyn brotherhood series manages to cop a small town romance feel. there are so many meddling neighbors and family members. it's nice to have such a connected set of characters because it's so easy to slip into the world that's being built around them, and maybe it's the born and bred city girl in me, but all these people getting up in other people's business makes me absolutely crazy. why can't a relationship just be about two people and not the whole freaking village?

it's a quibble and totally has to do with my own prickly personality that it gets to me so much, but it's forgivable because the relationship that blossoms between fender and harlow is beautiful and sweet and surprisingly deep. i love how they connect with each other in ways that they both find surprising. and i love how neither of them tries to deny their crazy chemistry and the attraction that keeps them coming back for more. even as they do their very best to push each other away, protecting themselves, protecting each other, the truth is, that only with each other will they find true happiness. and that's why i read romance novels.

**only you published on december 12, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/st. martin's press (swerve) in exchange for my honest review.

Addison Fox’s Only You delivers a solid story of two people who are influenced by their past but also overcome it. Fender is my favorite of the three brothers. Like the others, his childhood began as one of adversity, but Mama Lou changed all that. Fender is hardworking, loyal, and all around great guy. When the past comes into play he handles it with dignity. I really understand his hesitation with trying to build anything permanent with Harlow.

Harlow was also a wonderful character who did not let her wealth define her. I liked her sensible, but also a risk-taker; a marvelous combination. Really just the kind of opposite that Fender needs in his. This is what I saw instead of the obvious upbringing differences between these two.

Love is at the center of this story; romantic love but also love of family. Fender’s true family of Mama Lou and his brothers are one that has been made not born but perhaps even stronger because of that. What a beautiful picture of family. Of course, I was rooting for Fender and Harlow to be able to build such a family together, anything else would not have been acceptable.

I love this series and especially this installment! Fender and Harlow are perfect for each other and I was so pleased with the updates of the secondary cast. This series deserves another chapter.

Although part of an existing series (of which I've only read the 3rd book), I do think this worked just fine as a stand alone novel. I enjoyed how the background of the series was tied into this particular story. This was a solid romance that engaged me throughout. I really liked both of the primary characters ... although the hero's name (Fender) was pretty annoying to me. I'm just not a fan of the name. The overall message - love can conquer all - was really well done in this novel. I enjoyed the way the various characters came together and overcame the obstacles before them. I definitely think I'll be going back and read the first two books in the series. I enjoy the world that Addison Fox creates in this series and look forward to revisiting the earlier books.

This is the fourth book in the series about three boys, brought up as brothers, by a single woman desperate to help save them from their bad childhoods. Now they are all grown up and pretty successful in their own rights, although the ties to the past run deep.

Fender Blackstone was brought up by a violent, criminal, drunken father until Mama Lou rescued him. Now he owns his own garage and does all right for himself but the pain (both physical and mental) of his childhood still haunts him.

Harlow Reynolds is a Manhattan socialite and owner of an art gallery. She and Fender met in the last book when it emerged that Mama Lou had had an affair with a married man, Harlow's father, and his widow was determined to extract revenge all these decades later by trying to smear Mama Lou's campaign to run in the local elections.

Harlow and Fender have a wild opposites-attract chemistry but both acknowledge that they couldn't have a relationship, their lives are too different and their family history is a huge obstacle.

Earlier today I wrote a review of a book which also had a rough, gruff mechanic brought up by a single mom. I had to DNF that book because I disliked the direction the characters were being taken. Oh, how different this book was. Although Fender did blow hot and cold with Harlow, constantly trying to break up with her for her own good, she's too good for him, they are from different worlds, yadda yadda, he is also deeply thoughtful and caring. Fender actually sounded like a thirty-something year old man and not a sixteen year old stuck inside a man's body.

The blurb says this is a book about love and what it means to be a family and I think it really is. We see the love of a mother for her child, whether biological or not, the love for children for their parents, the love of siblings and of family. It is also about moving on and letting the past stay in the past. About allowing yourself to reach out and grasp what you really want.

I have enjoyed the books I have read in this series, still haven't actually managed to read the first book featuring Nick and Emma, each of them is different rather than a rinse and repeat set of characters.

5 stars! What a great love story. Would recommend for sure.

Let's face it- you know there's going to be a happy ending- that's why you read these books. Fox has done a wonderful job of creating a family of brothers (and Mama Lou) and finding them their soul mates. If you haven't read this series, you'll be fine with this as a standalone. Fender has had his issues (haven't we all?) and Harlow, well, she's from a different zip code. That doesn't mean they can't get it together - that their socio-economic differences can't be overcome. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a feel good story.

The one constant in an Addison Fox story is that there will be conflict. This is an author that thrives on creating characters that have an inspiring tale of uniqueness and courage that will grab the heart in a choke hold rather quickly. Only You paints a picture that will never be museum worthy but is a colorful blend of pain and light. Pain is a universal language that the whole world speaks, hope is not as widespread but has definitely left it's mark. Fender and Harlow are proof that, love is a powerful force that can help us weather the obstacles of life.

Harlow was a socialite from Manhattan. She had always lived a privileged life but she wasn't satisfied with her life. Her father had been unfaithful and had died ten years earlier. She loved her parents but realized that she had missed out on a loving family life. News had recently come to light about a former mistress of her father's and her mother's seek for revenge against this woman. Harlow needed to apologize for her mother's behavior. Louisa, the former lover, was a kind woman who had taken in and adopted three boys who had come from less than ideal circumstances and raised them and loved them as her own.

Fender Blackstone had a horrible childhood and was determined to not be relationship material. He loved his mom, Mama Lou, as he and his brothers had always called her and he loved his adopted brothers, Nick and Landon but women didn't have staying power. His own biological mother had left him to be raised by an abusive father. Those scars ran deep. He was determined to stay that course. . . until he met Harlow and something began to change.

Fender was convinced that Harlow deserved someone better than him and when his father resurfaced in his life, he was sure that she would become a target for his father to get financial gain. In order to protect her, he needed to let her go but by doing so he not only broke her heart, but his, as well. Would things ever work together to make a relationship possible for them or were they post destined to be apart?

I really enjoyed this story very much. However, the constant f-bombs were a distraction and turn-off. Several times I set the book aside convinced that I wouldn't continue reading it. I did finish it and enjoyed the story but I wouldn't recommend the book to a friend because of the language and the descriptive sex scenes.

I was given an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After reading ‘Forever Yours’ which was a complete bust for me, ‘Only You’ was in contrast, heart-felt and emotionally nuanced which made the story an even bigger draw as Fender Blackstone (whose story I’ve been wanting) finally finds someone who is his opposite in every way.

‘Only You’ works as a standalone, but there is some history and a backstory to catch up on by the time we get to Fender’s story, all of which which are explained in the previous books and have been mentioned here. But I liked ‘Only You’ primarily because of the ‘adulting’ that’s mostly present in there: both Fender and Harlow acted their ages as they navigated the complicated waters of their relationship and the pages of dialogues and inner monologues did show that. Consequently, it was easy to like Fender for the solidness, and the self-awareness and perception that he displayed about his growing feelings for Harlow mostly—which I find sometimes blindingly lacking in heroes—as it was easy to like Harlow for her wanting to fight for the both of them and her way of doing so. Yet for all their communication, it got frustrating when I’d assumed Fender would come to his senses after spending most of the book being rather wishy-washy about wanting what he and Harlow had, including thinking about and eventually pushing her away—which was only unsatisfactorily resolved by a conflict in the closing pages of the book that made his mind up for him.

I thought the pacing lagged quite a bit in the middle, and I was able to put it down and pick it up numerous times (though without much difficulty) as both Harlow and Fender worked through the circumstances—not just the history between their parents but also a big issue in Fender’s past that he had to confront—that made being together very difficult. That said, there’s a neat HEA for all the characters involved of course, though I was left wishing I’d felt more for the series than I did.