3.5 Finding Your Unexpected Person Stars
* * * 1/2 Spoiler Free
Assumptions... we all do them. It is so easy to assume someone is a type or behaves a certain way just by appearance or job. There is a reason for the saying "Assuming makes an Ass of U and Me!"

Melissa Foster takes this idea and couples it with two people who will have to break from their own self imposed ways. Both had reasons for living the lives they had...but it took a distracted professor looking for a parking spot to almost hitting a man who was every woman's fantasy.

From their first contact, the ripple effect of interest, thinking and then action was set in motion. What was different then most of these types of stories was the depth of the responsibilities for our guy. From the start, we could see he was so much more then his outside appearance and occupation. He was dealing with a situation which is a very current happening for many of the population today.

Our gal was the type who felt all of her other siblings were more attractive then her. She had some insecurities from a cheating ex and so decided career over relationships was the way to go.

But assumptions aside, these two develop an actual understanding of how wrong their first ideas of each were...and from that recognition, we are given a very sweet romance.

Melissa Foster is a pro...she takes a very serious situation and through a romance novel educates many about it. She did it with heart and care.

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

An amazing book. Extremely entertaining, captivating and interesting sexy read. I could not put it down. Wonderfully written with strong, intriguing characters. I want to read more from this author. I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This is book three in a series but can be read as a stand-alone. I have not read the other two books.
I couldn’t get over the fact that this was all a bit too perfect for me. Cheesy lines, constant insecurity/overthinking by Talia and Derek and the meddling of her family, are just a few things that made it hard for me to finish this book.

I received this ebook copy from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.

I've read A LOT of Melissa's books, and this one by far is her BEST!
Follow the story of straight laced, never goes out of her comfort zone Talia, who's family is looking to find her someone to share her life! Her mom coats her car in one of those love potion concoctions she creates and boom she meets, well almost runs over Derek!
Derek has a lot going on in the background, he's an amazing man who cares for his father and wants to open a day care center for ailing adults! Melissa does an amazing job introducing us to his dads fight with Alzheimer's and the struggles the families encounter. Beautiful story, I'm still sighing while thinking about it! My favorite quote from the book: "I don't consider caring for your father as being strapped down. That would be like seeing Bridgette as strapped down because of her son. When it's family, it's not being strapped down. It's doing what's right, what your heart tells you to do." Gah so beautifully said. 5 trillion stars for this one, I absolutely loved this one! Grab it as soon as you can!

I have loved the Sugar Lake series and Love Like Ours just raised that emotion up about ten notches. Talia has her career and she's not looking for anything more... ever. She's done the falling in love thing with disastrous results and she will not risk her heart ever again. She has a comfort zone that she refuses to step outside of... right up until a near miss accident brings the most amazing man into that zone of hers and she has to rethink what she wants from life. Derek also has his own zone, but one born of necessity. His father is a victim of Alzheimer's and Derek will do everything in his power to keep his dad happy, content and healthy for as long as he possibly can. He knows that's a losing battle, but for the foreseeable future that is his purpose in life. His work, his classes, his life are contained and he's accepted that... right up until a near miss puts him in the orbit of a buttoned up, serious, lovely woman who reaches him on a level that cries out for a life of his own, and one with her.

Love Like Ours is a love story, pure and simple. You knew that I'm sure you're saying -- but I mean a love story that will touch your heart, linger in your mind, and just maybe let you understand that no matter what your other responsibilities are that it's okay to have your own life with all the joys possible, as well. I'm a caregiver myself, and a survivor of a love gone wrong as well... so I "got" both Talia and Derek on a level that touched deep for me.

I don't want to give away details of Derek and Talia's romance, that's something you should be allowed to experience firsthand. What I found in Love Like Ours was a sense of family and friends who love and support each other, finally dealing with a past hurt that is closing off Talia to any future she might have with Derek and accepting that life moves on and it's not a horrible thing to want a special, unique love in your own life while still caring for someone who was there for you and now needs you to be there for them. It's a realistic, believable story that many will see bits of their own lives mirrored from the pages. I loved stepping back into the Sugar Lake world once again for an amazing romance and would highly recommend Love Like Ours to any Romance reader who simply enjoys falling in love all over again.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Talia has been hurt by love in the past, so she embraces the routine of her daily life even if others believe it is boring and she needs to live a little. While having a conversation with her sisters about this very matter she is distracted and almost ends up hitting a sexy man who is less than impressed.

Derek has a lot on his plate. He is a caregiver to his father and he is a bartender/dancer so that he can pay to complete the courses he requires for his degree. His day did not get off to a good start when he is almost hit by a car but he can’t help but notice how attractive she is but he never expected her to be his professor.

These two are so different yet so perfect together. Derek brings excitement to her life but in order to be with him she must embrace every part of what makes him the man he is. Talia is so supportive of Derek and what he needs and her awesome family embraces him and his father like they have always been there.

This is a heartwarming story filled with humorous banter, hot chemistry but most importantly it shows the sense of family that this author always manages to create in her stories. I enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the next sibling. I voluntarily read an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book.

Talia, a professor at the local university, lives a life of consistency, control. Since a couple of her sisters have found love, they're always trying to set her up. While driving to work, Talia is distracted to the point of almost running over a man. Not just any man, but "Mr. Blue Eyes". He's absolutely gorgeous, but not at all her type. Yet she finds him intriguing. Making sure he's all right, Talia heads to class.

Derek, a student who is one class shy of finishing his degree, is running late when he's almost hit by an incredibly gorgeous woman. After teasing Talia a bit, he rushes off to class. After class, he walks by a class in session hearing a familiar voice. Intrigued, he decides to listen to the lecture. Derek finds Talia to be an amazingly smart and beautiful woman. Even though Derek is not enrolled in the class, he attends a couple more lectures when not caring for his father or working.

When Talia decides to take Derek up on his offer to meet up at a local high-end bar, she discovers Derek is a male dancer. Even though their chemistry is off the charts and Derek is captivating, Talia's not so sure she can get past Derek's current profession. Derek gently tells her, "It's what I do, not who I am". Best quote EVER!!! Even if she could accept Derek as a dancer, she knows nothing can happen between them as he is currently her student. Or so she thinks.

I LOVED this novel. Derek and Talia's journey was so original and well written! Melissa Foster nailed it!!! The witty banter and intellectual aspects were endearing. Alzheimer's effects on the family and the difficulty in finding reliable care for suffering family members, are very real issues. Add in Derek's friends, support group...LOVED it! I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.

Love like ours has a bit of ever - laughter filled with lots of love. Heartwarming and heartfelt.
Talks is a rule follower and has been burned by trust. Derek has goals and will do what it takes to reach that goal - dancing for money 😉 They have an undeniable attraction but ultimately it's love that needs to do its magic

Talia is a practical, by the book professor. She’s extremely cautious & guards her heart from pain. Her mother & sisters are driven by her nuts trying to fix her up. While on the phone with them & driving her car, she almost ran over Derek in the college parking lot. With his ratty jeans & long hair & obviously being a student, she shouldn’t be interested. Why can’t she get his blue eyes off her mind? When she finds out he’s a stripper/dancer, she knows she really can’t be interested in him.

Derek has every second of his day booked. With work, college, his thesis & being the primary caretaker for his father who suffers from Alzheimer’s, he doesn’t have time for a relationship. Something about Talia makes him keep hanging around. There’s no way she’d be interested in him, right?

The character development is this book is wonderful! I love that Ms. Foster has the man being the caretaker instead of the typical woman. The interactions between Derek & his father are both heartbreaking & affectionate. The love is apparent even through the mind fog the writer perfectly describes & has them dealing with. I love that the father’s character was treated with warm & dignity & was such an integral part of the story. Talia has to break through her own reservations about Derek & his job. Knowing that a professor’s reputation should be spotless, you knew her reservations weren’t just to protect her heart. This has to be one of my favorites!

This is the third in Foster's Sugar Lake series, but the first that I had read. While this does read it as a standalone, but you might get more out of it having read the first two books as the characters do play a significant role.

Having recently lost my mom to Alzheimer's, I found that aspect of the story very poignant. Many aspects and issues concerning the disease were dealt with head-on and were dealt with well (and thoughtfully). That being said, there were parts of this story that were just a little too “saccharine” for my taste.

For some reason, although Talia was supposed to be a college professor in her 30s, she often acted more like someone in her early 20s. That's not to say that "older" women can't have doubts and insecurities, because I certainly know first-hand that we can, but she just struck me as being younger than she was supposed to be. I also thought the drama over Derek's dancing was a bit overdone (maybe because that's because I don't think that Derek's dancing was such a big deal in the first place). And finally, I have to say that I think I wanted to punch Talia's sister Piper 90% of the time. I'm sure she'll be getting her own book – I hope she's far less annoying by that point.

Was it the best book I've ever read? No. Was it the worst? Absolutely not. It was perfectly fine, but it didn't blow me out of the water.

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Another great installment in the Sugar Lake series. Don’t worry, this is a complete standalone and you do not need to have read the other books to enjoy this one. What I liked about this book is that it was a little different than most, from how they met to occupations to family situations. This book showed a realistic side of life and romance. Derek is a caretaker of his father. This book addresses the struggles of being a caretaker and the fine art of juggling life’s responsibilities. I loved the family aspect of both Derek and Talia, and how Talia’s family just embraced Derek and his father. This story shows that life isn’t easy and both life and love take work. I love how supportive they are of each other and bring out the best of the other person. This isn’t a “billionaire alpha male” book. You get realistic characters with realistic circumstances. It’s such a nice change of pace. This series seems to be the most realistic of any of this author’s series. Because of this it has become my favorite series of hers. If you love Melissa Foster or if you’ve never read her, you need to check out this book.

Great love story that had me from the first page!Loved the cover too!Derek was such a good son to his father who was suffering from alzheimers,I couldn’t help falling in love with him a little myself.Talia meets Derek after she almost hit him while driving.They arent supposed to fraternize being shes a professor and hes a student.The attraction is undeniable and the story is full of love and heartfelt scenes.Well written and totally believable story.I read this book as an arc and this is my honest opinion.

Love Like Ours was amazingly simplistic and yet it managed to attack me right in the feels! Trust Melissa Foster to find a way to create a story that is low on angst and dramatics and high in romance and emotions. The perfect mix!

Talia Dalton lives in a box of her own creation. She has a comfort zone and despite the best efforts of her friends and family, she doesn't veer from it. That is until a near accident tilts her world on its axis, upsetting the delicate balance she's strived for her whole life. Because the most beautiful man she's ever seen, although he's so far out of her box as she can get, may just be the one to giver the love of a lifetime.

Derek Grant is a man on a mission. He's managing a juggling act in order to achieve his goals and he's got no time for a relationship. But when he's almost hit by a car, he realizes his life has room for more. Talia is everything he could ever want in a woman and just maybe his life can include some much needed love.

Whenever I'm looking for some sweet romance, I know I'll find just that with a story by Melissa Foster. She creates such wholesome characters with enviable ideas about love, life, family and expectations. Her heroes are always swoon-worthy and Derek was enough to make any woman sweat and faint. She also gives us spunky heroines that more than deserve the happy ending in store for them. Talia was intelligent, openhearted, giving, and family-oriented. Her ideals served as the perfect complement to those of Derek. They were such a perfect match and I'm so glad their story wasn't full of unnecessary pain or turmoil. It was so easy to visualize the man on the cover of this book as Derek. The description was so accurate and made me want to run my hands through his hair too!

If you're a fan of stories that are full of humor, family, friends, romance, heat, good times and feel goods - Love Like Ours is worthy of that one-click!

This is an emotionally charged and sweet romance and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this straight-laced professor who literally collides into Derek in the parking lot. He is a graduate student (though not one of hers) who is also a bartender/dancer at night and taking care of his father who is suffering with Alzheimer and even though his life is pretty full and chaotic he falls for the professor and makes it his duty to shake up her life, and he does. She definitely comes out of her comfort zone pretty fast and they fall pretty quickly. Was it the love potion her mother put in her car or was it fate? This was so well written and perfectly done, I did not feel I had missed anything by not reading the first two books in this series even though I am going to go back and find them now because I am totally drawn in by this Dalton family!

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

Talia Dalton is a college professor who is living her life on the conservative side until she almost runs over Derek Grant in the parking lot at the college. He's got long hair and tattoos, and not her idea of her perfect mate, but there's something about him that makes butterflies in her stomach. Derek is taking college classes, bartender, stripper and caregiver to his father who suffers from early stages of Alzheimer’s. He's not your typical college co-ed.... He's got a goal, and a plan on how to reach it. Talia and Derek bring out the best in each other. She fits right in with his father and he is welcomed into her large family with love. This is a wonderful story with lots of heat. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. Every book Melissa Foster writes in my new favorite. Kudos Melissa to a well written masterpiece.

This is book 3 in the Sugar Lake series and can absolutely be read as a stand alone. I haven't read the previous books and understood everything that happened in this one, the only thing that I feel like I missed out on was how any of the side relationships happened. This one is about Talia Dalton who is a professor and Derek Grant who is a dancer and bartender. Talia tends to keep to her path and doesn't like to stray off of it after a bad experience before. Derek is trying to juggle working with school and making sure his father is taken care of and happy. He doesn't have time to just be, let alone time for a relationship. Neither see the other coming.

I really liked this one. Talia seemed a little blah to me at times but only because she let one relationship rule her life, basically giving that man more than his due in the long run. Derek though, is just beyond anything you can expect. He has put his whole life on hold for his father. And that is the sign of a man that will stand with you through thick and thin. I loved him! Not only does he take care of his dad but once he meets Talia he somehow learns to make time for her even though he really doesn't have it. And he teaches her how to stop and enjoy things to bring her life more meaning and make it more enjoyable. I do have to say, they both complimented each other perfectly.

Talia is a teacher that isn't much for risk taking especially with her heart since she's had it broken before. Then the one risk that slipped though with her not quiet paying attention on the road almost hitting the hottest guy shes ever seen. From then on things get interesting. Derek is a dancer and bartender making ends meet while taking care of his father. He a man who knows what he wants and he has his eyes set on Talia.

I thought that this was an interesting and enjoyable book. I loved the connection, romance, and steamy scenes between the two. I loved the dual perspectives. I thought it was interesting getting Talia's take on things and how she was dealing with the fact that her boyfriend was a dancer and how her family would take the news when she tells them. I loved how loyal and loving Derek's character was he wasn't ashamed of his job and was willing to do everything he can to make sure that his father was taken care of. Overall this was a pretty great book, I pretty much devoured it from start to end. Highly Recommend!

I love Melissa Fosters books and this story exceeded even my hopes. Family is so important to me and seeing that same priority in Tali and Derek had me rooting for them to find their happy ever after together. The characters in this story were all very well developed, even the secondary characters. If laughed, I teared up... I could not put this book down.

Well …. She did it again. OUTSTANDING!

I think what I liked best about this story is that both Derek and Talia had growth journeys of their own intertwined with their romance journey. For me, that always makes for the best stories because that’s life. We are always evolving and growing, or at least we should be, but sometimes we hit a bit of snag and them someone comes along to unsnag us. LOL, I hope that makes sense to you guys. I’m pretty much trying to say that Derek and Talia were perfect for each other at the perfect time and Melissa Foster once again blew it out of the water.

Sidenote: Alzheimer’s disease is not something I know about because I’ve read about it in books. I have lived Derek’s life. There are no words that I can think of right at this moment that could describe what the disease will put a person and their loved ones thru. Decisions you wouldn’t even think possible will be made. Lives will halt. Priorities will shift. … Melissa Foster got it right. Well done!

4.5 stars--LOVE LIKE OURS is the third instalment in Melissa Foster’s contemporary, adult SUGAR LAKE erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women of Sweetwater, New York. This is college professor Talia Dalton, and male dancer Derek Grant’s story line. LOVE LIKE OURS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. SUGAR LAKE is a spin-off, and interconnected with a number of Melissa Foster’s other series.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Derek and Talia) LOVE LIKE OURS follows the building relationship between twenty-nine year old male dancer Derek Grant, and college professor Talia Dalton. Having nearly hit a man, with her car, in the school parking lot, Talia must come to grips with what appears to be said man in the class she is currently teaching. An offer of coffee, and thoughts of something more force Talia out of her comfort zone with the prospect of a potential problem by dating one of her students. Enter Derek Grant, male dancer and bar tender, and the man with whom Talia will fall in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Talia and Derek, and the potential fall-out as Talia struggles with what Derek does for a living.

Derek Grant is the sole provider and money earner for his ailing father Jonah, a man with middle-stage Alzheimer’s but a man whose deteriorating condition warrants plans for the future. In the final stages of his Master’s degree, Derek knows that his unconventional career choice is only temporary, but a choice that has Talia questioning the how and why. Talia Dalton is the easy going, practical Dalton sister but meeting Derek Grant pushes all of her buttons including buttons that spark with Derek’s touch. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary characters including Talia’s sisters Bridgette, her fiancé Bodhi and son Louie (Only For You #2), Piper, Willow and Zane (The Real Thing #1), their brother Benjamin, and their parents Roxie and Dan Dalton. Bodhi’s mother Alisha Booker returns, as well as Bodhi’s friend Aurelia. We are introduced to Derek’s struggling father Jonah Grant, his caretaker Maria, as well as Talia’s best friend and fellow professor Ryan Fletcher.

LOVE LIKE OURS is a story of family and friendship; struggle and admission; perception and acceptance. The premise is heart warming and intelligent; the characters are real, charismatic and lively; the romance is provocative and flirty. LOVE LIKE OURS is a character driven and clever story; a wonderfully sweet and compelling tale focusing on real issues and struggles of everyday people.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

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