I'm really loving this series. There's something about the premise that totally works for me, and the first two books have been executed so well! ICYMI, three women meet when their significant other, Brayden, passes away. Yes, all three of them were with him. One is the casual hookup, one is the girlfriend, and one is the wife. Naomi, the hookup, was the first book in the series. For our second story, we learn about the wife - Claire.

Claire is itching to move on from her slimy ex by redoing the brownstone they shared for years. She can finally design it to her liking, so she hires a contractor. Scott is the best friend of Oliver from the first story. They've both been burned before and are afraid of commitment as a result. He's definitely a grumpy leading man, which usually works for me, and Claire was so innocent and cute. She determines that she's too vanilla and needs to "strawberry lemonade" up her life a little bit. She took that part a little too far at times but it wasn't terrible. I really enjoyed watching their relationship slowly develop throughout the story. 

My biggest complaint is that because the book came in at under 300 pages, it felt underdeveloped at times. We got stories of Scott's past/backstory via other characters but never really in his own words to Claire. Sometimes he reflected on it during his POV chapters but not quite enough. At one point, Claire makes a comment about her parents not knowing her favorite color, and I feel like there must be more backstory into her family then? I feel like they were mentioned SO incredibly rarely. Some development surrounding Claire's future (mild spoiler so I'll avoid it) was very randomly thrown in. It made me happy in general, but I just needed a little MORE from this one.

This was a quick and enjoyable read; I immediately requested the third book on Netgalley upon completion! I can't wait to read Audrey's story, which BETTER BE best-friends-to-more.

I loved the first book in the Central Park Pact Series so I was excited for Claire’s book. We first got to know Claire at her husband’s funeral when she met and became close friends with his girlfriend and his mistress. After being blindsided by her husband‘s double life, Claire‘s looking to reinvent herself, starting with a home renovation. She recruits her sexy, gruff contractor in her effort to breathe life into her “vanilla” existence and, despite her vow to avoid guys with trouble written all over them, she soon falls for a man who’s even more cynical about love than she’s become.
I’ve read and loved a number of Lauren Layne’s books but this is definitely one of my top favorites. I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so emotional. These characters drove me crazy at times but they also tugged on my heartstrings. I even teared up a few times. It’s a slow-burning romance so it tested my patience but it ultimately satisfied the hopeless romantic in me. The ending had me swooning and made me even more impatient for Audrey’s book. If y’all haven’t grabbed this yet, I highly recommend adding it to your TBR list.

This series has been such a delight to read. I really enjoyed this book, even more than the first! Layne writes these relationships so well. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a great romance!

I can't resist a Lauren Layne book. She's a good palate cleanser and one to reel me in when I haven't read a book in a literal month.
This book was entertaining for the most part. There were things that I liked and things that I didn't care for. Claire is a widow who is in need of a big change. Scott Turner is there to help her with that change...as in the change to her brownstone. He's a contractor that is going to help her redesign her brownstone and possibly a little more.
As always, her characters from previous books intertwine so she creates one big universe. While I haven't read the first in this series (but now I want to), I could still keep up for the most part. It mostly focused on Claire and Scott and I thought they had a pleasant amount of chemistry. They butted heads in the beginning while Claire keeps asking for all shades of pink throughout the house, mainly because her dead husband was what kept her in her 'boring' role. I liked the growth that she went through in finding herself after having to deal with the death of her husband and the scandal that followed it. I lied Scott, even if I thought he could use some more development.
As a whole, I found this book to be lacking a bit. This is like a PG-13 version of all her other books that left a bit to be desired. It could definitely benefit from being longer so the chemistry between Scott and Claire could be even better and the build-up would be more satisfying. It definitely lacked in the smut department when that's usually something the author is really good at writing. I do like that Claire wasn't the one who had to make the sacrifice in the end. This book is worth three stars and it's a nice read. I thought to rate it as 4 stars until I got to a certain point in the story where things started to slow down. Overall, it's a quick beach read.

This series makes me so happy. I love this installment with the strangely wealthy contractor (suspension of disbelief!!!) and the widow. I knew from the first book that I'd enjoy all three books.

I have to say, Lauren Layne’s Central Park Pact series is easily become one of my favorite steam free series! I love steam in romance, so I never thought I’d have a favorite without steam. But this series and these characters are so delightful! It’s impossible not to fall in love with the storylines. I really enjoyed Passion on Park Avenue a few months ago, but Love on Lexington Avenue was even better!

Claire is trying to take her life back after unexpectedly losing her husband and the life she knew at the age of 34. After forming a friendship with her deceased husband’s girlfriend and mistress, they decide to have a pact to stop each other from dating terrible men again. Instead of dating, Claire decides to finally renovate her dated brownstone and hires a gruff, handsome contractor to do it.

Oh, I loved the back and forth between Claire and Scott so much!! He’s so cranky and has no patience for her desire to make her house pink and different from the vanilla life she’s been living. And Bob! I adored the addition of Bob, Scott’s giant dog. Seeing Scott and Claire realize their attraction to each other throughout the book was just perfect. Claire is also working on trying to figure out where her life is going after living as a housewife for so long. I was so satisfied with how she worked on finding her passion! As with Passion on Park Avenue, the side characters were truly enjoyable. I love seeing the friendship between these women!

Love on Lexington Avenue was delightful and heartwarming, it was a 4.5 star read for me! I highly recommend reading the series in order to fully appreciate the characters and their “pact”! I’m really looking forward to Audrey’s story next!

Loving this series. I love hearing about New York City and I love the different stories the girls have. This one had me hooked and I really loved the main characters. I’m really looking forward to book 3 in this series. These girls are fun, feisty, and full of life. Thank you NetGalley.

Love on Lexington Avenue was totally unexpected. Layne has the courage to say the words we often long to say, but are afraid to speak. With a laugh here, a heartache there and empowerment everywhere, Claire is a contradiction that needs to be explored. Her need to try something new becomes the best decision she could have made. Scott is no Prince Charming. He's a beast with a designer's eye and very little patience. Can the ice around his heart, thaw enough to heal the pain that haunts his latest client? Layne and company turn up the charm with a modern day, Beauty and the Beast. Fun, flirty and sassy.

Lauren Layne’s second book in her Central Park Pact series, Love on Lexington Avenue gives readers everything that they could possibly want in a romance novel from amazingly supportive female friendships and wonderful character development to pages full of swoony moments. Readers will be delighted by and invested in Claire and Scott’s emotional journeys and cheer them on page after page. Lauren Layne’s Love on Lexington Avenue is sure to be a hit with romance readers.

Love on Lexington was a quick, fun read about recently widowed Claire opening herself up again. While it is book 2 in The Central Park Pact Series, it definitely can be read as a stand-alone. However, I recommend starting from the beginning with Passion on Park Avenue!

Sexual content is very closed door, but saying this is a clean read is a stretch because there’s a decent portion of the book where Claire is looking for a one-night stand and there are a handful of sexual references as well. There’s also some language in this one. But nothing explicit and ill-fitting with the storyline.

That said, I feel like it reads on the level of what would be a PG-13 rom-com and I did enjoy it. I could totally relate to Claire in being more vanilla than strawberry lemonade (case in point- I want the boring, plain glazed donut any day everyday) and I enjoyed seeing her get a second chance at romance! I am definitely looking forward to reading Audrey’s story next!!

This was really somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but I rounded up!

Thank you to Gallery books and Netgalley for a free advance copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I loved this book!!!! If you’re a romance reader, you probably know that in the very best books, you also fall in love with the character - you get butterflies in your stomach, you squee out loud (hopefully in your home, maybe in public - no judgement here!) - this was one of those books for me.

At the start of the book, Claire is celebrating her 35th birthday on her own with a special treat she picked up - her favorite cupcake, vanilla with vanilla icing. But she realizes this is a metaphor for her life - is she always choosing boring vanilla everything? She calls her friend Audrey and asks her the best flavor cupcake she’s had recently - and they are off to her strawberry lemonade cupcakes instead.

From that point on - Claire is determined to live a less vanilla and more strawberry lemonade life. She’s about to start a major renovation project on her upper east side brownstone - and is rethinking all the shades of white she had carefully chosen.

When she first meets the contractor Scott - she’s not sure what to think of him, he’s grumpy and dressed like Luke from Gilmore Girls - but he can take on the project and meet her budget - so they will be spending a lot of time together.

I loved both the main characters and enjoyed seeing Claire’s friends who we met in Passion on Park Avenue. While it’s nice to have the background - you could certainly read this as a stand-alone. And while I liked the first book, I LOVED this one. I highly recommend if you are in the mood to fall for a new book boyfriend. For those interested in a steam rating - closed door romance, no steam on the page.

Thank you very much to the publisher and Netgalley for the free review copy.

Another hit from Lauren Layne. If I know nothing else, I know I'm going to get a romance that makes me feel good.

Every.
Single.
Time.

This is a great story of friendship, love, and finding yourself.

Claire and Scott are not a likely pair, yet they find each other anyway. And because love doesn't have boundaries and love doesn't know that you aren't really looking for it, it hits you when you least expect it.

Slow burn, witty, charming, fade-to-black. If this is up your alley, then grab it now!

We finally have the Central Park Pact next installment and all the women are back with a friendship stronger than ever and a romance that is light and sweet and dreamy!

For this story, we have Claire Hayes, the widow. The betrayal from her cheating and dead husband scarred her a lot. Meeting and befriending the other two women her husband was with, makes her question herself. Sadly, her self-confidence plummets to the ground. She sees that she's very plain, not exciting, a first-class boring person. She wants to change aspects of her life to seem less of what she thinks she is. She also wants to dive into the "fling" part of dating so she turns to dear Scott for help.

In comes Scott, the dreamy contractor. He's willing to remodel her house, but he's so not what Claire imagined him to be nor what she normally liked in a guy. But slowly, this flannel-wearing man started growing on her.

I'm going to have to divide this review so I can actually form coherent thoughts.

The characters:
🌻 Claire is a beautiful women who I felt so much for her. I hated that she questioned herself so much. I just wanted her to see how truly astounding she was! (Also, am I the only one who pictured Claire Holt as her?) I mean, being frank, I love how vanilla she is. It gives this sense of innocence to this widowed woman that I found so refreshing. I utterly loved seeing Claire accept herself, while at the same time, blossoming into a better version of herself.

🌻 Scott is the complete opposite of Claire. He's abrasive, blunt, irritable, yet these qualities enhanced the allure surrounding his character that had me with heart for eyes!

The friendship:
🌻 I've said it over and over, but LAUREN LAYNE WRITES THE BEST FRIENDSHIPS! If it's even possible, the friendship was superior in this second installment. The women were closer and the friendship had this intimate feel to it that had my heart warming all over. These ladies keep showing that even if it was an undesirable circumstance that brought them together, they have left that long in the past, with no ill-feeling towards one another, and their focus is to see one another happy. I want to be a part of their friendship!!!

🌻 Something that shone bright for me was the male and female friendships! Usually, in LL's books, the male friendships are incredibly tight, as well as the female friendships. But in this novel, we have them coming together and I was loving every second of it! The male characters were so there for the female ones and that brought so much joy to my heart!

The romance:
The romance was definitely heightened in this novel. There were so many interactions between Claire and Scott that had me loving it all! Right from the beginning, there's tension, sass, spark, chemistry and snark between them. There was no denying that these two were holding on by a thread. And when they came together, it was ever so sweet! It was also explosive but the author doesn't go all that into details, which I'm so not agreeing with. Like, please give me all the dirty details. Sincerely, a pervy reader.

Once again, Lauren Layne created a marvelous and charming romance that warmed me all over. Not only that, LL created a world that I want to be a part of for the rest of my life!

Loooved this book. Love on Lexington Avenue was everything I could have asked for. Lauren Layne did not disappoint.

The second book in Central Park Pact series is probably my favorite so far. After reading Passion on Park Avenue, I was curious to see how Claire Hayes would deal with the death and betrayal of her husband.

As a way to restart her life, Claire decided to remodel her Lexington Avenue home. She hires Scott Turner, a surly but very successful contractor for the job. From the beginning these two butted heads. Lauren Layne always writes amazing banter. The back and forth between Scott and Claire was so entertaining. I couldn't get enough. They'd bicker but you could feel their attraction through the pages. I am always in the mood for a good opposites attract love story. Give me a broody, jaded, unable to stay in one place for long hero paired with a priss and proper widow any day.

That's being said, the romance sort of felt second to the the Claire's self discovery arc. After feeling so "vanilla" and boring, I loved seeing her branch out and really find her identity. She showed a lot of strength with her vulnerability. That's my favorite part of the book. It made her so relatable.

The Central Park Pact has very quickly become one of my absolute favorite series. I am even more obsessed with this group of friends. I am just dying to read Audrey and Clarke's story next.

Love on Lexington Lane was a book that I was highly anticipating this year, but it really turned into a disappointing read. To be honest, I wasn't expecting this book to be Chic Lit. Now, don't get me wrong, I am okay with Chic Lit, it's just not my cup of tea. At all. I guess this may be why I couldn't get into Passion on Park Avenue.

I really love the premise for Love on Lexington Avenue. This is the second book in the Central Park Pact series and features newly widowed Claire Hayes. It has been about a year since her cheating husband passed away and she is now ready to renovate her brownstone. Enter the hero, Scott who is her new contractor and sparks fly!

While the story revolved around the romance between Claire and Scot, it really focused on Claire's journey of letting go and accepting and embracing herself. She really lost her identity when she was married to her husband and she still can't let go. While I like that part, I was really disappointed by the whole vibe. YES, it is Chic Lit and YES, it is fade to black and I was not expecting that at all.

I really enjoyed Lauren Layne's Wall Street Series. In fact, Hot Asset made my top read last year! Love on Lexington Avenue was not what I expected, and I really felt so disappointed.

I will say that my disappointment stemmed from the fact that the sexytimes was fade to black! And mostly, it's because I just did not expect it. Especially since there was some sexual innuendo between Naomi and Oliver that the girls were talking about in one of the scenes.

Claire and Scot's romance and chemistry was spot on, but I really needed more development. Love on Lexington Avenue was really charming and sweet, but it really left me wanting more.

I have to say that I love the dog named Bob! She is a female dog but she's named Bob and she immediately endeared herself to me! I also love Claire's relationship with Bob! I also love the camaraderie and relationship between Naomi, Claire, and Audrey! Their friendship really is the best thing in this book!

Love on Lexington Avenue was really well written and it still has the signature Lauren Layne wit and banter, but I just felt that it needed more.

4.5 stars. I adore this series! I picked up the first book at the library so I could read it to prep for this ARC, and I fell in love with it and read it in a day. I read this one in one sitting also. It's the sort of story I sort of fall into and forget I am reading.

The three core characters in the series are fascinating. They all carry the baggage from the man they unknowingly shared, but they also have quirks and issues outside that that they bring into their relationships. I love watching them work through those and find love. Great chemistry between Claire and Scott in this one, even when they are growling at each other or trying to fix one another up with someone else. I can't wait to read book 3 (January 2020)! (Language, sex)

Beautiful story of life, love and romance in the city! Continuing to live in the city where finding love seems impossible yet finding it in unexpected places

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
4.5 STARS

First off, this is the second book in the Central Park Pact trilogy. I did NOT read the first book, however, Love on Lexington Avenue can be read as a standalone because I never felt lost. This story centers on Claire who, finding out that her now-dead husband was cheating on her with not one, but two women, finds her life flipped upside down. She quickly finds friendship and camaraderie with the "other women" - Naomi and Audrey- and they make a pact to not let each other date men like him ever again.

One year after his death, Claire decides that she is done being stuck in a drab "vanilla" existence of living day to day. In her process of rediscovering herself and her life outside of being a widow, Claire decides to renovate her house to make it more her style and less of her dead husband's. On the recommendation of Naomi's beau Oliver, she hires Scott, a gruff and handsome contractor to get the job done. He and his dog Bob soon become a big part of her life, which screams COMPLICATED! She knows he doesn't do serious, and will be leaving town as soon as her home project is finished.

I highly enjoyed this book! The dynamic between Claire and Scott was dynamite. Their dialogue was so fun to read, and both characters were deep and relatable. Claire was flawed yet brave, and Scott was gruff but kind.

The story made me laugh out loud a few times, and I even got teary-eyed at others. It was the perfect read I needed right now. I also really liked that although it is a romance novel, it hit deeper emotional levels with messages of reinventing yourself after struggles, or times of burden (in this case a double whammy of spouse death/spousal betrayal).

The vanilla vs. strawberry lemonade analogy was fun and relatable because I think everyone feels stuck in a rut or "vanilla" every now and again in our lives and want to feel more "strawberry lemonade." I also really love a well-written romance that doesn't need to be vulgar or sexually descriptive to be steamy and romantic, and Lauren Layne does this VERY well! Just the right amount of sizzle mixed with all the emotions to make a well rounded and beautifully written story.

I highly recommend this if you love a good contemporary romance. I am super excited now to read the first book, and look forward to reading Audrey and Clarke's story next!

*Much thanks to Gallery Books, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!*

This is the second book of a trilogy that follows three women, Naomi, Claire, and Audrey, who find out that they were all with the same man after his untimely death. This book takes place approximately a year after the first one and is about Claire, his wife, learning to move on and find herself again beyond being a widow. She's starting with renovating the house she shared with her husband with the help of one cynical contractor, Scott.

Claire and Scott's story was absolutely adorable. I love a good grumpy hero and seeing Claire bounce back from not only the death of her husband, but the news that he had been cheating on her. This book really got to my emotions and it's not easy for writing to do that.

The only thing with this series is that it seems rushed. I found this book better than the first, but the characters still lack distinct voices and the progression of events doesn't always feel natural. The ideas are there, but the execution just could have been fine tuned.

Thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed book 1 in this series and LOVED this one even more!
These three women who have met under the craziest of circumstances have bonded and become such good friends and have made a pact to protect each other from "bad men".
Love on Lexington follows Claire Hayes, the cynic widow, on her quest to change her vanilla life to strawberry lemonade beginning with the outdated home she shared with her late husband.
Enter hottie contractor friend of Oliver, Scott Turner, a tell it like it is, honest guy, not looking for love or attachment, but the best at what he does.
Claire and Scott both have preconceived notions of each other so it was fun to watch them uncover what was underneath—two mistrustful people hurt by someone they loved looking for that special someone to make them whole again. I loved their interactions, the witty banter and fun arguments, Bob the dog. I loved the slow build, the feelings and eye contact that saw under the surface.
<i> I've never felt like I do when you look at me.</i
Lauren Layne writes romance that you fall deeply in love with... characters who embed themselves into your hearts and leave you wanting more. This was a fun second chance romance that you don't want to miss!