All I Ask is a second chance contemporary romance story. Teagan has felt like she is useless other than her being a great single mom. Her mother doesn't help her feel better about herself. I did love the ending but most of the story I found myself skimming. It's a good book just I personally getting tired of reading this kind of story over and over. The girl has loved the boy since they were younger. She never gets the nerve to tell him because she doesn't want to lose him.

What I did love is how Teagan became best friends with Nina thru the years. Their relationship is so cute and real. Her relationship with Chastity a true example of how a parent will do anything for their child.

I picked this up at the recommendation of my good friend Estelle, publicist at Forever Romance. She told me it was a second chance romance between single parents who are 35 ish. I felt like I needed to read this and then had really high expectations.

(CW: widower hero, grief, ailing parent)

The heroine, Teagan, is struggling to get by. She runs her parents antique store. She is raising her teenage daughter alone. One day the school calls and Teagan’s daughter is in trouble for bullying. Teagan gets to the school and finds out that her daughter was fighting with the daughter of her long lost love. Teagan and Derek used to be best friends in high school (after a rocky start) and she loved him more than a friend. But she never told him. He is back in town because his wife passed away. The angst in this book is high.

Corinne was on the Forever IG account talking about this book. She mentioned that it had some similarities to Gilmore Girls. It actually had a lot of similarities to GG. I didn’t really enjoy the similarities. Probably because I wasn’t really enjoying the story.

It is hard to pinpoint one big thing that I didn’t like, rather a bunch of little things. Like the continued use of the word “bitch” to describe teen girls (13ish). I get that teen girls can be mean, but more than once Teagan referred to Derek’s daughter as a bitch. Also the characterization of Derek’s deceased wife bordered very closely to villainization. Both of those things get a hard pass from me.

My biggest annoyance was what I thought was a lack of the development of a grown up relationship. They reconnected and spent all their time talking about how they were as teens and early 20s. That was not enough for me to believe in them as a long term couple. They’ll be a marriage in trouble soon enough when they realize that they are grown-ups and can’t sustain a relationship on the same things they loved about each other when they were 18.

Some stories take hold of your heart and don’t let go. That’s what All I Ask did to me.

All I Ask is a second chance, friends to lovers’ romance that grabs from page one. Teagan Berkley is struggling as a single mother of a teenage girl. Every day feels like a fight to survive in a small town where everyone knows her business and adores the father of her child. Derek Hartz returns to town with his teenager burdened with the guilt of failing his wife, who recently died, and his childhood friend Teagan, who he deserted years ago.

I related immediately with Teagan. It is a struggle to raise a child alone especially when the money is tight, and the world around you seem to do everything possible to make life harder. I hurt for Teagan often when she questions her parents’ attitudes toward her. I love her relationship with her daughter, Chasity. Chasity is a mature child for her age, which is expected living in a small town with people talking behind your back always. She doesn’t fit in at all. She finds solace with the animals at the local vet where she volunteers.

Derek isn’t my favorite character in the beginning. He feels wimpy in the beginning, but the more we get to know him, the more we see his heart is in the right place. He wants to do the right thing by his wife and child. While their marriage wasn’t great, they were a team raising their daughter. Now he feels everything he does for Everly is wrong. Derek hurt his best friend Teagan, and the more he learns how she suffered the more guilt he feels. These two single parents are stepping lightly around everything past and present.

I love the way Corine Michaels blends real-life situations with the right mix of emotion, humor, and romance. Teagan and Derek take their time dealing with their past and present. It is believable the way the two main characters deal with past decisions before making any commitments. It is also touching that both parents put their child front and center. Finally, the ending is extremely satisfying and swoon worthy. Another Michaels’ homerun.

I've been wanting to read Corrine Michaels's books forever so a standalone like this one seemed a good point to start. I think I'm now where a lot of readers end up when they read like it's a profession - burned out and a little over the cliches and drama in some stories. So a book needs to be extra special to incite a lot of enthusiasm. Unfortunately All I Ask wasn't that.

Beware: There be spoilers.

For one I had a couple of WTF moments, like how the hero, Derek, told the heroine Teagan stone cold that they shouldn't talk anymore after being best friends for years. That after telling her she would never be without him in her life. He told her while she was close to her date giving birth to her daughter. And then the way he told her how he had always been in love with her came across like an accusation. This hero came across as weak for 75% of the story. He also was like a fish out of water dealing with his daughter, who was bullying Teagan's daughter. He didn't seem to make an effort to build a relationship with her although it was obvious that she was distraught over her mom's death and lashing out.

Was Derek sorry about the way he treated Teagan? Yes, but I couldn't find it in me to forgive him. He brought it on them and made Teagan suffer for it while he lived a fairly good life. I also thought it weird that he kept insisting how he loved his wife even though he also was in love with Teagan. Yet he walked away from her without a look back. He was a walking contradiction and his selfishness was a turnoff for me.

Then there was Teagan. Even after finishing this book I have no idea why she stayed with her boyfriend although she knew she was in love with her best friend. It was some really strange explanation about "not having an excuse as to why she can't be with Derek."

He’s the man I know one day I’ll be with, but right now, I can’t until I get my life straight. I’ll be ready to admit the truth, just…I need more time.

Say what?

And if that wasn't enough, the moment everything fell into place with the man she'd been in love with for half of her life she actually thinks about walking away from it...because money and getting out of town was way more important, apparently.

In parts this story was a little saccharine sweet, but it was the weak characters that threw me off. While this wasn't the big winner I expected I still want to give Corinne Michaels another try - I know a lot of my book buddies love her. As always, please don't take my words for gospel, there are many people who loved this story and it may be just a case of "it's me, not the book."

3.5 Stars

I’ve been reading Corinne Michaels for a while and I was beyond excited when I saw she was releasing this book. It combines some of my favorite tropes all in one! Childhood/teen best friends who had a crush on each other, now both single parents and they finally get a second chance at what could’ve been. Plus set in a small town! I was completely sold.

ALL I ASK delivered everything I wanted this story to be. An angsty romance between two characters that haven’t been able to forget what they felt for each other. Even after years apart and full lives on their own. It also has the dynamics of both of their families, especially their daughters who immediately don’t like each other. If there’s one thing I enjoy how Ms. Michaels does is relationships between people. Not just the romance, but the friendships and families.

I did think their story felt a little isolated and removed from the rest of the town. I would’ve liked to see them have to interact more and give us a sense of what their life outside of couple/parents is like. I wanted more small town charm.

Overall, this was a great story and I did enjoy reading it. The writing style and the emotional connection kept me turning the pages and needing to know more. The pacing was excellent as was the sexual tension. I am definitely looking forward to the next book by this author.

The drama-llama angst is alive and well with this one.

Teagan and Derek were best friends in high school and remained close even though they went separate ways for college. However, neither was ever willing to be honest about how they truly felt about the other. As a result, a pregnant Teagan stood by Derek’s side as he married his pregnant girlfriend. Then a few short months later Derek called and ended their friendship. The whole situation was young-adult-soap-opera drama in the truest form.

Thirteen years later, Teagan manages the family antique shop on Chincoteague Island where she grew up, and is raising her daughter Chastity. It’s not the life she wanted but she and her daughter are fine. Until the day Teagan comes face to face with Derek, who is back in town with his own teenage daughter and is now a widower.

In typical Corinne Michaels form, there’s lots of sad circumstances heaped with plucky women just doing their best to get by. What wasn’t typical was a trite and apologetic hero (and wasn’t an alpha-male, military type - hooray!) who was willing to talk things out and work for his forgiveness.

From the get go, I was a little ticked off about this book. For me, if you’re gonna write a dual point of view story, please please please give me an equal distribution of hero and heroine chapters. If less than a quarter of the story is going to be told from the hero's point of view, just don’t bother.

Admittedly, my preference for storytelling is not the dual POV technique to begin with. This book could be exhibit A of why: there was an abundance of melodramatic internal thoughts. Ms. Michaels is a queen of creating stories that are high on self-inflicted angst. Our hero and heroine are heartbroken because of the poor choices they made in the past, and we get a whole book dedicated to all their regrets. Thankfully, for the most part Derek and Teagan behaved like adults and didn’t make things worse. It was refreshing to see these characters willing to open up about the past and talk things out. I appreciate Ms. Michaels not dragging out their reconciliation or having them go round and round and round each other.

I also liked the side story with the teenage daughters. Chastity (which, by the way, I think is the most ironic name ever since she was the product of an unwed teenage pregnancy…) is dealing with mean girls and wanting to know the father who never wanted anything to do with her. And Derek’s daughter, Everly, is dealing with the loss of her mother and moving to a small town. The complications dealing with each of their situations added a layer of real-life conflict and was desperately needed to water down the faux drama created by Teagan and Derek’s thoughts and feelings about the past.

And speaking of real-life conflict...I’m not sure how I feel about the decision Teagan made at the end of the book. She was presented with an amazing opportunity and I feel like she took the safe route. Then again, getting everything she wanted - and deserved - is what “happily ever after” is all about, and is why I read romance stories in the first place!

So while I think the book ended well, I don’t feel a good final six chapters (out of 40) is enough reward for all the self loathing, internal lamenting I had to wade through to get to it. There were actual, real-life situations to deal with that, if focused on, could have made this a really great story. Instead, too much focus was on the past and how they were still being affected by it.

The thing is...I know this is the type of book I’m going to get with this author, and I need to decide if I’m going to keep reading her books. She deals more with emotions and feelings than actual situations, and I’m starting to think that...maybe...I’ve reached my saturation point.

* thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

There’s something about second-chance romances between two characters who were always supposed to be together that’s just so amazing to read. This is the kind of book that makes you ache because you can tell how much the characters truly love each other. Michael’s descriptions of love and intimacy between Teagan and Derek were so beautiful and heart-wrenching. I absolutely loved them and they were so fun to cheer for.

This book was perfectly paced. I feel like I’ve read some second-chance romances that skip the “second-chance” redemption required between the two characters and jump right into the “romance” portion - which ultimately just feels unsatisfying. That is NOT the case with “All I Ask”. It’s a slow burn that explores forgiveness - both of ourselves and our partners - and how much we allow the past to define ourselves. I loved the build up and all of the small moments between Teagan and Derek! The bar scene! The house hunting scene!!! Gah! Not to mention there’s a level of “One Tree Hill”-esque family drama that keeps things exciting.

“Tell me something real”

Teagan and Derek have been best friends since high school, and she's got a problem -- she's in love with him and he's going to marry someone else.

The start of this book is really terrific and pulled me right into this second chance / friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story. I felt compelled to find out what was going to happen to Teagan and her daughter. A former mean-girl, all that matters is her daughter, and she wants nothing to do with her sperm donor for good reason.

When Derek comes back into Teagan's life after thirteen years, it takes some time for Teagan to get over what he did to her. And then there is the matter of Derek's daughter who goes to school with Teagan's daughter and who just might be one of the mean-girls.

I loved the beginning of this story and how they recapture (with some trouble) their former feelings for each other. But once they get there, that's when the pace of the book slows down some until an incident with Derek and Teagan's daughter causes everything to blow up. And then there's a bit of twist at the end that had me hoping they could somehow, someway make things right between them again.

The story kept me engaged for the most part, although there were some slower spots (for me). If you are a fan of "true love / first love" stories, this standalone might be for you.

An ARC was provided. This is my honest review.

Feels 4
Steam 2
Storyline 4
Overall Rating 4
Kindle eArc provided by Author

Corrine Michaels never disappoints and with All I Ask she gives us another beautiful story about first loves and second chances. In staying true to one of the things I have come to know and love about her books this one was full of emotion and I knew going in to have my box of tissues close by and my wine glass full. This book definitely had all the feels.

Teagan was the super popular girl in high school. The one dating the QB who just so happens to be a jerk but the whole town worships him. Derek is the shy kid who is a tad different and loves animals way more than the closed minded jerks he goes to school with. They live in the same small town and have gone to school together their whole lives but have never really talked. Teagan gets assigned to tutor Derek and the two quickly become friends...best friends who are barely away from each other all through the rest of high school and college. These two have this amazing bond and I loved their friendship so much. Somewhere along the way their feeling towards each other change and they fall in love. This beautiful crazy once in a lifetime love. Both of them are afraid to ruin their friendship so they keep their feelings hidden from each other.

“I love her and I will never tell her. Because she’s not mine. She’s someone else’s.”

Fast forward a few years and Teagan is standing beside Derek as he declares his love and marries someone else. Her heart is breaking because she is wishing it was her. My heart hurt for her as she stood there trying to hold herself together as she watched the man she has secretly loved for so long marry another women. Then my heart shattered when not too long after the wedding she gets a phone call that destroys her.

“No one knows that he’s the one I love. No one knows that I wish I was standing in her place, hearing him proclaim his love to me.”

Fast forward thirteen years and Teagan hasn’t seen or talked to Derek but now he’s back in town and it’s only a matter of time before she sees him. She definitely didn’t expect the first time they would come face to face to be in the principal’s office at her daughter’s school. It just so happens they both are single parents who are raising thirteen year old daughters who hate each other. While they are dealing with that they are also dealing with seeing each other again and all that was lost over the past thirteen years. There is so much hurt and so many words left unsaid between these two. But there is also this crazy, beautiful love. I felt so bad for Teagan because she didn’t do anything to deserve what happened to her. Losing her best friend...her person almost destroyed her. I wanted to blame it all on Derek but as the story goes on we learn about what they both went through. It was so hard to place blame on anyone. Sometimes bad stuff just happens to good people. But they are both wonderful parents who are just trying to figure it all out as they go and trying to navigate their feelings too. There is so much emotion in their story and I was pulling for them to make it the whole way through. I loved this second chance love story and how it shows us that sometimes even when you feel broken there can be such beauty in starting over. I loved Teagan and Derek’s story and always look forward to reading more from this Author.

“You’ve been the part of me that’s been missing.”

I'm pretty much in the minority here. So maybe this is a me thing and not the book thing. This was just an alright story. Nothing really wowed me. I wish I could say I loved it, but to be honest I finished about an hour ago and I can't even remember the character names. Yikes!

I usually love Ms. Michaels' books but there was something about All I Ask that just didn't jive for me. I was easily distracted and I wasn't very fond of the flash back scenes. On top of that I didn't feel the connection. The chemistry.

I gave it two stars since I finished it, although I did skim.

I enjoyed the premise of this book but it fell short in a lot of ways for me. It felt repetitive, the author constantly reminds the reader of certain things and by the third time you have to just roll your eyes.

The dialogue between the adults was good for the most part but the younger characters seemed to use vocabulary that didn't seem right for their ages. Very Dawson's Creek in that way.

I was also confused about a plot point at the end that was clearly used to present a conflict but didn't seem at all realistic. I don't know about the world if art though so perhaps...

The general plot was good and the writing itself was as well but I just didn't love how it was put together. It needed more plot or fewer pages!

I would say more but I'd give away a lot, that's how little happens in this!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely love the characters and storyline. Corinne Michaels just sucks you in with her words. I loved reading every second. Emotional in a good way. Want to read it again and again. So frickin fantastic. Such an amazing heartwarming second chance romance. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

4.5 Stars

All I Ask is a top favorite read for 2020. I'm a big, big fan of second chance friendship/romance and this book had it all: drama, heartbreak and finding "the one" again.

Teagan and Derek were best friends in high school. They were opposites - she was the popular and dating the star high school quarterback. Whereas, Derek was awkward and not in the "in crowd." Their friendship was the best thing they had with each other, even though they were dating others at the time. And when their lives didn't go as planned - their friendship took a hit.

Thirteen years later, Derek is back home with a teen daughter and facing his best friend again, is going to be the hardest thing for him. Teagan is now a single mom and trying to raise her daughter as best as she can and Derek back is not easy.

This story is emotional and heartfelt. I loved every party of this book!

I’ve been looking forward to reading All I Ask since Corinne Michaels announced it, and hands down, this was one of my most anticipated books heading into this year. Everything about it spoke to me from the gorgeous cover to the blurb to the triple threat of a story rooted in three of my favorite tropes: friends-to-lovers, single parents and a second-chance romance. All I Ask gave every indication to me early on that it would be right up my alley and totally my jam—and it was. In every possible way, this memorable, poignant and deeply moving love story lived up to my hopes, exceeded my expectations and left me a fulfilled and sated romance reader.

Told in dual points of view, Michaels paints a vibrant picture of this couple’s bittersweet history by setting the story in Teagan and Derek’s present with flashbacks of their past. Corinne is not an author who shies away from angst in her stories, and she certainly didn’t here. Second-chance romances are naturally angsty, and All I Ask was certainly that. Teagan and Derek’s relationship began as a teenage friendship, and it quickly morphed into unrequited feelings of love.

Thirteen years after the abrupt ending of their friendship, they’re reunited in their hometown, and all of those feelings, along with all the hurt, pain and longing caused by the way their friendship ended, come rushing to the surface. Contradicting feelings war, and while the trust between them has been shattered, the foundation of love and friendship is still there beneath the rubble of their crumbled relationship. Derek was determined to earn Teagan’s trust back, but he also finally sees a real opportunity to have the relationship that he’s always wanted with her, and he’s not about to give up that chance. Teagan has been burned by life so many times, she’s afraid to reach out and take this chance, but Derek’s loving patience and steadfast resolve eventually win her over. A huge hurdle still remains, however, in their daughters and their acceptance of their rekindled relationship.

All I Ask was a beautifully written, touching and tender love story full of all the emotion and angst I’ve come to love in Michaels’ writing. Corinne’s keenly thoughtful storytelling offers a vivid portrayal of every facet of this relationship, and just as I’m sure she intended for me to do, I felt all of the feels and cried all the tears. While there was a lot of pain to sift through in this story, ultimately it was the underlying hope and the all-consuming love in it that captured my heart, and Derek and Teagan’s story will be one that I’ll not soon forget. A top favorite for 2020, All I Ask by Corinne Michaels gets five smooches from me.
~Danielle Palumbo, Red Cheeks Reads

Book Review { Thank you @readforeverpub and @netgalley for my gifted copy }

Let me start this post by wishing @corinnemichaels a happy #pubday for her newest book, All I Ask. Estelle described this one as a "small town, Gilmore Girls-esque, second chance romance between two best friends who are reunited after years of silence" and I couldn't have summed this one up better. This was an emotional, but amazing read that I hope you will consider buying. With the cancellation of signings, it is really affecting the sales of new books and this is such a great book. With the kindle edition only $4.99 I hope so many of you snag a copy for yourselves.

Book: All I Ask
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review: I'll be honest, I requested this book solely based off the cover without reading the synopsis and I was not disappointed. I devoured this one in one day (thank you social distancing) and it had me feeling all the emotions.

What I loved about this book:

1. Second chance romance and friends to lovers are my favorite tropes so I absolutely loved this book. Both characters are completely loveable and while their circumstances dictated their past, they were mature enough the second time around to prioritize what's important. Yay for character growth!

2. This book is told in dual POVs and in dual timelines. As you get to know both characters in both the past and present you see how much they've changed, but also how perfect they are for each other. I couldn't help it, but I was rooting for them to find their HEA the whole book.

3. While most characters in this book are amazing, the mother/daughter relationship between Teagan and Chastity is one of my favorite parts of this book. Was it perfect? Absolutely not, but it was real and relatable. They were my favorite and I didn't want the story to end.

I highly recommend this one! It was a great story set in a picturesque small town. I laughed, I cried, and never wanted this one to end, but I'm hopeful this standalone has a spinoff or two so I get a bit more of Teagan and Derek. 🤞 Does this sound like a book you would enjoy? If so, please consider grabbing a copy!

All I Ask is a stand-alone second chance and friends to lovers romance. I really loved it. I’m surprised I haven’t read any of her other books before!

The story follows Teagan and Derek who were once best friends full of love and secrets.

I absolutely loved all the characters. I’m kinda wishing we could get a book for Nina!

I highly recommend this book. It was a quick read full of love and heartbreak.

What a BEAUTIFUL story!

I just can’t with Corinne’s writing right now. So epically poignant and heart warming.

My heart actually aches now that I’ve turned the last page. You can’t help but be so engrossed in their journey back to one another and want to travel alongside them on the path they are forging together now. After all this time.

How their souls spoke to one another and the unwavering connection between them hadn’t diminished over the years was the stuff romance stories are made of. This is true love. This is what we all dream of. Aspire and hope for.

Like Derek and Teagan for one another, my love knows NO BOUNDS for this outstanding book from Corinne. 5 tell-me-something-real stars.

All I Ask is full of everything I love about a good romance novel. It's heartwarming, has just a touch of angst, and the perfect best friends romance. This book pulled me in from that heartbreaking prologue, and had me waiting to read chapter after chapter so I could see how Derek and Teagan's story ended.

I love that Derek and Teagan were unlikely best friends back in high school. He was a nerd, she was a cheerleader, but they formed an unbreakable friendship when she tutored him. It wasn't long before they started to develop feeling for each other, but since Teagan had a boyfriend, they each kind of ignored it. Eventually, being in love with each other and keeping silent is what led to the end of their friendship.

The story goes back and forth in dual POV between the past and the present, and we really see how Derek's feelings for Tea impacted his marriage, and how torn Teagan was about whether or not she should tell Derek how she felt about him. In the end, Teagan loved him enough to let him go.

Thirteen years later, Derek and Tea are reunited when he reluctantly moves back to their small town. They are forced to face their feelings, and their teenage daughters (who are complete opposites) are instant enemies. CM wonderfully navigates this tentative reunion as they hash out their hurts and hidden feelings, come to terms with their new realities, and attempt to move forward as a couple. And when Teagan gets a once in a lifetime opportunity, it threatens to destroy everything that they've been working toward.

From start to finish, All I Ask was a page-turner that left me feeling happy. I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

This book!! WOW!!!

This book played with my emotions and I was hooked into the story because it was so darn good. I couldn't put it down at all.

I have read a few books by Corinne Michaels but I think this one if my favourite so far.

I do highly recommend.

I am giving this 5 out of 5.

All I Ask is a well-written, angsty second-chance romance. Teagan and Derek were best friends in high school and were in love with each other, but never confessed their feelings because they were afraid of ruining their friendship. Then something happened and Derek cut off all contact with Teagan when she needed him the most. Now, thirteen years later, he returns to their small town and is trying to make amends and repair their relationship.

I loved the fact that both characters were single parents in their mid-thirties. It was interesting to read not just about their romance, but also about their parental struggles and dilemmas. I found some parts of the book repetitive, Derek and Teagan seemed to rehash the same conflict/argument over and over. Other than that, I really enjoyed All I Ask. I would recommend it to fans of small-town and second-chance romance.