Why I Held Your Hand is the perfect rom-com. It's exactly the right mix of meet-cute, a little steamy romance, and a small town with its typical antics. The characters are believable, and the plot is perfectly paced. You definitely need this one in your life!

Thank you netgalley for adding this to the read now section, I was so happy! This was such a good book. I loved the characters, the story was fun & it was a quick read! Be sure to pick this one up ASAP!

I really enjoyed Why I Held Your Hand! It swept me up and had me itching to see how the story would play out.

It's set in a small town, which Laura is trying to bring more tourism dollars to via a marketing campaign. She falls into a bit of instalove with David, the team's project manager. But the story doesn't end there! The synopsis will give you a bit more info on the plot, but I liked going into the reading experience without, so I won't mention more.

I didn't totally love one of the character's behavior in a few spots; I wish it were made clearer that what they did was just not an appropriate way to treat someone. It also felt off for Laura's weight and bustiness to be pointed out.

Still, a fun reading experience (that kept me turning the pages past my bedtime). Also the sex scenes are pages long.

3.5 stars

Content warnings: flippant comment about wanting to kill oneself, recollection of the death of a parent

Laura is stuck in a love triangle, with two kind and amazing men and it is sooo steamy! I read this book in one sitting and I couldn’t get enough. The characters are all so likable and when Laura is faced with making a decision that will affect all of their lives, I shared that stress with her. Neither of the men had done anything wrong, and they both love Laura completely, but I picked a favorite and was rooting for him the whole time. I was happy with the ending and it completely melted my heart.

I am still completely confused by this mess of a story. It set my teeth on edge from the very first page because somehow the author seems to think that to hook a reader, you make no sense. I also hated that it seemed to be a clean story, only to find out halfway through, it was only clean because the characters hadn't had sex yet, but it was suggested several times. Uh, what? Then suddenly, they're discussing the MC to be old-fashioned and I'm like, she is? What? Then she <spoiler>is proposed to and sleeps with another man on the same day? WHO DOES THAT?! Especially after we've been told she's so nice and old-fashioned?</spoiler>. This whole book is confused trash. Don't waste time or money.

I was provided with an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is not your typical rom-com book. It starts out cute and funny, and it was sweet reading about Laura's relationship with David develop and her finding a connection with Spence. But she was in a full on relationship with David before she developed feelings for Spence which made it feel less rom-com and more a story about cheating. And the sex scenes were a bit too drawn out and graphic, which took away from any lightheartedness of the book. The last scene of the book was sweet though, but it was a bit of too little, too late. Either this story wasn't really for me or the author needs to decide what story she's really trying to write.

2.5 stars for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rhapsodic Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS

This was a cute holiday romance that took place in a small town. While I knew there was a love triangle at heart, I really struggled with the fact that Laura seemed to have no guilt stringing two men along.

I'll be frank I just don't think this book was meant for me. There were strange religious moments, the sex scenes had odd phrasing that pulled me out of the moment, there was an over emphasis of stereotypical gender roles that was starting to make me feel uncomfortable, zero mention of birth control despite sleeping with both men (zero judgment she can do what she wants but do it safely and have a conversation), and a lack of empathy on the part of the heroine. I was just not invested in her story. I favored Spence but could not root for Laura.

A steamy read this was just not my cup of tea.

Rating: 2
Steam: 3

Well, the title and cartoony cover art are somewhat misleading. There is a LOT more than hand-holding going on in North Powell.

In fact, the really looong and explicit sex scenes (head-scratchingly complex at times, with zero mention of any use of protection) alternating with the saccharine gooeyness of the love story gave me whiplash. Love <i>stories</i>, technically, since this is a love triangle where the heroine is actually in a relationship with one of the guys while entertaining sexual attraction to the other one.

I appreciate some of the bold narrative choices there. It reminded me that romance novels are pretty conservative and have some deeply entrenched, unspoken expectations about the moral uprightness of its heroines (but not necessarily of the heroes, as we all know). Heroines may be sex-positive these days, but outright cheating and having multiple partners is a definite no-no.

The real strength of the story is the banter between the leads, which is a lot of fun. The prose could use some fine-tuning: though I'm no prude I find sex scenes that are all about the sex rather than expressing the relationship to quickly veer into pornographic territory. It's a reminder of how hard those things are to write. Er, excuse me--<i>difficult</i>.

This book was fantastic!! The quintessential holiday rom-com, I was swooning at both of the male characters and caught in Laura's dilemma of who to choose. Her heat with both was sizzling, with the perfect amount of romance and setting to make you wish that were you. Loved it.

North Powell is a small town in the mountains. It is as quaint as it is beautiful. Laura has a small knitting business and has just volunteered to commandeer the towns future marketing plan. The surrounding areas tend to draw larger crowds and more tourism than North Powell but Laura is determined to make it the destination she believes it could be. They hire an esteemed firm to represent them and Laura is shocked to find the team leader includes a very handsome charming young man named David. Their instant chemistry and common goals make for the perfect match, she is smitten. Along comes Spencer Markham who is sent on behalf of the firm to assist Laura with launching the new and creative campaigns. Although awkward at first, it doesn’t take long for Spence and Laura to find themselves on exactly the same page. She must now quickly figure out how far she is willing to go to save the town and her own heart as well. Just as I devoured Gilmore Girls, Sweet Magnolia, Virgin River and Hart of Dixie (you get the picture!) I fell in love with North Powell and this wonderfully sappy, slightly steamy romance that should not be missed!

Well, THAT was not for me.

I'm never too into love triangle romances in general
because it always feels like someone's "cheating", even when it's more "emotional cheating". But, in this book you get the ACTUAL cheating. It was really weird reading descriptive, open door, sex scenes between the same woman and two different men.

It's a shame because this book had really engaging characters and good writing. But the cheating destroyed it for me.

I kept wishing that one of them men had never been in the story at all. This could have been a great book without the love triangle. I know some readers are into this trope, but it's just not for me. Lesson learned.

TRIGGERS: Fatal aneurysm, cheating

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

This story was about a girl named Laura who tries to save her small town because it is having financial issues and can no longer compete against the surrounding towns with their fancy ski slopes and hot springs. She decides to acquire help from a marketing team to figure out how to keep the small town charm but increase tourist trade. She first meets David, who is a part of the marketing team, and they instantly fall in love, but they have to keep their relationship a secret from his company. She then starts working with Spence and as they grow closer together, Laura finds things becoming complicated.

This book seemed like it was going to be a cute love story, which includes small town charm, like in Gilmore Girls. While it did have those charming aspects, it also includes a lot of steamy scenes that I much appreciated. Also, don’t assume it’s a holiday novel because of the cover since most of it actually takes place when it’s warm during the summer, so that was a little misleading. I’m really glad I got to read this because it was really enjoyable. Some parts of this story was a little predictable, especially from the middle and towards the end, but it didn’t ruin the story to me. It wasn’t a five star read because while as did like the story, I don’t think the characters are very memorable. I didn’t care much for the characters, I liked the actual story better.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for letting me read this story in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very entertaining story! From page one, I was drawn in with the humor. I had to read it quickly to find out who Laura would end up with and why. Definitely worth the read!

I loved it! The characters were great and I really enjoyed the setting, the vivid descriptions really allowed me to visualize and experience the small town charm. I really enjoyed Why I Held Your Hand, especially how to title fit into the book.

Messy Love triangle storyline. Lots of gratuitous sex and fantasy role play. Main heroine that falls flat as a character. Not much to recommend this one.

This is a book about small town and love triangle. This was a sweet and quick read.
With a little spice to it.
I enjoyed it.
3.5 stars.

CW: Infidelity

I have some mixed feelings on this one, which are primarily driven by the infidelity in the story line.
This is a small town romance with a love triangle, and I really liked a lot of things about this book. It was a quick, steamy read that I was quickly drawn into. And by steamy I mean, gonna have to take a cold shower after reading this, whew!

I like Laura, for the most part. She falls for David and then, later, falls for Spence. She genuinely cares for both men and, at first, tries not to hurt either of them. This is where my dilemma comes in: there were so many situations Laura put herself in that were very obviously inappropriate. It felt icky to read about the emotional & physical cheating. However, I was invested in both relationships and could see how they each pulled her in different directions. Neither was a bad guy, so it sort of ripped my heart out that one was going to get hurt.

Overall, I like the conclusion (the last sentence, oh my heart! I loved it!) and I enjoyed following her relationship with each man separately, I just didn’t like that they were both happening at the same time.

Why I Held Your Hand by Augusta Reilly is a small town romcom that follows Laura, and her love triangle. This is a fun, quick read that is sweet, and holds a good bit of spice (hubba hubba). Perfect for Hallmark Holiday Movie lovers who enjoy the small town story. 3/5

I only started reading romance about a year ago because of Bookstagram! I have never read a romance novel about a love triangle but I was here for it and read this one in less than two days. I HAD to know which guy Laura was going to pick - the straight laced finance guy from the marketing firm or the rough around the edges creative genius. This book was super well-written, SUPER STEAMY and had me turning pages and staying up way past my bedtime. I am still thinking about it three days later!! It was SO GOOD!!

I adored this. I went off the cover and two lines of the blurb and it paid off.

Laura hires a big marketing firm to help boost her little town's appeal and she gets so caught up with witty and handsome David she almost doesn't notice Spence and his immediate awe of her.

Reilly did one of my favorite things in books: dropping innocent lines and dialogue that come back to hit you like a bag of bricks toward the end. And I never saw it coming, made me want to reread it as soon as I finished to pick up those clues.

Initially I was worried about the pacing, Laura and David moved way too fast: their words, their actions, their banter felt like it was all they had. And maybe I'm right and maybe it did all serve a purpose to contrast with her interactions with Spence, but till the end it bugged me how fast they moved. The moment with Spence and the tie I was hooked and by the end I was so full of anticipation and joy that I had tears welling up.
And I really appreciate that Reilly did not make it a super obvious choice for Laura, she didn't pit the two men evilly against each other. she didn't write one or the other as the obvious "bad" option, she made Laura's choice real and believable, even relatable.

Sometimes the banter between characters was too witty, too funny, too perfect, bordering on unbelievable but the rest of the book was great. I would definitely reread this, recommend to my friends, buy a copy for my shelves.