I'm a fan of best friends to lovers romance stories, so I was looking forward to reading this. The blurb really caught my eye because I'm a sucker for the underdog in a story and Alex Brennan certainly painted himself as such.

I admit that it took me a while to get into the story and that whole "mistaken identity" sex scene 🙄. The first few chapters dragged a bit for me, but I understood that the author was trying to give us a broader sense of the town and the people that comprised Alex and Ellie's friends and family. As the story progressed and I got more familiar with the characters and the author's writing style, I started to enjoy myself more and more.

That's not to say that every element brought to the page worked for me, but ultimately the romance aspect won me over, simply because of Alex. He was sweet and caring and he loved big. I loved how he related with the other characters and what those exchanges revealed about his personality and his feelings.

As the first book in a series, <I>The Best Man</I> worked well. I enjoyed the small town setting and the secondary characters that made up Alex and Ellie's friends and family.

All in all, a sweet friends to lovers romance.

I have to admit I struggled with this book, it was, right from the start, as if I was missing something of the story, like when you read a book that's part of a series and you didn't realised before.
The whole scene at the wedding was upsetting and almost put me off from reading on.
But I'm happy that I didn't give up because I have to say it's very well written and there's a depth and a growth of the characters that make it worth.

When I really cannot actually be rooting for the couple in a romance, I do not feel interested to finish it either. Because I honostly felt like I did not want them to end up togheter, Then I cannot finish the story either so I DNFed the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for tropes that involves unrequited love being found. This did give us a sort of second chance feel.

Alex has always had feelings for Ellie. She returns and he thinks he will get his chance but she is engaged.

What we see transpire gets a bit tricky. The pace was a bit confusing. It was kind of all over the place in the sense of continuity. I also thought the characters were quite shallow and thought more about drinking than making real connections.

All thoughts are my own. I was provided an advanced copy for this honest feedback.

I really give a try to this book but there is so much going on that I couldn't engage to it. The plot seems interesting at first but then it juts get down the hill. DNF

Parts of this book were written weirdly, as though the main character was talking to the reader. I didn't dislike it, but it was odd. The male main character drove me nuts and seemed too immature and emotional for his life. While it is good to see men be emotional, this guy was over the top and I think it took away from the story.

Thank you NetGalley and Alex Kelly for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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I’m feeling VERY conflicted about this book. On one hand I loved the writing style and the basic plot idea really intrigued me. On the other hand, the pacing felt off and it was just a little too vague for me to ever really connect with the characters. Things were a little hot and cold throughout and I found myself spacing out more than once reading. Never a good sign. I think Ellie and Alex were equally frustrating and the angst just felt very unnecessary, especially when the characters are supposed to be in their thirties.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me this arc via Netgalley!
There was absolutely nothing about this book that I liked. I hated the way it started and honestly, it didn't get any better. Alex was kind of a jerk too.

Alex and Ellie are friend since childhood than Ellie is going to marry another man and Alex has not come out and declared his love to her
What happens now is in Hugh Grant Style he block and ruins her marriage due to a drunken one night stand they had
WHY DURING THE WEDDING ABD NIT BEFORE ???
Under edited and developed
2 stars

I wanted so much to love this book. But I just couldn't stay invested. There's a lot going on and I just didn't like it.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a confusing, distributing romance novel. The beginning chapters made me feel a bit out of place like I missed chapters of the story about Alex and the heroine. It would have helped to have more background to this story then jumping into a scene where the hero is interrupting a wedding to announce he slept with his best friend's fiance! Too much too fast and to top it off she was drunk and thought she was having sex with her fiance. Just bizzare and all levels wrong because Alex won't let it go because he's in love with the heroine. Just crazy and out of touch. Not my cup of tea.

I am sorry but I did not like the premise of this story. I did not like the male main character to actually stop the wedding in the middle. Honestly talk to the girl, do not stop her wedding.

When I really cannot actually be rooting for the couple in a romance, I do not feel interested to finish it either. Because I honostly felt like I did not want them to end up togheter, Then I cannot finish the story either so I DNFed the book.

I think it might be beneficial to communicate this plot line together with them sleeping together in the blurb and him interrupting the wedding because I do think this is a storyline that a lot of people do not like. Then it is beneficial for the book that these people do not read it. I would not have requested the book if I knew.

I loved this book! It was heartwarming and strong. It was exactly what I needed with everything going on in the world! A happy little escape!

This book was a hard one for me, while it was in the friends to lovers trope, it was really angsty. The whole opening scene with the ending of the wedding, and announcing about what happened the night before just set my teeth on edge. This is not a light hearted read, with both main characters dealing with a lot, but the growth of both characters makes it worth the read.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
In all honesty I was pretty disappointed with the book. Before I started I was hoping Alex wouldn't interrupt during the actual wedding which is what ultimately happened. I just can't see the romance in it. Why didn't he just do it before the ceremony? The way the whole situation was set up also made pretty hard for me to actually root for the couple. **Mild Spoilers** Before the wedding Alex and Ellie have sex and I was hoping that Ellie at least knew she was sleeping with Alex or that she wasn't drunk but... Both was the case. It wouldn't have been so bad if Alex didn't know she was drunk but he did. That's so problematic! I get he's been in love with her forever but surely there had to be a better solution. Ellie was right to be hella pissed. **End of spoiler**
The writing was very good which made it all the more disappointed that I didn't enjoy the storyline. I didn't care much for either Alex or Ellie and the book dragged a bit for me. I'll still give the second one in the series a try and hope for the best.

I received an ARC through net galley for an honest review.

This book starts out really slow and it took a while to get into. I feel like the author could have done a better job in the beginning at letting the audience know why he couldn't tell Ellie he loved her. It's very frustrating to read because you just want him to tell her but you don't know why he can't.
I also didn't like that it took so long to get Ellie's point of view, I wanted to know what she was thinking right after he ruined her wedding.

In the end I did end up liking the book, their romance was cute.

*spoiler* I wish he proposed with an actual ring and said the words will you marry me but, I've already read the next book so I know he does it there. *spoiler*

Alex has always been into Ellie and really stepped in it when on her wedding day he announces he slept with the soon to be bride the night before the wedding. Now Ellie has to pick up the pieces of her life at home and work at her family's business. Its there she'll have to deal with seeing Alex everyday its hard to avoid anyone in a small town.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved getting to know Alex and Ellie seeing the conflict they both were dealing with in their lives. There was Ellie about to marry a man she wasn't really all that in love with and then theres the whole mess of loosing her job, working with her family, being near Alex and clearly there was some feelings both have had for eachother that are now starting to simmer to the surface. There is a bit of family drama, and the past that Ellie is trying to run from and its hard to carve your way though the world and make a name for yourself when everyone just sees her as one thing and I really enjoyed seeing how things worked out for her and Alex. But not only did Ellie had her drama there was a bit of things that were going on for Alex as well and I enjoyed seeing how they worked things out. Overall I really enjoyed this book.

Okay! This book was cute. I love the friends to lovers trope and this book had it all. Sometimes, the characters got on my nerves but overall the story was generally addictive and hard to put down. This wasn’t a light and fluffy romcom, it also dealt with some more serious issues. I loved the dual POV and I really loved reading the story through Alex’s perspective.

However, I did think it started off strong and trailed off for a little. It probably could have been a bit shorter - but all in all, still worth the read!

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m so glad I found this author. This was another fantastic read. I loved how it didn’t feel like your usual small town romance but it still gave me the very best aspects of them. The push & pull between the H and h had me yelling at my iPad in the best way.

I love this group of friends and hope we get books for all of them.

I think this book winds up being 4⭐️ for me.

We know from the very beginning that Alex is the best man in the wedding of his friends Chase and Ellie - and he stops the wedding. Such a bold move! But that is the only bold move he has for about the first half of the book. There is so much awkwardness! We learn a lot about Alex and Ellie’s families and friends, about the whiskey business, and about every random thought they have. But it’s so annoying that neither of them will be honest about their feelings. It just goes on and on going around and around - too long for me. But thankfully it finally begins to move forward!

Once there is some honesty, the story becomes more sweet and heartwarming. Alex and Ellie try to figure out their complex lifelong friendship, and there are interesting conversation about what they want in their futures and why certain things are so important to them. One aspect of Alex’s life that is of utmost importance to him is his son, Justin. As some dynamics change with Justin, the book took on a whole new depth to me and I found myself with tears streaming down my face many times. This story that at one point was so annoying to me redeemed itself with great depth, tenderness, and beautiful true love. It was surprisingly steamy towards the end, too. It kind of enveloped many different dynamics in this twisted tale of small town families, friendships, businesses, and lovers.

(Some parts seemed confusing to me. I wonder if it was because of translation. I thought this was a new book, but maybe it has been recently translated into English? I couldn’t find that info.)

Overall I wound up enjoying this book. If you push through the first half of will they/won’t they friends or lovers drama, there is a beautiful story to be uncovered. Parts of the journey are bumpy; parts are funny and heartwarming. I think it’s worth the journey.

I’m thankful for receiving this on Netgalley.

The Best Man is your typical best friends to lovers tale. I did not care for the beginning. Alex objects to his best friend Ellie's wedding because he's been in love with her forever. The night before her wedding he sleeps with her while she is drunk and she says she thought she slept with her fiance. Towards the end of the book she confesses that she knew it was him and not her fiance. They develop a relationship, fall in love and have a HEA.