This is a delightful read perfect for romance enthusiasts seeking a lighthearted and emotional tale of self-discovery, second chances, and the thrill of following one's heart, as it expertly weaves together themes of love, trust, and the power of human connection.

Mia is an attorney and has just realized that she isn't happy with her career anymore. She's going on an overdue, week-long vacation with her friend and will reassess everything. On the first day of the trip, her parents call her and tell her to come back home because Dororthy, her beloved grandmother, is in the hospital. She rushes home to find out that they expect her to look after her grandmother. Her parents are something else!

Nate has been a friend to Dorothy since he moved into the area a few years ago. He no longer practices medicine, but like to keep an eye on his friend. He rushes her to the hospital after a visit and has the dubious pleasure to meet Dorothy's daughter and son-in-law. He's definitely not impressed by Dorothy's family.

Nate and Mia start to get friendly when they realize that Dorothy's recovery is their number one priority.

This is a quick, easy read with an alternating point of view. That's sometimes a bit confusing as you always have to remember who "I" is in the chapter. Dorothy is a wily woman and her tactics to throw Nate and Mia together have you smiling.

Nate was great. Yes, he's the typical, grumpy character, but he grows on you as you get to know him. Mia was frustrating at times, to say the least. Dorothy stole the show though. Her kind words and support were exactly what Mia needed.

.3.5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book. I laughed, cried, and got frustrated at some of the things Mia did in this book.

Mia Anderson has been living a life that her Dad chose for her. He's an attorney, so she went to law school and became one. All she's ever wanted to do is please him. After five years of 90 hour days, she's finally getting her first vacation. Mia and her best friend are going to Hawaii for a week. She leaves for the airport day early and stops at her grandmother's house to visit for the night. With some wisdom from her grandmother about life and a "homework" assignment to complete in Hawaii, she's ready for her trip.

But when Mia gets a phone call on her first day from her mother telling her to come home because her grandmother is in the hospital, she jumps on the next flight out. When she arrives, her grandmother is being discharged and her mom didn't want to be bothered to take care of her own mother. So she brings Mia home to do it. That was a wake up call for Mia. She never realized how selfish her parents were. It also give her the courage to quit her job.

Nate Edwards, has been living in the Cascade Mountains for four years now. He enjoys the solidarity. He's finally content, or he thought he was until he meets Dorothy's granddaughter, Mia. Nate used to be a doctor, so he's been coming over to check his friend out on a daily basis. He grocery shops for her and makes sure that she eats healthy. When she starts running a temp and her blood pressure is too high, he takes her to the ER. That's where he meets Dorothy's cold daughter and son-in-law. When Nate volunteers to stay with Dorothy, her daughter says no. That Mia will be there. Dorothy gets furious that they are going to ruin her first vacation because they are so selfish.

When Nate meets Mia the next day, he is literally tongue tied. She's beautiful, intelligent, and has a fiery personality. One he can relate to. He's been where she is. Living a life for someone else.

He tries to fight his attraction to her by staying away, but as Dorothy gets sicker, they lean on each other. When they finally give to their attraction, what happens afterward isn't expected.

Will this couple get over their fears and communicate with each other?

A must read!

3 stars

I liked this book. It was an easy and cute and quick read. I liked both main characters. Mia, well you see... her family sucks! All but her amazing grandmother were horrible and used her and abuse her and her good heart her whole life.
Nate, he's awesome. I love grumpy characters and he is the grumpiest.
Now... why the rating you'll ask? Well, it was the typical romance book full of drama and cute scenes and I wanted more than that. That's the only reason why I'm not giving it a higher rating.
Still, this was cute and fun and sexy and I fully recommend it!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mia was a divorce lawyer in her father's farm but she wasn't happy with her choice of life. She wanted to get away for a while thus the vacation with her bestfriend. It didn't last though as her grandmother, Dorothy fell sick and her mom called her to take care of her gran because she's too busy to take care of her own mother. Turned out Mia's gran had lymphoma. Nate lived in the same town as Dorothy and he adored her. Nate was a doctor but retired as stuff happened in his past. He finally met Mia, the granddaughter Dorothy talked so fondly about. They both started having feelings for each other but life happened. Because Mia was jobless, no parental support, her gran was dying and her life was a mess. But Nate tried to support her as much as he could with having his own problems to deal with. Then tragedy happened along with some misunderstanding and feelings got hurt but at the end they both realized their mistakes, got their shit together and finally confessed their feelings rather than hiding it.
This book is just so emotional. I cried like a baby. My eyes were swollen. It's that heartbreaking and inspirational too! Damn! I liked this book a lot.

Loved Mia and Nate's story! Once I started I couldn't stop reading it! Having been through what Mia went through but with my uncle, it definitely brought up some things I've tried not to think about for a long time. Definitely enjoyed reading the story!

I've had the chance to read & reviews several of Melanie A. Smith's books and each one gets better than the last. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors. In Tough Love we meet Mia and Nate who are not so subtly being set up by Dorothy. Dorothy is Mia's grandmother and Nate's closest friend. Mia & Nate had chemistry from the start, but they keep pretending there is nothing. I loved their relationship and their journey to funding each other.

I read this book in a day. It was such an easy read and interesting enough for me to want to keep reading.
Mia has been living the life her parents wanted for her but realizes she isn't happy and needs to change. When her grandmother falls ill, she decides to quit her job in order to care for her grandmother. Nate has also been living his life according to others and has no idea what he wants. He his elderly friend falls ill and leads him to meeting Mia. the two start to form a friendship that eventually turns into more both both of them are nervous to admit their feelings.

*this was sent to me via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

In Tough Love we meet Mia and Nate who both hate their jobs. Mia leaves hers to help take care of her sick grandmother and Nate has other issues that needed to get away from so why not become a hermit. Mia's grandmother is awesome, her family sucks, and she is learning now at the age of thirty what is really important to her. There is drama, sadness, and some love but it really is kinda like many other romances that I'm not sure I'll remember much about this in a few months and many books later.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read for a an honest review.

I'm so happy I discovered this! The abs definitely drew me in, but the story was sweet and fun and kept me entertained. The main characters Mia and Nate have so much in common and I was pushing for them to be together from the start. Both were a bit isolated from other people and needed someone who understood what they were going through. They also bond over their love of Mia's grandmother, who may be one of the best gran's ever!

Mia is a bit all over the place emotionally. She's just decided to quit her job at her dad's law firm and her parents do not take it well. They're incredibly selfish people and I was glad that Mia distanced herself from them. Her grandmother is great and encourages her to pursue other interests, including getting her with Nate. Nate is a retired doctor from L.A., now living in a small town. He's interested in Mia immediately and I loved watching them get closer.

There are a couple sad moments in this, but overall it's a fun story about doing what you're passionate about and not holding back. I'll definitely be checking out other books from this author!

This is a story about starting over and being true to yourself. This is something that resonated with me and while this was an okay read it was a forgettable read. There was nothing that made it stand out from the crowd which is so disappointing when it had such great potential.
Now the first sex scene is a major issue. I get the author was highlighting the issue of consent and how important that is particularly when someone may be too impaired to give informed consent but she took it too far and made the whole thing feel dirty. In the real world if a situation played out as the author sets out I cant see a relationship growing from that. Nate didn't realise how drunk Mia was and she was the instigator. He only realized when he found empty wine bottles. Mia the following morning instantly assumed she had been raped. This is such a grey area that gives both sides of a serious incident, both are innocent and guilty at the same time and I don't feel it was handled properly.
I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Melanie A Smith’s Tough Love story is a roller coaster ride of intense emotions so well crafted that a myriad of vivid mind’s eye imagery jumps off the page. The characters are so relatable and realistic that you literally can feel their pain and sorrow, while also celebrating their joy. These characters will definitely remain with me long after the story has ended.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Nate and Mia have an instant attraction to one another. Nate is a retired doctor and he helps out Mia's grandmother on occasion. He has left an old life that was dragging him down. Mia is in a similar situation, except she has overbearing, insensitive parents. She finally puts her foot down and leaves her job and moves in with the grandmother to take care of her because she has cancer. Tragedy strikes much sooner than expected and Mia is in a tail spin. Can these two find the path to one another? You will have to read to find out.

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion. Copy given from Netgalley. Mia and Nate were destined to be together if Dorthy had anything to do with it. When you have a meddling grandmother, overbearing parents, and a need to make you own way, what could go wrong? This is a lovely romance that completes the trifecta of a great romance.

Another fantastic romance from Melanie A. Smith. It’s the humorous, emotional, sexy and sweet book I expected. Mia and Nate go through personal challenges and fight through grief. I loved seeing them grow through these battles.

Mia goes to the small town her grandmother lives in to help out. She and Nate meet as he’s a friend of her grandmother and has been helping her. The two get off to an awkward start and I found that really sweet going forward. There’s definitely drama and heartbreaking moments and it affects both MCs and makes them even more interesting. And best of all Nate wears grey sweatpants a lot which makes him sexy as anything in my mind!

Mia Anderson has been working herself to the nine in her father’s law firm. And she’s due a holiday. Just as her Hawaiian mai-tai beckons she finds out her beloved Grandmother is sick. Someone needs to be with her and none of her family give two hoots. Spending time with her Grandmother gives Mia time to reflect on what’s not working in her life ... and I’d also gives her time to get to know Nate, a ‘retired’ doctor who lives a life of isolation. Mia decides to leave the family law firm and follow her passions - the question is whether Nate is one for settling down or is he destined to be a loner forever.

I read this book to work my way through my netgalleys - have this get that percentage sorted. It’s loosely an enemies to lovers, contains some meddling from Mia’s grandmother, a couple of characters who are unlikeable (as in the rest of Mia’s family), and some drama that makes you wonder if Mia and Nate will make it. It’s great for a couple of hours in the holidays type of read. The cover is a bit of a red herring I think - Nate works out ... a different cover would have been the way to go in this one. I didn’t do my review at the time I read it about a month ago and for the life of me the cover was no help.

Holy cow! Be ready to cry. Great story about learning to find oneself. Kind of a slow burn romance story. The misunderstandings between Mia and Nate seemed a little contrived.

For my first book by Melanie A Smith, this was a whopper! Throughout Tough Love, I cried, I laughed and most importantly I had to fan myself a few times.... As Mia is on the cusp of turning 30, she discovers she isn’t happy with her current life. While on vacation, her parents call her home. What unfolds is a story of resilience, love and learning. There are so many feelings throughout this book. There’s the part where you realize all grandmas are amazing gems of love. The part where you find that doing what you love and doing what makes you happy is your own form of self love. Oh and let’s throw in a yummy, hot guy! What’s not to love?! My heart also goes out to Melanie after reading the acknowledgments as I am currently going through almost the exact same life situation/scenario as described in the book and it’s definitely a hard thing to go through.....

Tough Love is my first book by author Melanie A. Smith and I will admit going into it, I figured it would be another sweet, sports romance (based on the cover). But, I was surprised by how much more this story was!

This is a story about finding yourself, about growth and acceptance, and about loyalty and tough love.

Mia, following her father's footsteps, became a lawyer at her father's firm. But with her thirtieth birthday looming, she realizes it may not be her dream, but the one her father created for her. She sets out on a journey to find herself, and with a little help from her (amazing) grandma, and a hunky (early-retired) doctor named Nate, she finds more than she bargained for.

I can't wait to read more from this author.

I'm so happy I discovered this! The abs definitely drew me in, but the story was sweet and fun and kept me entertained. The main characters Mia and Nate have so much in common and I was pushing for them to be together from the start. Both were a bit isolated from other people and needed someone who understood what they were going through. They also bond over their love of Mia's grandmother, who may be one of the best gran's ever!

Mia is a bit all over the place emotionally. She's just decided to quit her job at her dad's law firm and her parents do not take it well. They're incredibly selfish people and I was glad that Mia distanced herself from them. Her grandmother is great and encourages her to pursue other interests, including getting her with Nate. Nate is a retired doctor from L.A., now living in a small town. He's interested in Mia immediately and I loved watching them get closer.

There are a couple sad moments in this, but overall it's a fun story about doing what you're passionate about and not holding back. I'll definitely be checking out other books from this author!

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.