This was a quick read with romance, age gap, and friends to lovers. I really enjoyed this and will read more of Barrett in the future.

A sexy and sweet romance that I just couldn’t put down.

I read this book in two days and loved the main characters. The book is easy to read and has enough twists and turns within the sweet romance to keep readers engaged.

Would definitely recommend modern romance lovers to read this one!

Quite a long way round to this HEA story but for what starts as something so sweet and innocent develops a romance that is full of hot fantasy and desire. The story does have quite a few characters which did, occasionally feel a little too much to keep on top of, but this may be because I haven’t read any others in this series. There is also a darker, more serious thread to the storyline that is neatly woven into the background and has its own moment for top billing. The mother daughter discussion about this is powerful and written well, it was nice to feel that female power shine through.

it was a good story but the characters didn't connect with me. it was written well but wasn't something I really enjoyed reading.

3.5 stars. This book was a lot longer than I was expecting (like 700 pages long) and I'm not going to lie, I skimmed a bit of it. The book was well written, but did really start to drag toward the end. I felt like there were a lot of characters introduced part way through without any context (this is the fourth book in a series and I have not read the others so maybe they were from those books). I loved the premise and really did think it was well written, but it was just more than I needed it to be.

I absolutely adored this book. I really connected with Lily and got seriously invested. And can I keep Eli, please? He's amazing. Seriously loved this book.

Great story by this author. This was the first book I’ve read by her. I like this type of story of friends to lovers, and this one was no different. Lily and Elias have have been friends for years. They have been with each other through it all. Parents divorcing and growing up. Lily is a romance author and after getting kicked out of her house goes and lives with Elias. There they really get to know each other. This book was really well writer and I enjoyed it all.

I received this ARC through #netgalley and I am voluntarily reviewing this book

The story of Eli and Lily. She moves in with him to escape her family. Despite their age gap she has always wanted him, so is now here chance?

Lily Darling is the fourth in the series but can definitely be read as a standalone, which is how I read it.

This story follows Lily Browning who is an erotic fantasy writer who uses a pen name.
During Christmas Eve brunch she decides to inform her overprotective family of this which causes her dad to tell her to leave his house if she wants to continue.
This leads to her moving into Eli's apartment with him. Lily has known (and had a crush on) Eli for years as he is her cousin's best friend.
She realises that she can use 'bad boy' Eli for inspiration for her next novel, which leads to lots of sexy Q and A sessions.

A lot happens in this book over a very short period of time but its very well written and I loved the relationship of the two main characters.
The side characters also have interesting plots which interconnect well with the main storyline.
The only downside to this book for myself was that at the beginning of the book there was a lot of characters introduced quickly which was a bit confusing and some of the chapters were very long compared to most of the others.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book for my honest review.

Eli has known Lily, his best friend's cousin, since she was a kid, but now she is grown up. Lily writes steamy novels under a pen name and when she announces it to the whole family, there is a big blowup that ends with her moving out of her dad's house and into Eli's place, with the intention of using him as a muse for her next novel. They are immediately atttracted to one another and try not to fall for each other, blah blah. This is part of a series in which it seems that maybe each book is about a different part of this extended family. The book works as a standalone, but having not read any of the other books, there were A LOT of characters introduced rapidly that I assume I would have had a better handle on had I read the previous books. That and the ridiculous possessiveness of nearly every man regarding women in this book are my main complaints here. The women made up for it by being strong enough to deal with problems themselves while rolling their eyes at the men. 4 stars.

Long romp through the relationship of Lily and Eli, from kids through to grown adults. A cute look at how friendship grows and romance develops with a backdrop of a large and very interfering family. A lot of names to get your heard round as the family and friends all dance in and out the plot. A dig into historic abuse that is este up from the beginning of the book is sensitively handled and helps move the story to its conclusion.

This was a really cute read! I loved the connection between the main characters and how their lives have intersected in so many ways. The supporting characters are also intriguing, and the suspense and action thrown in keep you turning the pages.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It was slow to begin with and BOOM I was hooked. I found any opportunity I could to read this book while at work. I loved Lily's sassiness and Elias' uber sexiness in this book and the way he calls Lily 'darlin' in my head. Be aware there are trigger warnings and has mature content 😉🥵🔥 in this book.

Lily Darling by Dorothy Barrett.
The Browning Series Book 4.
Eli’s known Lilith Browning since she was a bossy little princess who used to hide in trees and spy on him making out with girls. He’s known her since she was just a kid devastated by her parents’ divorce. He was there for all of it…

And he’s still there years later. Only now, Lily isn’t a girl anymore. She’s a woman. A gorgeous, infuriating woman who up and decides to crash his new bachelor pad. This after revealing she secretly writes kinky books for a living. Yeah, Eli’s known Lily forever, but has he ever really known her?
Lily’s had her eye on Elias Park for a while. Yes, there was that one incident in the tree. And all the times she used to ogle him in his rock-boy skinny-jeans as a teen. Truth? She’s been hard-core crushing on her cousin’s best friend for years. So, when an impulsive decision leads to a brilliant idea, Lily seizes the moment…
What better way to write a sexy story about a bad-boy musician than to move in with one?
This was a good read. Slow but readable.
Good characters and story. 4*.

Advisory: This book contains mature content and is only intended for readers 18 and older. It also contains discussions of subject matter that may be triggering for some

Loved this story, there was highs and lows, Lily was a minx, I found myself laughing out loud at her sometimes, the way her mind worked! She had a one track mind. Poor Eli, the guy never really stood a chance, he played it out a little too much, but hey, guess you could understand his concern.