I absolutely loved this story. It drew me in from the first page. The twist at the end I did not see coming and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Wren and her finance split after he falls in love with his coworker so she decides to go visit her father and stepmother in Indiana. Wren had never had a great relationship with her father, stepmother, and half sister. She always resented that he left her mother. Wren hangs out with her sister Bailey and soon they build the relationship that they never had. While spending time in Indiana they meet their neighbors Anders and Jonas. Anders is struggling with the loss of his wife and Jonas has some struggles as well. Wren starts to really like Anders but his previous relationship is preventing him from moving forward.
When I first started reading this I had a slow start but soon became sucked into it and emotional. All of the characters are pretty likable throughout the whole thing. I couldn’t put it down toward the end because I really wanted to know how it ended for Wren and Anders.

Ok, first this small-town, Indiana rural setting made my Iowa heart so happy while also aching for my past memories of my childhood. Paige Toon nailed farm life from the hard work, long hours, mental and physical struggles, and community.

With both main characters are in pain from prior relationships, it was obvious they had chemistry and deeply cared for each other. I loved how they bonded over the vintage Airstream. For the life of me, I didn't understand why these two internalized their feelings as the cover-promised "earth-shattering secret" was not immediately revealed, which only intensified their slow-burn and longing. What a great build-up.

𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 also has great support characters, such as her half-sister Bailey and her stepmom. It may be a romance, but it equality about Wren's journey towards healing and forgiveness with her family over their past.

This may be my first Paige Toon book, but it will not by my last. Now to decide which one to read next! 4.5 stars rounded to 5!

“Wren hopes that spending the summer with her dad and step-family on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal. There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she and Anders cross paths and their worlds are turned upside-down again.”
This novel was heart wrenching & beautifully written. My heart was aching for Wren & Anders at times and I was thoroughly invested in their story! I loved Jonas as well! I found the plot very relatable to real life & love.

Thank you for the advanced copy! I really enjoyed this book, it is my first time reading this author. I enjoyed the slow build of this story. This is a story of two people grieving their past relationships who find friendship in one another. One is rebuilding her relationship with her half sister and he estranged father while overcoming a broken engagement, the other is building his relationship with his parents while dealing with grief of his own. The side characters are also very endearing in this story.

Man oh man... did I get wrapped up in this. I became so invested in the characters and how everything was going to turn out. The family dynamics and obligations... the grief and love.. it all felt so intimate and personal, its really emotional. If you want a book that really pulls at your emotions, then I highly recommend this one.

This packed such a beautiful punch. I love books that are angsty and smoothie and dive into hard issues, and this is a perfect read for that. The characters are absorbing and the prose is addicting. I think this is going to be a smash hit.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This is my first novel by Paige Toon. I wish I read some reviews before choosing it because I am not a slow burn reader and this novel runs at a lethargic pace. It is a character driven story with a lot of inner dialogue. So much so that I just couldn’t muster up much interest in Wren. While I liked Wren and Anders storyline the delivery was a miss for me. I’ll be interested to see if this is the author’s style or simply the way she choose to deliver this particular story.

4 Emotional stars

I am not an angsty, heavy reader. I usually like more light-hearted romance novels. Only Love Can Hurt Like This takes you on a journey that will touch you deeply and not leave you hanging....you will feel it all.

this book is a new author for me! this book def made me feel all the feels and take my time! I totally related to the main character and would recommend this book for anyone looking for something new

Oh my goodness did I love this one. I can't even believe that I did not hear about this author until now. I will be looking up more books by this author and reading every single one. Loved!

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love romance books with tragic backstories, but this was just okay. The characters were fine, but nothing to write home about. The plot was predictable but fine to read. All and all, it was just okay.

2.5/5 ⭐

There were a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs, in this book. It was relatable with extremely likeable characters. I thought I was disliking people, but after hearing their background stories it was easy to understand how they got to the place where they were.

Paige Toon explains the depth that people feel love, grief, anger, and hurt with a level of detail and clarity that many cannot. This helped insert these characters into your soul and made impossible not to hurt with them.

An emotional damaging, in your feels, book worthy of finding love after loss. If you want to ugly cry, read this book.

I finished this book and immediately told every single person I knew who would like it to preorder it. It was nothing short of absolutely amazing. It did start out a little slow, but you could sense something building and I knew my world was gonna be rocked. I had tissues beside me and I still wasn't ready. I love a book that makes your chest ache and this does exactly that!

My first Paige Toon book, and absolutely will not be my last!!

Unfortunately this story really did nothing for me. It was extremely predictable and I wasn’t really rooting for the main characters to end up together. I’ve read better in this genre

I love a romance that can cause all my emotions to give a good ping, and Only Love Can Hurt Like This runs a full gamut of feelings in this small town romance.

The story opens with Wren figuring out a devastating truth about her fiancee, and it sends her back to the United States to reconnect with family she hasn't seen in some time. There are plenty of unresolved situations here between Wren and her family due to her parent's divorce. When her stepsister looks to rekindle their relationships with a night out, Wren meets Anders, there's a spark between them, but he holds back from her.

As their relationship grows, Wren is not aware of the secret that Anders is keeping, and it's a whopper. I really liked how the author wrote about this situation with great sensitivity. It requires some big hearts to resolve, and the story had more than one person willing to look at who they were, and who they wanted to be, and make some big decisions to get there.

I have not read this author before. I really loved this story, the emotional content and the easy way the story was told. This was a book I couldn't put down, and that wasn't a problem at all. It kept me engaged for the duration, and I found the intricate relationships interesting and multi-dimensional. I will be looking for more from this author.

Wren's fiancé recently left her for his assistant. They all live in a small town in England, and after an unsettling encounter with her ex Wren decides to travel to her Fathers farm in Indiana to get some space. There she is reunited with her father, step-mother, half-sister, and brother-in-law. She has a cordial yet strained relationship with her American family and part of the narrative chronicles their growth. The family members interactions are quite touching and emotional. The author does a good job of showing how misunderstandings, and insecurities can cause rifts. She is able to effectively highlight the importance of communication as an effective tool for healing.

In Indiana, Wren also meets the neighbors sons. She is immediately attracted to one of them named Anders, but he keeps her at a distance due to a ‘twist'. The twist struck me as being very divisive. The author gives one interpretation of it, but there are numerous possible interpretations depending on one's beliefs, culture, or even science. I am not sure the Author is quite effective in persuading the reader to see her way here. I personally am open to interpretation on the subject and without giving too much away - I didn't feel sorry for Anders and Wren, as the 'twist' was a poorer situation. As a result, I found it hard to root for the couple.

Overall, it was a very mixed read for me. Simply put I enjoyed some parts and not others. I enjoyed the minor characters, and would have liked to explore their stories more. But I do recommend reading it as it does introduce some new topics that I haven’t seen written about before.

Wren and her fiancé have recently parted ways when he found himself in love with someone else. Wren decides to leave the UK for a bit and visit her dad in the states. What she doesn’t expect is to fall for the man who lives next door while she nurses her broken heart. However, he doesn’t seem to feel the same and she can’t quite figure out why.

This is my first book by this author and I am a fan! It was a sweet story, gut-wrenching at times, but I found myself truly invested! I will definitely be recommending this one!

#netgalleyarc I really liked this book, it’s a great summer read for sure. I thought the characters were really well written and extremely relatable. The different relationships and connections were very realistic and I found myself connecting to characters in different ways. It def has a slow start but as the book went on I was bought in and really enjoyed it.