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.

First of all i want to thank Netgalley, Paige Toon and Penguin Group Putnam for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book.

I think Aerosmith hit it right on the head LOVE HURTS!!


This is my first book by the Author Paige Toon. i must say i was impressed. I truly enjoyed the read and i loved the characters and getting to know them. Wren was hurt by love and leaves the UK for the states to visit with her father , stepmother, and stepsister Bailey. Her fiance' Scott fell for a co worker and friend and left Wren to deal with the aftermath. So on her visit to her father's farm she meets Anders and his brother Jonas. Anders is dealing with his own pain of losing love but in a whole different way. There were some heartstrings pulled in that story line. But all in all i loved the book and will read more by this author. I recommend this book for those who love Colleen Hoover ( one of my favorites)..

3.5 because I find it very tough to give 4 stars to a romance (the lit snob in me?). I enjoyed this book and it actually brought me to tears. There is a lot of complexity here--complicated relationship histories, sibling relationships, parent-child relationships, careers...I found the characters quite believable even from the will they / won't they perspective. Minor critiques are the frequent alcohol use and the too tidy bow at the very end. I am going to look up other titles by this author for when I want to dive into another romance for a weekend. Special thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon is another hit from this author. I love the will they or won't they concept of these characters, Wren and Anders. The visual descriptions this author provides makes the reader feel immersed in the settings. The last few chapters were heart breaking so have some tissues handy.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of Only Love Can Hurt Like This.
If you are looking for a good contemporary romance then this one is a go to. It did start off a bit slow and took awhile to get into the story but overall the story was really good and I enjoyed the characters Wren and Anders. You get to know both of their stories. Not only do you get a good story but also you get to read about family, love, relationships, grief, you name it. I am sure many will love this book.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This written by Paige Toon, oh my goodness, I have no clue what to say. This book was so so beautiful, yet it shredded my heart into a million little pieces while it was trying to stay together. I have <b>NEVER</b> read a book by Paige Toon before, but this definitely won't be my last. Paige Toon is the type of author who can write a novel that can stop your world. I was such an emotional wreck reading this book, so Paige, you owe me a few boxes of tissues. The characters were so lovable, but had some of their own baggage they had to let go in order to set themselves free. This book will be the type of story you will never ever forget. I devoured this book in almost one day, but I had to keep my emotions in check, let me tell you, that <b>DID NOT</b> work at all, I was sobbing, I was smiling, it was just a crazy roller coaster ride that you all have to experience for yourself. Only Love Can Hurt Like This deals with some extremely heavy things such as rebuilding family relationships, loss, grief, and betrayal. I loved every second of this book, all the way until the very last page, it was so beautiful, gut wrenching, and overall just an amazing story. I can't recommend this book enough, <b>EVERYONE</b> needs to read this beautiful love story, so you can all experience the pain it brought on.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND PENGUIN GROUP PUTNAM FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

<b>An unforgettable and heartbreaking love story with an earth shattering secret and it's core that asks the question: is love worth risking everything for?</b>


🎵Playlist🎵
Only Love Can Hurt Like This- Paloma Faith (repeat 10 hours)

Wren and her fiancé Scott are recently just engaged, and living in the United Kingdom. When Wren is out for lunch one day, she sees her fiancé, Scott talking to another woman, Wren notices something out of the blue, Scott and this woman are looking at each other like they are in love, Wren decides to let it go, but that same night, Scott decides to tell Wren that he's in love with someone else. Scott never had an affair with this woman, but my heart absolutely breaks for Wren having to go through this. Wren thinks her heart will never recover, so she decides to fly to Indiana where her dad, step mom and step sister own a peach farm. Wren believes leaving the United Kingdom and coming to America will heal her heart tremendously. Wren's dad left her and her mom for the woman he was having an affair with. My poor girl Wren can never catch a break. Wren is so excited to spend some much needed time on the peach farm. Wren gets closer to her step mom and step sister Bailey, but it does take some time and you will watch their relationship build, it's honestly the sweetest and most heart warming thing I have ever read in a heart breaking book. Bailey never once judged Wren, she welcomed her with open arms.

Wren and Bailey decide to go out and have some drinks one night, Wren and Bailey get so drunk it's hilarious. They decide to leave the bar, but Wren doesn't want to go home just yet, she wants to take a walk and do some much needed thinking. Wren is so intrigued about the fireflies, that she wanders into a corn field and gets lost. In the corn field, Anders and Wren cross paths, and their worlds are turned upside down. Anders and his family own the farm next door, but they run into each other in the corn field the night Wren got lost. Wren and Anders start spending time together, and they both start catching feelings, but Anders is harboring a <b>HUGE</b> secret. Anders lost his wife Laurie in a go karting accident, that's not the secret, but in order to find out the big secret, you'll need to read this beautiful book. Wren doesn't know that Anders is harboring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious consequences for everyone. I was completely shocked at the big twist, I didn't see it at all, but let's be honest, it did break my heart that Anders kept in from Wren. The idea of the peach farm was so cute, it made me feel like I was right on the farm picking peaches. Despite the heart breaking moments, there were still times when I had a huge smile on my face.

This was the first book I've ready by Paige Toon and, sadly, I wasn't wowed. It is a very slow-moving, slow-burn romance - the major secret isn't revealed until you get nearly three quarters through the book. I also found it to be repetitive at times. I'll definitely give the author another chance, but this one was mediocre for me.

After her fiancé admits to being in love with someone else. Wren knows she needs to get away. So she leaves the UK behind to visit her father and his new family in Indiana. On her first night out she meets Anders, a beautiful but infuriating man whose family owns the farm next door. Her hatred quickly turns to friendship, and while she begins to feel more, Anders has a pretty intense secret.

This may have been my first Paige Toon book, but it will certainly not be my last. This book hit me in all the feels. So many times throughout the book I just wanted to send both Wren and Anders to a good therapists couch, but I still loved them regardless. Reading this book I felt hope, love, devastation, grief, and so much more. I can only imagine what both Wren and Anders were going through and feeling and I did not envy the position either was in. I would be doing a disservice to this book if I didn’t mention the fabulous side characters. Jonas and Bailey were so fun and added so much to the story! Overall this book was a delight!

3.5 stars! I really enjoyed several aspects of this and was genuinely shocked at the some of the plot points. I felt like it was surprising and unique enough to keep my interest without being way too predictable. However, it was the sudden POV shift for one chapter at the end that kind of threw me. I understand the need for Anders's perspective and the depth of understanding it added, but I also felt like his POV should have been included throughout rather than throwing it in once at the end as a way to connect the plot details. I also felt that Wren's perspective often read too much like a diary entry, so it would have been refreshing for Anders's perspective to have a more even distribution throughout.

I adored this romance! I found that it had a lot of similarities to The Simple Wild which is another of my favorites! I loved the small town/rural setting, the hard-working and generous male MC, the strong and thoughtful female MC and the sweet and quirky side characters. The plot was emotional, but had just the right amount of comic relief, and not a lot of banter. It basically had everything that I would want in a romance! Thank you Putnam Books and NetGalley for my early digital copy! I’ll be sharing this recommendation for a long time!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Wren was a fantastic MFC. Her growth after coming to America was spectacular and it was so much fun to see her connect with her dad’s side of the family. I enjoyed how she became a part of the farm life there and really embraced. The slow burn of her romance with Anders was fantastic and I loved her friendship with Jonas. But then the reveal came and SPOILERS AHEAD…
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For the way I view marriage, there was cheating in this book. It’s a controversial situation for sure, but in the end it didn’t sit well with me. Some will disagree and that’s okay.

I still really enjoyed Paige Toon’s writing and will definitely check out her other books on my TBR.

Thank you to Penguin for an advanced copy. My thoughts are my own.

This book is like a breath of fresh air!! There is so much I just loved packed in! Small town Indiana, family farms, sisters, split family dynamic, secrets, betrayal, hope, friendship and love! So GOOD!!
Only Love Can Hurt Like This is an unforgettable and heartbreaking love story with an earth-shattering secret at its core that asks the question: is love worth risking everything for?
When Wren realizes her fiance is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover. She hopes that spending the summer with her dad and stepfamily on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal.
There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she meets and befriends Anders, a neighboring farmer that is still struggling with losing his wife a few years before.
When the two cross paths, their worlds are turned upside-down again...
I was so surprised by this book!! The setting was absolutely picturesque! I just love how much of the book is set in Indiana, in a small farming community, which is so much like where I live! Indy 500 and IndyCar racing, you-pick farms, pumpkin patches and corn mazes, farm houses, porch swings and barns with twinkling fall lights! I could absolutely feel what it was like there! Such a simple setting, but just perfect for this story!!
And what a story it is!! It's bittersweet and emotionally charged and I could not put it down!! I absolutely loved the characters! The epilogue was just perfect!!
Highly recommend!!

This was a ‘Read Now’ ARC so I received it without submitting a request. I wanted to read it because I liked the summary and it seemed like a nice, easy romance to get me back into reading. I’m probably going to get a lot of hate for this review because it’s a far cry from the 5-star reviews that are flooding in for this book, but this is my honest opinion…

Why 2 stars:
- I’m not a fan of insta-love and it seemed like Wren fell INSTANTLY for Anders
- All the race talk really made me want to watch the Formula 1 documentary series on Netflix lol
- The book dealt with some serious issues that were heartbreaking and incredibly difficult, buuut it didn’t pull on my heart strings like it did for everyone else
- Sweet, but forgettable

If you’re looking for a somewhat heavy, sweet romance, maybe give this one a try! I hope you enjoy it more than I did. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for the ARC!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This brings you Wren hiding out at her biological dad's house for the summer after losing her fiance to another woman. Reconnecting with family in a small town and finding herself is just what she needs.

This was definitely a case of it's not you it's me. This one just hit me at the wrong time and I had a hard time getting into it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.