This was a DNF for me. I got very bored with how slow moving this book was and just couldn’t force myself to pick it back up. Sorry this book was a flop for me.

One of the very best books I have read this year! I foresee this book making it into the Too 5 books I’ve read at the end of the year- probably Top 3. It was everything I love in a book- great setting, great characters and some drama along the way

Oh my goshh. This was such a sweet story and I couldn’t put it down!!! I loved the emotional and raw aspect of it. Nothing was held back. The whole story was so amazing. Wren goes to visit her father and step mom’s farm after a split from her fiancé. This is meets Anders. I loved the aspect of not only this love story but the growth between Wren and her half sister. It was amazing to see so much healing throughout this book. I definitely recommend going ahead and preordering this book. It will not disappointed at all. 🙂

My first book by author Paige Toon but not certainly not my last. ONLY LOVE CAN HURT LIKE THIS seems like an ungainly title but the book is completely engrossing with characters that charm, settings that enchant and situations that build into credible plots. Best of all, there’s a bit of Arizona tossed in, always pleasing for those of us here in the State. Most of the tale occurs in Indiana with a brief intro in England. I read this book in one day and never thought of putting it down. It was a joy from beginning to end. Now I’ll go in search of the author’s other work. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

thank you so much @netgalley for sending me a copy to read in exchange for an honest review. this was my first book from this author and i LOVED it. i was hooked from the first chapter. i adored the two sisters
and they're growth. i felt very invested in the characters lives which made it all the more emotional. i also really related to the indiana setting, (i live in illinois) and the farm, small town vibe was perfect for the book. i felt this book was a slow burn... HOWEVER, it didn't read like a slow burn at all. would recommend it to everyone!

I don’t often read books like this and it was a nice break from heavier, more intense reads. I know many readers devour Paige’s books, this was my first book of hers but not my last!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

When Wren realizes her fiancé is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover. On the other side of the world, Anders lost his wife four years ago and is still struggling to move on.

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.

But 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 fall-out for everyone. Walking away would hurt Wren more than she can imagine. But, knowing the truth, how can she possibly stay?

Out on April 25.

Wren flees, more or less, to her father and stepmother's home in Indiana from the UK when her fiance realizes he's in love with someone else. She's never spent much time there and she's always been jealous of her half sister Bailey but everything changes over the course of the summer on their small farm. And she meets the neighbors- brothers Anders and Jonas, both of whom are struggling with their own issues. She feels a connection to Anders, an engineer for an Indy car team who appreciates her references and the fact that she's an architect. They bond over a mini-Airstream trailer but....Anders is still mourning his wife. This is more than a rom com, as Wren comes to terms with herself, her family, and, well, farming (sort of). If it seems odd that Wren is living on a farm wearing dresses and has to wait to drive to the big city to buy shorts and t-shirts (no Walmart? no Target? no etc?) and that everyone is able to walk to the local bar- I suspect that's reflective of the fact that Toon lives in the UK. Regardless, it's a good read with a big twist - no spoilers- and good characters. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Toon's a storyteller you will enjoy.

My gosh, I don’t want to say too much. But this is exactly what you need in a book. Any book. Love, family drama, self worth…. All of the things. I couldn’t put this book down. And felt myself relating to it all. What an absolutely fantastic story. Gah. I need more Ms Toon!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Publishing: April 25, 2023
Series: N/A
Pages: 400

This is a first time read by Paige Toon, new author to this reader. This book was a well-written story that I truly enjoyed although there were the heartbreaking moments in the story. It was an easy book to get into and hard to put down until the end. There were several twists and turns that never left you bored. I thought the main characters were likeable, especially, Anders. Just a down right feel-good story that I recommend reading.

PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons thank you for this great arc.
I always loved book about second chances in life. And as it is sad to say they make me feel sad but also made me feel full of hope and love the life even more. Simple.
Yes we are hurt so many times but we can also grow and meet other people, had other experiences and love life in many ways. Maybe also love in many ways. The important thing is we care and take care of us and others.
All this this book brought to me. It made me fall in love again too. After a broken engagement Wren goes to change the air to her father and his new family she never felt welcomed. But this time is different. She get connections that make her feel and expwrience new things.

“An unforgettable and heartbreaking love story with an earth shattering secret..”⁣
⁣
Wren packs her bags and heads to the United States to her father’s farm for a reprieve after breaking up with her fiancé. ⁣
⁣
She meets Anders who is a quiet, emotionally distant man, but who she feels drawn to. Anders is harboring his own painful secret that has kept his life on hold for years. ⁣
⁣
Anders tries to avoid falling in love with Wren, but Wren’s heart is so open for this man.⁣
⁣
The pain these two endure and consequences of trying to put off their love until it’s too much is truly heartbreaking and raw and beautiful.⁣
I felt Anders’ pain and loss so deeply throughout this story.⁣
⁣
Get your tissues ready. This is an emotional ride.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When Wren finds out her fiancé is in love with someone else and he breaks off the engagement, she heads to America to get away. Her father and step mother live in Indiana and welcome her for as long as she needs. She has a strained relationship with her half-sister, Bailey, but they head out for an night at a local bar. There she sees someone who’s about to change her life, Anders. He’s in town to help his brother, Jonas, who appears to be going through a rough time. As they get to know each other, things become more complicated. Neither expected the journey they would go on together.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. I saw Only Love Can Hurt Like This on instagram and had to read it. The book starts very slow but definitely ends right where you want it. About half way through, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Wren and Anders are everything you want in a romance book couple. The back and forth keeps you hanging out in hopes of a HEA. Paige Toon really got me with this one!

I loved this book so much! I really didn’t know what it was about when I started reading it, but I quickly was obsessed! The characters are well developed, and I couldn’t help but love them all!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Only Love Can Hurt Like This
Author: Paige Toon
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Pub Date: April 25, 2023

Only Love Can Hurt Like This encompasses multiple images of love at its best and worst. This book reminded me of that country song that states, “I thank God for Unanswered Prayers,” because our lead protagonist Wren is escaping England after her fiancé calls off their wedding when he falls in love with someone else. It’s hard to understand a fiancée's change of heart so close to a wedding, especially when you have been together for a long time. So, Wren flies to her father’s Indiana farm to get a break from the heartache. Of course, her father left her mother when she was a very young girl because he fathered a child out of wedlock and divorced his family. Wren has always felt second best since her Dad left her behind and started a new life with a new little daughter. Wren is hoping that time with her Dad will give her some closure on unresolved hurt from that childhood event and a chance to know her half-sister a little better. She didn’t count on falling in love herself while in Indiana, but she meets the cautious and reserved Anders, who melts her internal defenses while remaining closed in and secretive. Ms. Toon tells a story of hard-earned love and how everyone, at some point, experiences a loss of hope. It is only the strongest who can recover and find happiness. Not a sexy romance but more a love story for me. A really sweet love story. #Fiction #chicklit #comtemporary #WomensFiction #AdultFiction #Overcoming #challenges #love #rejection future #hope #family #OnlyLoveCanHurtLikeThis @paigetoonauthor @netgalley @putnambooks
🌽
I received a complimentary copy of this ARC. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own. Thank you to Putnam & Sons Books and the author for the opportunity to read this book. Pub. Date: April 25, 2023.
🌽
#book #books #bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #reader

Wow, what a novel! It was the book title that got me to request an advance reader copy of this novel by new-to-me author, Paige Toon, and while this novel got off to a very slow start, the title says it all, and it earned itself 5 stars from this reader.

Wren, the focus of this novel, has not had it easy. Her father left her mother for another woman whom he impregnated, when Wren was only 6 years old, and, after their divorce, her mother moved them back to her native England, and although she spends a couple of weeks here and there with her father, stepmother and half-sister, Bailey, she's always felt abandoned by her dad, and disliked by her stepmother. She's engaged to Scott, but he's the next one to abandon her for another woman, and, since she keeps running into him in her small English village, she takes a 2-week vacation at her father's farm in Indiana, spending some time with her dad and half-sister, Bailey, and that decision, and the people she meets when her two-week vacation morphs into an entire summer, is what propels this novel forward.

On her first night in Indiana, she and Bailey go to a local bar and gets totally smashed, and it's there she first sets eyes on two handsome brothers, Anders and Jonas, and it's Anders who really catches her eye, but who also seems closed off and elusive. Little by little, as the summer progresses, she and the two brothers, who live on a neighboring farm that adjoins her father's farm, become friends, and Wren finds herself deeply attracted to Anders, but he's incredibly closed off, doesn't like being touched, and when Wren is told that he lost his beloved wife, Laurie, more than 4 years ago, she begins to understand him--but does she really?

What follows is one of the most deeply moving, heartwrenching, emotional, and angst-laden reads I've come across in decades. These characters and the setting are so well-developed that I honestly felt as if I actually knew them, and that I was standing alongside them in the cornfields. While getting to know this cast of characters and what made them tick took up at least three-quarters of the novel, it was the last quarter that had me repeatedly reaching for my box of tissues. The writing was so heartfelt, so heartbreaking, and so intense that I was actually sobbing when the characters did.

To tell you more would ruin this novel for you, and so I'll just say that if you love romance, angst, well-fleshed out characters, deeply felt emotiion, and excellent storytelling, grab a copy of this novel, get comfortable, plan to lose some sleep, and keep your tissues handy. I simply cannot recommend this novel highly enough.

As stated, I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

DNF at 50%

I had high hopes for this book after reading the summary & cover blurb, but it just didn’t hold my interest. I made it to the half way mark and nothing has happened. The characters didn’t pull me in and plot was far too slow moving for my taste.

L.A...."an unforgettable and heartbreaking love story with an earth shattering secret that asks is love worth risking everything for?"
When Wren suffers a breakup with her fiance, she packs up to find healing on her father's farm. With cornfields, fireflies and the clean air bringing peace to her heart, she also finds Anders.
Anders has suffered the loss of his wife and finds it hard to move on. Wren is perfect for him, but he knows if he falls in love there is a secret he is harboring that will change everything.
This is emotional, riveting and unable to put it down. Sometimes moving forward has consequences that make or break you. Find the tissues and continue with a heavy, shattering secret that will have you weighing so many ways this could go.
Excellent writing that will remind you of a CoHo or a JoJo read.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this copy in exchange for my honest review!

After her fiancé confesses he’s in love with someone else, Wren leaves London to spend time with her father and step-family on their farm in Indiana. There she meets Anders, who lost his wife four years ago, but hasn’t been able to let her go. So why has it been so hard for him to move on? And will Wren be able to convince him to?

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I’m thrilled to be able to share my thoughts on this one!

A twisty romance set in a small town, this book gave me vibes of those I’ve read by CoHo mixed with Lucy Score. It’s devastatingly sad, but hopeful at the same time. Without giving away spoilers, a huge secret comes to light mid-way through that changes the direction of the story. I’ve read a few reviews saying the twist was predictable, but I for one did not see it coming 🤷🏻‍♀️


Though the romance between Anders and Wren is obviously the centerpiece, there is an added element of a sweet friendship between Wren, Jonas (Anders’ brother), Bailey (Wren’s step-sister) and Anders that I really enjoyed.

If you love a good romance novel, add this one to your growing list. It’s totally bingeable and was the first book to make me shed an actual tear in a V long time.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I was cheering for the couple the whole time, and all of the side characters. I was broken-hearted, but ultimately the ending was amazing. Super slow burn, character-driven, and perfection!

Wren has just been dealt a vicious blow - her fiance admitted he was in love with someone else. So, she decides to escape her London life and head to Indiana to spend the summer with her dad and step family. There she meets the neighbor boys, Jonas and Anders and quickly falls for Anders. But, he lost his wife a few years ago and can’t quite move on. Despite it all, she can’t help her feelings, and she is pretty confident Anders feels something for her, too.

This was a fun, easy romance that read quickly. There was a twist that took place in the last third of the book that I was surprised by and that took the book in a different, deeper direction. Some of it felt very convenient but I think that without the twist, this would be a more forgettable romance. With it, it made me much more invested in the story of Wren and Anders, though of course I knew where it would end up. With the twist, there were some really big, difficult themes that came through and the substance of that took this book up in rating for me.

On the con side, I felt like this was a book written by an English person on what they thought an American would act like - and a dated American version at that. Maybe this book is geared more toward people who don’t live in America? Either way a few of the sentences had me rolling my eyes a bit because of this.

But all in all, I enjoyed this one. I really liked the story of Wren and Anders and their summer relationship turned something more.