Thank you so much to NetGalley & Paige Toon for the arc of this book!

Fair warning, this book will BREAK you in the best way possible way.

Wren is newly single after her fiancé left her for another women so she decides to come back to small town Indiana & spend some time with her father, step-mom & half sister, Bailey. Her first night in town, she meets brothers Anders & Jonas. After spending more time with Anders, Wren starts to fall head over heels. But does he feel the same way? What’s his secret that’s stopping them from being together? This heart-breaking yet heartwarming love story tells the tale of just how relationships have a funny way of working out in the end.

This book was incredible. I loved the small town farming aspect & how comforting it felt overall. It was definitely a slow burn but the last couple chapters really heat up & make you not want to put it down. This book may be my new comfort book.

Anders is struggling with loosing his wife four years ago, he’s still trying to move on.

Wren has just suffered a heartbreak. To escape she leaves the UK and ends up at her dad and stepmoms door. She’s hoping that spending some time with them on their farm in Indiana will allow herself to get over her loss.

When Wren and Anders start developing feelings for each other, Wren starts considering the future, but Anders is harboring a huge secret. Will his secret be their undoing?

This was a slow burn, closed door romance story that felt more like a coming-of-age story. This book was also long coming in at 400 pages. I really felt the story was too long and drawn out. The pacing on it was incredibly slow up until about the last three chapters. I really just wanted more from this one. I felt that there was so much effort put into Wren trying figure out her life, then Anders keeping secrets. It just all rubbed me the wrong way. I did really enjoy the end where we saw some things from Anders perspective. I feel that if there more of his chapters throughout the book it would have been better.

This mentions its for fans of CoHo and Jojo Moye’s but I got strong Lucy Score vibes. This one is out April 25th – make sure to grab a copy.

I had not previously heard of this author so I didn’t realize how many romances she had under her belt until after I finished reading. This was a sweet story with likable characters. Wren’s fiancé decides he is in love with another woman. He was the most respectful “bad” fiancé I have ever encountered in a book. But anyway, Wren decides to lick her wounds at her father’s farm in Indiana. Her father had also left her mother when she was a child so their relationship has not been a great one.

While hanging out with her half sister, Wren meets brothers Jonas and Anders, who at first glance seem like they could be surrounded by drama but just wind up being really nice guys.

This is a slow burn romance, low on spice with a twisty part. I enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy on exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Paige Toon for the ARC of Only Love Can Hurt Like This for an honest review.

This was the first Paige Toon book that I have read. This book was beautifully written. The scenery descriptions made me feel like I was right there with Wren, Bailey, Anders and Jonas. The farm sounds like a magical place and the addition of the airstream made it fun!

Wren, who is staying with her dad and stepmother is fresh out of a relationship that ended. She meets Anders and Jonas and the sparks fly on her end for one of the brothers. This is definitely a slow burn romance with more emphasis on the emotional side than romantic. There was enough back and forth that made you wonder what was really going to happen. Was Wren going to go back to the UK or stay in the US?

The twist towards the end of the book was so unexpected and heart breaking.

4.5 ⭐️ this books ripped my heart out.. then put it back! I loved the story and characters. I felt very attached to the characters and invested in the story! Overall great read!!

5 star read for me. It was the perfect book to get me out of me my reading slump. Loved it and the ending was well deserved. This book would live in my head for a few more days. Lol

Thank you NetGalley, Penguin group, and the author Paige Toon for my first ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was a much lighter read than what I am used to. The character development is superb and truly had me envisioning every part of this book.

There was a lot going on in the book, however, I do feel it fell short for me. It was a slow burn, until maybe halfway through the book. That’s when I was really getting into the story, and I wish it had felt like that the whole time.

Beautiful story, beautiful characters, I just craved more from it!

Honestly and incredible read. I felt so much for all of the characters in this one. I laughed, I cried (more than once) and overall couldn’t put it down.

After an unexpected heart break when her fiancé leaves her for another woman, Wren decides to go visit her father, step mom, and half sister in America. She’s not looking for love or for anything really, other than a break from running into said ex fiancé. She definitely isn’t expecting Anders, the man from the neighboring farm and Anders definitely isn’t looking for anything after dealing with his own heartbreak.

I was so wrapped up in these characters my heart broke for each of them for different reasons and at the conclusion I felt nothing but happiness for them. I will definitely be reading more Paige Toon books!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This written by Paige Toon. This is my first book ever written by Ms Toon and it WILL NOT by my last! She broke me in the best way possible and let me bleed a while before she decided to put me back together. This story has probably taken place many times before, or some variation, in the world. How much is too much to give for your spouse? I loved this story and I could totally see the characters as my best friends. I will miss spending time with them.

This might sound weird, but this book was exactly the right amount of devastating. I probably should have expected some pain from the title, but I didn't expect how *real* this book would feel. It was sad, and there were some dramatic revelations of course, but it felt so--I don't know how to put it. Reasonable? It felt like real people making real decisions in a really tough, complicated situation that can easily be seen from very different perspectives.

I would definitely recommend Only Love Can Hurt Like This to fans of romance, drama, contemporary fiction, and character-focused stories. I loved this book and definitely want to read more of Toon's work now. Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the chance to read and review this ARC.

This was certainly a slow burn and didn’t demand my full attention until precisely 70% through. At that point, though, I had to read into the night to finish.. I cried, so if you enjoy painful stories as I do then you’ll be satisfied. This is the first book from Paige Toon I’ve read but I’ll now consider her other works.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

It’s been a while since I read a book in less than a day. But this was one I could not put down! The story did develop a bit slowly but I never once lost interest. I loved the midwestern country setting, as it gave me a bit of a homey feel. I also loved the character development in this story and the twist near the end. What a great feel-good, quick read! I will be reading more of Paige Toon’s books after this one.

Thank you to Putnam for the ARC! Definitely recommend this read when it’s published 4/25/23!

i’ll be so honest the cover + title drew me in immediately

this was deep. like painful, hard to read REAL and so so very human. with a beautiful set of characters and such great storytelling, i really enjoyed this. it definitely sucks you in

now was it the best thing i’ve ever read tho? no, although it was very captivating the story itself was not the best. i will be keeping an eye out for their authors next work tho

This was good, it was written well, it just never worked for me. I really just don't know what it was, but I never clicked into it.

Sorry, I tried but just couldn’t get into this book.. The main character did not appeal to me and the story seemed long and repetitive.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was a slow burn book I didn’t know I needed. I could not put it down I read it in one sitting.

5/5 stars
1/5 spice

An intense love story full of heart break and hope. I was hurting right up until the last couple of chapters.

Tropes:
Forbidden love
Close proximity
Friends to lovers
Hurting / Healing
Found family

I think the author did an amazing job keeping the reader on edge the entire time. Anders and Wren's love story was a slow burn laced with tragedy, but you just couldn't help holding out hope that things would turn around for them. It was excruciating but so honest and raw. I was dying for Anders' POV. I never expected to read his POV, so when it came at the end when everything was so tense it was an amazing surprise and very emotional.

I loved the whole cast of characters and felt that Wren was such a relatable heroine. All the emotional damage she had from feeling her father's neglect, her ex's betrayal, feeling less than compared to her sister, Bailey... it was all expressed so well that you could really feel what she was going through. The growth Wren experienced outside of her story with Anders was nice to see. I'm happy she repaired her family relationships and made new friends that would give her that sense of community.

This wasn't a fully closed door romance since there was one full scene, but I rated it low because it wasn't very detailed. It wouldn't have made sense to have more in the story and I'm very satisfied with how the author handled that part.

Overall a great read with lots of angst, pining, and heart wrenching moments. Highly recommend for fans of forbidden romance and slow burn friends to lovers.

I was given an ARC by Netgalley and Penguin Group. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered freely.

Trigger/Content warnings:
Mentions death of a spouse, chronic illness/disability, adultery, lying, toxic relationship, grief, depression

I found this romance to be a bit of a slow burn. An enjoyable enough read but not the most memorable. I don’t find the dialogue as witty as an Emily Henry romance, and it wasn’t as twisty as a Colleen Hoover.

I normally don't check other reviews before I write mine BUT I did in this case. I didn't feel it was ONLY a slow-burn romance, though that is what a lot of reader's have said. Yes, there is romance BUT to me it is the after thought to prove that people can and do, heal.
Wren is a wreck and in all too familiar fiction fashion---she goes back home. Just once I want someone to be heartbroken and actually tackle it while trying to hang on to their daily life, But maybe that is just me. SO, yes, Wren heads home. Where she happens to run into a man who is as equally lost in his grief as Wren is in hers.
But it is only in her hometown that a secret from decades past can ruin what lays ahead. Of all the people in the world, the one with that connection is the one Wren finds.
Very well written, fluid and generous with its grief and hope equally carried on the shoulder's of its characters.
And yes, you will cry.
women's fiction, contemporary romance, book club pick, slow burn, small town

✨Book Review✨
Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon
4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: April 25, 2023

First, thank you to @netgalley and @penguinartgroup for my advanced eARC copy for my honest review!

So excited to have been given a chance to read this novel by @paigetoonauthor as this is my first read by the author!

I have heard so many good things about other titles by her that I couldn’t wait to start this one! And now I see why the author gets much praise!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. A difficult but sweet love story! It pulled at my heart strings the farther I got into it.

Anders and Wren go throughout the story struggling with their own sense of selves. Finding new beginnings and what it truly means to let go and truly live!

The supporting characters added to story as well. From Jonas to Bailey to Laurie and Mom and Dad.

I went through many emotions while reading. Even though I was left wanting a little more at the end. I feel as though the epilogue left no questions unanswered!

I would definitely like to read more from the author in the future!

P.S. Every time I read the title of the book or felt a bit of sadness while reading I thought of the song by Paloma Faith titled the same. (Peep how I added it to this post too!) 🥰🥺

That is all, as always happy reading! 💕