This book completely captured my attention and I could not put it down.

While not as dark as Still Beating, this book is set in the same world and does touch on some very sensitive subjects. Please check the content warnings before reading.

My heart just broke for these characters, and the author did such a fantastic job of giving them raw emotions that the reader could not help but feel.

I’m definitely going to be thinking about this book for a while. The author crafted the story so well, everything make so much sense at the end. (Make sure you read the author note!)

I absolutely LOVED this book. It took me a few to figure out who Oliver was, but that just made the book all the better to me.

this book has become my absolute favorite!

i loved every second of reading this book. it had me wanting more and more. i still want more of Syd and Oliver. i really thought Oliver was my new favorite book boyfriend and then he rescued a baby raccoon and kept her. that's when it was solidified that he IS my new favorite because if you know me, raccoons are my favorite animals ever!

i've never read anything quite like this and i love that about it. i also loved the cameo of Tabitha and Cora! i haven't read Still Beating but i know they're in it!

the twists at the end were insane but i definitely called it after a bit! i always had bad vibes from him!

i could really go on and on about this book so just do yourself a favor and read it!

🌺🌺 I started this book knowing that @author.jenniferhartmann was known for her dark angsty romances. Even knowing that, I still wasn't prepared for this book. This is a friends to lovers romance that contains dark themes, but the romance itself is not dark. It is sweet and gentle, and I absolutely loved Oliver and Sydney.

Lotus is the story of Oliver Lynch's return to the world after going missing for twenty-two years. His best friend Sydney Neville hasn't been the same since he disappeared, but she has managed to construct a life around the hole he left. When Oliver escapes his underground prison, he faces the daunting task of becoming familiar with a strange new world. But it doesn't matter how much the world, Oliver, or Sydney have changed, they can't deny the deep connection that still runs between them. As they begin to rebuild their friendship, they have to overcome the walls Sydney has built up and Oliver's missing memories, and in doing so, realize that Oliver's ordeal isn't over yet.

This book was full of twists and turns. I started this listening to the audiobook, which was absolutely amazing! A huge shout out to Marie Hawkins and TJ Clark for the amazing narration. I did end up switching to the book because I just couldn't listen fast enough! So many thanks to @netgalley and @read_bloom for allowing me to listen AND read this book. Told in a dual POV, it really worked for the story because so much of Oliver was an internal dialogue. I loved that there was a juxtaposition between the sweet and gentle romance that Oliver and Sydney were cultivating and the dark and deep violence of the truth behind why everything happened. 🌺🌺

This book is out now everywhere!

JH never misses and isn't afraid to take you down into the deep dark. I loved every single character, even the side ones and actually loved that Oliver always said what he was thinking because I cannot tolerate too much miscommunication. The climax, the secrets--mind blown. So many stars.

I loved this from start to finish! I was intrigued by the mention of Oliver in Still Beating and I'm so glad we got his story. There were so many twists I didn't see coming, and how the pieces all fit together actually made sense (not the case for a lot of romance/romantic suspense books).
I loved that Sydney wasn't a perfect heroine. She had flaws and was wrong more than once. It felt very real.
I'm so excited to read anything Jennifer Hartmann puts out, especially The Stars Are On Our Side. Very excited to see where this universe goes.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 on goodreads

I have been hearing about Lotus since I got back into reading again a year and half ago. I have been wanting to read it ever since. I recently read Still Beating and have been dying to read more from Jennifer Hartmann, so when I saw that Bloom was republishing Lotus, I hopped on it.

Lotus is about Oliver who has escaped captivity after being locked up for decades, and Sydney, his best friend who has been waiting for his return since his abduction.

This storyline is absolutely unique! I have never read or heard of another book like it. It's a beautiful tale of the undying bonds of friendship, loss, and rediscovering yourself. With all that being said, I was a little disappointed because Lotus just did not hit me the same way that Still Beating did. However, what I loved was being back in this town that Jennifer has crafted. I love how Still Beating, Lotus, and her soon to be released The Stars Are on Our Side are all intertwined. I am bumping this up half a star for the comic at the end of the book. It was a nice and cute touch.

If you loved Archer's Voice and you've been looking for a book to give you a similar feeling, you might enjoy Lotus. I would recommend this book to those who like darker themes, but still sweet, friends to lovers, and soulmates.

*Search up trigger warnings. *

Thank you Netgalley, Bloom, and Jennifer Hartmann for the eARC.
Publication Date: TODAY 9/5/2023

Thank you @netgalley for an ARC of Lotus. This book absolutely broke me in the best possible way. It was so emotional and heartbreaking. Oliver was kidnapped when he was a kid. After twenty two years, he returned home and had to readjust to daily life as well as getting to know his stepbrother Gabe and next door neighbor Sydney. It took a while for Oliver to remember his childhood and family members. Throughout the book, Oliver slowly opens up to Sydney and Gabe. Sydney and Oliver are soon best friends again and they try to work out their past trauma. The plot twist at the end was definitely shocking when they discover the reason why Oliver was kidnapped many years ago. I would recommend this book!

Read if you like:
Childhood friends to lovers
Dual POV
A bit of mystery
Good boy x bad girl

“There’s a hurricane in her eyes, and it’s either going to swallow me whole or leave me crippled, on my knees, lost and alone amongst the wreckage.”
Lotus is the story of Sydney and Oliver, childhood best friends who were inseparable up until the day Oliver went missing. Sydney grows up with a broken heart, never giving up hope for her best friend.
I loved the unusual setup for this romance, following a man who has been kidnapped and kept in captivity since he was 8 years old struggling to readjust to the world whilst also reconnecting with his childhood best friend, I thought that the whole idea behind his kidnapping was really unique and different and I was definitely surprised when everything finally came together at the end. (If you like crazy plot twists this is the one for you!)
Oliver had me so emotional the entire book, he was the perfect mix of sweet/romantic & innocent yet spicy when needed. The story reminded me so much of Archer's Voice that it made me want to reread it.
Considering I’m such a big fan of communication, it’s nice that he has no social boundaries and just says whatever he thinks.

What I didn’t like: The majority of the book ended up heavily focusing on Oliver and Sydney’s sexual relationship as opposed to diving deep into what someone in his situation would be going through and feeling after everything he’s been through. I would have liked to have read more about the psychological part of what he was going through and to have felt more development of the character. He spent 22 years in captivity thinking the world had ended, I think his reactions were always very unreactive for someone who comes from that background.
I also didn’t really like Sidney! She was sweet and all but she brought so much unnecessary drama to their situation, she was too push and pull with Oliver which is the opposite of what someone like him needed in those moments, and she always overreacted just making everything more dramatic than it had to be.
Some things in the plot also felt rushed or were forgotten, like Sidney randomly mentioning that she had a stalker right at the beginning of the book but we never got more details other than that one mention of it, and also then she gets attacked in her house and it felt like it was totally just brushed off and felt super random up until the very end of the story…(Again…the plot twist was top-tier!)
So overall, I liked it, I think it has a great premise and it didn’t completely flop in my eyes, but I think it focused on the wrong things and could have been a much more memorable and hard-hitting story if it pivoted away from the physical attraction between the two of them and instead focused slightly more on the fact that he was kidnapped for 22 years and somehow survived.

★ 𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚛𝚎𝚎 ARC 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 ★
🪷 𝑳𝒐𝒕𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏
📚 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Dark, Contemporary Romance
🗓️ 𝑷𝒖𝒃: 09/05/2023

✨ Thank you #NetGalley, Bloom Books, Sourcebooks and J. Hartmann for this ARC! ✨

✍️ 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: "Get out the road, freak!"

🪶 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞: “There is beauty to be found everywhere… even in the things that scare us.”

📖 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛: Sydney Neville's heart hasn't been the same since her best friend Oliver disappeared on the Fourth of July 22 years ago. But now, he's back after being held captive underground. As they reconnect, old feelings resurface, but painful truths and unresolved issues threaten to keep them apart. Can love find a way in this dark, uncertain world?

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬:
‼️ TW: PTSD, Manipulation, Abuse, Kidnapping, child SA (Flashback)
🗣 Dual POV (Syd & Oliver)
🌶️ Some spicy scenes
💞 Childhood friends to lovers
😻 Cute, giggly, swoon moments 🫠
😆 Funny Oliver reactions aka "innocence"
💕 Always been you

💬 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Having enjoyed "Still Beating," I had high expectations for this and it didn't disappoint. While "Still Beating" remains my favorite, it was a delight to see characters from that book make cameo appearances here. This story reminded me of "Archer's Voice" in some ways, though it's unique in its own right. Oliver's resilience, similar to Archer's, resonated with me due to their shared experiences of trauma and secluded lives, making them both somewhat innocent about many things. The plot was predictable at times but overall, it's a gripping, hard-to-put-down read with tangible chemistry between Syd and Oliver.

🌟 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5. I had some minor issues, like Syd occasionally bugging me. She didn't stand out as uniquely special, but maybe that's because this is primarily Oliver's story. Sometimes she seemed overly dramatic, especially in her initial interactions with Oliver - all her push & pull. However, I found the story overall quite enjoyable and entertaining throughout. I suggest reading 'Still Beating' first to fully appreciate the references made in this book.

❓ 𝐐𝐎𝐓𝐃: How was your Labor Day weekend? ❓

Jennifer does it again! After Still Beating, I knew I had to get my hands on the ARC of Lotus. I wasn’t wrong. There are some heavy topics in this one so please read the triggers! Poor Oliver is all I could think about while I was reading this. To be gone majority of your life and then show up as an adult to all your friends and family? I can’t even imagine what that must have felt like. This story had such a hook in me and I wasn’t sure how it would all end - but it was so good! You won’t regret grabbing this one. And that cover 😍

Sydney and Oliver were each other's first love, inseparable, best friends...until he disappeared. It's been twenty two years and Sydney has learned to survive but she never gave up on him. Then he shows up one day with no knowledge of modern day life and no memory of his life before.
Oliver had been kept underground that whole time, his only comfort a series of comics he created with himself playing the hero to a little blonde girl with pigtails. As Oliver struggles to adjust, the feelings they had for each other in childhood become even stronger.
I've only read one other book by this author, but I still think about it all the time. She has a way of writing about terrible tragedy and abuse in a sensitive and relatable way that just rips your heart out but then builds you back up again leaving you with a sense of hope and happiness. Oliver endured such a horrible ordeal and came through with emotional scars but the man he became was wonderful to read. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

OH. MY GOD! Guys this book was so incredibly sweet and beautiful. Friends to lovers trope is my favorite so i loved that! I loved Oliver and Sydney and their character development was perfect! Oliver had me so emotional, he was very romantic and sweet but could definitely flip a little when things got spicy. And Sydney is my girl! I loved everything about her. I literally could not put this down. It instantly caught and held my attention.

An absolutely gut-wrenching story that will make you feel all the feelings. It was beautifully written, twisty and I could not put it down from page one.

Sydney Neville lives in the same house she grew up in, right next door to her best friend Gabe. But 22 years ago, her best friend was Oliver Lynch, Gabe's older step-brother. Oliver and Syd did everything together until that fateful Fourth of July when Oliver disappeared. Syd grew up and is now a talented graphic artist and web designer but she never forgot Oliver. She holds hope that he would one day be found and all would be right in her world.

From chapter 1, I was sucked in to the Sydney's world. When Oliver was found, my heart broke for both of them, for the time they lost, for the friendship that might never be mended, for the things Oliver never got to experience. Little by little, Oliver lets Syd back into his life. He discovers many new technologies like the phone Gabe always has in his hand, clothes that came all the way from the Amazon (I laughed but berated myself for laughing at his innocence), driving a car, getting a job, his feelings for Sydney. While he didn't know why Syd was so important to him, he felt deep inside that she was someone special.

“When I was five years old, I gave you my heart on your front porch, and you gave me an oatmeal cookie, and I’ve thought about that moment every single day for over two decades. Even when you were gone, you still held my heart.”

Ugh... my heart.

I loved that he turned to art and comics to pass time, which featured a sandy-haired girl with pigtails. It was both difficult and cathartic for him to look back at them, but it also answered many questions that plagued the characters (and me) throughout the story.

“I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you until my dying day.”

I felt all the emotions reading this book. I was an emotional wreck by the end. Oliver had my heart from the very beginning. Even several days later, I still feel like a wreck that the words to adequately describe how much I loved this book aren't coming to me. While this is only the second book that I've read by the author, I feel like she is fast becoming a favorite.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

🪷🖤 Lotus Review 🖤🪷

Thank you so much to Jennifer Hartmann and Bloom books for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Lotus is a standalone dark contemporary romance. Sydney has a successful career as an artist and graphic designer. She’s got everything she could ever want, but she still feels lonely. There are days when she’s plagued with memories of her childhood best friend, Oliver who went missing 22 years ago on the 4th of July. She still grieves for his loss and misses him every day - until her world is turned upside down…Oliver has been found alive

This book! This effing book! It was absolutely beautiful! Syd and Oliver’s story was heartbreaking and so amazing to experience. These characters were both absolutely broken, but their broken edges fit perfectly together. The sass, genuine friendship and overall 90s nostalgia of this book was so wonderful and helped balance out the heavier elements. This book is gonna stick with me for a long time

If you couldn’t tell already, this was a five star read for me! This book absolutely hurt my soul and then healed it in the best possible ways. This book definitely had some darker themes, so absolutely check your triggers if you’re sensitive. This book was a little bit of a slow burn, but once it got going, the spice was fantastic - so overall three flames for spice

If you’re a fan of dark romance with childhood friends to lovers, quirky banter, and awesome 90s references, then absolutely pick up this book. While this is technically a standalone, I highly suggest reading Still Beating first to get the most benefit out of cameos and Easter Eggs.

Oliver Lynch went missing on Fourth of July leaving behind a devastated family and his very best friend in the world, Sydney Neville. When he reappears 22 years later he remembers very little of his old life apart from the little girl with pigtails he thought he invented in his imagination.

The world has grown and changed without him and now he has to figure out where he fits into this new world. The one thing he knows for sure is that Sydney somehow got him through it all and he needs her now more than ever.

When Oliver went missing Sydney lost a huge part of her that she never thought she’d get back. She’s kept everyone at a distance so afraid they’d leave her. But with Oliver back and determined to break down her walls can she open her heart to him again?

I feel like the main trope of Jennifer’s books is you’re going to suffer but you’re going to like it. I flew through 70% of this story in one night before succumbing to sleep and finishing my binge the next day. This book has so much beautiful raw and painful emotions that you can’t help but be swept away. I fell hard for Oliver’s adorable articulate honesty. His lack of understanding of social cues was hilarious and cute as could be. I loved his adorable animal sidekick too.

Definitely mind your TW as this book handles some very dark subject matter and while there is an HEA there’s a lot of emotional trauma and damage to sort through first. Prepare yourself for a lot of build up too cause this one is a slow burn.

This book easily slid into a top read of the year and I am excited but nervous to spend more time in this world with her upcoming release.

The writing is devastatingly beautiful. I hadn’t finished chapter one and already I was fighting tears from escaping. Read only if you want to cry.

22 years ago Sydney lost her best friend Oliver on 4th of July . 22 years later he’s found alive. Your question may be where was he or what happened. All he knows is lotus was wrote on his arm. This book follows the queen of the lotus (Syd) who Oliver thinks was a figment of his imagination to cure lonliness little does he know everything he’s learned was fed to him by his captor all lies all unreal but Oliver doesn’t know that. Over time while rediscovering himself he rebuilds his friendship with Syd and familial relationships but is a friendship what he wants with Syd ? Is Syd his saving grace or is it his brother ? He later learns lotus wasn’t what he thought it was and great things come from surviving. This book rereleases on September 5th through bloom books and I highly reccommend this book check the trigger warnings and enjoy!

**4.5 Stars**

The way Jennifer writes about overcoming trauma is captivating and done in a beautiful manner.

Oliver's acclimatisation back into reality is sweet and innocent but he also shows he is smart and funny and he doesn't let what has happened to him affect him. His character held the most depth and presence for me and I loved his story arc.

As both characters reconnect with their deep feelings for one another the reader is sucked in as we let fate take the wheel. We get their dual POVs and we are rooting for them as they both have to deal with their emotional wounds and some twists along the way.

I loved the friendship between Sydney and Gabe and the antics of the furry sidekicks (I can imagine how strange walking a racoon on a lead would look).

As you get further into the plot using flashbacks and secrets we discover not all is what it seems and I love how Jennifer keeps you in suspence and the meaning behind Lotus was a great twist.

Although a standalone there are characters from "Still Beating" and you don't have to read this first but I do recommend you do as it will give you that background knowledge.