Hi enjoy it. It was a great low-key read. It was well developed. The characters were funny and they were also down to earth. I found the guy care to be the one that I enjoyed the most, and how his story just kind of progress throughout the book. I enjoyed the female character and thought that she fit the male character, but I also felt like she had some more growing to do but overall I enjoyed the HEA..

I'm such a sucker for a dual timeline, best friends to lovers story. Seeing all of the couple's adventures together from before they were ever an item is always so fascinating to me - especially when it's so obvious that they are completely in love with one another before they even realize it themselves.

Call You Mine
Inglés
420 páginas
3.5/5

Hice lo que normalmente nunca hago. Leí un libro con vibras navideñas en pleno verano, fue para ver si se me quitaba tantito el calor jajaja pero bueno, ya sin más, les cuento un poco de este libro.

Aquí se van a encontrar con una historia contada desde el presente y el pasado. Van a conocer a Sylvia, una mujer a la que parece que todo lo está saliendo mal, pierde su trabajo y, para variar, encuentra a su novio siéndole infiel, en su desesperación decide regresar al pequeño pueblo en el que creció, aún sabiendo que corre el riesgo de volver a ver a quien en algún momento fue su mejor amigo y de quién siempre estuvo enamorada ¿El problema? Él ahora la odia.

Por ello, a lo largo de la historia vamos a ir viendo como se conocieron, como esa amistad fue creciendo poco a poco y en qué momento de torcieron las cosas, así como, el regreso de Sylvia y su plan para recuperar a su mejor amigo.

No puedo explicarles lo mucho que me encariñé con el personaje de Sylvia, en más de una ocasión me quise meter al libro y darle un abrazo, decirle que todo estaría bien y, detesté muchísimo a sus papás, pero amé con locura de los papás de Kieran, es que son un rayo de luz en la oscuridad <3

Con Kieran pasé por varias fases, primero caí rendida por él, es que me sacaba demasiadas sonrisas, risas y suspiros, luego me desesperó, porque hacía cosas que yo estaba como, quiero pegarle, quiero pegarle y, al final lo entendí, entendí sus miedos y sus inseguridades y lo amé mucho.

Eso sí, mi personaje favorito fue Sylvia, te quiero mucho preciosota, pero ve a terapia, es justo y necesario mi niña <3

En fin, si buscan una historia de amor bonita, con personajes que crecen con cada página que avanza, que les va a sacar sonrisas, risas, lágrimas, corajes, suspiros y que los deje con un sentimiento bonito en el corazón, denle la oportunidad a esta joya de libro.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
This was a great book and I'll be purchasing it for the library.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Super cute read!

Book Review

Title: Call You Mine by Kendra Mase

Genre: Contemporary, Romance

Rating: 4 Stars

Call You Mine wasn’t something I would normally pick up, but I have been coming to enjoy the friends to lovers trope a lot more and decided to give it a go. We are introduced to Sylvia and Kieran who have been friends since they were small children, however, Sylvia moved away from their hometown for work which is where we meet her. In the first chapter alone, she ends up losing her job and finds her boyfriend cheating on her which prompts her to return home for the holidays and give herself time to figure out what she is going to do going forward. One thing to note is that we have dual timelines in this book, bouncing between the past and the present which introduces us to Kieran long before we meet in him in the present. We get to see the childhood and friendship of these two which was honestly, adorable but it indicates that something happened between them, and they haven’t spoken in years because of it.

I got a sense that Sylvia had some strong feelings of loss regarding Kieran, but we don’t know why at this time. Upon returning home, Sylvia’s parents are away on a trip, so she is alone. In such a small town it doesn’t take long before she and Kieran meets again but it seems that old wounds haven’t healed with Kieran giving her the cold shoulder at best, and at worst, being outright mean to her. Sylvia is very lonely during this time, and we see from the flashbacks that she felt like she never really fitted in and didn’t really try because she has Kieran. She feels more alone than ever now her life is falling apart and she is craving the support that Kieran used to give her. These flashbacks also strongly hint at Sylvia’s feelings for her best friend, but she never makes a move to act on them.

Kieran doesn’t seem to realise anything or if he doesn’t, he doesn’t say anything about it. He ends up dating other girls becoming quite popular as they enter their teens which makes Sylvia jealous even though she won’t show it. It is around here that the cracks in their friendship are beginning to show, and we know the reason why even if they refuse to admit it to themselves and each other. In the present, Sylvia decides to go for a drink and ends up running into Kieran again but this time he is at a bar with friends from school who are surprised to see Sylvia. Sylvia ends up getting drunk to the point that Kieran must take her home where she tries to voice her feelings to him, but the words won’t come out. Due to her heating being down, Kieran ends up taking her back to his place for a few nights, but he isn’t happy about it.

There we can see the pair still care about each other and need to talk about the issues they have, instead Sylvia comes up with the most idiotic plan to get Kieran back as a friend. She creates a list of things to do over the holiday, a tradition of theirs and manages to convince Kieran to do these things with her and surprisingly he agrees despite being angry with her. As we continue to bounce between the past and present, it becomes painfully obvious that Sylvia is in love with her best friend and that he’s in love with her too, but they won’t speak about it or acknowledge it. Sylvia doesn’t want to admit these feelings despite the growing tension between them because she doesn’t want to risk losing his friendship again now, she is slowly starting to earn his trust back. In the past, the pair are preparing for college, and it seems their views have changed. In the beginning, it was Sylvia who was excited to leave the town and now it’s Kieran. It doesn’t help that Kieran has been getting into all the schools he applied for while Sylvia hasn’t, most likely due to her lack of effort in school. She does get one acceptance in New York, and she ends up taking it despite not really wanting to leave.

Even in college, Sylvia doesn’t have any friends but keeps in contact with Kieran and he even comes to visit her at one point. Her feelings towards him are still there despite the years and now distance between them. She ends up discussing her situation with him about not having any friends and not needing any because she has him. However, we can see that she is still jealous of his on again off again relationship with Amy. eventually she begins dating Kieran but accepts a job in New York without telling him causing everything to fall apart but she tries to live her ideal life even after distancing herself from him. The reason Kieran is angry with her in the present is that she wouldn’t answer his phone calls after the breakup not even when is mother was diagnosed with cancer.

After discussing this, Sylvia ends up apologising to Lori for not being there when she was ill and confesses her feelings towards Kieran. Lori as his mother tells her not to wait any longer because she knows what she wants and if she doesn’t take the chance, then someone else will. The pair are learning to be friends again, but Sylvia is slowly moving towards her goal of confessing her love for Kieran. This is a slow burn since it takes almost three quarters of the book for the confession and romance to begin. However, when it does, it really takes off and even the smutty scenes are on point. I adored the romance when it finally began, and I didn’t mind the long build up either as it allowed us to really get to know Sylvia and Kieran. This is the perfect romance to read around the holiday period especially if you like a little angst with your romance.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Sylvia and Kieran. They know each other all their lives. There is an attraction. They were best friends in high school. They had a bad argument then they left for college. Ten years later Sylvia come back to her hometown. She reunites with Kieran. They find their way back to each other. They fall in love.

Loved this one! From the beginning I felt a connection with these two and loved the back and forth timeline. From their lists, fun holiday activities together, and overall bond from the first time they meet, once you start you don't want to put it down . This read has me excited for the upcoming holiday season. Great book!

Kendra Mase writes these perfect romance that I can’t help but fall in love; and, this book was no exception. It made me swoon one moment, and it made me sit on the edge of my seat filled with anxiety the next. I couldn’t put this down even for a second.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳?"
"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳."

"After a night of heartbreak, small-town childhood sweethearts reconnect for a second chance to finally have their holiday happily ever after."

A sweet and emotionally intoxicating love story between childhood best friends turned lovers, losing one another and then getting your second chance.

Call You Mine is everything I love and adore about a friends to lovers romance🥹 It's just a super cute and cozy story with the perfect atmospheric setting of a small town during the holidays.

Usually, a dual timeline would ruin the reading pace for me, but I was hanging onto every moment between Sylvia and Kieran like my life depended on it. I loved seeing their friendship grow since the age of 7; it's a bittersweet journey of building a really special relationship since a young age, growing up being each other's vices, and then slowly losing that connection. But it's also the hopeful journey of second chances and swoony chemistry.

*𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳, 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘌𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯-𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸*

GOD I CRIED SO MUCH READING THIS BOOK, IT WAS SO HEALING IN A WAY THAT I WASN'T EXPECTING IT. their friendship turned into relationship chef kiss

Call You Mine did a fantastic job with both the friends-to-lovers and second-chance romance tropes. I also loved that it alternated present day POV and past POV to give you glimpses of Kieran and Sylvia's relationship over time. Getting snippets of the past mixed into the present also made the book really addictive and kept me incredibly engaged. I had to know what happened next. This is a great read if you love second chance, small town, friends to lovers, and holiday romance.
Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love everything Kendra writes 🥹 this was absolutely wonderful in every single way. It has all of the things I LOVE in a book. The childhood friends to strangers to lovers, the second chance that’s kind of actually the first chance because they never really got a first chance since it was more of an almost, the PINING, the fact that they were BEST FRIENDS and didn’t want to risk that but also they both loved each other so much. I love Sylvia and Kieran so much. This is going to make for a perfect cozy holiday read!!

I love how dedicated Sylvia and Kieran were to each other. They were best friends first and foremost and nothing was going to get in the way of that. And their friendship was SO GOOD. Every part of it was so perfect, it was exactly what the other needed. I loved how much they loved each other. Sure, their communication wasn’t perfect. They were young and things were confusing, and taking risks are hard especially when they were living in different places. But they did love each other SO MUCH.

The dual timeline was perfect. I loved how it built to the conflict the way it did, it was written so well! I felt how much they were both hurting in the present, and how easy things were in the past. And now their feelings and lives for more and more complicated as they grew up. The past was absolutely crucial to their story and I loved every second of it, even the painful bits. And even though it was only in Sylvia’s POV, and we didn’t necessarily see Kieran’s thoughts, Kendra wrote him so well. All of his feelings came through so well via Sylvia’s POV. It was beautifully done!

I love a good childhood friends to lovers story and this one delivered all the feels.

Told in a dual timeline, this second chance friends to lovers will have you turning page after page until they finally find their was to each other.

My one negative and this is definitely a me thing, I don't LOVE miscommunication between two people who love each other. I know it happens. It just drives me mad. 😭 But in this case, it was done so well. Kendra really captured her characters and brought them their hea 🥹🤍

A really fun and charming read with an enjoyable premise and gorgeous characters. I would highly recommend.

Oooft. What an angsty love story. Sylvia and Kieran have been best friends since they met at 7 years old. They’ve grown up together and had their chance at being together for real in their mid twenties when it all went wrong quickly. Four years later and Sylvia ends up back in town, determined to salvage some kind of relationship with her former best friend.

I always think friends to lovers is a bit sad ☹️ Because inevitably someone is pining and usually both people get hurt. This is a bit sad at times, when both Sylvia and Kieran want different things at different times - they’re just never quite on the same page and it does cause them heartbreak throughout. Kieran’s gradual journey to trusting Sylvia and again and feeling affection for her is adorable though, and it just all feels right as they get closer. Sylvia’s own story about coming to terms with herself and her small town is also lovely.

What to expect:

- friends to lovers
- second chance romance
- small town
- forced proximity

First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Call You Mine is a M/F romance standalone written by Kendra Mase in which we follow Sylvia Calasis as she gets fired from her job, cheated on by her boyfriend and decides to go back to the small town where her parents and her old friend, Kieran Rose, live.

I decided to read this book because I had loved a book that I requested from Victory Editing a few months ago, and because of the cute cartoon cover. I have one theory: if a romance book has a really cute but simple cartoon cover, it is going to be good. This novel lived up to this theory and I rated it 4.5/5 stars.
I originally thought that this book was going to be a Thanksgiving/fall vibe book because of the cover, but it is in fact a romance perfect for Christmas and the end of the year holidays. There is not much plot, but this story is about personal growth and relationships and is easily bingeable in one cosy evening.
The story is set in two timelines: the past (mainly in their middle school and high school days), and the present, and it really helps you to understand the dynamics between all the characters. The writing style was really easy to read and understand, and there are a lot of cute quotes in this book. Character-wise, Sylvia is a character that I really related to because we strangely have a lot in common, and Kieran is such a cute love interest and childhood friend.

"𝐼 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒽𝒾𝓂 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝓇𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓃𝑜𝓌, 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝒶 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓉𝓎 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹 𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝒷𝓎 𝒾𝓉𝓈𝑒𝓁𝒻."

a cute heartwarming, small-town, childhood best friend, second chance romance.

it warmed me all the way to my toes with the seasonal warmth and the open love.

i adored the writing style with the alternate before and now chapters even if i did find myself hating it at times when i wanted one side of the story to carry on

Sylvia and Kieran were a dream to read about and my heart feels a little full with that ending

Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish this one before its release date, but I definitely plan on giving it another go soon! Friends to lovers is my favourite trope, and from what I did read it was super cute and cozy!

This was a fun childhood friends to lovers! I wasn’t blown away but definitely a good read for when you need something entertaining and easy to follow!