did i cringe all over again at the whole family with flower names? whose parents are florists? ...yes.

this one has some tropes i genuinely love (high school sweethearts + second chance romance! marriage of convenience!) but it just didn't click fully for me, and felt like a tired plot that was missing a new or creative spark. i was bored for the first half, but the characters did grow on me a bit, but it just felt really light and fluffy without any sort of sparkle or real heart or depth to it that i really love in my romance reads.

sadly, not a favorite!

I didn't know this book was connected to a previous book by the author, but I don't feel like I missed out on anything as they seem to only share some characters. I wasn't that drawn into this romance. I like the second chance trope, but I've read so many books lately that tend to dwell overly much on the past and don't move forward in the present. There's no exception here. I think the prologue set this pair up on the wrong foot. They were teens and they had a very typical teen romance, nothing earth-shattering and certainly nothing memorable happened between them within that short introduction. So, when Violet and Xavier meet again in the present, I was a lot underwhelmed. The writing was always over-explaining their relationship and interactions as well and I just didn't feel any of their chemistry coming through. It was like even they didn't know why they wanted to be together.

Violet is a successful celebrity stylist. Professionally, her life is amazing. Personally, her life is struggling. With having a very public breakup with her ex-fiancé, Violet is determined to just focus on work. Xavier, Violet’s high school boyfriend, did not expect to run into Violet in Vegas during his birthday. He’s a high school teacher and basketball coach now in their hometown. One wild, fun night in Vegas causes them to wake up the next morning with wedding rings on. When they realize both of their careers could benefit from it they decide to go along with it. But the more they pretend to be husband and wife, the more the lines began to blur and everything starts to feel real.

This book is such a cute, sweet read. Violet and Xavier together was absolutely beautiful. I loved how Xavier didn’t shy away from his love for Violet his second time around. And I loved how Violet slowly let him in and break her walls down. The way Xavier would do anything to keep Violet and how he always had her back made me fall in love with him. This book also touches on real life issues we all struggle with from time to time such as work life balance, learning to protect your peace and self worth. All things I personally struggle with so it was great to see the characters struggle with it and their development/growth throughout. This was a great book!!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc. This was my first read by Kristina Forest. I do have The Neighbor Favor that i can’t wait to read. Anyways, this was a really cute read. Definitely enough to put a smile on your face.

-Second chance romance.
-High school sweethearts.
-Fake marriage that leads them back to each other was so cute.
-I love how Violet is a stylist to the stars and Xavier is a high school teacher and coach. Even though they have two totally different careers it shows that love will win. Also a great example of “if you wanted to you would.”
-The small town love is fun and homey but dang people feel like they have to be on everyone’s business. People are allowed to keep things to themselves.
-Violet at the bowling alley got that girl right together.
-Loved the way they had each others back during dinner with the coach.
-Mrs. Green, parent or not, is way people move the way they do. Like ma’am you didn’t listen and did what you want. No respect.
-Lastly, this shows that communication is very important and also being honest. Lots of lost time can be cut out and broken hearts.

All around a beautiful story with love, family, and a little drama.

Second chance romance, dual times, need I say more? Violet is a successful celebrity stylist, Xavier is a high school teacher and basketball coach and they both were each other’s everythings when they were in High School. As adults, they are complete strangers, until they both run into each other in Vegas, one thing leads to another and oopsies - they wake up with rings on their fingers.

As they get to know each other again, and spend some time together, they realize their lives couldn’t be anymore different, but their love is the same.

I loved this book, which is no surprise because I loved The Neighbor Favor. Kristina knows how to write swoony romances and I already can’t wait for the next book!

I love this book. It was just the perfect cute fluffy romance. I thought Violet and Xavier’s dynamic was perfect. Everybody deserves a second chance at love and the way this was written told their story perfectly.

This was such a cute fake marriage / first love situation. It made my heart swell, the character growth was so phenomenal and realistic. They matured with age and it showed! I appreciated that we got both points of view and that they both found a way to have everything they wanted. This is such a feel good romance and will be perfect to read during February when it releases. (Hello Valentine's Day!)

Also, this is a part of a series, kind of like "Things We Never Got Over" or "The Soulmate Equation". I have not read the first book "The Neighbor Favor" so this book can be totally read as a standalone and a GOOD standalone at that. I will definitely be picking up "The Neighbor Favor" and I'm excited to read Lily's story.

In the same way i loved The Neighbor Favor, I loved The Partner Plot!

This book was absolutely amazing and I feel so lucky to be able to experience reading it early. I can't wait to have this beauty on my shelf and read about Iris!

Thank you Berkley Romance for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Kristina Forest writes the sweetest love stories. I fell in love with this author after reading her YA romance Now That I’ve Found You and once again she did not disappoint. I am a huge fan of the second chance trope. When I started this, I didn’t know it was part of a series. I read The Neighbor Favor and thought it was such a cute story so I am not surprised I loved this one as well. This was a perfect palate cleanser after reading some pretty heavy reads.

This book is about Violet who is fresh from an embarrassing engagement to which her fiancé at the time cheated on her with one of her clients. (Make sure you read The Neighbor Favor to get more context.) She was down for a second but all that changes when she reconnects with her high school sweetheart Xavier in Vegas on his birthday. Xavier is the definition of a cinnamon roll male character. He’s an English teacher and a basketball coach at their old high school and he’s wanting a way out of the small city anyway possible. This book gave me ALL the feel of a second chance romance. The background story of how they became an item to why they broke up and the aftermath of coming back together. I caught myself laughing at some parts, between Xavier’s students, his cousin Raheem, and Violet’s client and friend, Karmel Kitty. It was great to see Lily and her boo Nick, along with Iris. (I’m ready for her story!!) Overall, this was a great book and thank you so much to Kristina Forest and Berkley Romance for allowing me to get an ARC copy!

Absolutely love Kristina Forest’s writing! Her romance pen never fails! A second chance romance , I was holding my breath the entire time praying the characters didn’t mess it up. The high school romance was so beautiful and I loved how the characters grew. I absolutely loved it.

Oh wow! I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this!
I’m not usually huge on second chance romances, but I picked this one up because of the accidental marriage trope. It sounded like a fun twist on a second chance romance, and it was! I liked how most of the romance took place in the now, and it didn’t feel like we were constantly in their past relationship.

Thank you to both NetGalley and Berkley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

QUICK SYNOPSIS: Two former high school sweethearts get a second change in this romance novel which is the second book after Kristina Forest’s book The Neighbor Favor. Violet Green is a Hollywood celebrity stylist & Xavier Wright is a high school English teacher and basketball coach. Randomly, both end up in Vegas where they share one wild night where they get “married”. After an accident that leads Vi to stay with her new fake husband, old feelings start to rise. Are their major lifestyles enough to keep them together and they’ll finally get the happy ending they planned all those years or will they be doomed from the beginning?

I enjoyed this book. (Honestly, look at the cover 😍) I was literally kicking my feet, giggling with a big kool-aid smile plastered on my face the entire time reading. So cute! You do not need to read the first book in this series, it can totally be read as a standalone novel!

First of all, I am Violet’s biggest fan, I loved her character in The Neighbor Favor, I was hoping we’d get her story after reading that book in the early spring. Xavier was a breath of fresh air for a MMC, he had his faults and insecurities but he was man enough to apologize and admit his mistakes in the end. The coach Xavier was applying to work with was a HUGE ick. I still don’t like Lily and Violet’s mom, whenever she’s on the page I roll my eyes. 🙄 LOL, but I know it’s all out of love. Can’t fault her for being old school & caring I guess.

Things I loved:
✨ Second Change Romance 🩷
✨ Marriage of Convenience 💍
✨ Dual POV 👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿
✨ Small Town Vibes 🏠
✨ High School Sweethearts 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨
✨ Hot Teacher 👨🏾‍🏫
✨ Boss Babe 💅🏾
✨ He takes care of her when she’s sick. 🥺
✨HEA ♾️

Honestly, i loved this book so freaking much.

Kristina Forest is such an amazing romance author. I would for sure recommend ALL audiences to read this book. This book is especially excellent representation for positive Black love. 🖤 I cannot wait for the next book “The Love Lyric” for Spring 2025.

Pub date: 2/27/2024


Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Spice: 1/5 🌶️

Read this if you like:
•high school sweethearts
•second chance romance
•fake marriage

This book was SO cute. They grew apart and ended up back in each others lives. This was so heartfelt and I loved every minute.

Thank you NetGalley & Berkley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"If there's a 'Vegas-accidentally-married' book out there, count me in! I adored the second chance aspect in this love story. Violet and Xavier, destined for each other until life took them separate ways.

Violet chased her dream as a stylist to the stars, while Xavier's basketball injury shattered his ambitions. With noble intentions, he let her go, never wanting her to sacrifice her dreams. A chance encounter in Vegas reignites his passion for her, but a decade has reshaped their lives. She's a globetrotter, and he's rooted in one place. Can their love still thrive?

True love is a rare gem, but having someone who'll fight relentlessly for it is even rarer. Their journey encapsulates this beautifully, and I savored every moment."

The Greene sisters are back in The Partner Plot! Now that Lily has found love, it's Violet's turn. And apparently young love doesn't die, because when she unexpectedly reunites with Xavier, her high school boyfriend, sparks fly! Both of them have grown up and found successful professional paths, but they are missing what they use to have. Can they find it again, but this time as older, more emotionally aware people? The slow burn and twist and turns of their relationship are fun and delightful!

A heartwarming contemporary romance with some of the most adorable characters I’ve ever come across, this book filled me with so many emotions as I read it; from happiness to skin-prickling angst, from laugh-out-loud humour to outright heartache, that I found myself loving every single millisecond of it.

This was fine, but just so low stakes and no real steam or chemistry.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

I will always love a marriage of convenience story. I loved how we got both a small town romance intertwined with the big city romance because that perfectly encapsulated Xavier and Violet’s personalities. I will be the first to admit I am not the world’s biggest second chance romance person but I liked how Violet and Xavier were never antagonistic towards one another even though they were working through their own heartbreak. Overall I do think I related more to Lily’s personality in her book as opposed to Violet and how large and in charge she was but it was an interesting story and FMC nonetheless. And I absolutely loved the scenes with Xavier and his students; I love a marshmallow of a MMC.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this arc.

It took me awhile to sort of get into this book and I’m not sure I ever reached the point of really getting invested in it. I liked Violet and Xavier; I just didn’t buy in to their rekindled romance. This book focuses so much on their careers and their mistakes/failures, and they just don’t get the page time needed to convince me that they really fell back in love. Does that make sense?

That said, I DO believe that this could be something that would happen in real life to someone, just not someone I know. So maybe this is where I struggled. For me, I didn’t feel like the book gave a good enough reason/feeling to make their relationship work. I did like how Violet helps Xavier realize his own value, and how she recognizes she wants more from life than a fast-paced life of helping celebrities with their glam. I just feel their actual relationship could use more focus than all the career stuff.

I definitely believe people out there will love this book, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.