Member Reviews
Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham ๐
4 stars โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Pub Date: May 14, 2024
I saw this & the title and cover reminded me of Gilmore Girlsโ Luke Danes. Then I read the synopsis. Luke wears flannel & likes his solitude. โ๏ธโ๏ธ
After I got hands on a copy, I realized this was the third in a series, so I had to read those first.
Authentically, Izzy introduces us to the Edgewood siblings and follows bookworm Izzyโs adventure of self-discovery overseas in Skymar. (3.5 stars.)
Then in Positively, Penelope, we follow theatre girl Penelope to Skymar when she gets an internship at the Darling House and finds herself torn between brothers Matt & Alec Gray. (4 stars
Finally, in Loyally, Luke, his meddling sister secures him a short term construction job in Skymar. Happy & content in his solitude, Luke isnโt looking for romance, until meeting an infuriating woman he secretly nicknames Grace Kelly. She annoys him tremendouslyโฆuntil she doesnโt. But she, (Ellie)has a mission in Skymar, to polish her tarnished reputation and get back to work as a working Royal.
I found this entire series to be charming. Much of the interaction between siblings Izzy, Penelope, & Luke is via their correspondence and I loved this take on getting to know the characters.
I also loved how much angst was present with Luke & Ellie and they got to know each other more and more.
#LoyallyLuke #AuthenticallyIzzy #PositivelyPenelope #PepperBasham #Skymar #NetGalley #BookReview #ARCReview
I kinda struggled with this one not gonna lie, it wasnโt really what I expected. I will say though I did enjoy the different narrators, they did a good job!
CW: cancer (recounted), death of parents (mentioned), alcoholism (mentioned), gaslighting, classism
I would like to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for providing me with a free audio e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Luke Edgewood has no need for what he calls โthe fru-fruโ of Hallmark movies in his life. But, when he gets tasked to spearhead a major renovation for an orphanage in Skymar, Lukeโs life turns into one.
Loyally, Luke is a heartwarming novel that left me grinning from ear to ear. Readers who love Bashamโs swoon-worthy romance in the previous two books of the Skymar series will have their fill of swoon as Luke falls in love with a Skymarian princess, Ellie, and he doesnโt even know it.
Since I have listened to each book in the series on audio, I definitely noticed that Basham and her team went all out with the narration/production. Narrated by a full cast of narrators, each of the narrators brought their own narration styles that made the characters come to life from the page in Bashamโs least epistolary novel of the series. However, I do note that the only downside to having this many narrators on hand is that you donโt get that duet narration between the love interests as you would have if you were listening to Authentically, Izzy or Positively, Penelope.
What I love most about Loyally, Luke is how Basham is able to get you swept in the heart of the story. Feeling the charactersโ emotion from the bookโs narration to the bookโs main themes of grace and hope, itโs hard not to get invested in these characters and in this story. As it may be the last book of the Skymar series, Basham also takes time to nicely wrap the character arcs from the other Edgewood family members as they all get their HEAs.
That being said, you need to read Loyally, Luke if youโre looking for a Christian romance full of heart and an audiobook narration that will get you completely swept away.
So, I couldn't really get into this story and I am so very sad about it. I think the issue was the narrators voice was not as exciting as I'd like. I understand that it is a Christian read which I have nothing against, but I honestly good not get into this one. Perhaps, I should actually READ the physical book rather than listening to it.
Overall I enjoyed this book. I received an ARC from #netgalley as an audiobook. This is a clean romcom, with light religious notes. My first positive of this book include the narrators! They had different narrators for different characters which I prefer. Nothing annoys me more than one narrator trying to do both female and male voices. Next, I always enjoy a rugged, flannel wearing male MC (who doesn't!?!) The best part of the book was the irony of the MCs making fun of "Hallmark Movies", when they were in one themselves! Made me chuckle a few times to myself. I do enjoy a feel good "Hallmark Movie". I did have a few negatives of the book which is why I rated it 3 stars instead of 4. First, I thought it was a little long. About half way through the book I speed up the audio to 1.5 speed. Last, I wish there would have been more details regarding the diary, to add a little drama to the story line.
I also have not read the first 2 books in this series, and it is not needed for this book. I did add the first 2 books to my TBR list ;)
In this multiple narrator audio book, Princess Eliana is working "undercover" with Luke, an American carpenter, to renovate a Skymarian orphanage. Princess Eliana dropped out of the spotlight after a scandal three years ago and plans to take up the mantel of a working royal once again, so falling in love with a foreigner is not on her agenda - but it happens anyway.
I really enjoyed the narration of this audio book, though a couple of the female voices were very high pitched and thus annoying.
This is the third book in the Skymar series but the first book I've read. The story is a stand alone, but the characters of the previous books do make a few appearances and I truly believe I would have enjoyed these cameos more if I had read the other books.
I enjoyed the progression of Luke and Ellie's relationship and I had fun with them tackling eliana's "bucket list". I loved some of the side characters, especially the children and the ending was very well tied up. The relationship between Luke and his siblings/friends is #goals. But in the end, the story was just fine.
This is obviously a royalty romance novel, the second one I've every read, and I'm realizing that I just don't enjoy the trope. I also don't enjoy reading tabloids in real life so the tabloid snippets in the story really grated on my nerves.
I also cringed at all the Hallmark movie references.
This is also a Christian romance and definitely not for everybody. I thought the references were not too often or overly patronizing, but I am a Christian...
A solid 3 star read!
When I requested this book, I did not realize it was part of a series, so this might have been partially my fault. However, sometimes with Romance series being the way they are, you can usually follow along quite easily, this was however not the case for this book. I felt lost with all the characters at the beginning of the book early on, not exactly knowing who was who. Another thing that bothered me was the texting that each chapter started with, which also didnt seem to add much to the current storyline.
Sadly this book was not for me and I DNF'd it at 12%.
Thank you Harper Collins for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
If you are in the mood for a sweet cheesy Hallmark movie with every romantic trope ever created, then you will love this cute, wonderful Christian romantic comedy in book form.
Luke Edgewood, takes a job rebuilding an orphanage in the European country of Skymar. Luke is a gorgeous flannel wearing manly lumberjack type gentleman, who teases his three sisters mercilessly, but loves them with his whole southern heart. When Luke has a run-in with a beautiful but grouchy woman before he begins his construction job, of course this same woman is his new boss on the construction project. To make this even more of a Hallmark trope, his new boss just happens to be a princess, Princess Ellie of Skymar, the bad girl of the country that is trying to repent for past sins.
I wonโt spoil the rest of the story, but if you need a happily ever after pick me up, this sweet story does not disappoint. The characters are adorable and Lukeโs relationships with his meddling sisters are very entertaining. Sometimes you just need a sugary sweet book to cleanse you from all the not so nice books out there.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this delightful Advanced Reader Copy. This is a book that I can definitely recommend to anyone who loves a wonderful pure book of sweetness. #NetGalley #LoyallyLuke
This is a sweet romance with all the tropes we love - but it is also seemingly aware that it has all the tropes and pokes the adequate amount of fun at itself. This is a fun read that you won't blush at recommending to your mother.
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of Blue Ridge Mountain-born Luke, meeting a real princess, Ellie. Only he doesn't know that. Full of tropes and predictable rom-com themes..on purpose...it was fun to see the guy who hates those things really embrace them in the end. This is the perfect complement to the first two in Basham's series. I enjoyed the clean story but with characters who make real mistakes and aren't perfect Christian stereotypes. The modern flow of the language...in this story, through a lot of texts...was part of what made this story. The audio version was well-done with multiple cast readers, which even made the texting portion of the book easy to listen to.
I look forward to exploring more of Basham's work!
Thanks to #NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC.
I have to be honest, I did not get very far in Loyally, Luke. It might be due to not having read the first few books in the series, so I was confused about a few issues. First, I couldn't figure out if it was science fiction or standard rom-com; this might have been because the way the narrator pronounced the name of the country made it seem like the name of another planet and that got stuck in my head. I think if I had been reading this instead of listening to the audiobook I would have clued in much more quickly with a few page-flips back to clarify.
The narrator's voice really took me out of the story as well. I'm not sure what it was, but I was honestly just annoyed and stopped reading by 25% in. 2 stars, as I really didn't give this a chance, and would have possibly liked it if it hadn't been for the narrator and/or had I known more of the back story.
This was super sweet!
This whole trilogy is so sweet, cozy, and funny! But it isnโt all fluff and kissing. In between and mixed in with the romance, is quite a bit of really good advice (and movie quotes too!).
If you love romantic comedies, good guys wearing flannel, or anything royal, I think you will love this!
I really enjoyed listening to the audio version of this book! The full cast production helped keep the characters straight and the accents are fantastic!!
Huge thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the opportunity to experience this fabulous audiobook!
"I received a complimentary copy of this book and audiobook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." Thank you Thomas Nelson for the opportunity.
Luke Edgewood, the third unmarried Edgewood, has made it to Skymar to help with a couple construction projects. Little did he know what he was getting into. There would be royal run-ins, fun with children at the orphanage and many other humorous moments. Will he end up a with his movie script love story?
Pepper Basham is so good at interweaving humor with sweet moments and then also mixing in faith elements. I enjoyed this book so much and I was overjoyed to get an Arc of the audio as well.
The narrators, Christopher Ashman; K.C. Sheridan; Kathleen McInerney; Natalie Duke; Gary Furlong; Caitlin Davies; Mhairi Morrison were tremendous. I so enjoyed the voice of Luke in the other books and knew that I wanted to listen to this one as well. I know there were some changes in the narrator of Izzy and Penelope but because it has been awhile since I listened to those books that I didnโt find the differences all that noticeable. The voices of all of the narrators fit the characters well, but especially Christopher Ashman as Luke. I also think that the narrators did very good with the accents. The use of the different narrators definitely help with the understanding of the book because of the somewhat epistolary format of this book.
I would recommend this book to all those readers of Christian fiction books who love fairy tale type stories. One might even consider it a flipped fairytale story. The faith element is more on the light side, so if they bothers you this might now be the book for you. I loved it in both formats.
This book was by far the best in the series! The balance between correspondence and "in person" interactions was absolutely perfect and the full cast helped really bring it to life. While this story did feel a little long at times but it was still really well done!
The story of Luke and Ellie was all the best parts of a romantic Hallmark Channel Movie! I enjoyed the Penelope and Izzy were still very much present in this book as much as the others.
The full cast in this book was even better than the last one! I really hope this is not the last time we will be in Skymar!
This book is easily my favorite in the trilogy! Although this can be read as a stan alone, I do think you need to read the previous two books in order to appreciate Lukeโs total Luke-ness. It placed our favorite flannel wearing, southern drawl accented Grinch at the heart of the most rom-commy rom-com of all time and I loved every minute.
This is a satisfying end to the series, left me with a smile on my face.
I think you need to read Authentically, Izzy and Positively, Penelope before reading this book, because they give you the background on why they are all in Skymar and the family dynamics of these various characters.
This one has Luke arriving in Skymar and having a "meet cute" (not so much according to Luke) with Eliana, who just happens to be royal in disguise. When they find themselves together again, you know sparks are going to fly.
The first two novels in this series are mostly epistolary, but this one is a really nice mix of both. I did like that, especially since I had the audiobook version. This made the book flow better for me than with the epistolary format (which I love, don't get me wrong)
I adored that Luke got his happily ever after, and as with all of Basham's books, there's a pervasive feeling of hope throughout. As the characters grow and change, the reader learns right alongside them. I was happy to see that, although this series is ending, Luke will make an appearance in an upcoming book.
If you're looking for a series that makes you smile and sigh contentedly at the end, this is definitely one to pick up.
Book Review: Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham - 4.5 Stars
Pepper does it again with Loyally, Luke in book 3 of the Skymar Series! Izzy and Penelope have been some of my favorite books, just overall great comfort reads. Loyally, Luke does not disappoint as we are following Luke Edgewood's love story with a secret Skymar Princess! If you are looking for a book that just makes you overall HAPPY, pick this up! You can read this as a standalone, but I personally believe you get the BEST Skymar experience by picking up book 1 & 2 first. We follow Luke throughout the entire series so we've gotten to know him and really enjoy his character. So many of us have been looking forward to his romance story and I am so glad Pepper wrote this story!
This story follows Luke and Ellie. Luke is in Skymar to help with some construction work and has a "meet-cute" with Ellie, the Skymar Princess! He is trying to avoid all "hallmark cheese" romance tropes but he ends up with quite the romantic ADVENTURE! I loved all the references to romance tropes in this one, those things made me laugh SO much! And to see the siblings jumping in all about the tropes too, was even better! (Like the whole "meet-cute" discussion LOL) As many others have said, Ellie is really a prodigal princess, her past mistakes follow her and she's trying to discover who she really is. I loved seeing Luke help her along the way with this and the ending was CHEF'S KISS for me with what Luke did!
Luke really reminds me of my own Dad and brother. He's a grumpy southern handyman with a lot of sarcasm and laughs, but he also cares about the people he loves and is one to work hard and take care of those around him. He loves kids, which we get to see in this story too! I would have liked a little more of those details of Luke with the children and details with the orphans, but overall I loved seeing those moments.
I think my favorite thing of this entire series is the sibling relationship. I have a very close relationship with my brother and so much of this is reminiscent of our own sibling relationship! You find yourself just laughing and enjoying the entire dynamic. Also, as a southern belle myself (who loves Scotland), ya'll already know I love the Southern and Skymar settings and characters!
A note of importance, when you compare this to Izzy and Penelope, this is more narrative than full epistolary style. I love both ways of storytelling personally, but wanted to notate that for those interested. We still get bits of text and email threads though throughout the story, which I loved seeing!
There was a nice light faith element in this book too that I really enjoyed seeing added. So glad Pepper wrote this series!
P.S. Readers will love this series for the heartwarming, humorous, sweet rom-com that it is! The PERFECT comfort read.
P.P.S. Also, the audiobook of this was AMAZING with the cast of narrators! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a complimentary audiobook to listen to. That really enhanced the reading experience for me! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
โ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐: โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ | ๐ฝ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ: ๐ธ-๐ต๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐น๐พ๐๐ท๐๐๐
๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐?! ๐๐ฒ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐ญ, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐๐๐. ๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ-๐๐จ๐ฆ/๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐จ๐, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ๐ก-๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ก ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ข๐จ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง; ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐จ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐.
๐๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ค๐ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฒ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐ซ, ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ. ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ง ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ, ๐ก๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งโฆ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.
๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐
๐
๐๐ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐, ๐ฏ๐ฝ๐๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐น๐พ๐ธ๐๐พ๐๐, & ๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ถ๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ ๐๐
๐! ๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐พ๐๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐.
This is hallmark meets fairytale. Itโs so sugary sweet, it could give you a cavity. This book was not my typical read but I can see there is a good audience for it. If youโre looking for something that covers almost every romance trope out there from secretly royal, and forbidden love, and friends to lovers, to fake dating, this is for you. The author fully leans into the cheese of it all and makes fun of it to an extent which I give her all the credit for. I personally didnโt love Luke (shocking based on the title lol), I didnโt love his โfearโ of being soft, romantic comedies, and coffee with flavoring. It felt a little too much for me. The book itself was well written and a lot happened in it. I think maybe it could have used another edit since some of the storylines meandered and didnโt ultimately go anywhere. I think the right audience will love this book, and just because itโs not my style Iโm not going to let that taint my review.
P.S. this is totally on me but I also didnโt realize this was a Christian romance until I started it. Again, not my style and I would not have selected it if I had realized. That it absolutely on me though!
Thanks NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy.
The writing style growth from the first two books in the series is actually really good despite the final rating. As someone who didn't care for Books 1 or 2, I did not mind this one! So, if you liked the other two books -- I'm hoping that means you'll really like this one!
We finally transitioned over to group chat texting instead of emailing!! Such a small difference, but it made it that much more realistic and the author didn't include a bunch of P.S. and P.P.S's like she did in the first two. It made for better flow and felt more in the moment than emailing would. Emailing is a whole event.
They also switched voice actors (they kept Christopher Ashman, but swapped out Hazel Beattie) and that made all the difference. No disrespect to Hazel, but I never clicked with her voice acting in the first two books. It gave Jamie Lynn Spears in the Netflix show Sweet Magnolia's. Book 3s voice actors were all so cohesive and flowed together nicely. I know Luke is the oldest, but the energy was finally more adult-like than Young Adult.
Book 3 in the series had no microaggressions towards people who aren't white, which is the bare minimum -- but a win nonetheless! There was less misogyny, but you can tell that the author doesn't know how to write a "girls girl". Every single one of Pepper Basham's woman characters has something hateful to say about women who show off their "sultry legs" or match their accessories, or literally just take care of themselves in a way that enhances their physical appearance. She gives: I'm not like other women! This in conjunction with the men in the book saying things like "she looks prettiest in ordinary clothes than fancy ones. I don't like princess-y girls" is so eyeroll inducing. Like we get it, the cliche "you look better in sweatpants with no makeup" thing. However, this author always takes it too far and gives some level of superiority to women who "aren't like other women."
When a character went through a drug phase, they also threw in there that she dressed in ways that "left nothing for the imagination." Gotta throw a little policing of the body in every single one of these books! This author equates showing skin with being a less than ideal person.
This book does a good job capturing how ruthless the press can be and there's some interesting plot twists that keep the reader engaged. Not my favorite series ever, but this book is definitely the best of the three. It should be noted that though this is a series, these are standalone novel's and you could easily just start off with Loyally, Luke.
Finally, despite being a kisses-only book (doesn't hurt the rating), the author finally wrote some romance into their love story!! You can be flirty and only kiss and we finally get that in book 3! Even some saucy comments thrown in.
Thanks NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Loyally, Luke gets published on May 15th, 2024!