This book flew by! I really enjoyed it, and the story was captivating and kept me invested.

This has a bunch of tropes crammed into it - step siblings (kind of), coworkers, first love, second chance - but it’s done so in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming or like there’s too much, but instead in a way that makes it impossible not to root for the MCs to get their happy ending.

I really enjoyed watching the events of this book unfold. I do wish the ending was a little more detailed, and I wish some of the side characters were more flushed out.

Overall I’m happy to have read this, and will check out other books from the author!

I haven’t felt this way about a book since Boys of Tommen! It gave me Binding 13 vibes, and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I really could feel the blossoming love between the two characters, and couldn’t get it enough of it!

HE GIVES HER A NICKNAME BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T LIKE HER NAME!!!! WHAT?!?!!!

If this is not enough to convince you then I don't what is...

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be an ARC reader for this book. This book takes readers on an emotional journey through a dual timeline, keeping you hooked from start to finish.

The story begins with the entrance of Cade Westwood into the Lexie's life as her mum’s new partner's brooding son. Their initial connection is innocent yet charged with intrigue, as Cade's mysterious past adds layers of complexity to their relationship. Fast forward sixteen years, and Cade reappears as her boss, reigniting old wounds and buried feelings.

The book is beautifully written, skillfully weaving past and present to reveal the depth of their shared history. The dual timeline effectively builds suspense, making you eager to uncover the secrets Cade harbors and the unresolved emotions that still linger.

Be sure to check the trigger warnings before diving in, as the story delves into some intense themes. Overall, this book is a captivating and heartfelt read that kept me wondering and thoroughly engaged throughout. If you enjoy well-crafted romance with a touch of mystery, this book is a must-read.

Thank you, Hot Tree Publishing, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this title.

I am a huge fan of second chance romance and childhood friends to lovers, so this one immediately grabbed my attention.
The story has dual timelines and is told from the perspective of present day woven with flashbacks from past events.
Cade and Alex were forced together as teenagers when their parents dated and subsequently moved in together. Sparks flew and the rapidly became each other's favorite person. They both fell hard and fast, not fully understanding the consequences of their actions. So basically, true to life with most young love.

A devastating event ended their relationship. Flash forward 17 years later as Cade walks into Alex's office announcing himself as her new boss. Forced to face the hidden truth of the past, the feelings that were present as teens seeps into their adult lives. Both characters have changed and built new lives, but buried in their hearts is the flame they still hold for one another.

I loved the first 75% of this book, but the last 25% became a bit messy. There was so much happening in the last 25%, including the unveiling of the secret from all those years ago. The ending was rushed and felt anticlimactic after all the heartache the characters had been through. There were also some plot holes. I think the lack of an epilogue aided in the feeling that this story was a bit incomplete.

i really wanted to enjoy this bc the premise seemed so cool, but the execution fell flat for me
the build up to get to the conflict was bad and dragged out, and while the conflict itself is sad, i felt emotionally detached from the story at that point
also i really just hated mark

It is a beautifully written heartwarming book. Alex and Cade are both sweethearts, and I loved them both

3.5 stars!

This story is written in dual POV, between our main characters Alex and Cade, as well as in alternate timelines - when Alex was 16 years old and current time (16 years after).

Alex first met Cade when he started living with her and her mum - he's her mum's boyfriend's son. And now, after 16 years apart, he's her new boss! We have a childhood sweethearts to enemies trope, which I honestly loved.

The plot and the characters are very very interesting and well-thought!

The way this story is written is the reason for a low rating. If only for the plot, this would be a solid 4.5 stars rating. However, the constant alternating between past and present is poorly done, and we get whiplash from the change in the time frame. This would have worked way better with either chronological order, or at least fewer chapters in the past before switching to the present.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you don't like books that jump back and forth between the past and present, you might not care for this. However, give it time because it builds up. It started out kind of slow for me, but then once I got halfway through it, I couldn't put it down! This book follows cade and Alex and what they got through to find love at last. This is a touch her and die read that was easy to get through and had you rooting for the MMC and FMC all the way through!

What drew me in about this book was the synopsis. It talks about how when the main characters first met, the MMC was "haunted by his past" but that didn't stop the FMC and the MMC from getting together, and then their relationship turned into a nightmare and the MMC moved away, which lead to an end to their relationship.

When they unsuspectedly reconnect through work 16 years later, it starts an emotional rollercoaster where their love is rekindled after some time. There is unresolved trauma that the characters still have to work through, and the story did travel to dark places.

Their story is told through two alternating POVs, as well as alternating between the past and the present. This format for some of these chapters was not for me..... at all. I could not stand the continuous back and forth between past and present, and different POVs, in the middle of chapters. There was barely any time to get used to what was happening before it jumped to a different POV or 16 years in the past. I feel like it would have been better to have some chapters in a row of completely being in the present, and some chapters in a row of completely being in the past, and same with the POVs. This was just too much switching for me.

I did like the story of the past of the two main characters, where you got to see them grow close and initially fall in love. The present didn't have as many layers and fell a bit flat for me compared to the past. I was also not a big fan of Alex as a heroine, and the illegal drug stuff at the end really came out of nowhere and I'm not too sure how I feel about that.

It is a beautifully written heartwarming book. Alex and Cade both are sweethearts, and I loved them both. What they suffered in the past, and how they overcome the differences in the present, is the main highlight. Their past flashbacks and present timelines added a believability to the story. Told through both of their point of view that it's interesting to read. Their chemistry and love they felt for each other were beautiful. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

“When I see you, I have this urge to touch you, like you’re too far away even if you’re right next to me, and no matter how long I’ve been with you, it isn’t enough. It’s never enough.”

Alex Knowles, a real estate agent at Malcolm & Co., is stunned to learn that Cade Westwood is her new boss. Trying hard to pretend that she doesn’t know Cade from 16 years ago, she is quickly flooded with the raw feelings that she’s kept buried deep inside. As the old memories continue to resurface, both Alex and Cade are reminded of the good and the bad times they shared and soon the scars of their shared past begin to reopen.

Alex craves for someone to love her unconditionally, yet she feels she’s not allowed to be happy because everyone she gets close to manages to get hurt. This book was different for me in that the FMC was the one struggling to get over the past and move on, whereas I usually read books where the MMC is playing that role.

Told through both a dual timeline (past and present) and a dual point of view (his and hers) within each chapter, there are a lot of flashbacks to high school. I actually found myself envisioning them as college aged because I felt that the main characters were too mature for high school.

Overall, it kept me guessing and wanting to read more. As the trigger warnings suggest (see below), this was a very heavy read. I liked how the story came full circle at the end and of course I liked the spice. I do, however, feel like it needed an epilogue or an extra chapter that filled us in on the MC’s later lives as it kind of ended abruptly for me.

❃ Dual timeline (past & present)
❃ Dual point of view (his & hers)
❃ Workplace romance
❃ Spice

𝑴𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝟑.𝟓 ★ / 𝟓
𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆: 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒
𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆: 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

⚠️ Publishers Trigger Warning: Explores themes of parental death, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and trauma that some readers may find triggering.

Thank you @hottreepublishing and @netgalley for this ARC.

✨ARC Review 📚✨

4 ⭐️
2 🌶️

This is the first book from Maria Dean that I read. I read the synopsis and knew I had to read this book. I was so excited to have received an eARC of this book. The story follows Alexandria Knowles and Cade Westwood, they met via their parents dating. Alex "Lexie" was turning 16 and Cade was 17, slow they started getting along and feelings started to develop. This story is told in Dual POV and Dual Timeline. We see what happened 16 years ago when everything went wrong in their love story and see them get a second chance. They both experienced a traumatic childhood which is one of the reasons that caused them to separate. I enjoyed reading this book, I didn't expect a different ending but it was a good story none the less. I definitely recommend picking this book up.

Thanks to author Maria Dean, Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the opportunity to receive this ARC.

How do you read that synopsis and not instantly need this? It screams angst, unresolved feelings, drama, and I’m sitting here with my grabby hands going *gimme gimme gimme*. All things that I love to read.

This story is told in both past and present, with a mixture of both in each chapter. We also get some dual POV action. Alex (Lexie) is working in real estate, and her company is bought. The mysterious new boss shows up one day and it’s none other than Cade, the son of her mother’s ex boyfriend, her ex roommate, and her childhood sweetheart. Imagine just sitting at your desk one day and having that kind of surprise lol. Oh and they haven’t spoken for 16 years.

The early part of this book I really enjoyed. The interactions with these two left you with questions you needed to answer, and the author did a great job painting the scene and relationship development in the past sections of the novel. I think the past scenes were actually some of my favourites, seeing these two grow close.

And while on the topic, I think the transitions between the present tense portions and the past tense were a little abrupt and rocky at times. There could be a few paragraphs from Alex, she looks at something and then we’re thrown into the past as a memory takes hold. I just felt the transitions could be a bit smoother.

I also enjoyed the possibilities this story made you consider. I don’t want to say suspense, because it’s not a suspenseful book but you know SOMETHING happened, and it was bad. But WHAT?! I love going through and trying to consider all the possibilities based on what we know and how the characters act. I will say this one caught me totally off guard, it was not even on my radar.

One thing that I was hoping to change, or show some growth was Lexie. As a character, she was a bit of an enigma, and could cause whiplash with her outbursts and thinking going from one extreme to the next. Then there were other times where she was frustrating and argumentative. She would seem to have a breakthrough, then do another complete 180° turn. It honestly feels like she was more mature at 15/16 years old then she was during the present time of the book. I just wasn’t understanding her, and felt we didn’t get to dive in to why. This girl needed to start therapy a long time ago.

Overall this was coasting along quite nicely for me, I figured it to be a solid 4 star read until about the last 25%. This section just didn’t really work for me. There was way too much going on to the point where you couldn’t even digest one issue before the next came. This was where my Lexie issues really started to become prominent. A majority of this last 25% didn’t make a lot of sense to me, and then the book just ended. No falling action, no conclusion, and several questions still unanswered. I’m left more confused now.

Of note: there is a trigger warning at the beginning of the book, but I just want to point it out here for it to be considered. There is abuse, assault, mental health concerns, etc.

*An ARC was received in exchange for an honest review.

This story has a dual POV, past to present layout. We follow Alex and Cade’s journey from childhood/high school sweethearts—Abrupt ending—and chance rekindling. Alex and Cade meet when Cade and his father—who has been dating Alex’s mother for several months— are being evicted from their current home, resulting in Alex’s mother, an aggressive and angry drinker, extending an invite for the two of them to move into their home. Alex and Cade instantly hit it off, as friends, which blossoms into something more flirtatious and eventually—first love. Now it’s 16 years later and Cade is now Alex’s “new boss”. After all they have been through together and lack of closure the two find they never stopped thinking about and loving each other, they’re together at last, though it wasn’t quite that easy.

I enjoyed this book but I feel like there could’ve been much more—I didn’t feel like I had enough of the past relationship and the buildup, why they left, etc., and I felt like there could’ve been a little more unpredictability where the rekindling of their love was concerned, maybe a little more apprehension from Alex? But I guess she’d always loved him so it wasn’t needed? And then the whole drug cartel thing at the very end and the PI bit? I don’t know, all in all it was a fun read just feel left with a few questions.

Thank you NetGalley and Xpresso book tours for the ARC!

Quick and an entertaining read, it has just enough sexiness to make your knees weak and the perfect amount of emotions, sweetness and humour to have your chin wobble and eyes a bit misty!

Lovely written book although it felt like once one problem started they all just happened at once. Was ok.

Thank you hot Tree Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

Second chance romance with former high school lovers is one of my least favorite tropes. But when it is done well, it redeems itself. This book is not the case. It felt a little Colleen Hoover-esque without any character development. I feel like the story leaned in to much in the past for the duel timeline, and the present timeline's were short and choppy. All the characters seemed like caricatures. The reveal of the bad thing that tore them apart (which usually is very disappointing) was ok. The turn this took at the end when the couple finally got back together came out of nowhere and didn't really do anything to move the story along. I didn't really care about their HEA.

First time reading Dean's work and I liked this story a lot. I quickly invested in the characters and wanted to know how the book would end. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Four stars.

📖 Not Without Me
✍️ Maria Dean
🗓️ Jul 26 2024
📝 Hot Tree Publishing

Genre:
contemporary romance, women’s fiction
Cover: I kind of like it, but it’s a bit too generic for my taste, I am missing something but I can’t put my finger on it. Though I think k I k ow the meaning of the petals…
The colours are great but something is disturbing me, might be the font. But I think it still intrigues me enough to pick it up.

POV
dual, first persons POV, dual timeline
Summary:
When Alex’s mother brings home her new boyfriend and son, she never expected this to change her world like it did. But life never goes as planned. 16 years later they meet again. Can they forget the past?

Series or standalone:
standalone
Tropes:
Almost Step-siblings, boss/employee , traumatic childhood , second chance
⚠️: parental death, emotional abuse, physical abuse and trauma
🌶️: 2,5/5
🎧: not (yet?) available
❤️: 5/5
💔: the heartbreak level is out of this world.
⭐️: 5/5

Heroine:
Alexandria “Alex” Knowles
Alex is my hero. I loved the dual time line and see her growth and strength.
Hero:
Cade Westwood
I love the name, it has a great ring to it and I am really picky with names. For me it can ruin a book if I have to read a name a hundred times that I don’t like. But Cade… Yep, loved it. Right from the start Cade had my heart. I expected a bad boy and he was anything but.

Side cast:
Their families, her back then best friend Anna and the present day coworkers . The only open question I had was what happened es to her friendship with Anna?

Diverse cast of characters?:
It’s a very small cast of main character. The story includes mostly their families in the past and coworkers in the present. The main focus are Cade and Alex. I like how Maria builds up suspense by revealing little things at a time but never too much.

character development
Oh yeah, like Maria did such a great job with her characters. They were diverse and three dimensional. From the beginning they were so well crafted and their growth was visible throughout the book. Really brilliantly done. I loved Alex and Cade. I loved the McDonalds scene so much.

What I am really happy about was their chemistry right from the start. No animosity, a true genuine friendship at first. Cade was an amazing guy right from the start.

Location: Harton, England, UK 🇬🇧

Fluency/Writing:
This is my first book by Maria Dean. It was really easy getting into the story. Her writing is fluent and easy to get into. I immediately liked the characters and setup. When I was about 20 per cent in, I was so invested in Alex and Caden. I had a feeling something was off with the family dynamics and then the feeling of doom got worse. I was seriously sleep deprived but I could not stop reading. There’s something about the writing that’s so brilliantly done. Maria has me invested in her characters, I was anxious about what’s to come. What a brilliant book this is. Definitely not your usual cutesy story and that’s what I love about it. It’s one of the books that make you feel all kinds of emotions and that’s so rare for me. The ending took me by surprise. I saw something coming, but not that!

logic
I admit that I made a mistake here. I somehow thought this would be an age gap novel (older woman, younger man/stepson) and not a step sibling story. I don’t mind that at all, but I had the wrong expectations, which is totally my own fault. I was thinking wow, intriguing, this lady has balls and I love it! But yeah, I reread the book and set my mind to the actual story! 😂

There’s not much I’d change about the story. In general I am not a fan of huge gaps between meeting again, here it’s sixteen years. Yes, it’s fate that they get together again, but I always think about all the wasted time… 🥲

Do I recommend:
Yea, yes and definitely yes!

⭐️Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own, I was under no obligation to review.