At Last is the first book in the The Brooklyn Brotherhood by Addison Fox. I have really enjoyed the books I have read from Addison Fox in the past, so I was super excited to read At Last. I did enjoy up enjoying this rivalry romance, and I would be interested in continuing on with the series, but it wasn't my favorite of Addison's books. It was a solid story with good character, and I did end up enjoying it. I believe the series is going to follow other members of the family.

Though this book did work as a standalone, there are so many characters and so much information given that it was hard to keep track of everyone and everything. I think that is because we are going to meet some of these characters again in future books, but it was a lot to take in when I just wanted to focus on the main two characters, which are Emma and Nick. But this story is told in multiple points of view- at least five!, so there are lots of characters fighting for center stage at times.

When we got to boil down to just Emma and Nick, I found myself enjoying the story the most. I really liked the two of them, and I was happy to see their relationship. I just wanted to focus on the two of them, and skip the rest, which is not great because the rest of the story was important for the overall plot.

Bottom line: this was good book and I can see it being an important foundational novel for the overall world and characters, but I thought it was only ok.

Brought To You by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Emma has returned home to help run her family business, the Unity Brewery. After earning her degree and a failed marriage, she wants to get involved in the business and put her degree to work. But her dad, who has become bitter since the death of her mother, wants to sell the business from under her feet. He even has a buyer all ready to make the purchase. That buyer is Nick, the town hero. Nick is an ex NFL player who owns the most popular bar in town. To make matters worse, Nick and Emma have a history of being chemistry partners in high school. Both of them want to see their dreams come true and to do that, they have to beat the other and take total control of the brewery. But as they spend more time together and get to know the other one better, they both feel a mutual respect and attraction. One of the two are going to get hurt in the end, by losing the brewery and possibly their heart.

The characters are well developed and well rounded. I enjoyed getting to know both Emma and Nick and thought they made a great couple. Both of them are willing to work hard and do what it takes to make their dreams come true. I thought the fact that they both cherished legacy and tradition so much was special and I wish more people felt that way. I enjoyed the camaraderie between Nick and his brothers, Landon and Fender. Their bickering and one-upmanship was funny and entertaining. There was a lot of good ribbing between them but it was obvious that they loved each other a lot.

Having said that, I felt that there were a few too many characters in this book, and they all did not add to the story. In fact, I think having so many of them muddied the waters a little. The other thing that I did not especially like was all of the many different points of view in the book. That confused me a little and made it harder to stay in the story. After reading the prologue, when I started the first chapter, I thought, “what, is this the same book?”. These things are only my opinion, and others may not feel this way.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a romantic contemporary read. Although there were some things that I had a bit of a problem with, I did enjoy At Last and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, which looks as though it will be Landon’s story.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

On this occasion no review as it unfortunately didn't work for me.

I like Addison Fox as an author but this book wasn't a favorite. Don't get me wrong- its a good read but it dragged in places & there was so much drama from "side" stories that I had to think about what was going on with the main couple, Emma & Nick, when the book would circle back to them. I'm hoping that the author is just trying to introduce all of the characters early & the next book will be less "busy"

I will read more by Addison Fox & will check out the next book in this series but hope there is some editing of story lines.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed this story. I prefer to read romance in 3rd person because I tend to feel more connected to all of the characters in the story because I find it easier to get into their heads that way. I can see how some people might have trouble following along with the story because of it, but this wasn't an issue for me.

In a sense this is a second chance romance because both characters harbored crushes on each other but because they weren't ever actually an item, and because they were competing for the brewery, I would consider this more of a rivals to lovers/workplace romance.

I thought that the slow build up between Emma and Nick and the push and pull between them was perfect. While they didn't take forever to give into the sexual tension that built up between them, they didn't rush headfirst into a full-fledged relationship either. Was the storyline a little predictable, maybe, but I was still invested in watching it all play out.

Sometimes too many secondary characters and/or storylines can cloud the main focus of the story but I think that the way the characters were featured was a great way to intro us to who we will be reading about in the rest of the series. I love a good family connected series and I can't wait to read more about these Brooklyn brothers.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

I enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow at times but the romance was well developed. I look forward to reading more by this author.

This is the first time I have read an Addison Fox novel and while I really wanted to love it I walked away liking the main characters but found the story to be contrived and in some cases confusing.

Nick Kelley a former NFL quarterback is back home in Parker Heights after being forced to retire 5 years earlier. Trying to make a name for himself away from football, Nick owns a successful bar and now is looking to purchase a brewery in the neighborhood. Nick adopted as a boy with 2 other boys – his best friends from foster care found an out with football but always knew he would come back home to Parker Heights. When a beautiful blonde steps into his bar he knows from somewhere he realizes that what he thought he wanted has now changed.

Emma has been gone for over 10 years – returns home after her marriage falls apart. Having just graduated from business school she hopes to take over her families brewery. When she finds out that Nick her high school crush wants to purchase the brewery with her father’s blessing Emma strikes a temporary plan for herself and Nick to try to come to work together and she can find a way to keep her family’s business. What she didn’t count on was how charming and sweet Nick is and her feelings towards him.

I really enjoyed getting to know Nick, Emma and Nick’s family. I got the sense of how tight-knit the community of Parker Heights is. The love story between Nick and Emma is very sweet and thoughtful. Where I had issues was the “conflict” the author tries to establish between Emma and Nick. It felt forced and really didn’t make any sense. The story is told from multiple POVs between not only the main characters but a few secondary characters that was hard to follow. I did think the conflict between Emma and her father was much more realistic and could have been used as the main conflict rather than trying to force something with the Emma and Nick. The pacing of the story was also hard to keep track of which caused more confusion.

Overall again while I enjoyed Nick and Emma’s love story there were quite a few issues with the book that was difficult to overcome as the reader. There are 2 more books in this series that I hope flows better than the first one does.