To Love and To Cherish, by Lauren Layne

5 loving the belle’s stars!!

 

Okay these covers though… even if I didn’t know who Lauren Layne was and how awesome she is I would buy this just because of the cover.  They are gorgeous!!!!! I can’t wait to have all 3 on my shelf!!

Now I don’t know which Belle was my favorite. I thought I had it locked down it was going to be Heather, then Brooke, and finally Alexis.   Now I may have to alter my ideas and go Alexis, Heather , then Brooke.  I’m not sure… ugh. I love them all! Each girl brought their own personalities to light on the page. I just love the sisterhood in the books that Lauren Layne writes. It was almost like visiting with the Stiletto ladies again.  As far as the Wedding Belle men.. well I’m pretty sure it’s just a toss up.  If you are going to make me pick it would be Logan, Josh, then Seth.

I have to say this series was amazing and I am so sad to see it coming to an end. However it is definitely going out with a bang!  We finally get Logan and Alexis story.. and it was sooo worth the wait! Let’s start with Alexis because who doesn’t want to crack that hard exterior she has up.

Alexis has built a wall around her heart and body it seems.  She has done everything she can to see that her business is number one.  It is the only thing that can’t fail her.  Alexis doesn’t realize that she has the ladies at Belles and her very handsome accountant Logan.  There are some secrets between Logan and Alexis that I didn’t see coming even though I read the first two books.  Alexis seems oblivious to the fact that Logan is super attractive, smart, and obviously loyal. I love that you get to see her open up in the previous two books with the ladies; her hardened heart seems to crack a little.  She had some really great character development throughout this book.  The belles are her life then when she starts to unravel and realize that they are not her life, but her love has been with her for the past 8 years. I had such amazing feelings at that part. The slow transformation from her being super up tight , then relaxed, to nearly completely unhinged in the end was amazing.

“To think for eight years she’d been drinking coffee every Monday and Thursday with Clark Kent when should have been sharing a hotel room with Superman.”

Onto Logan.. who hasn’t been waiting for Logan’s book? I mean seriously you only get snippets of the sexy, nerd, British man in the first book.  The second book you get to see he has more depth and feelings. In his own book with Alexis I’m pretty sure there was steam coming out of my ears. (in a good way!)  While Logan didn’t need to transform to win me over, he needed to show Alexis all of his sides not just his accountant side.  I loved how the guys joked around about his accent and his terminology for certain things. His brotherly relationship with Josh was amazing.  The fact that he took the initiative in this book to make her look at him differently and how patient he has been for the last 8 years *sigh*.  He is just the whole package… I mean could Lauren Layne have made him any more perfect??? Poor Logan just lays it all out on the line for Alexis.  Will she stomp his heart or love all of him??

He took a deep breath and looked back at her. “You deserve better than fine, Alexis.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “And you think you’re the key to that?”

“I think you should give us the chance to find out.”

 

With every Lauren Layne book I read I love her even more. I can’t even explain how much I love her writing and her character development.  The relationships between the main characters and their friends  seems as equally important to her  as the main love interest relationship.  It really shows in her writing that she is super dedicated to making it realistic and relatable.  I loved, loved, loved the fact that the heroine had to chase the hero in this book! Usually in the ending it’s always the man groveling, and this one was not that way. I can’t say enough about how much I love her books!  She will forever be an instant buy author for me.

 

Thank you Netgalley, Pocketbooks, and Lauren Layne for the advanced copy in lieu of my honest review.

Goodreads link here.

 

book blurb…

Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages

Expected publication: October 18th 2016 by Pocket Books

ISBN 1501135171 (ISBN13: 9781501135170)

Alexis Morgan has spent the past eight years devoted to turning her tiny start-up into Manhattan’s premiere wedding planning company, The Wedding Belles. Now that her business is thriving, it’s time to turn towards her much neglected personal life, and Alexis approaches her relationships like she does everything else: with a plan. Not a part of that plan is Logan Harris, the silent partner in the Belles, and the one person who’s been there for her since the very beginning. But Alexis needs someone fun, and Logan’s all business, all the time—except when a late night at the office ends with an unexpected kiss that leaves the usually cool and together Alexis reeling.

Logan has lusted after Alexis since the day he walked into the tiny Harlem apartment that used to double as her office. But the ambitious wedding planner has always been untouchable…until now. Alexis has made it clear that she’s on the dating market—and equally clear that he’s not in the running. But when Alexis finds herself in need of a date for her sister’s last minute wedding in Florida, Logan knows it’s the perfect time to show Alexis that there’s more to him than numbers and spreadsheets—and beneath the pinstripes and glasses lies a hot-blooded heartthrob. As Florida’s sultry days turn into even hotter nights, Logan’s out to convince Alexis that the fling of a lifetime could just maybe turn into forever..