Review: Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly

Hotshot and Hospitality by Nora Everly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author, all opinions stated are my own.

This is the 8th book in the Green Valley Library series, however it does read as a standalone. The series title is misleading as it doesn't take place in the library, but it does involve many of the characters that have been involve din Everly's previous books that did involve the library. If you've read the previous books in the series by Nora Everly, you will remember the Monroe Brothers, as they were the male leads in her previous offerings. This features Garrett Monroe, who is positioned to take over the family construction business. Our female lead is the quirky Molly, who happens to have been Garrett's childhood best friend. They drifted apart in high school, but Garrett wants his friend back in his life especially now that his crew is renovating the kitchen at her family's inn.

I loved that despite their personalities being so different Molly and Garret fit so well together. He was the calm to her storm. She's easily excitable where he's patient and calm. He's patient with her where she's got all of the pent up feelings in the world. Much of this story centers around the fact that Molly doesn't know how to deal with her emotions. She bottles them up inside and doesn't deal with her emotions. She pushes everyone away so she doesn't have to have a real relationship with them and develop any real feelings about them. This doesn't really work with Garrett as he's known her his entire life and knows when she's running away from her feelings, and knows when she's lying about being "fine". She has very real issues with trusting people that stems from a traumatic event in her life that she's never fully dealt with. She lost someone close to her and she's afraid that she will lose anyone else she cares for. I really like that the secondary characters in the book give both Molly and Garrett advice about how to deal with Molly's emotional rollercoaster and how she deals or doesn't deal with her grief. I also like that no one forces her to face her emotions, they are all supportive of her and there for her when she is ready.

Molly and Garrett's relationship was a bit of a slow burn, but you always knew they were going to get together from their first scene together. They had great banter, and no matter how much of a mess Molly was at times, Garrett was always there for her to help her through. And when Garrett needed her, she was there for him. It may have taken her a long time to figure out what she wanted and why she was afraid, but in the end it was worth it. I would say this was a medium on the steam scale. There were a few steamy scenes, but they weren't overly graphic. They also don't dominate the book.

If you like friends to lovers romance with an emotional subplot, I'd recommend this one. I've really enjoyed all of the books in this series so far and I look forward to any books there may be in the future.

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