Review: This Much Is True by Adriana Locke

This Much Is True by Adriana Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author and Valentine PR, all opinions are my own.

This was such a heartwarming book.  It was sugar, and spice, and everything nice.  Laina is a pop star and on the day of her gigantic, carefully curated wedding she goes into hiding.  She goes to the one place she has always felt safe because right now she knows that getting married is the wrong choice and she is exhausted from playing pop-star Laina and never getting to turn off the act and be herself.  Her life has become nothing but a business proposition to those around her, and she just wants a bit of the small town life she had before she was famous, surrounded by people who love her and care about her.  Enter Luke Marshall, Laina's former best friend and boyfriend.  They were the prime example of right people wrong time.  They parted way when her dreams took her away from the small town, and his dreams kept him there. He finds Laina sitting on his couch in her wedding dress hiding from everyone she knows, and promises to help keep her hidden and safe until she decides what to do next.  The pair quickly rekindles their friendship as if a day hasn't passed and it is clear that their past feelings have never died.  I appreciated that they have a history and a past relationship, so it doesn't feel like they instantly fall for each other.  Luke treats Laina with respect and tries to give her the normalcy she craves.  He puts her to work in his horse barn, tells her stories about his family and the people in town, and listens to her as she tries to figure out her life.

I thought the character development in this was great!  There is some miscommunication but it is quickly resolved as level heads prevail. Laina decides what she wants and needs, and while she doesn't have all of the answers, she takes the first big steps to do what is best for her not what is best for her image and the pocketbooks of her team.  I really liked that Luke went to his older brother for advice.  The sibling chat was hilarious and endearing.  I hope we see more Marshall group chats in the future.  This was awesome and I loved it!

This does read as a standalone despite being labeled the second book in the series.   If you enjoyed getting to know Luke's family, his brother Chase also has a book.  I am hoping that all of his siblings get books!  I love Adriana's family series, they are so fun and you quickly get invested in the characters!  This also features characters from the Mason family series, and I highly recommend those as well.

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