May TBR Challenge: Friends to Lovers
Lucas Garrett is the last able-bodied man left in Maple Falls, Minnesota. A series of setbacks shut down most of the businesses in town and the lack of opportunity caused the rest of the men to go west with the Gold Rush. That left the town's women lonely and in need of male attention. Lucas is initially happy to provide it, but he eventually finds himself worn out and looking for a way to take a break from his various "arrangements" without hurting anyone's feelings. To do that he turns to his best friend Priscilla Wentworth and asks her to pretend that the two of them are engaged. Lucas feels confident that this will cause the women to leave him alone because Priscilla is so well loved by the town that no one would ever consider poaching on her territiory.
Pris is tired of being alone so she agrees to the plan on the condition that Lucas helps her find an actual husband. After years of being platonic friends their fake engagement stirs up real feelings but neither one of them is convinced that Lucas has what it takes to commit to anyone, even his oldest friend.
This book was well-written, but I never really warmed up to it. The book opens with Lucas sleeping with half the women in town. Some of them have regular days of the week that they show up to be serviced. That just felt skanky to me and I wasn't able to shake that feeling even though the story goes on to show Lucas to be a kind, caring person.
I was also bothered by Priscilla's relationship with her family. Her father is dead and she lives with her mother and her sister Jeanette. They are described as being close, but that rang false for me for several reasons. My main issue is that both of them become involved with men who were courting Priscilla. Jeanette married Pris' first suitor. She later attempts to seduce Lucas, supposedly to save Priscilla from falling for a man who can't be faithful to her. It was true that she was worried about Pris, but she seemed more worried about her own ego. Jeanette was "the pretty one" in the family she found it unbearable that her husband had run off to the gold fields and left her alone while her sister had the attention of the only eligible man in town. Worse, when Priscilla gets another suitor her mother ends up with him. This struck me as ironic considering Lucas' belief that no one who knew her would be cruel enough to hurt Priscilla by making a move on her man. Obviously this all works out fine, but I still found it more distasteful than charming.
In the end these problems kept me from being able to really invest in the story. As a result it seemed to drag. It felt like it took forever for Lucas and Priscilla to work out their issues. That's too bad because both characters and their relationship had a lot going for them.
Grade: C
I also read three other friends to lovers books this month.
A Whole New Light by Sandra Brown
Basic Training by Julie Miller
Hot Mail by Janice Maynard
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