Truly Madly Deeply
Forbidden Love, Book #1
By L.J. Shen
ISBN# 9781464223730
Author’s Website: authorljshen.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Review
Cal was always a little odd, leading her to getting bullied in school. Her best friend Dylan always was there to stand up for her though. Dylan’s big brother Ambrose aka Row was super protective of her, and Cal by extension.
“The doormen reached her, about to wrangle her from my arms.
I turned my chilly look their way. “Lay a hand on my girlfriend, and she will be the last thing you touch, since I’ll chop your fingers off with a cleaver.”
Something happened though that changed everything for Cal. It made her anxieties worse and made her fear men. She never told either Dylan or Row about it, but Row saw everything.
Before leaving for college, Cal finds herself at the teen make out spot with Row. And, she decides that she doesn’t want to go off to college with her virginity intact. Row is the only guy she can imagine that she wouldn’t regret being with. The only guy that can touch her without causing a major panic attack. She knows he’s not interested in her and it would just be sex and she’s more than okay with that. Well until Dylan catches them and ends their friendship that is.
It’s been five years since Cal has been in their hometown. Five years since she’s talked to Dylan or Row. However, now she’s back for her father’s funeral and has to face them. Cal’s mom is devastated by her husband’s passing and Cal knows that her dad would want her to help her mom. So, she volunteers to stay for eight weeks to assist her mom and her through their grief.
Row obviously hates Cal and wants nothing to do with her. However, it seems that Dylan may be open to mending fences. Cal wants that more than anything and will do whatever it takes to make that happen.
To be able to keep her expensive shoebox of an apartment in New York, Cal must find a temporary job while in town. Unfortunately, the only place she can find to work is Row’s restaurant. And, her new boss makes it clear that he definitely does not want her there.
Will Row and Cal be able to resist each other when the sparks start to fly between them? And, will Cal destroy her friendship with Dylan before it can even be fixed?
I love me a good L.J. Shen book. This one took a little bit longer than usual for me to get into though. She had to build up the story so I could truly appreciate what was going on. And, it was a very slow burn kind of romance.
I absolutely loved Row. He seemed to be one of those tortured heroes that got shat on by everyone though. His dad, the townspeople, and especially the girl he’s loved for as long as he can remember.
“Fine. Want the truth? Here’s the truth: No, I didn’t ‘have feelings’ for you.” He air-quoted the words with a sneer. “I was in love with you. Honest to fucking God, full-blown, snatch-my-heart-out-and-let-you-use-it-as-a-stress-ball in love with you.” He looked disgusted with himself for uttering each word. “And you didn’t give half a shit about me.”
I felt so incredibly bad for him, especially when Cal kept pushing him away when all he wanted to do was take care of her and love her. There were times that Cal needed a good smack lol. Lucky for her that Row was made of sterner stuff and he didn’t give up on her. Most sane people would have given up long ago.
“Is that the only reason you’re helping me?”
“Isn’t it enough?”
“It is. I’m just wondering if there’s something else.”
“No,” he harrumphed. “Wait, yes. Now I remember—I also want to fuck you again.”
I tripped over my own feet, about to dive into the ground. He caught me by the hem of my shirt, jerking me upright.
I’ll always catch you. When have I ever let you take the hit for something, Dot?
“You did not just say that.” I slapped branches out of my way as I regained my balance.
“Did too. Fair warning—I want much more than fucking this time around. I want dates. I want laughs. I want you to be honest with me. All the stuff that freaks you out for some reason. No strings attached. No commitment. Just fun. A perfect do-over.”
Cal was really quirky and seemed scared of everything. She definitely wasn’t living. Thankfully, with a push from Row, she was able to grow a backbone and learn to stand up for herself and go for what she wanted.
“In my dreams, I was someone else. Someone new.”
“Ah, the irony.” He sat back, folding his arms. “In my dreams, you were you. Did Dream Row at least get some NC-17 action?”
“There were a few notable moments.” I coyly collected my wet hair into a high bun. “One of them on a washing machine, even.”
“Were they as traumatic as the real thing?”
“I mean, in one of them I put a red shirt in a cycle full of whites.”
The one thing that truly didn’t make sense to me in this book though is why a world-famous chef would close down his restaurant, especially the one in his hometown, just because he was opening a new restaurant. This does not seem to make good business sense to me even though he was getting a pretty hefty payday for selling the property. I also didn’t understand why he would bother to fix the vandalism when he was so close to closing the doors forever.
Despite that and the fact this book took me longer to get into, I still really liked it. It was a nice slow burn second chance romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. The little text conversations between Cal and Row were really cute and fun too. Of course, it had the usual entertaining banter you can expect with Shen’s books. And, the epilogue was so sweet that I just wanted to read more. I really hope the next couple in the series is close to them (in both relationship and proximity) so we can see how everything we learned in that epilogue plays out. I just want to have a little more time with them!
“Heaven was a place on Earth and it was Row Casablancas’s bed.”
