May 27th, 2020

    My final installment in this book review series is Becky Wade’s Bradford Sisters series. The first book - True to You - was the first book by Wade I had ever read, and now I am completely hooked on her writing! Several of her novels are on my Kindle wish list. I highly recommend her!
    This series centers around three sisters: Willow, Nora, and Britt. They are unique in that they all have the same father, but different mothers. How that happened is a great plot point in itself, and is the premise of a companion novella, Then Came You, which is a prequel about their dad (which I also loved!). All three have an element of mystery as well as romance.
    Book one (True to You) is about the middle sister, Nora. My favorite thing about this one was how absolutely hilarious it was. I could also identify so much with socially awkward, bookworm Nora. And the male lead, John Lawson? Talk about swoon-worthy! He’s a heroic former Navy SEAL, but he has a devastating secret. I absolutely loved this book, but I hesitate to recommend it in some ways because they end up uncovering something about John’s past that completely shocked me. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say that it would be something extremely difficult to get past if I were in Nora’s shoes. 
    Book two (Falling for You) is about the oldest sister, Willow. I wanted to like it, but I have to tell you I was disappointed. The romance fell flat or me. It was difficult for me to connect with Willow, the perfect, beautiful, oldest sister who is a model. And her ex? An NFL star, naturally. To be honest, I never liked Corbin Stewart at all. He supposedly has become a Christian since breaking Willow’s heart, but I just didn’t buy it. I thought Willow should have been more cautious in letting him back into her life. I’m all for forgiveness and redemption - I love those stories! - I just didn’t believe it with Corbin. It felt to me like he still saw Willow as a possession to be won. At one point, he even bribes her to go on a date with him (he uses that word). Manipulation in a relationship is never romantic to me. I didn’t hate the book, though. I loved Corbin’s twelve year old niece, Charlotte, who felt much more real than the romantic leads. It was really the mystery of what happened to Charlotte’s aunt decades previously that kept me turning pages, not the romance. Of the three, this is the book that has the most mixed reviews on Goodreads. That means I’m not the only one for whom this fell flat, but there were others who loved it. 
    Do you know what I did love about book two? Britt and Zander! Britt is the youngest of the sisters, and her relationship with her best friend Zander is introduced in book one, further developed in book two, and brought to a fantastic conclusion in book three. I am a sucker for best friends to lovers (by lovers I mean, love, not sex), and I am also soft for characters who pine for the other. Poor, precious, brooding Zander! I loved him before I even got to Sweet on You. I think Becky Wade saved the best for last on purpose, and the build up does not disappoint! Zander leaves in book two, unable to handle his unrequited love anymore. In Sweet on You he returns, and Britt senses something has changed between them. (Duh, Britt! You do want to shake her sometimes, but in the best way!) There’s a mystery to solve in this one as well, and I loved the suspenseful moments. 

Bottom Line: Even though I wasn’t crazy about book two, reading all three is worth it for Britt and Zander! 

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