Review: “Finding You” by Lena Hendrix

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Release Date: June 4th, 2021

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Finding You is an emotional rollercoaster of a romance, and it’s also a wonderful debut by Lena Hendrix. This small town brother’s best friend romance is full of heart, steam and lots of great feels. I don’t know if it’s a trope, but it should be, where characters fall in love through letters. Because that’s a huge part of Lincoln and Joanna’s relationship, and it was lovely.

Lincoln’s been in the Marines for 8 years and every tour has brought on more pain and struggles for him. But the only thing keeping him going are the letters that come with a care package from back home, all signed by a woman named Joanna. Her letters give him strength and hope, and through these letters, he falls in love with a woman he doesn’t even know. When he’s finally honorably discharged, Lincoln returns to his small town hometown and starts looking for the famous ‘Joanna’, but when he comes up empty, he just decides to move on with his life. Except, he finds her. And she’s best friends with his younger brother and Lincoln is convinced that Finn is in love with her, when the truth could not be more different.

“I felt like I was falling apart at the seams; Joanna pulled at one thread and I was unraveling at her feet.”

This book is hawt. Like every page is filled with so much desire and sexual tension, that you can’t wait for them to just enjoy each other. Because that’s clearly the only thing that’s going to make everything a little easier to handle. But also, because holy smokes, the steam in this book is off the charts! The chemistry between these two characters is explosive and it’s all passion, all the time. After all, Lincoln’s been lusting after this faceless woman for years and now that he has her in front of him, his dreams are obviously so much more intense. But even the real thing is beyond his wildest dreams.

Joanna is a brilliant character. She’s a determined woman, refusing to get put down by men and or anyone else, really. As one of the few in her line of work, Joanna has always had to prove herself to people at every stretch. Men choose her as a guide so they can flirt with her, but not because they believe she’s capable. But Joanna is a tough nut, she’s passionate about her work, she’s smart, sexy, strong and oh so wonderful. I loved her relationship with her sister, Honey, and of course with Finn. Sure, it’s her relationship with Lincoln that drives the book, but I love how she was with other characters too. How she didn’t back down when men were being a**holes or when the world was working against her.

And then there’s Lincoln. Oh god, this man is struggling. After 8 years, he’s bound to have some demons lurking in the corners of his mind. Lincoln has lost a lot of his brothers in arms and he’s always carrying the weight of those losses. His PTSD makes sleeping difficult, makes letting himself enjoy the good things in life difficult and it also really makes him struggle to accept that he deserves happiness and joy. Lincoln’s closed himself off and you can see how much he doesn’t want that to be a reality, but how much of it is going to always be that way.

“Joanna, my heart beats to the rhythm of yours and the best thing to ever happen to me was finding you.”

While I loved Lincoln and Joanna’s relationship, I was a little upset with Lincoln for hooking up with Joanna even though in his mind he believes that his baby brother is in love with her. While it might turn out not to be the case (you’ll see!), I felt like it was a wrong move and a betrayal of the bro code! However, their relationship was so incredible. Lincoln is probably the only man that Joanna has ever wanted this way and the only man she’ll bend over backwards for, but that doesn’t take away from her independent spirit. She’s still a strong and powerful woman, but she knows that with Lincoln, she can be softer and not have him take advantage of her. Their love story is one of finding yourself, but also finding the one person who completes you. And after spending so many years hiding inside himself, Lincoln’s found his perfect better half in Joanna and she’s found her soulmate in Lincoln.

Congratulations on your debut, Lena! This book made me feel all the things and I can’t wait for Honey’s book, because everything points to it being just as awesome as Finding You.

Thanks to Lena Hendrix and Social Butterfly PR for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.