Series: Never Too Late, #2
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: October 25th, 2021
Love, career, kids—Brooklyn Monroe wants it all. Her beauty company? A triumph. Her love life? Total fail. At 42, that makes motherhood her top priority. With no man in her life, she’s prepared to fly solo, but her plan is derailed when a mailing list mishap turns Brooklyn into a someone-get-me-pregnant internet meme. Making her PR nightmare go away entails a soul-baring interview on national TV. And the guy asking the questions? Her all-too sexy ex.
Reading Brooklyn Monroe Wants It All made me very aware of how few romance I’ve read that feature characters over the age of 40, but also how much I enjoy them and want to read more!
Brooklyn Monroe has built an incredibly successful and satisfying life for herself. Growing up as the daughter of a beauty magnate and then starting her own beauty subscription business with her sister, she’s well-known. But the one thing she’s missing in her life is a family – and for Brooklyn it doesn’t need to include a partner, but definitely a baby. She’s 42 and her eggs are vanishing and all Brooklyn wants is a chance to have everything she’s ever dreamt of. Alec Trakas has been the handsome co-host on the morning show Good Day USA, he’s known all over America and his charms and good looks have won over mothers and women in all households. But Alec wants more – he wants to be on the nightly news, he wants to report on serious issues and not just fluffy stories that get housewives going. And while he’s looking for a life partner, Alec isn’t looking to become a father. Except, the woman he loves and sees that future with wants the whole package and Alec isn’t sure if he can give her what she wants.
Alec and Brooklyn’s romance is a second chance, but with a whole lot of twists tossed in to make it seem almost impossible. They dated a while ago and Alec was ready to put everything on the line for Brooklyn, but when she chose her work over him time and time again, Alec decides that he’s going to be waiting forever and the relationship ends in a not so positive manner. Despite that, they’re able to bounce back into a sort of friendship that toes the line of romance. But that’s still all they’re both willing to offer each other, especially since Brooklyn has a plan and Alec isn’t entirely sure if he’s on board with that plan.
While their relationship is definitely a big part of the story (duh, it’s a romance), their personal journeys are really what stuck with me. Alec’s working towards becoming a more serious journalist and that’s always been his plan, but to actually watch him work towards that goal was wonderful. But along the way, it’s his personal growth that also gets you. He’s so strong and steady, but when it comes to the things he wants in life and how much he wishes Brooklyn would continue to be in his life, Alec starts to see the sacrifices he needs to make. And Brooklyn’s journey is just as strong. Her mission is different from Alec’s, but she realises that in order to have it all, she has to give up some of the things she’s been holding onto really tight. And to go on this journey with her where she discovers who she is, where she stands and what she needs in life is a beautiful one.
Their relationship is a little complicated and sometimes messy, because they’ve got all this history and these desires that they’re holding onto, but they’re also very clear about their feelings for each other. I love that even though they are impossibly and irrevocably attracted to each other, they know where to draw the line. They both want different things while wanting each other, but they don’t take either of those things for granted. They work towards finding the balance and making it work for themselves before working hard on their relationship. And I am all about that. Their chemistry is fantastic, their dialogue and banter is also great. Another thing that really made me love them together was how much they lean on each other for everything. Alec calls Brooklyn when he’s lost and she finds him when she needs a little guidance – and all of this is while they’re both living their own lives, but secretly still falling in love with each other all over again.
Reading this book reminded me that I still need to read Gray Hair Don’t Care because we get to meet Lela a lot in this book and I really liked what I read of her. There’s one more book in the series and seeing the title has me curious about this book and how it’s all going to tie up together!
Thanks to Karen Booth for generously providing me with an advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
anna reads here 