seriously romantic: there's something about friendship

on an impulse i picked up the friends first series by laura drewry, perhaps the impulse dictated by one of the series being on sale for 99¢ and then realizing that it was the third one and i should really probably start with the first. which is totally an evil marketing ploy, but it definitely worked and heck, i enjoyed all three novels. the first one plain jayne was right up my alley, it's the story of two friends (jayne and nick) who reconnect and realize that there was love between them all along. it's a bittersweet story, because there's lost time and misunderstanding and insecurity and so much love and sweetness. one thing the book does well is establish the secondary characters who go on to get their own stories.

next one up was prima donna, which was probably my least favorite of the four, even though i really liked both leads (carter and regan). there was something about their story that didn't quite resonate with me. the obstacles that kept being pushed on them didn't seem organic, even though their story is also especially poignant. i'd say more but then i worry about ruining the whole story. it's not even that the secrets the characters are keeping are all that dramatic, but in order to believe the conflict you can't the secrets ahead of time. the book i originally wanted to read for the great sales price was accidentally in love, and it was honestly my favorite of the series. my favorite romance trope is the insta-hate to true love story. the leads (ellie and brett) in this one were my favorite of the series, and seeing them get together was the best. the way they came to realize that there was something more between them was so perfectly realized. it didn't feel forced at all. as characters without a ton of backstory together, it was nice to see how their love for each other developed. 

and the last book in the series, how forever feels, ties everything together beautifully. the leads in this one (maya and jack) get their own sweetly sentimental story, and even though the obstacles are entirely self-imposed they don't drag on so long that you get frustrated as a reader. the one thread that continues and grows during throughout the whole series is the friendship and relationships between all the characters. one of the things that made both accidentally in love and how forever feels the more enjoyable books in the series is that you get to see all the characters including the leads from previous novels interact, and you know the leads so well by that point that you are really looking forward to see how they get their happy ending. 

these books aren't deep. they aren't groundbreaking. but they are very satisfying reads. totally worth the 99¢ and several extra dollars that suckered me into buying them.