seriously romantic: along came us by nicole mclaughlin

lia hanson has a plan. finish up her studies. quit her terrible job. get a good job she can be proud of. one good enough that will allow her to quit her second decent job. all while supporting her infirm mother and her teenage brother. along came us opens when her brother gets involved in a series of fights she realizes that maybe she doesn't have things as in control as she thought.

first she discovers that he's been taking lessons on how to defend himself at a local mma gym. she's definitely not pleased when she meets tyler cavallo and learns of past involvement with gangs in la and the military. but he has a connection with her brother she can't deny. and she is attracted to him in a way she can't deny either.

tyler is so interested in lia. and the fact that she wants nothing to do with him kills him. and with her brother putting him in the middle of things his loyalty and ability to keep promises are in question. because he hates lying to lia. she barely trusts him as it is, and all he wants is her trust.

there's a push and pull between them throughout the book that works because they are so good at talking about their problems. they still fight and get their wires crossed. but nothing ever feels insurmountable, you have faith that they'll figure it out. that what they feel for each other is love. and that love is strong enough to withstand all the hurt and pain they cause one another without meaning to. because their biggest problem is trust. lia has been hurt so badly before. her father, her stepfather, previous boyfriends, not one of them have stepped up and treated her the way a woman should be treated. and so with tyler everything feels too good to be true. and when he doesn't act or react the way she wants him to, it's painful. but the truth is, he's human. he's entitled to feel conflicted and angry. he's hurt by her lack of confidence in him more than anything else.

but once they really decide to go for it. to trust each other. to trust in their love. what they get is something wonderful. something that might not have been planned for, but is exactly what lia needs in order to achieve happiness.

**along came us will publish on june 27, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/st. martin's press (swerve) in exchange for my honest review.