The half star is for the twist I wasn’t expecting. Honestly I’ve read worse in terms of content, so this wasn't that shocking for me 😂

This was such a slog to get through and had wayyy too many characters for me to care about more than 2 (if even that). 

I’m counting the fact that I finished this book as a win because I was close to giving up a few times. Thank goodness for audiobooks and the ability to speed them up otherwise all hope would have been lost! This definitely served some eerie atmosphere, and was kind of enjoyable in the end.

Now that I’m somewhat familiar with King’s writing style, I can tamper my expectations with anything else I might pick up from him. 

p.s. Why do your chapters have to be SOO long??!

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆."

𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 is the second installment of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 series following professional wide receiver Henley Ward & the new-to-town teacher, Tru Seymour. 

Henley is a busy girl dad to 3 daughters and has a great coparenting relationship with his ex wife. As a recent Silver Hills resident, Tru is still trying to find her place within the community. After meeting a heart throb next to the cinnamon buns at the grocery store, she doesn’t expect him to unload a piece of his mind upon her during her first day as a substitute teacher. When one of her students (who just so happens to be Henley’s daughter) has trouble reading aloud, she offers to help with lessons outside of class. These reading lessons along with Tru being the dance instructor to Henley’s other daughter, this forced proximity element really allows them to build on their initial connection that first sparked among the baked goods. 

I really enjoyed reading this and watching both of these characters finally allow themselves to be loved fully. I just loved the relationship development between them and their own growth throughout the book as well. A microtrope I love is the caretaker trope. In this one we get to see both Henley & Tru shine while caring for the other in different ways. 

I think Willow has created such a fun series with the Single Dad Playbook aspect! I truly enjoy getting to see snippets of advice this group of single dads continue to share with each other. The banter and camaraderie of the group is one of my favorite things about the series. If you love found family stories, be sure to add this series to your tbr ASAP! I cannot wait to see what happen in the next book 😍

✨trope round up— 

age gap (H is 36, h is 24)

caretaking 

he falls first & harder

single dad 

small town vibes

found family 

~𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙋𝙍 & 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝘼𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.

these characters are the epitome of ”is somebody gonna match my freak?”

If you are going into this book and read the trigger warnings yet still decided to pick it up and you thought it was going to be anything other than what the author warns you about.. well then that’s on you.

This was sick and twisted but also gave me some Butcher & Blackbird romcom vibes for a bit.. then swiftly turned even more f*cked up.

The choices made were absolute choices and I am curious as to how LB came up with some of these choices.

I’m not recommending this because it was WILD, but I am probably going to read the Hitchhiker series at some point 😂

This was an interesting paranormal horror novella that follows the behind the scenes production of a reality tv renovation show that helps people fix up their “haunted” homes. 

I enjoyed the audiobook because it did provide snippets of scenes from different episodes of the show itself which I thought was cool. 

I will say that the ending was weird but not in a good way 😂

This was not as enjoyable as the first book in the series. The big reveals seem to be told instead of shown with the series focusing on solving the case itself. 

These are such quick reads with small town cozy vibes & the added sleuthing element. A good time overall!

This was such a quick, cutesy + cozy read❤️

In this story we follow Francesca as she returns to her hometown after a broken engagement and the death of her mother so that she can take over her families Italian Café. After discovering her neighbors lifeless body, she teams up with her old classmate (said neighbors son) to solve the crime and mayyyybe even form a romantic connection along the way. 

This cozy read was just what I needed after my brain was discombobulated from a horror book 😂 I will absolutely be reading the next book sooner than later when I need another light read to get through quickly, but I can rely on for a great storyline to get invested in. I can’t wait for the next one!