I received an eARC of this book via the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

What a rollercoaster! Decisions We Make After Midnight by Rachel Higginson is the first in her spinoff series Decisions in Durham that introduces us to Lola Ellis and Will English. This is the first contemporary book I’ve read of this author, and I adored it. Full of heartfelt, soul deep, complicated emotions and real-life problems to hurdle, this romance will break your heart, put it back together and leave you all the better for it.

The story opens on a heartbroken Lola. She’s in hiding at her best friend’s home in Durham, North Carolina after discovering her fiance’s hidden life. The once confidant, independent business woman is suddenly unsure of her well-planned life, her goals and her own decisions. I can’t fault her for that. Her life just crashed and burned. It’s okay for her to take a minute to be a hot mess and figure out what she wants to do next, which is exactly what she is doing in Durham. Not wanting to be a complete freeloader and unsure how long she’ll remain in town, Lola finds a job at a local bar. Having never held a job outside her family’s company, you can expect some mishaps with often hilarious results.

Enter Will English. Will and his siblings are the owners of the bar Lola finds herself working in. He’s indifferent, hard to please, and more than a little arrogant putting him at odds with the new girl. He’s also curious and that curiosity leads him to pursue Lola. He wants to know why she’s in his bar and how long she plans to stay. In the process, the two discover a kindred spirit and friendship blossoms.

There are so many hurdles for these two to overcome. Lola is only in Durham temporarily. She has a company she’s responsible for and must return to at some point. Will has a bar to run, and people counting on him. Plus his heart is guarded better than a castle with a moat around it. I personally loved how Higginson allowed these two to have a mutual friendship first before leading them into anything romantic. Lola came to Durham with her life in shambles, and she isn’t looking for love or even a rebound. The friendship the blooms between Will and Lola feels natural and not forced. Despite these two being completely fictional, I found myself falling for them and cheering them on almost immediately.

Overall, I really enjoyed Decisions We Make After Midnight, finishing it in one sitting. It’s a beautiful story filled with real life complications, friendship and romance. I highly recommend it!

I received an eARC of this book via the authors. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

A cute read from start to finish! How to Lose a Girl in 10 Texts by Delancey Stewart & Marika Ray is the fourth book in their series Digital Dating about the Cunningham brothers. In this installment, we see Dillon and Sophia, two former best friends who haven’t spoken to each other in years forced together by their families. What ensues is a sweet and often funny tentative romance.

Sophia Whittington is the girl next door, the girl who was always the “little sister” of the Cunningham brothers. She doesn’t have a single memory that doesn’t include them growing up. However a misunderstanding left her heartbroken and their little family torn apart. Now six years later, Sophia is ready for closure and a chance to move on. I empathize with Sophia. Her heart was broken, she wants to move on and maybe have her best friend back in her life. I can only imagine the hurt that was caused all those years ago, and to make matters worse, the man that caused it acts as if she hurt him, and in a way she did…

Dillon Cunningham is the son who moved away and never came back, partly because his heart was broken by the girl next door. He’d finally worked up the nerve to ask her on a proper date, his Senior prom, only to be stood up by her. Compound that hurt with the untimely death of his father less than a year later, and Solano Creek isn’t home, but hell for him to return to. My heart broke over and over again for Dillon. He is a man running from his hurts and burying himself in work instead of trying to work through his trauma. He is cautious, built a fortress around himself that only his family can breach, and above all he is a good man.

I love reading their romance unfold. I’m a sucker for friends-to-lovers, but add in the second chance element, and for me this was pure gold. I love how the authors bring these two together, force them to work through their issues. Sophia’s “ugly warts” texts crack me up, and unbeknownst to her soften Dillon’s hard exterior wall. The small town setting and emphasis on family made this a wonderful romcom. I personally didn’t realize it was a series when I started reading, and y’all it didn’t deter from my enjoyment in the slightest. While it can be read as a standalone, I do think it would be best enjoyed if read in order as the other couples from the series do pop up in this book. That said, I plan on going back and reading their stories at some point.

Overall, How to Lose a Girl in 10 Texts is a fun, laugh out loud, tug at your heartstrings book. I enjoyed it in one sitting, and cannot wait to read more from this author duo. If you are a fan of contemporary romance of the Hallmark variety, I highly recommend it.