Once Forbidden Twice Shy – Carrie Aarons ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Here we go again with another rave about a Carrie Aarons book, I feel like at this point I’m a broken record, but I really do just love the books she writes. This one is set in London, where Taylor has just moved from the US to start a new job and discovers her brother’s best friend Jack is her new boss, but he’s also the one who got away.
Taylor has landed her dream job, and it’s across the pond in London where she’s always wanted to live. But to her surprise her new boss is Jack, her brother’s best friend, and her first love, even though nothing more than a hook up occurred between them 4 years ago, when Josh up and left for Europe. Having avoided all Jack talk, Taylor had no idea their paths would cross again, and she’d be stuck working with the man who broke her heart. However, what she doesn’t know is that Jack has been in love with Taylor since he was 17, still is, and he’s finding the close proximity just as horrible. But Taylor finds it hard to ignore her feelings, especially in a new city where he’s the only reminder of home. Running into each other at the weekends leads to a friendship being built, and much more soon starts to grow. But with the threat of the office anti-fraternization rule hanging over them, on top of Taylor’s brother’s wedding, will their timings finally match up?
How does Carrie make my heart physically hurt every time, it’s like a gift. The heartache between Jack and Taylor, both still in love with one another, but unsure how to ever admit it after the way they treated each other is so palpable, on top of the other trauma that they are both facing. Watching them fight their feelings was so well written, and when they finally give in you are as relieved as they are, because it’s quite obvious that these two need each other, and all that time they spent pining for each other from a distance, was worth it.
Taylor needed an escape from her beloved NYC for one reason only, to feel safer, but she didn’t realise moving to an unknown city wouldn’t necessarily give her that. I admired how determined she was to go out and explore her new city, to discover hidden gems and really make it home, but you can’t run from the past, you have to face it. She has to choose whether to face it alone, or trust Jack, so that he can support her through it. It took a lot for her to admit, but once she did, she had his undeniable love and care. Jack’s own past is one of the reasons he ran from Taylor initially, scared eh couldn’t provide her with the life she wanted, and instead of staying and talking, he made the decision to leave. Years later, having reflected on it, he knew that he had to communicate more with Taylor so that they could make the decision together, but only once they had broken down the walls both had put up in their time apart.
I adored this book, it had lots of heart wrenching moments, so many cute scenes, but I would’ve liked a bit more conflict, at times it did all seem to be resolved almost too easily. I love these standalones by Carrie, the characters always make it seem like you have known them for much longer than a book, and I would highly recommend.
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Once Forbidden, Twice Shy by Carrie Aarons is now live!
BLURB
Running from your problems only brings you hurtling face first into even worse baggage.
After experiencing a brutal trauma in New York that I’d rather bury than address, escaping to a new job in London seems like the perfect solution. That was before I was introduced to my new boss, who is none other than my brother’s best friend. You know, the one I’ve been head-over-heels in love with forever.
Jack Merrick had been my crush since I knew what one was. For years we fought the feelings; I didn’t want to humiliate myself and his excuse was not betraying my brother or parents, who had accepted him as their own. Then, the night of my college graduation party, he undressed me in my childhood bedroom and confirmed that there was no one else on this earth for him but me.
When I woke the next morning he was gone, off to take a job as a coder halfway around the world. Four years and a mangled heart later, Jack is the last person I expect to see in London, and something close to fate is tricking me into thinking this is more than a coincidence. Our shared love of programming has always connected us, but now it’s the thing we’re weaponizing to get back at each other.
Until one night, when the emotional scars from my attack resurface and he’s the only one to witness a massive breakdown. He coaxes out my secrets and swears to love and protect me like he couldn’t before. But with everything stacked against us, I’m not sure we can ever have what we’ve always dreamed of.
Except just as we’re beginning to tackle those obstacles, I learn the truth of why he left all those years ago. And suddenly there may be no future for us at all.
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Meet Carrie Aarons
Author of romance novels such as Fool Me Twice and Love at First Fight, Carrie Aarons writes books that are just as swoon-worthy as they are sarcastic. A former journalist, she prefers the love stories of her imagination, and the athleisure dress code, much better.
When she isn’t writing, Carrie is busy binging reality TV, having a love/hate relationship with cardio, and trying not to burn dinner. She lives in the suburbs of New Jersey with her husband, two children and ninety-pound rescue pup.
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