Best friends to lovers romance!

This is definitely my favorite trope!

Julian and Parker are like two peas in a pod.
They were literally meant to be together from the very beginning.

I love seeing them evolve from boys to men and seeing their bond strengthen and the dynamics of their relationship change.

This was my absolute favorite in the series.

The narration performed an amazing audio delivery and narration

3 people found this helpful

Finally claiming the best thing that’s always been right in front you

This is hands down the best friends to lovers story I have ever read. It deserves way more than 5 stars. Michael Dean is absolutely fantabulous narrating this story. Julian and Parker’s story is delicious perfection. It is a masterful tale of love, enlightenment, and growth sneakily wrapped in a romcom. It is story full of swoons, quirky townspeople, absurdity, drama, sweet moments, strong families, supportive friends, dysfunctional families, sexy times, painful pasts, and love. Julian is an attorney who is gay and has been in love with his best friend for almost two decades. Parker is a ski instructor and became best friends with Julian when he was in first grade. He believes he’s straight. When the book begins, Parker is scheduled to marry Erin but is left at the alter with a dear Parker letter. While the book is funny, it is also a deeply emotional book. What follows the wedding that wasn’t, is the most baggage unpacking that two romance heroes have ever had to unpack. But oh the journey to get to their HEA is so painfully beautiful and you will feel all the things along the way. Expect to laugh, to cry, to swoon, to grit your teeth, to roll your eyes, to gasp, and to cheer. Most of all, expect to fall in love with Julian and Parker. I love, love this town and this series. I cannot wait to see who’s next to fall in love in Aster Valley.

1 person found this helpful

Brilliant

I have say Tiller and Mikey are still my favorite Aster Valley couple but I loved Julian and Parker! I think veteran romance readers know that with a romance novel you are going to get an HEA. But with this book I had some major anxiety wondering if these two would figure it out. Alas they do, and while friends to lovers isn’t normally a favorite trope of mine, this author is. She never disappoints and this book is just more proof of that!


It’s funny how when I first heard Michael Dean I wasn’t a fan but he’s quickly become a favorite of mine.

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Fabulous Lucy

As one can only expect from the incredible Lucy Lennox this book knocked it out of the ball park. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys great love stories.

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Narrated

Michael dean never disappoints. The story was good .always like hearing from Mikey and Truman.

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excellent

Lucy Lennox did it again! Great story and great character development. I thoroughly enjoyed this book as its a continuation in the series. Looking forward to the next one for sure.

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great story

This is the sweetest story. first time gay, best friend romance, with the rest of the Water Valley couples along for the ride. Michael dean does an outstanding job bringing all of these characters to life. Lucy Lennox writes the best MM romance stories and series. well worth the credit and your time to listen.

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Recommend despite Side Character Mishap

Yes, there is what I consider to be a glaring discrepancy in a character's back story in this book, which I will talk about without any spoilers, but first I want to say that I'm a fan of Lucy Lennox and her interconnecting series Made Marion, Forever Wilde, and Aster Valley and this book IS worth a credit. It is heart-warming, heart-wrenching, laugh out loud funny, sweet and steamy in turns with a HEA ending.

I just re-listened to all the books in all three series before getting this latest one. Perhaps it is because they are so fresh in my mind and because I am so fond of these crazy families and invested in all the characters that the mistake with Sam's backstory was so glaring to me.

First a quick list of the main characters of the Aster Valley books.
1. Winter Waites (novella) - Winter and Gentry
2. Right as Raine - Mikey and Tiller
3. Sweet as Honey - Sam and Truman
4. Hot as Heller - Finn and Declan
5. Forever Wilde in Aster Valley - Miller and Darius
6. Thick as Thieves - Julian and Parker

Sam was introduced in book 2 as Mikey's childhood friend/ best friend who is also good friends with Tiller, but that happened through Mikey. In book 3 he becomes a main character and that history with Mikey in Texas is fleshed out even more. However in this book, book 6, he is talked about/ presented as if he grew up with Tiller, Julian and Parker in Colorado and was part of their tight childhood group of friends. He really is just a minor side character in this book and whether or not he was part of that friend group doesn't really affect Julian and Parker's story. The inconsistency just bugged the crap out of me.

If you can get past that, then I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

Beautiful, sweet😍

I love this book from beginning to end, I was crying with Jules forever love and I felt the naively personality of Parker. Easy to read and enjoyable to listen.

So sweet!

This is Julian and Parker's story, and it is very sweet. Julian finally gets his HEA after seeing his closest meet their person and pair up. It takes Parker a while to realize what he's subconsciously know for decades so it's very fun to see the lightbulb come on. I like seeing the other characters from this series make appearances. They don't have big roles, and this book can be enjoyed as a standalone if you choose. However, I think the entire series is worth a read/ listen.