Better Than Friends: A Novel

Injured and recuperating, Noah reluctantly agrees to help his ex-girlfriend, Olive, find her missing parents. Their renewed connection forces the two to confront their past feelings and risk heartbreak for a second chance at love. The plot of this novel is strongly focused on family dynamics in addition to the romance. The characters are interesting and quirky. I liked the audiobook narration. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this sweet, and emotional story about family, regrets, hope, and love. Noah and Olive's second chance romance was fun, moving, and unputdownable. Noah's sister is Olive's best friend. Both Noah and Olive had crushes on each other, but kept it a secret. When an accident happened, Olive left town and never looked back. Now she is back home looking for her parents. Noah is also home helping his sister. This is a beautifully-written story about returning home, and second chances.

I adore these journeys by Shalvis. She just gets it right every time. Even if I don't agree with everyone in the story or certain parts to the sequence of events, it's still always a pleasure to read, getting so immersed in those well described dynamics, finally reaching that heartfelt, happy sigh ending, only wanting to turn right around and stay a lot longer in those fictional worlds I love to visit. Tragic event for Noah and Olive they're too young to handle, and has had them separated for years. Bring in another tragic event and tears are flowing. Highly emotive throughout, yet with wit and funny bits interspersed, just makes a great journey. The drama is real and the outcomes are unpredictable. I'm not sure what constitutes a dysfunctional family anymore, it's more like humans making mistakes along life's paths. Very well brought into focus in Better Than Friends in the sweet small-town setting of Sunrise Cove, where everybody knows everybody else's business.