Title: Every Little Piece of Me
Series: Orchid Valley #1
Author: Lexi Ryan
Genre: Romance
Edition/Pages: Ebook, 330 pages
Goodreads page

I received an ARC copy of this from the author via Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review

Summary

It’s been six months since their night together in Vegas and Brinley ran off. Marston is trying to give his new wife space, but he rushes back to Orchid Valley when he receives a wedding invitation from her. It never occurred to Marston that Brinely might not remember their wedding at all.

He promised himself he’d never let her go without a fight. And this time, Marston plans to keep that promise.

Overview

➸ POV: 1st person from Marston and Brinely’s POVs. Takes place in present day with flashback chapters to Marston & Brinley in high school.

➸ Marston Rowe: 28, Owns a consulting firm, Mother was an addict, Moved to Orchid Valley to leave with his aunt, Self-made

➸ Brinley Knox: 27, Engaged to Julian Hallison, 10 year old daughter Cami, Rum the Orchid Spa and dreams of owning it, Strained relationship with parents

➸ Content Warnings: Drug abuse, Violence, Anxiety, Emotional abuse

My Thoughts

This was another super angsty and steamy romance from Lexi Ryan!! I love how much drama and tension she weaves into every one of her romances. Her books are always the most binge-worthy breaks from the real world – which is definitely what I need right now.

However I do have some mixed feelings about this book.

Brinley was such a strong and independent heroine (almost to a fault)! I loved how she fought to stand on her own and go after what she wanted. Sometimes her choices drove me completely bonkers but I feel like that made her even more realistic – albeit a little unlikeable at times. I really enjoyed the exploration of wanting to please people who have hurt you or don’t deserve your effort. Brinley had a very tenuous relationship with her parents which caused a lot of mistrusting tendencies.

There was an absolutely amazing female friend group in here! I love when books include really supportive and empowering female friend groups. These woman were there for each other at the drop of a hat and I was living for it. I absolutely cannot wait to get all of these women’s books!

I wanted to love Marston. I really, really loved him in the prequel but I felt like we didn’t get enough of his personality in the book. He was just a alpha guy constantly reminded Brinley that she married him once so they should obviously be together. So much of their relationship was based on feelings they had for each other 10 years ago and I wish we got more time to see those feelings explored as adults.
While I loved the story line of Brinley trying to get out from her parents (and her fiancé’s) thumb, I felt like so much time was spent there that we didn’t get a lot of growth in the MC’s relationship. I loved their chemistry but beyond the physical, I didn’t really feel they had a strong relationship base. I just wanted more time with them getting to know each other as adults.

Overall this was a really great start to a new series! I loved this town and these characters and I can’t wait for all of their stories!

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