Ready to Fall: A Neighbors to Lovers Small Town Romance (Wingmen Book 1)

Ready to Fall is a pretty decent read. If I have to describe it in one word, I think it would be charming. I love how their relationship started and how it blossomed. I know the setup is a bit cliché but I’m glad that the author really took the time to let the main characters get to know each other (and let us get to know them too) and not just after the first meeting, poooof! they just magically fell in love. Ofcourse love at first sight could be possible, but it’s good to have something new in your romance story once in a while right?I also didn’t notice any scenes that we’re done in a hurry and reading this book feels like I am listening to a friend of mine telling his love story. And yep, this story was taken from the hero’s POV. I usually love dual POVs but once in a while, I also like to read a story where it was taken solely from the guy’s POV especially if it’s romance, *wink.As for the conflict, hmmm, not sure what to think about it actually. Both the main characters have their own set of issues and since Diane (female lead) was in the island waiting for the finalization of her messy divorce, I was expecting that she’s the first one to crack. I was expecting her running away from John (male lead) because she’s afraid to fall in love again and get hurt but it’s the other way around. Good thing the drama wasn’t stretched that long and the two of them eventually talked it out and made up. It’s also good that they both able to address their own issues, especially John.This story consists of romantic, sexy, and funny scenes which I think were perfectly blended together. The writing style was fine but can’t say if it’s one of my favorites. Overall, Ready to Fall is a pretty good read but it just wasn’t able to make me stay awake at night and suffer from a book hangover.

Main characters: Diane and JohnJohn was a bearded lumberjack. Diane was a divorced Pilates instructor.Supporting characters: Kelly and Maggie, Rick and Gil. Tom and Olaf.Tom was a one-dimensional character only interested in hook ups. John and Tom were wingmen who helped each other get laid.Kelly was John's high school crush. Kelly returned the previous summer and propositioned John into a sex with no strings attached arrangement. John was under the impression Kelly was separated from her husband.Diane rented the cabin for the winter that Maggie owned. John was the neighbor living in the cabin next door. Diane was from New York and going through an ugly divorce. John was dating Kelly who was still married but uncertain of that status. Kelly was married to Rick because her parents needed her financially stable. Kelly was torn. Maggie dated Gil but flirted with John. Living on an island limited the options for finding a woman. So far John was attracted to taken women. John needed to stay clear of Diane even if she was recently divorced. Divorced women came with too much baggage.The island was populated with regulars and visited by tourists during the summer months. Most people moved away to marry. Some returned married or returned divorced.The story was told from John's perspective. It was a contemporary romance story. It was a standalone story yet part of a series.Both characters flirted yet set ground rules for friendship. They constantly bantered sexually using innuendos then tried to play it off. The banter between them was fun, flirty, and witty.Several topics became cumbersome to read when the mood changed from happy to sad: Kip, mother, and soccer. These topics were used as a means to create drama and to build a wounded character. Yet all it offered was more unanswered questions as to reasons why these topics were off limits to begin with.The story became more about John the lumberjack with a beard whom Diane the city girl desired. Diane got to play out many fantasies in regards to what men with beards could do for pleasure. I found it cheesy. I don't get the hype of a man with a beard or a man who was a lumberjack.

The story premise was a good one, and the characters had time to develop a relationship that was platonic before any romance blossomed. BUT I wish an author could write a book without dropping the F-bomb right and left.A secondary character (who is the main character in the next book in this series) was so sleazy, that I cannot imagine the next book to be any good. How do you redeem a skeezy guy so that you want to know more about him.I might have tried the next book ... but considering the terrible language in this book, I can only imagine what the next one would be like with a man-whore as the lead character.

So disappointing! Good reviews. Was looking forward to this book. It is told from the male John' s point of view and I get that some males curse alot. The f bomb and others are liberally sprinkled throughout. But what really put me off was John and his friend talking about f***ing women and moving on. Hound dogs, (male ho) both of them. In this day and age, can we have a little more respect for women? Do bad boys really reform? Maybe John gets better on into the book. I didn't wait around to see. DNF