Always My Girl

Shaughnessy Brothers #3
Samantha Chase
Sourcebooks Casablanca, July 2016
Nook ed., 352 pages
Genre(s) Contemporary hometown romance
Source Author’s rep

Other books in this series: Made for Us (Aidan & Zoe), Love Walks In (Hugh & Aubrey), This is Our Song (Riley & Savannah), A Sky Full of Stars (Owen & Brooke), Holiday Spice (Darcy & Benjamin)

Synopsis:
Falling in love with your best friend? Easy.
Telling them how you really feel? Impossible.

Quinn Shaughnessy believes there’s a lot more to life than romance, and he always thought his best friend Anna agreed. But now she’s coming out of her shell and dating…and Quinn starts seeing her in a very different light.

Anna can tell Quinn anything, except the big secret she’s been hiding for years-that she’s fallen in love with him. Now Anna is determined to make a life for herself that doesn’t include hopeless pining. But just as she’s ready to move on, Quinn seems determined not to let go and the way he’s looking at her might be enough to finally change them from best friends to best everything.

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.

When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

My Disclaimer:
I was provided a free copy of this book by the author’s representative. I am voluntarily providing an honest review in which all opinions are fully my own. I am not being compensated in any way.
~ Judi E. Easley for Blue Cat Review

My Review: ✭✭✭✭⭑
I’m so used to reading books written from the gal’s point of view, that when I first started reading this one, I forgot that it’s the Shaughnessy Brother’s series. I was mostly focused on Anna, so my reading of it was a bit different than it might have been had I been thinking straight. But it made it even more interesting later on when Quinn felt put-upon.

Quinn and Anna grew up together. Quinn was all action and speed, and Anna was the tomboy next door. They went and did everything together. They even told each other everything because they were BFFs. As in, Quinn talked to Anna about his girlfriends. A bit much maybe?

Everybody said that Quinn took advantage of Anna’s easy-going nature. She loved to take care of him, so if he called late at night and wanted cookies, she’d bake him cookies and take them to him. Working hard on an engine and can’t stop for lunch? She’d take him a sandwich. She didn’t seem to mind. Would you? Hhmmm.

Their relationship was really cute, but it was sad as well. You could see it had to fall apart before it could get fixed. Anna’s not such a tomboy 25 years later. She’s all dressed up and selling real estate. Guys are hitting on her. And she’s smiling right back at them. Even Quinn notices. But now her big secret that she thought no one knew is about to be revealed. One Quinn isn’t sure how to handle. Will he still see her as his BFF or finally open his eyes and see the woman she’s become? Does he keep on denying it or thank his lucky stars it’s him she’s in love with? Some men need to be hit over the head with things, and others need a talk with their fathers. Guess which way this one went.

Samantha Chase does her usual great job of creating characters that are perfect for each other and letting life stir them up a bit. I even like the cover. It suits the characters to a T. If the rest of this series is anything like Always My Girl, there are a few more books on my TBR list! Highly recommend this book and the rest of the series or anything by this author.