Review: 40-Love
Thank you to Olivia Dade for the gifted eARC!
My first Olivia Dade and I loved it so much!!! 😍 Seriously every single part of this story was perfect, I loved it so much I had to immediately order her backlist titles.
If you love quirky meet-cutes, you will adore the first chapter of 40-Love! It might be one of my favorite meet-cutes ever. Tess Dunn is on vacation to celebrate her 40th birthday, during an early morning swim she's hit with a rogue wave and her uncomfortable bikini top floats away leaving her exposed. Her only option? Desperately begging a nearby hottie to cover her "bare buoys" with his body. You know that classic scene from Bringing Up Baby when Cary Grant covers Katharine Hepburn's torn dress by pressing his body dangerously close to hers? It's basically the semi-naked version of that! (And I should mention, they talk about Bringing Up Baby in the story and it made me SO happy!) After a broken engagement to her crappy ex, Tess has no interest in dating, especially not a Swedish tennis pro 14 years her junior, but she can't deny Lucas' charm or his attraction to her.
It's not a secret that sometimes age gap romances don't work for me, but I absolutely ADORED this one! Dade handled their age differences so well, I loved how the characters discussed it and their life experiences together. Tess' confidence in her body and her age made me so freaking happy. Give me all the unapologetic, confident heroines! Lucas may have been younger than her, but due to his life experiences as a tennis star, he didn't feel young. I love love loved how he was clearly super into Tess from day one *swoon*
Their chemistry was perfect, I loved all the banter and sexual tension in the beginning of the book. Dade knows how to write some damn good steam and I was 100% here for all of it! 🔥🔥🔥 I especially appreciated that she wrote a sexy scene while Tess was on her period. Hell yes to all those real life sex moments!
The ending and epilogue were perfect. Tess and Lucas only had two weeks together, but it felt like so much longer. Everything about them as a couple was delightful and I was so sad to reach the end of the book. This is definitely an insta-love story, but a believable one! 40-Love gets alllll the stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I adored it and highly highly recommend buying a copy!