Summary
What happens when the king of casual meets the queen of picking the wrong men?
Lily is running. From a dead-end job, a neurotic mother and all the losers she dared to date. Moving halfway across the world to Bluestone County seemed like a good idea at the time. So did reopening her estranged father’s hardware store. But now she isn’t so sure.
Small town living has its perks though. Wide-open space, clean air, and sexy cowboys. Well, one sexy cowboy. Jake. Who also just so happens to be the new bane of her existence. At least when he’s not talking, she can admire the view.
Jake is the king of casual. The love of his life has always been his ranch, and that was fine with him. He never really saw the point in long-term. But all that changes when a mouthy, blonde sasses him into oblivion. He should have known she’d be trouble as soon as he laid eyes on her. Now it’s too late. She’s all he can think about. All he has to do is convince her that he’s finally the right man.
Isobel Reed’s hilarious, emotionally charged romance will have you holding your side with laughter or reaching for a tissue. Reminiscent of small-town romance by Tessa Bailey or Kristen Ashley, you will fall in love with LOVE TOOLS and Isobel Reed’s unique writing style.
Review
“You can’t change the past, so why let it ruin the present?”
From the tagline alone, I was hooked.
What happens when the king of casual meets the queen of picking the wrong men?
Lily left her life behind in London to run her father’s hardware store in Bluestone County. She didn’t know her father and hoped she would get answers and learn more about him.
Do you ever feel like you’re not at home? As if you don’t belong where you are? People would search for a place they could call home and feel safe. That was the case with Lily. She didn’t have any regrets about leaving London. In Bluestone, she felt like that was where she was supposed to be.
Jake’s romantic relationships were never long-term. Meeting Lily changed everything.
Lily and Jake’s relationship didn’t start on the right foot.
I didn’t like how everyone used Jake’s past against him. Yeah, he has a reputation. But people can change; their tastes could change. If anything had stayed stagnant, people wouldn’t be able to grow and evolve.
As I was reading, I had to keep reminding myself that the author is from London. So, therefore, the writing would be in British English instead of American English. Which isn’t a problem, but there were moments I thought something was misspelled, but it wasn’t.
Love Tools was an emotional whiplash. And honestly, I don’t know if I mean that in a good or bad way yet. However, it made me cry, so I would call that a win.
A lot of the issues could’ve been solved with communication. But then again, there wouldn’t be a story or realistic if there wasn’t slight miscommunication. Jake and Lily tend to conclude things without talking, and that’s not all that healthy. Some of the inner dialogue was reasonable, but why not have confirmation before doing anything drastic? But to tell you the truth, even with me saying that about communication, I know that if I were in that situation, I most likely would’ve done the same thing. Is it rational? No, but everything can’t be logical all the time.
The epilogue did an excellent job setting up the series’s next story. Even with a preview of the next book at the end, I typically won’t read them. I’m impatient and would rather have the whole book in front of me. But that is a personal preference and something I do. Love Tools is my first experience with Isobel Reed; it won’t be the last! I can’t wait to read Alice’s story in Expiry Dating.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
