LIPS CLOSE TO MINE

Wherever You Go #2

by

Robin Bielman

✮✮✮ 5 STARS ✮✮✮

I wasn’t supposed to see Levi Pierce ever again. A few months ago, he charmed the pants off me and we spent one incredible night together.

End of story.

Only it wasn’t. Pretty soon everywhere I turn, I see him. Our best friends are dating. My mother mistakenly—and happily—thinks he’s my plus-one to my cousin’s wedding. And he’s the guy I have to work with on the most important job opportunity of my life.

Here’s my problem: I like Levi. I like his killer smile and his dreamboat eyes and definitely the way he makes me feel in bed. But I’ve sworn off relationships. So when the sexual tension reaches epic proportions and we fall back into bed together, I tell myself it’s temporary. When I start to feel more, I tell myself it’s over.

Only Levi isn’t a forget-it kind of guy. When his lips are close to mine and he swears he’s always wanted me, my defenses disappear. But some things in life just aren’t meant to be.

Or are they?

There aren’t many authors who I’ll literally drop everything for, but Robin Bielman is one of them. I always look forward to her releases hugely and Lips Close to Mine is her at her best, capturing all I love in a romance: strong chemistry, emotion, the perfect blend of humour, angst and sexy-time, unforgettable characters and a man who will steal your heart.

Levi Pierce is impossible to forget. He’s also maddening, infuriating, irritating, and the reason my body hums even when he’s not near.”

If you haven’t read Talk British to Me, fear not as Lips Close to Mine can easily be read as a stand-alone. Harper and Levi were fairly prominent though as secondary characters and I had an inkling their story wouldn’t be a bed of roses. I went into this already having a bit of a soft spot for Levi and when he and Harper find themselves working together, he really shows us what he’s made of: he wears his heart on his sleeve and is all for a repeat performance of their one night together...all he has to do is convince her that they could be more.

Love is a sickness, and I have no intention of catching it.”

Within a couple of chapters, Levi and Harper owned me. Robin has taken all I love from the childhood friends, friends-with-benefits and fauxmance tropes, and bundled them up together to create a sexy, engaging, heartfelt and emotional journey for two characters whose hearts have been left bruised, battered and guarded over recent years although not by each other. And that’s what made them so special, because their pain is real and relatable, as are their fears, and whilst it’s shaped them, they haven’t let it beat them.

This could have so easily been a heavier read but, with the angst aspect pitched perfectly and counter balanced with fun and humour, along with no shortage of hot and sexy shenanigans, it was instead an effortless read and one I stayed up into the wee hours to finish. I adored Levi and Harper—the dual POV really gives you the opportunity to get to know them both intimately—it was lovely to catch up with Teague and Mateo and is without a shadow of a doubt one of my favourites Robin has written. And, being 99.9% certain I know who the next book in the series will belong to, I can’t wait to see what treats their story will hold.