I Wish You Were Mine: An Oxford Novel (Oxford, #2)

by Lauren Layne

• ISBN10: 1101884851
• ISBN13: 9781101884850
• Publish Date: 2 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Random House Publishing Group
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 260
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Wow! That was a messy situation, but I thought Layne gave us enough backstory to help me understand how these characters got where they were. That helped me buy into the story. The romance was fine, but really, I adored the way the Oxford and Stiletto gang embraced them. That really is the heart of both these series, and the gang is all here and in full effect.

As always, fun, sexy, and a emotional.

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[Lynn]

“Tonight, at her sister's wedding, Mollie Carrington had gone and fallen head over heels in love.
With the groom,”

Yes! Ms Layne certainly grabbed my attention with that line.

The second surprise with the second standalone novel in the Oxford series is the introduction of a new guy... Jackson Burke. The former quarterback of the Texas Redhawks, is the newly appointed fitness editor at Oxford. Those that have read Irresistibly Yours will recognise him as Penelope “Tiny” Pope's biggest sports crush/idol.

Like a fish out of water...Jackson Burke is in New York, re-building his life as a columnist although he sees it as a temporary but necessary move until he gets to be back where he belongs...with the Redhawks in Texas. A car crash ended his playing career and his ex-wife did a fine job at ruining his reputation. Still, he hopes that the Redhawks' coach will one day send an email and offer him a coaching job so he doesn't have to bother with a suit and tie every day. Corporate America is not his thing and his new work colleagues are friendly but a bit cliquey.

Mollie Carrington has always had a close relationship with her big sister who made personal sacrifices to raise her after their mother's death. Equally, she shared a close friendship with her brother-in-law, until he and her sister divorced. Since then Jackson Burke has ignored her attempts to contact him, which isn't surprising when she was the one to hand deliver his divorce papers. Now living in New York, Mollie's sister Madison wants her to talk to Jackson about a reconciliation, with an outcome neither expected...Jackson and Mollie become room-mates!

There is a slow build up to Jackson and Mollie realising that they can't ignore or deny their feelings any longer. I had a couple of eye-roll moments when “guy code” and “girl/sister code” was mentioned as our protagonists faced the consequences and potential repercussion of their actions. Whilst this could have been highly dramatic, it wasn't. I'm thankful Ms Layne writes intelligent characters who work through difficult situations with maturity. Jackson comes across as aloof but I see him as a guy lacking social confidence in his new world. The Stiletto/Oxford gang add fun, light-hearted banter to the storyline but to a big sports hero, it's a bit too overwhelming at first to deal with. Mollie is just adorable and intuitive. You just want her to break out of the shadows and shine.

For those that are fans of Oxford's resident man-whore Lincoln Mathis and are waiting for his story, we are treated to a tantalizing little nugget of information about him as Mollie calls him out on his reputation.

“Keep my secret?” he said with a wink… “Seriously,” he said quietly. “Keep my secret?”

The plot rounds off with a satisfying happy ever after as all the wrongs are righted. I love the overall feel good feeling I have after reading a Lauren Layne novel and this humorous, sexy story littered with witty dialogue is no exception.

***arc generously received courtesy of Loveswept (Random House Publishing) via NetGalley***