Love on Lexington Avenue (Central Park Pact, #2)

by Lauren Layne

Tim Paige (Narrator) and Virginia Rose (Narrator)

From the author of the hit rom-com The Prenup, Love on Lexington Avenue is the second in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.

They vowed to steer clear of Manhattan's heartbreakers - but when it comes to love, some risks are worth taking...

There's never a bad time to fall in love in the city, right? Wrong. According to the recently-widowed Claire Hayes, it's very, very wrong. After finding out her late husband was a liar and a cheat, Claire's focus is solely on redesigning her Upper East Side brownstone, ridding it of anything that reminds her of her philandering husband. But when she meets gruff and often-cantankerous contractor Scott Turner and realizes not all men are scumbags, Claire must decide if she's ready to risk her heart again.

Scott needs a change of pace from the corporate offices and swanky hotels he's been building, and bluntly makes it clear to Claire that's the only reason he took on her house. But when long work days turn into even longer nights, their mutual wariness morphs into something more complicated - a grudging respect, and maybe even attraction...? Scott knows he's not one to settle down, but then why can't he bring himself to move on to the next job?

Filled with laugh-out-loud scenes that blend perfectly with the touching friendships Layne brings to life on the page, this 'hugely entertaining' (USA Today) novel is perfect for fans of Lauren Weisberger. Look out for the other two titles, Passion on Park Avenue and Marriage on Madison Avenue.

Want more fun, fresh, flirty and very sexy rom-com? Check out Lauren's Oxford series and don't miss her warm, witty and sexy Wedding Belles series and the I Do, I Don't series, as well as the romantic standalones in the Love, Unexpectedly series.

• ISBN10: 1508296324
• ISBN13: 9781508296324
• Publish Date: 17 September 2019 (first published 1 September 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Format: Audiobook
• Duration: 7 hours and 29 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[whisperingchapters]

We finally have the Central Park Pact next installment and all the women are back with a friendship stronger than ever and a romance that is light and sweet and dreamy!

For this story, we have Claire Hayes, the widow. The betrayal from her cheating and dead husband scarred her a lot. Meeting and befriending the other two women her husband was with, makes her question herself. Sadly, her self-confidence plummets to the ground. She sees that she's very plain, not exciting, a first-class boring person. She wants to change aspects of her life to seem less of what she thinks she is. She also wants to dive into the "fling" part of dating so she turns to dear Scott for help.

In comes Scott, the dreamy contractor. He's willing to remodel her house, but he's so not what Claire imagined him to be nor what she normally liked in a guy. But slowly, this flannel-wearing man started growing on her.

I'm going to have to divide this review so I can actually form coherent thoughts.

The characters:

[Lynn]

What's the perfect way to rid yourself of the memory of a cheating, dead husband? The answer is to remodel the house you shared with the philanderer, well, that's what Claire Hayes thinks. Only, the process is much tougher than she thought and the person she's employed to do the job isn't the easiest male to handle, or is he? 

Bored of building corporate properties, Scott Turner decides to follow up a lead given to him by his friend to remodel a house. However, the property is a dump and he knows he should walk away from the contract, only the sharp-tongued owner has piqued his interest more than the job. 

Geared up to focus on a romance, the narrative deviates to highlights Claire's struggles to rid herself of the memory of her late husband whilst getting her life back on track a year after his double life and lies surfaced. Scott is an unlikely candidate for a woman who seems to have a 'judge a book by its cover' attitude. So as opposites, I enjoyed the challenging interactions between the protagonists as they slowly meander from hostile to friendly territory and respect. 

I appreciated the change of pace with this novel, but for die-hard fans of Ms Layne, there's a great deal of quick-witted dialogue and laughable humour injected within the narrative. Equally, there's lots of glamour and gossip in ample supply from the secondary characters as well get titbits of news about them and clues about what lies in store for Manhattan-based Claire, Naomi and Audrey. 

It's standalone, but if you haven't read Passion on Park Avenue, you'll definitely appreciate getting to know Naomi and specifically, Oliver more. Now, I'm eagerly looking forward to Audrey and Clarke's story in the final book of this trilogy; Marriage on Madison Avenue.

4.5 stars

***arc generously received courtesy of Gallery Books via NetGalley***

[Sam@WLABB]

1 grumpy hero + 1 gun-shy heroine + 1 dinosaur-dog = a bunch of happy tears



A year after losing her husband AND discovering his infidelities, Claire was looking to make some changes and wanted to start by renovating her home. Enter Scott, a grumpy, but very talented contractor, who clashed immediately with Claire. Though, their first meeting was a bit rocky, they developed a friendship, and it seemed like maybe even something more, but they were plagued by their pasts, which were hampering the possibility of a future for them both.

I love Lauren Layne books so much, and this was yet another winner for me.

In this whole wife-girlfriend-mistress setup, Claire was the the wife, and even after a year, she was still struggling with her feelings for her deceased husband. In the end, he betrayed her, but they were in love at some point. These were the emotions playing tug-of-war with Claire's heart, and this was keeping her from moving forward. I was really happy that Claire started taking some steps towards reclaiming her life. It started with baby steps, but as her confidence grew, those steps became bigger and bigger, until she was really starting to enjoy her life again.

I would have never have imagined, that someone like Scott would be the push she needed, but I was glad he entered her world. I had this idea of who Scott was in the beginning of the book, but it changed drastically as I learned more and more about him. He was also dealing with a romantic betrayal, and instead of isolating himself, the way Claire had, he partook in a strings of flings. One night stands and constant travel kept him from dwelling on his past, but being with Claire helped him come to terms with many things and get the closure he needed to take that chance on his future.

I liked these two together. I mean, it was a most painful slow-burn, but I enjoyed all their interactions. The attraction was simmering the whole time, and it was fun to see it get closer and closer to boiling. The attraction was real, but so was the genuine connection they experienced, and I loved that they were able to find some comfort in each other.

I think this book had more group scenes, than the previous book, and that was something I really enjoyed. Lauren Layne always puts together the most fabulous friend groups, and this cast continued that tradition. The ladies were such an interesting mix of personalities, but so were the men. The big group outings were fabulous, but so were the smaller meetups. It was nice seeing the dynamic between all the different characters, and I loved getting to meet them all.

This book was about healing and learning to trust again. It was about coming to terms with the past and moving towards the future. It was about love and friendship, and it was a delight to read.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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