Love Like Ours (Sugar Lake, #3)

by Melissa Foster

One wrong move, and she meets a guy with all the right ones…

Talia Dalton lives her life on cruise control. Despite her successful career as a professor, she prefers protecting her broken heart to taking chances. She’s calm, cool, collected, and steady. Until the morning she takes her eyes off that familiar road and almost runs over the sexiest man she’s ever seen. It may not be the best way to start the day, but it might be the type of shake-up she needs.

Male dancer Derek Grant has goals, and nothing is going to get in the way of achieving them. As a graduate student and the sole caretaker of his ailing father, he hasn’t much time for relationships. Then Talia crashes into his life. Sweet, pretty—and so buttoned-up that he can’t wait to help her cut loose.

For Derek, falling in love was a beautiful accident waiting to happen. And it might be exactly what Talia needs—if she’s willing to let go of the past and embrace every surprise Derek has to offer.

• ISBN10: 1503905454
• ISBN13: 9781503905450
• Publish Date: 11 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Montlake Romance
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 252
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

As usual when I pick up a book written by Melissa Foster I know I will get a sweet, steamy and emotional story. Love Like Ours was no different. I have been following the Sugar Lake series from the start and each the Dalton siblings intrigued me. Their personalities varied from wild to conservative and I was curious to discover whom they would be paired with romantically.

Talia Dalton, a college professor is conservative and staid by nature. She avoids relationships as she believes men cannot be trusted based on experience. She would rethink her position when she almost ran over sexy male dancer Derek Grant with her car.

Derek Grant is a college student, bartender and a male dancer. Certainly not the kind of guy that a staid and conservative professor would date much less to call in love with. However, when love comes knocking, it does not care who it strikes as Talia will discover.

Love Like Ours tells the story of two people who found love by accident and was determined to make their relationship work despite the odds. You are probably wondering if this was a case of a teacher falling for her student, well let me put you at ease it is not. Derek was never one of Talia’s students.

I admired Derek for his selflessness. He danced as it provided him with much-needed funds to take care of his dad who was suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. Never once did he resent taking care of his dad, even when things got tough he maintained a positive attitude.

Talia is an understanding girlfriend. She never made him feel that he had to choose between her and his dad. She was there for him every step of the way, offering him comfort and encouragement. I enjoyed watching how her family embraced Derek and their willingness to assist in the care of his dad.

I know that Melissa’s stories are free of conflict and angst. I must confess that based on the topic the author explored I was expecting some amount of conflict. Well, it did not materialise. The characters had their issues, but they addressed them with no unnecessary drama.

I loved how their relationship developed. It started out fast but then it slowed building up to that moment when they realised they were in love with each other.

The author provided tidbits of information regarding the characters from the previous installment. She brought readers up to date on what is happening in their lives since they found their happily ever after.

Conclusion/Recommendation
Fans of sweet and drama free romance will enjoy this latest offering from Ms. Foster.

[Emma (SCR)]

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Lisa for letting me take part in this blog tour. I loved the first two books in this series which are a little different. Its fresher with an edge.
This story follows buttoned up good girl Professor Talia Dalton. She is Willow and Bridgette's older sister and has always been very straight laced.  Talia is a very private person and has always cared about how others see her and . I liked Talia. She cares a lot about her family and has always been close to them. She has a lot of insecurities which I easily identified with. 
Derek Grant is one hell of a man. He has given up a hell of a lot to care for his father but  he wouldn't have it any other way. Derek is an honest, hard working man. He is extremely caring and fiercely loyal to those that he loves. As always Melissa has written a mighty fine man that would have any girl weak at the knees. I also need a tuxedo mocha in my life. It sounds AMAZING.
Melissa had me instantly falling for these two. Their characters are so endearing and you just want to jump in and support them. Melissa's writing never fails to capture my heart.
It was really great to be back with the Daltons and I loved seeing Bohdi's mum again. I loved seeing more scenes with Piper and I am extremely excited for her book. I am also really hoping that Aurelia and Ben get their act together, pronto.

[stressedrach]

I absolutely love Melissa Foster, she is an amazing romance author and Love Like Ours was amazing like every other book I have read.
This book is about Talia Dalton and Derek Grant, they meet in an extraordinary way and it seems they are a magnet to one another.
What I liked about this book in particular is that I could relate to it more, it wasn't just another romance book, it had depth in it too, with Derek caring for his father who had early onset Alzheimer's which a family member of my own had and has sadly passed from this awful thing. The caring, the moments of lucidity, the moments of confusion and anger. Melissa Foster did a lot of research when writing this and it showed because she was spot on. Obviously, there was a happily ever after but there were twists and turns throughout.
A fantastic book I would highly recommend it

[EBookObsessed]

Talia Dalton knew always knew her sisters would drive her to distraction but never did she imagine that they would literally drive her straight into a mountain of a man. When straight-laced college-Professor Talia almost runs downs a student she believed her day couldn’t get any worse, but then she sees gorgeous Derek Grant sitting in the back of her class and even her fantasy world can’t cooperate. She hasn’t been able to stop thinking of the most beautiful eyes she has ever seen and now she knows that almost hitting him with her car is as close as she is ever going to get to Derek as teachers can’t date their students no matter how tempting.

Derek wandered into Talia’s class after recognizing the sultry voice of his vehicular attacker and stayed because her teaching is as mesmerizing as her voice. It has been a long time since Derek was so intrigued by someone and he realizes he has to come clean about not really being a student since Talia is insisting on keeping him at a distance.

Neither Talia nor Derek have time for the complication of a romance but both realize they have finally met someone worth making some time for. Talia is busy with helping to get ready for her sister’s wedding while teaching her classes as well as filling in for and taking care of BFF who is down and out after surgery.

And Derek’s life is focused on caring for his father, whose Alzheimer’s is getting worse. That is why Derek is finishing up his degree so that he and his friends can open up an adult day care center so they can help aging parents, like their own who need extra attention but aren’t ready for a nursing home. But taking care of his father is time consuming and doesn’t give him the free time for romance that a woman like Talia deserves.

I really enjoy a romance where it is not the H/H who do something stupid as the conflict of the story, but how they work together to fight against some outside force trying to drive a wedge between them. Here Derek and Talia are sweet together and they both believe strongly in family. Derek feels bad that their relationship needs to center on taking care of his father but Talia loves to see Derek interacting with his father and being part of that relationship.

The only thing that makes Talia uncomfortable is the fact that Derek is an exotic dancer. When Derek realized his father needed more care and supervision, he quit his day job as an accountant and picked up a night job as a bartender and entertainer. He knows that Talia isn’t thrilled about his dancing but the money is too good and allows him the time to take care of his father and finish his degree.

This is a sweet romance and brings to light some of the hardship of the caregivers of aging parents as well as some of the painful decisions which have to be made. I enjoyed the writing and have picked up a copy of the first story in the series The Real Thing, which is currently on sale for $1.99. This series focuses on the Dalton family.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.