Evelyn is a woman who has everything–a successful career as a TV producer, and her best friend–sexy firefighter Owen Hanson–who looks mighty fine as her plus-one to awards dinners and backyard picnics. But something is missing and it’s not just the sex. Owen Hanson is living the dream–a Chicago firefighter who volunteers at a youth center on the Southside and he’s got his best friend … friend Evelyn–who knows him better than anyone. When Evelyn starts hinting about wanting something more, Owen panics.
Sex changes everything but taking their relationship to the next level surpasses even their wildest dreams. Until Evelyn’s ex-husband shows up and could make even the most perfect couple crash and burn…
Each book in the Daring Divorcees series is STANDALONE:
* One Night with a Millionaire
* My Best Friend’s Ex
* My Forever Plus-One
more
Finally–Owen and Evelyn’s story!
I feel like I’ve been waiting forever for them to figure their way out to an HEA (okay, so it was just two books, but it *felt* like ages!) Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and Ms Schroeder does a fantastic job with it here. If you’ve read the other series books, you know that Owen and Evelyn have been perfectly comfortable hanging out together, being each others’ BFFs and eternal plus-ones, neither really feeling the pressure to do more. Then Nina issues her challenge (in One Night With the Millionaire ) and their friends in the group start to find own ways to HEAs. It seems like everyone–from series characters to the readers–knows that the two of them should be together. When would they finally get their acts together and try?
The answer, of course, is in this book. And no, it wasn’t easy–at times it felt like it might be, but of course their pasts and issues and hangups are going to get in the way and make them work for it instead. As angry as I wanted to get with Owen (and yeah, he kinda deserves it) I still understood where he was coming from and realized that Evelyn had some things to smooth out too–that HEA wasn’t going to happen on its own, and they both had work to do to get there.
And then they do. And it’s wonderful 🙂
Now, let’s see what Ms Schroeder can do with the rest of the group… 😉
My Forever Plus-One is the third book in the series. It can be read as a standalone, but you’re going to want to get to know all of the “daring divorcees” better, so why not read them all? 🙂
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This was the first book of this series and from this author that I have read. This book could be read as a stand-alone but maybe starting at the beginning to fully understand the individuals of the group and their dynamic wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I loved having this book written in my favorite dual POV. Seeing into the characters’ minds really help me to connect with them. In this case, it was Owen. Owen and Evelyn have been best friends for years. They are each other’s plus to events. Both are divorced (hence the series name Daring Divorcees). Unfortunately Owen’s ex-wife cheated on him. Evelyn remains friends with her ex, Donald. After a comment is made by a group member, both Owen and Evelyn really start to see the other with different eyes.
I adored how the author established the characters relationship with each other. How the relationship progress. The little kinks thrown in here and there with Owen’s trust issues, really made him seem more life-like. The book read like a movie almost.
This is a sexy read, nothing of the erotica in nature but it may offend some. That being said, I can only recommend this book to someone over the age of 18.
As a huge fan of this author’s The O’Leary’s series, I get excited when she has a new release. I’m always hoping to hit that same romantic groove that had me hooked on those engaging story lines.
Having enjoyed book 1, One Night With the Millionaire, I had high hopes for book 3 of this particular series. However, I must admit my personal preferences definitely got in the way of falling head over heels for Owen and Evelyn’s story. You see, I’m just not a fan of a BFF main couple who previously had a one night stand just because the mood struck one night then shrugged it off/walked away from that aspect of their relationship and were with other people over the years. Openly dating and hooking up right under each others noses. Heck, Owen had a girl named Tara on his speed dial he called when looking for a good time. Just to now finally getting around to falling in love. For me, it is like being served a delicious bowl of soup but handed a dirty spoon to eat it with. Folks, you just have no idea where that filthy spoon has been.
Though I liked Owen, his hand wringing and excessive worrying about being afraid if things didn’t work out between them made this hard working, cares about kids, courageous firefighter an emotional wimp. Again, I liked the guy, the easy back and forth banter, and emotional connection these two knuckleheads had. It was so sweet how tuned in they both were to each other’s feelings, moods, and needs. They genuinely cared for one another, and it showed. They should have stayed together after that ONS. Unfortunately, this aspect added to the overly long feeling this short book of only 200 pages had.
Evelyn was just OK. Her character didn’t wow or particularly win me over. I just wasn’t impressed with her career or how she still interacted with her ex-husband so she could benefit from his media connections. Her so called brilliant idea for a talk show felt lame and unoriginal to me. The only time I liked her character was when she and Owen were being a couple.
The author choosing to interject a swipe at a certain political group did not go unnoticed, either. It was a fleeting second, folks, but it was there. Whether I’m of the same mindset or not, I want that left out of my romantic reads.
Other than really liking the back and forth banter and cuddle time these two had together, I just wasn’t overly impressed with the drawn out drama over Evelyn’s career choices. For only 200 pages, it seemed to take me forever plus one day to finish it, folks. Good for them for now finally choosing love over just friendship though.
Title: My Forever Plus-One, Series: Daring Divorcees (Book 3), Author: Shannyn Schroeder, Pages: 200, felt overly drawn out, some very smexy scenes, ex-husband cameos, BFF turned a couple.
Book 1 – One Night With the Millionaire
Book 2 – My Best Friend’s Ex
Book 3 – My Forever Plus-One
(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review, nor is there any affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)
This is a great friends to lovers story
Owen and Evelyn met one another at a divorce support group and slowly but surely they are moving from friends to so much more With the history that these two have of divorce can they trust one another Can they let down their walls and do they have a chance at a future together, Watch as these two learn to trust again and to let go of the damage that has been done to them.
4.5 STARS REVIEW
Adult Contemporary Romance, Friends-to-Lovers
Third Person, dual-POV
This is book #3 of the Daring Divorcee series, but it can be read as a standalone. I haven’t read previous books and I have understood completely.
“They had all been divorced for years, and they had come together as friends based on the idea of moving on with their lives after divorce.”
WHAT HAS REALLY WORKED FOR ME
Addictiveness: 4.5/5 This was an easy one-sitting read for me. I loved the development of the story with perfect pace and character growth. As addictive as pizza!!!
Character: hero 5/5, heroine 5/5, secondary characters 5/5, growth 5/5, real 5/5 Characters were multidimensional with lots of interesting layers to them. They were very easy to love.
Owen was hot, hardworking, a wonderful friend, caring, appreciative of women, not afraid to let women shine, accepted his mistakes and tried to learn from them. What can I say… ALMOST PERFECT! Yes, he had baggage, he did have his stupid moments, but his amazing moments were so many, that it was impossible not to fall in love with him. He did learn from his mistakes and his personal growth was beautiful to read.
Evelyn was beautiful, smart, career oriented, great friend, amazing girlfriend, loving and caring. Again, she did had baggage from her past and it took her a while to really notice how heavy it was. But she had personal growth along the story and she was the ALMOST PERFECT heroine.
The entire group of divorcees is very interesting with a few still on the single group. I haven’t read Tess and Trevor’s book, but I will go back in the series to read. I’m really hoping that Gabe and Nina become a couple.
Villains.. antagonists… I guess Evelyn ex could be an antagonist, but the biggest villain of the story was their baggage. The hold of their past on their choices, their fear of repeating the same mistakes was their worst enemy.
I must say that it is really hard for me to completely love both hero and heroine of the story, but Ms. Schroeder knows how to build her characters because they were both mature, complex , full characters.
All characters were easy to love, connect and understand!!!
Cover: art 5/5, title 5/5, color-font 5/5, buy 5/5 I’m obsessed with book covers. I love to find snippets of the stories within the art. This book cover is perfect for this book. I can see Owen and Evelyn. Him with his firefighter clothes and she with her producer clothes. The subtitle gives us extra material to create the story and the title is PERFECT! I also love the use of colors and font for it. I would easily buy this book by its cover without needing to read the blurb!
Freshness: 3.5/5 I love how refreshing this story was. This is a contemporary romance about a group of divorcees trying to start over. It is not very different from what is out there, but it is so well written that it doesn’t really matter how many book like this is out there. As fresh as mint tea!
Plot: believable 5/5, conflict 5/5, dialogue 5/5, ending 5/5, enjoyment 5/5, opening 5/5, pace 5/5, setting 5/5, subplots 4/5, twists 4/5 Great opening for an amazing ending. This story is very believable and it felt completely real. The conflict was well written and also very believable. The dialogues were very crafty and the slow burn growth of the relationship worked really well for the story. The subplot and twists were the usual, but well written. High level of enjoyment!
Romance: believable 5/5, chemistry 5/5, description 5/5, development 5/5, steam 4.5/5 Not every romance that I can say the couple are soul mates, but these two they truly were. They have been friends for several years and they had better relationships than lots of married couples. They not only completed each other, but they enhanced each others best qualities. Their passion was sort of a slow burn, but from the beginning we could feel the tension. When it finally burned it was an explosion. Passionate love!
Writing Style: 5/5 Amazing characters with superb dialogues. Simple plot, but very believable. Very emotional romance with beautiful love moments and great smut scenes. The writing of a wordsmith!
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Because we do have to be picky…
Freshness: It is hard to create a completely unique friends-to-lovers story inside the contemporary romance genre. But I don’t even think is needed. It only has to be well written and for that Ms. Schroeder is a master.
“They were always each other’s plus-one. They never considered coming with anyone else.”
MY THOUGHTS
This was my first read from the author and I have to say I’m in love. It was so easy to read at the same time so emotional. Such a simple love story, but with all complexities that a true romance has.
I can’t wait for Nina and Gabe’s book, I think that is going to be a crazy, wild pairing. ( I don’t really know they are the next book, this is just my wishful thinking)
32.5/35 STARS – 4.5 STARS (between 31.5 stars and 33 stars)
Addictiveness: 4.5 Character: 5 Cover: 5 Freshness: 3.5 Plot: 4.5 Romance: 5 Writing Style: 5
Action 1/5 Angst 2/5 Darkness 0/5 Humor 3/5 Romance 5/5 Suspense/Mystery 0/5
Would I recommend? Definitely! For anyone and everyone that enjoys a true love story!!!
Would I re-read this book/series? Yes! I’m certain I will.
Would I read more from the author? I’m looking forward to.
You may read this because you follow the series you SHOULD read this because you enjoy fantastic writing; you MUST read this for a true love story!!!
Such a sweet story! A reminder that love isn’t always easy but it is worth it – and we all screw up sometime! Definitely worth the read. I’ll be adding the next one to my TBR list!
When I met the characters in this series in the second book (since I missed the first), I instantly fell in love. I wanted HEAs for everyone but I also wanted to know so much more about the friendship between Owen and Evelyn.
Owen and Evelyn are the very best of friends. They met after going through divorces and have carried each other ever since. They refuse to cross the line into more than friendship until they can’t possibly deny what everyone else has seen since forever, they’re perfect for each other.
There was so much to love about this book but the hands down best part is how FIERCE (!!) Evelyn is. She rolls over for no one and I actually cheered out loud for her several times during this story and if I ever got to meet her, I’d be giving her a million high fives. She’s so strong even when you would think the strongest would fall apart.
I love this series and can’t wait to see which one of this group gets their HEA next!!
I enjoy friends to lovers romance stories very much and this one was a good one. I had a few issues with Evelyn and how she let the men in her field treat her. In this day of workplace harassment, I would have preferred she stuck up for herself. As much as I read romance to help me separate from real- world issues, this one was too much of a hot button topic to ignore.
On the plus side, I love a firefighter hero, so Owen was a winner in that department alone! I really enjoyed the protectiveness and support he gave to Evelyn. I also liked the premise of two divorced people who met through a support group; it’s not a relationship I’ve encountered in a romance read.
The pace and dialogue were excellent and I will definitely be picking up other books by this author. 3.5 stars
This is the third book in the series and the first book that I have read from this author and I really enjoyed it. This can be read as a standalone. I love a good friends to lovers’ story and this was it. Evelyn and Owen helped each other through their respective divorces and they became closer and a relationship blossomed between them. I loved watching them fall in love with each other. It was wonderful. I can’t wait to go back and read the first 2 in this series and read more from this author.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This is book #3, in the Daring Divorcees series. This book can be read as a standalone novel. For reader enjoyment, I recommend reading the entire series.
Evelyn seems like she has a pretty great life. Being a TV producer has its ups and downs, but overall she likes it. Her best friend is a hunky firefighter and that is a big plus too.
Owen has wanted to be more in Evelyn’s life. Being her best friend is a perk, but he is always wishing for that “extra” chance. Will he take it when it arrives?
This story was what I classify as a slow burn. The characters are actually pretty deep, and very interesting. I like their friendship and the loyalty is obvious. I was pretty pleased when they started to try and see how they could be together. Great addition to the series and a pretty hot read.
***This ARC copy was given by Netgalley and its publishers, in exchange for an honest review of my opinion.
Friends to Lovers
Mature couple
Hot firefighter and cute dog
My Forever Plus One is my first book by Shannyn Schroeder and I was enchanted from the start! Evelyn and Owen have been best friends since they met in a divorcee group, despite having one night of steamy sex early on, but now they both start to realize that their friendship feels like more.
I loved the honesty and maturity of their relationship and their communication, even during that all important dark moment. It was clear I was jumping into the middle of the series but didn’t feel like I was missing anything, although I will be going back and reading the first two books in the series. And I’m really hoping that Gabe and Nina are next!
I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.
This is a magnificent story. Evelyn and Owen are both divorced and have become best friends. Their relationship is comfortable and they trust each. After years of going on like this they decide to change their status and start having sex. This changes everything.
Evelyn is strong and very focused on her career. The only time she gets to be herself is with Owen. Owen has trust issues from his divorce and that is becoming a cloud in this new relationship.
The author does an excellent job of bringing out the human element. She shoes that there is hope to start over later in life. The characters are smart and witty. They have fun while living their best life and are able to face the realities of a relationship.