An irresistible new love story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fool’s Gold series, set in a town Library Journal calls “so appealing, readers will want to start scoping out real estate.”
To overcome her painful past, baker Shelby Gilmore goes on the hunt for a friend–a male friend–to convince her stubborn psyche that men can be trusted. But where in a town as small as … her stubborn psyche that men can be trusted. But where in a town as small as Fool’s Gold will the petite blonde find a guy willing to not date her?
Dark, charming Aidan Mitchell puts the “adventure” in Mitchell Adventure Tours…and into the beds of his many willing female tourists. Until he realizes he’s inadvertently become that guy–the one-night Casanova–and worse, everyone in town knows it. Maybe Shelby’s boy/girl experiment will help him see women as more than just conquests so he can change his ways and win back his self-respect.
As Aidan and Shelby explore the secret lives of men and women, the heat between them fires up the Fool’s Gold rumor mill. If no one will believe they’re just friends, maybe they should give the gossips something to really talk about!
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I love this series and this was a cute premise – Aidan and Shelby agree to be just friends so that he can get past only having one night stands and she can learn to trust men. What follows is Aidan learning how to hang with the girls and Shelby seeing what poker night with the guys is about, along with both of them learning to trust and eventually fall in love.
I loved this book!! It was such a good ending to the Fools Gold series. I am really going to miss all these people. I’m glad I finally got to read Shelby’s story and her falling in love with Aiden was perfect. I’m glad their experiment didn’t exactly work.
Susan Mallery is one of my go-to authors for small town romances. She’s up there with Jill Shalvis for creating towns that I just want to move to, find an attractive guy, and live happily ever after. Her new book, Best of My Love, features characters who have been introduced in previous books. Shelby is the sister of a previous hero and Aidan is the brother of another hero. They both have ties to Fool’s Gold, though Aidan grew up there while Shelby moved there. Shelby had a traumatic childhood in the hands of an abusive father. She is trying to move on with her life and recognizing that she has been choosing the wrong type of men to have relationships with due to the scars of her past. In attempt to grow as a person and become more comfortable with men, she decides to have a six month friendship with a man. She presents this friendship idea to Aidan. Aidan runs the local outdoors adventure tour company. He too has a difficult family life, though less so than Shelby’s. He limits himself to relationships with tourists, ensuring short term affairs. When this blows up in his face, he reevaluates his life and takes Shelby up on her friendship offer.
What I really liked about this book is watching the friendship between Shelby and Aidan grow and become strong. Before their romantic relationship develops, there is a strong friendship foundation that they work hard to develop. Each make concessions for the other, such as alternating between girlie and manly activities. This was just a heartwarming book. However, there was nothing which made me sit up and say “This is my new favorite book!”.
I’m left wondering if Susan Mallery is planning a spin-off series. Three of Aidan’s brothers (the fourth being a previous hero) have left Fool’s Gold. It seems like she is setting up a potential new series with their stories. If so, I’ll be sure to read it. Susan Mallery books always evoke that warm sense of familiarity you get when you return home after being away for a while.
Best of My Love by Susan Mallery
Shelby Gilmore and Aidan Mitchell are the main characters. Shelby wants to be just friends with Aidan so she can learn to trust men, and Aidan just wants to change himself so he agrees. They start out well but along the way they fall in love. Shelby is part owner in the bakery and when she get the chance she buys the bakery. Aidan runs his own business and they do things together that most men wouldn’t do and things that women wouldn’t normally do as well. I loved the way the author did the differences between the two sexes and what they each want out of a friendship. I highly recommend this book it is very well written and will make you cry and laugh a truly good book will.
Favorite Quotes:
“’Do those have a lot of butter?’ the eighty-something woman asked, pointing at a sugar cookie that had been dipped in chocolate. ‘My doctor told me to watch my cholesterol. I told him I’m too old and he can watch it for me. Now I’m feeling defiant, so I want cookies with butter and later I’ll have a steak.”
“You should wear tighter clothes… You’ve got the goods. Let’s see them. Share the bounty. Take off your shirt once in a while. Put on tighter shorts… Young people today. You’re not as bright as my generation.”
“I so want to be her when I grow up. Speaking my mind and ogling younger men. It’s fantastic.”
“‘We heard there was going to be lots of single guys here… We’re into that. Maybe someone will want to have sex with us… Not at the same time. We aren’t comfortable with the idea of a threesome.’ An unexpected conversation, especially when the two women in the question were in their eighties.”
“The condom companies must’ve really loved you. Did you get a Christmas card every year?”
“I’ve seen combat. I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff. Nothing prepared me to watch a doctor slice open my wife’s stomach like a watermelon and pull babies out. They should warn you.”
“We like to think only men are stupid… But dumb is an equal-opportunity employer.”
My Review:
I smirked and chortled through my second ever Susan Mallery tale. I want to read her entire listing. Best Of My Love was a sweet, humorous, and entertaining friends to lovers story that remained platonic, much to the disbelieve of the entire community, for two-thirds of the book. The storyline was current, relevant, and intriguing, while Ms. Mallery’s writing style was amusing, clever, touching, and well-paced. Her characters were endearing, quirky, and people I would like to know. I remained engaged with the story from start to finish and look forward to a return visit to this quaint community.
I love Susan Mallery’ writing. However, in this book, she digs deeper into family relationships in her character development of the Mitchell family. My heart ached for the brothers when they found out the family secret and the lie their lives were built around. I laughed and cried in this book and can’t wait to read the continuing family saga. 5 stars, Susan Mallery!