Not About Love

Not About Love is a Standalone but it follows on the heels of This Love and I’d recommend reading the latter first as the characters are mentioned in both books. This is Ally and Boyd’s story and I’m almost afraid of saying I enjoyed it, more! It’s told in alternating POV and I loved both characters and their “voices” equally. Both Ally and Boyd’s backgrounds had scarred them and made them unapologetic of their lifestyles and choices. It took someone that had the same hard-shelled exterior, protecting their heart, to crack through the other’s shell. But when they manage to break it, without causing too much damage, it’s so worth it!

Alberta “Ally” Ferris was an attorney, working and living in Amsterdam, for the last ten years. She’d moved there after a devastating breakup, to get away from any reminders, having been ghosted before the term was even coined. As a result she refused to believe in love or relationships. Casual, one night stands were all she wanted or needed. After hooking up with her best friend Ella’s almost brother-in-law, Boyd, for a one and done, she was a little surprised when they kept repeating it every time they ran into each other. Ally didn’t mind, she lived in Europe and he lived in NYC, so it’s not like they could, if they wanted to, be in a relationship. There was just something about Boyd she couldn’t explain.

“You’re indifferent to him. Completely indifferent. You have to believe it, and others will believe it, too. This man has no power over you.”

Jackson Boyd Rivers was an Instagram “it” boy, famous for his physique, he owned a chain of Crossfit gyms, and good looks. He avoided relationships, or getting involved with anyone, after his one and only girlfriend had crushed his heart. He was a proud manwhore, making it clear to everyone upfront, that all he wanted or was interested in was one night. Now in his thirties, he hadn’t necessarily grown tired of his one and done rule but, seeing Lou and Ella made him start to question him lifestyle. He justified hooking up with Ally, and breaking his steadfast rule more than once. It helped she was in her thirties, too. Boyd felt she was mature enough to handle a repeat without making conjectures about a non-existent future together. She was his kindred spirit, so to speak. Ally was independent, not at all clingy, and was his equal in the sack. All pluses, they seemed to be on the same page, and it was mutually beneficial to them.

“We were just having fun, there was nothing else going on between us. Nothing.

Even if we lived in the same country, I knew there could never be anything between us. We had hardly anything in common. Our lifestyles were lightyears apart. We lived in different countries, on different continents. Even if we wanted to, there could never be anything.”

Even with all the barriers in place, keeping them apart and seemingly uninvolved, they have to admit there’s something between them. I loved this beautiful story! I sat down and read it in one sitting; the writing is so heartfelt and poignant. Both Ally and Boyd’s past relationships were so painful to hear, and when they finally revealed their past, I felt I was listening in on someone’s Sacrament of Penance. I believe confession is good for the soul and it did wonders for both of them!