“A Slow Burn totally worth the wait!”Brandon Kuvat gave up on love ten years ago—the year he was set to become a dad. He’s building an empire, and has almost everything, except the heart of the man he once was. The first time he encounters Jordan, he knows immediately she is different. He also knows hurting her is inevitable. Still, he can’t stay away, even if it means he’ll have to settle for a … even if it means he’ll have to settle for a friendship—but only for as long as that can last.
Friendship will never be enough—not when she’s what he needs to heal, and he’s what she needs to feel again.
Wounded by a disastrous relationship, Jordan Artesian has put her whole focus on work, nurturing her dreams of owning her own fashion line. But though her creativity blooms, the rest of her is still frozen, that is, until Brandon charms his way into her life. He’s irritating, but somehow . . . intriguing.
She hates that she finds his charming and challenging ways attractive. He isn’t supposed to make her feel things she’s given up on feeling: desire, love, freedom . . .
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An entertaining story that needed some polish
A new to me author, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, but I enjoy stories about damaged characters needing to heal, so the blurb had me sucked me in.
I really liked the premise and I enjoyed the setup of multiple secondary characters made up of friends and family who added depth to the story. I liked how determined and talented Jordan was, and her closeness with her family, and I certainly understood her reluctance to get involved with Brandon. Brandon was kind of an a-hole to Jordan at the beginning; his arrogance made me dislike him at first, and while he did win me over, there were still times he needed a whap across the back of his head. And then he’d do or say something sweet, and I’d be, awww. He and Jordan certainly had chemistry together, even if it did take them a while to really act on it.
I admit I was a little on the fence with this book as it did have some problems for me, though none were enough to make me stop reading. While the slow burn romance wasn’t an issue (I liked that they took time to develop their friendship), the slowness of the reveal Brandon and Jordan’s individual pasts did make me impatient. The other things seemed like a lack of experience or polish to me—uneven story flow with little or no scene transition, dialogue that occasionally sounded a little off, even childish, to my ear, and humor that sometimes tried too hard. None of these last were all the time and they mostly did improve for me as the book went on.
Sweet, funny, and heartbreaking, this was an entertaining story that I felt just could have used a little more polish. 3.5 stars
B2B Kelly
I gave this Book a rating of 4 ’s
Title: Keeping Her Close
Series: A Slow Burn Standalone
Genre: RomCom
Author: Casey Diam
Format: Kindle Edition
Published on: August 14, 2018
I voluntarily received a Courtesy Copy of this book from Enticing Journey and am choosing to leave a review.
>-< >–< >–< >–< >–<>–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< >–< What I liked/Didn’t Like: My first book by this author. I would have given it 5 stars, but the end of the book confused me. Other than that, issue it was a well-written fun book to read. The storyline was easy to follow and the characters were relatable as well.
This is a new author to me, but I will certainly be looking out for her work in the future. Brandon is a bad boy playboy, and Jordan is dedicated to her fashion line. There is an instant attraction between these two, but they are both broken souls who have many obstacles to overcome along their way. This is a well written story, and a slow burn romantic novel, which in my opinion is they only downside, as it was really a tad too slow for me, however, this author is very talented, and I recommend her work.
Sometimes you are better off just friends. But how do you know if there should be more and when do you choose to find out? Up and coming author Casey Diam gives her own take on this age old question with Keeping Her Close, where two people meet at the right time in life but have to navigate the rough waters of the what ifs, the what should bes, and the what is.
Brandon Kuvat is who he is and doesn’t make any apologies for it. He’s on top of the world with a very successful businesses, great friends, and plenty of women falling at his feet. But the casual hookups aren’t doing it for him anymore and after a chance encounter with a store manager brings up long buried feelings, Brandon knows he just has to know her no matter what.
Jordan Artesian has been walking the straight and narrow for far too long until Brandon waltzes into her life and makes himself right at home. Finally agreeing to get to know him, a bond starts to form that becomes stronger and harder to ignore, despite Jordan not wanting to feel anything for him. With Brandon not letting up and constantly showing how sweet he can be, Jordan’s thick walls start to slowly crumble and her old self rises back to the surface.
I love how well Brand and Jordan got to know each other without anything intimate happening. Casey Diam gives us two great characters who meshed so well together even when the first few meetings were really rocky. Just proves that you can prevail when you don’t give up on what you want. It was frustrating at times knowing both Brandon and Jordan wanted each other but never made a move but I feel like it’s something that could happen in real life when a guy and girl are friends and don’t know if they want to chance a friendship for more. Keeping Her Close is a different story from her previous two but lovable in its own way and anyone looking for something cute and funny should definitely give this one a try.
That was an incredible read. A must read for sure. 5/5 stars
Two broken souls who are attracted at first sight. But only end up friends till it’s too much. Jordan is a shy designer wanted to get her designs out there. Brandon is a wealthy man who isn’t feeling the same as he did when started his carefree attitude. An outing for Brandon brings him in contact with Jordan, but she’s different than the others. Will he get her in more ways than one or not at all?
Jordan is a great character that you’ll fall in love with cause she is a shy feisty woman. Brandon on the other hand you’ll want to slap or strangle, but in time fall in love with as well. The build of this story was on spot if you’d done it differently it wouldn’t have been the same. Casey I totally couldn’t put this story down once I started. You had me from the beginning straight to the end. Times you had me laughing and others in tears. I could feel both characters feelings because you delivered them well with your words. The story flowed between the characters point of view.
***Reviewed for Sweet & Spicy Reads, arc provided in return for honest review***
3.5 STARS!!!
This book could have easily been a 5 star read for me but the problem was that I hated how it ended. It seemed as if the ending came out of nowhere and Brandon and Jordan’s story wasn’t finished. This is supposed to be a standalone story and it is because the author gives readers an ending, but it truly wasn’t the ending I wanted or hoped for. I needed more! However, readers get the option of receiving an exclusive epilogue to their story but I wanted it in the book not to have to sign up to receive it. That small difference might have made this story seem “more” complete; at least to me. With that being said, I enjoyed Brandon, Jordan and the side characters. They have a great group of friends. The back and forth banter between Brandon and Jordan made me smile and laugh out loud, and their chemistry was undeniable. I truly have mixed feeling because I enjoyed everything about this story but the ending. In my opinion the ending matters the most because it can either leave readers satisfied or dissatisfied with the story. Would I suggest romance readers to give this book a try? Yes. It wasn’t a bad read it just wasn’t satisfying to me. However, I would also give another book from this author a try and just hope for a better ending.
I truly adored Casey Diem’s previous two books, and wanted to read this one as well. It wasn’t quite as thought provoking as the ‘Things That Matter’ series, but it was still good in it’s own right, although written in 3rd POV rather than 1st, so we don’t get inside the characters’ heads quite the same. It was a slow burner which I’m not a huge fan of to be honest, but the chemistry between these two held it together. Plenty of angst and tension leading up to them getting together. But that ending? It truly needed more.