Fans of Christina Lauren, Colleen Hoover, and Jill Santopolo will love this breathtaking story about first love, second chances, and starting over from New York Times bestselling author Corinne Michaels. Teagan Berkeley is trying her best. A single mom raising a precocious teen, she may have given up on her dreams, but she’s accepted her life in her small beachside hometown. Now the one … she’s accepted her life in her small beachside hometown. Now the one person who abandoned her when she needed him the most has returned, bringing back memories of what might have been.
Derek Hartz arrives in town with a teenage daughter-and he’s full of guilt over his failed marriage and the way he ended his friendship with Teagan. He’s determined to set things right with her, but first he needs to gain her trust, something he’s not convinced he deserves.
As Teagan and Derek open up to each other-and confess their deepest secrets-it’s impossible for them to deny what’s always been between them. But just when their happily ever after is within reach, their complicated history surfaces again and threatens to keep them apart. Forever.
This captivating romance had me under its spell right from the start and didn’t let go. A stunning love story that is powerfully raw, incredibly sexy, breathtakingly romantic and beautifully inspiring. Oh my heart. This friends-to-lovers romance has all the feels! An incredibly sexy, fiercely protective, very determined hero and a beautiful, strong and resilient heroine. With each page I fell deeper for these characters and their story. The connection they share is still there even after years apart and just as strong. The attraction is magnetic and chemistry is not only off-the-charts; it is palpable. Their passion is sizzling and explosive. Their flirty banter, sarcasm and wicked wit had me laughing out loud. The storyline is incredibly well-written, flowed seamlessly, and is a rollercoaster ride of emotions. I could feel everything the characters experienced; the emotions radiated from the pages. The swoon-worthy scenes and the heart-melting moments were absolutely breathtaking. An unforgettable story of love, faith and forgiveness that left a mark on my heart and soul. One of my favorite books by Michaels and top read of 2020 and all time! If you want a book that will make you swoon, steal your breath and have you laughing too, than this is one you want to read!
Corinne Michaels said I wouldn’t cry while reading this book.
Corinne Michaels lied.
All I Ask is a friends-to-lovers, second-chance, enemies-to-lovers book. Yes. It is all those things. So OF COURSE I’m going to cry. The opening scene alone made me weep.
Teagan and Derek were friends through a lot of highs and lows: boyfriends, girlfriends, break-ups, marriage. Michaels shows these through flashbacks, letting you experience how deeply Teagan and Derek cared for each other and how brutally the fractures in their friendship affected them. You get in both their heads, which helps you see the two perspectives on their relationship.
Both Derek and Teagan have teenage daughters, whose subplot provides an added layer of angst. It would be too easy for the girls to like each other, right?
There is some hotness here, too, lest you thought this book was all emotional torture. Derek and Teagan have to work to restore their friendship, much less embark on a romance.
I enjoyed getting to know these two characters, and I enjoyed watching Corinne Michaels play with them. But have a tissue handy because, despite Michaels’s assurances to the contrary, you will cry.
I read this book with a mixture of enthrallment and some anger. Derek and Teagan were best friends in high school and by the time they were in college, they already loved each other but didn’t have the guts to share that information. Teagan was dating Keith, their town football hero, and Derek was dating Meghan. Teagan got pregnant with Keith’s baby and Derek got Meghan pregnant. Derek married Meghan, and Teagan got stabbed in the back by Keith. And all this time they were loving each other and denying their feelings. How dumb can that be?
It gets worse because early in their marriage, Meghan finds out about Derek’s feelings for Teagan and makes him choose. Being a dutiful man, he chose his wife and unborn baby and commits the biggest betrayal there is, he cut off all contact with his best friend and in so doing not only broke Teagan’s heart but doomed her to a lifetime of regrets.
Teagan used to be one of the cool, mean girls in school. Highly popular and cruel to the less cool kids, there was an inner core of kindness that rebelled against the peer pressure of being cool. When she got paired with Derek in a school project, it turned her life around, she found out she could be best friends with a dork and liberate her inner kindness, say goodbye to her mean besties, and be her own person. I still don’t understand why she insisted on going out with Keith, who was a self-centered narcissist football player. He was her Mr. Right Now and she was waiting for the right time to get with Derek but then he got engaged to Meghan. Huh?!? I really didn’t understand her reasoning.
Thirteen years later, Derek is back in town with his daughter. Neither of the two wanted to meet up because the years and the pain had been so much. There didn’t seem to exist a way back for them, with a betrayal to forgive.
And this is where I start my rant. In my opinion, Derek is a wimp who didn’t have the guts to declare his feelings. He got married to a woman that he thought he loved and when given a choice, he forsook his best friend who he loved so much for the sake of his marriage. This is all well and good but he also punished himself to a life that was much less than perfect.
Teagan made bad choices and then had to pay for long years. She was constantly badgered by her mother about her choices, and made to feel like a failure. The town gossips kept commenting on her, and her daughter had to listen to criticism about her mother. I can understand ignoring the gossips, but I just couldn’t understand why she didn’t stand up to her mother, and instead took and took the abuse. She took her losses and dealt as best she could, and raised a wonderful girl. Chastity is smart, kind, mature with the right amount of sassy and snark. In spite of working a minimum wage job and living rent free above her mother’s, she gave her daughter a secure life, a lot of love and acceptance.
The second chance between Teagan and Derek was all you hoped it would be. Reluctance, distrust, regrets, and recriminations. It was riveting and enthralling and although I enjoyed the story I never stopped being mad at Derek for being a wimp. I thought Teagan made a mistake by not coming forward with her feelings but she paid a heavy price and then lived a meal to mouth existence for thirteen years. Meanwhile, Derek enjoyed a successful life, full of regrets and missing his best friend, but he didn’t have financial hardships like Teagan did.
I throughly enjoyed the story, I was riveted all during the story. This author is a master storyteller and her books are page turners. My only complaint was that I wasn’t too impressed with the characters. There was a lack of forthrightness and assertiveness in them, apart that Derek is a wimp and Teagan was a little lame in making Derek grovel as much as he needed.
Absolutely loved this book by Ms. Michael’s. I am have read her books from the beginning and am always impressed each time of the journey she takes me through with each book. This book is no different! The journey of Teagan and Derek is emotionally charged. Due to circumstances they are single parents assisting each other through life’s trials and tribulations after a misunderstanding and disconnect. Can they reconnect their disconnect?
I loved this book. I loved the got to see part of Teagen and Derek’s back story. I wish we could have seen a more their future. I was nice to see Chasity and Everly finally come together a friends. As with all of Corinne’s book this book awesome. You never lose interest.
4.5 Stars
I always look forward to anything that Corinne Michaels writes. She write sassy women who are strong and independent, and those are traits that I admire in my heroines. I absolutely loved Teagan, a single mother who is just trying to get by, but does everything she can for her daughter. I loved Derek, too, and how he struggled with becoming a single father. And I absolutely loved those two girls! They reminded me so perfectly of what middle school was like!
I absolutely loved All I Ask, and look forward to more from Corinne Michaels in the future!
Loved this book. Gah. So many emotions. Corinne Michaels, as per usual, will put you through the wringer. And it’s glorious! LOL!
Derek and Teagan are best friends. Until they’re not. There’s a decade plus of hurt and animosity between them. So when they’re thrown back together under tragic circumstances, they have to fight to find balance between their past selves and who they are now. It’s a story of hope and forgiveness and finding your path in life, even if it’s not what you expected.
I’ve yet to read a book from Corinne Michaels that I didn’t love, and this one is no exception. It’s a fantastic read and I’d highly recommend it.
When I prepare myself for a Corinne Michaels book, it takes a lot. But it’s never with regret. I knew she got the concept of this book from Thomas Rhett’s song “Marry Me” and I read this book without ever listening to the song. And I can say without any hesitation that it is a book that left an imprint on my heart.
Teagan and Derek were polar opposites at first glance, but they finally clicked when they let their pretenses go and trust in each other. A love story that was fundamental in shaping the adults they both became.
Derek was the boy “next door” that was a bit to geeky but really saw Teagan. He was true to who he was from our first introduction to him to the very end. Once his eyes were finally open to the future he was meant to have, he never held back. Having that faith made watching their story unfold brings emotions out in me that made a connection with this story worth everything.
How can I describe the emotions Teagan brings out in me? I think this is the closest I’ve ever been to a heroine. She’s so inspiringly REAL!!! When she’s a teenager, I felt the struggle with wanting to tell Derek how she feels, wanting to be accepted by her peers and doing things not true to her character, or the strength she displays when protecting her daughter. Her character was amazing to see, I understand growing up and never feeling like you’ve done enough, trying your hardest to treat your child like they are the true gift you tell them they are or strength to find something just for herself.
I fell in love with the story because like so many of Corinne’s, IT WAS REAL. And as much as a fantasy world where you meet a billionaire to whisk you away, finding your soul mate to stand by your side is the most precious thing we can all find.
Not my first read by the author, she happens to be one of my favorites!! That said I was super excited to read this book, from the BLURB alone!! Glad I had the chance to! Corinne writes beautiful words!
This broke my heart and slowly mended it together. Second-Chance Tear Jerkers are one of my favorites and this one was on point! Talk about feeling and emotions! Teagan and Derek are two souls that through they had time, until that time turned into 13 years later. When they are both back in the small town after many years…seems that old feelings brew up but run a lot hotter than they remember. How do they tell one another what they both know needed to be said? How does Teagan remain the best mother and hold it together when internally her heart is shattering, the memories the emotions…GAH, seriously will not be able to put this down! Be prepared to go for a ride, one you will not see coming filled with angst in the best ways, romance, sweetness, sexy handsome Derek and an adorable little girl. JUST PLAIN BEAUTIFUL!!!!
TOP 2020 MUST READ!
Rating:
Romance:
Steamy:
Type: Standalone
Recommended: HIGHLY!
⇨ H A P P Y – R E A D I N G ⇦
I read and reviewed this book voluntarily.
Corinne Michaels has a way of making you feel everything with her writing.
Teagan and Derek’s story is no different.
Both are single Parents. They were best friends in the past. Both are back in their small home town. There are hurts to get past, forgiveness to be looked for (will it be given?), new beginnings, and maybe second chances.
Ms. Michaels will make you feel it all.
All I ask is a must read. Once you pick it up you will be sucked into her world in Chincoteague Virginia.
I love a great Second chance love story and this Story definitely didn’t disappoint!!
Being in love with your best friend without him knowing… watching said best friend marry another while pregnant with another’s baby… Heartbreak central…
Teagan and Derek had a friendship that started late in high school.. a friendship the two never expected.. Teagan the popular rah-rah girl with the quarterback boyfriend and Derek the boy who didn’t care to be part of that circle.. they had a friendship that they thought was unbreakable.. only feelings were deeper than that..
Unspoken feelings, secrets kept hidden and an unexpected change in their friendship put years of distance between them. When the two see each other again.. It’s just wow and amazement…
Such a great second chance story that will keep you on the edge!
Well, she’s done it again. I laughed, I cried, my heart broke and it healed again. The usual cycle when one of Corinne’s book are involved. I loved Derek and Teagan. Their story is one of hope and made my heart heal with all that’s going on.
Their love started out as a secret from each other and years of heartbreak, but when they finally get together, you can’t help but fall in love with them all over again.
These two might be some of my favorite characters to date.
This is a very emotional story. It’s a great read.
This is the story of Derek & Teagan. Derek is a veterinarian, and moves back for good to the city he grew up in, where Teagan is now. His wife passed away six months ago. He has a daughter. Teagan runs her parent’s antique store, and she also has a 13 year old daughter. They were best friends. As time moved on, he both of them don’t know they were in love with each other as teenagers, so afraid of rejection, and losing one another if they admitted it. Derek’s girl bullies Tegan’s, and they meet for the first time in school when the principal calls them both in. From there it’s touch and go between them. This is a book you can’t put down once you’ve started it. Love and indecision and regret pulls back and forth between these characters. It’s a roller coaster ride for sure. I loved this book a lot. Will be waiting for the next Corinne Michaels book.
Must Read!
Derek & Teagan story is a must read. I was hooked from the first page and did not stop until the end. Buckle up because you are going on one hell of a ride of emotions. All I Ask will be one I reread several times I am sure. I felt like I waited a lifetime for Corinne to finish this book. The wait was well worth it! Once again this is a must read. Don’t just leave it in your TBR pile read it you wont regret it.
Teagan and Derek were high school best friends, but when life and love got in the way, they had no choice but to separate. After years and many struggles both of them have faced, Derek finds himself back in the same town where he left Teagan. Now, they both have daughters and lives and even more secrets than when they last saw each other. They decide to become friends again and try and see what chemistry is there. But when those secrets threaten to tear them apart for good, can they trust each other enough to work past it? Corinne surpassed every single expectation I had with this one. I was ready for the feels and swoons because this book was based off the song “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett and if you’ve heard it, you know! But…Teagan and Derek were so incredible not only together, but as separate characters. You really do want the best for them, and their daughters! I felt so happy and fulfilled reading this wonderful story!
Imagine falling in love with your best friend while you are dating someone else. And then that best friend meets someone while at college and falls in love with them. You are still dating the guy from high school and are happy for your best friend, so you ignore your true feelings. Then the best friend asks you to be his “best man” at his wedding while you are PREGNANT with your boyfriend’s baby and then only a couple months laters, cuts off all communication without an explanation. Now imagine that it is thirteen years later and you find yourself once again in the same town with your ex-best friend. He’s single. And you’re single. What would you do?
Teagan and Derek have a lot to work through and they manage to do it in an adult manner. Once Derek realizes that he finally can have Teagan in his life, he is determined to make her stay. Of course there are interferences, but they somehow manage to get through everything to find their happily ever after.
I enjoyed this book. I only cried a little bit and that feels like an accomplishment. This book is plenty emotional (It’s a Corinne Michaels’ book….duh!), but it feels different from her other books. I can’t really put my finger on it though.
4.5 Stars
It’s no surprise that Corinne Michaels brings that emotional punch she’s known for in her novels. She had me feeling all the feelings. Derek and Teagan’s story hooked me right in and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out what happened between these two.
Teagan and Derek were best friends who are now estranged. Both have gone on to live their lives. Now they’re back in the same town, and each with a teenage daughter. Watching them try to repair their relationship and overcome some obstacles was hard at times. Their journey brings a lot of pain and heartache, but the road to their second chance is well worth it, I couldn’t help but root for them.
I loved Teagan and Chastity’s relationship. She always put her daughter first, even at her own hearts expense. I also loved how determined Derek was. He knows that Teagan is it and that they’re meant to be together and isn’t willing to give up no matter what. I loved the flashbacks we got of Teagan and Derek in high school and seeing the start of their friendship.
All I Ask is a friends to lovers, second chance, and single parent romance that brought all the feels. Teagan and Derek pulled at my heartstrings and had me desperately wanting and needing their HEA. I loved these characters and their emotional, heartfelt, and beautiful story.
As always the writing is fabulous, the emotional connection high.
What a BEAUTIFUL story!
I just can’t with Corinne’s writing right now. So epically poignant and heart warming.
My heart actually aches now that I’ve turned the last page. You can’t help but be so engrossed in their journey back to one another and want to travel alongside them on the path they are forging together now. After all this time.
How their souls spoke to one another and the unwavering connection between them hadn’t diminished over the years was the stuff romance stories are made of. This is true love. This is what we all dream of. Aspire and hope for.
Like Derek and Teagan for one another, my love knows NO BOUNDS for this outstanding book from Corinne. 5 tell-me-something-real stars.
All I Ask by Corinne Michaels is a story about Teagan and Derek. Unlikely best friends from childhood who meet up again as adults. This story was heartbreaking at times but makes you believe in the “what if’s “in fate. When you think your life will go one way but actually turns out completely different then you imagined. Corinne Michaels never fails at pulling all these different emotions as you experience all that the characters feel. Amazing reading!!