In Choose Me, RC Boldt brings us an unforgettable, heart-wrenching coming-of age romance…Wearing the nicest suit I own, I stand in the very back with a flask full of whiskey in my inner pocket. I put on a brave face as I watch her walk down the aisle.Because it’s too late.I refuse to be the bastard who makes her cry on her wedding day, but I’m dying to tell her what I’ve always known. She’s my … dying to tell her what I’ve always known. She’s my best friend, but she doesn’t realize she owns my f*cking heart and soul, too.
Each step down that aisle takes her farther away from me and brings her closer to him, forcing me to face the truth: I’ve fallen in love with someone who can’t be mine. If she’d just turn around, maybe she’d realize I love her more than he ever could.
I won’t ruin her perfect day, but my broken heart begs me to try and convince her.
Choose me.
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Captivating, soul gripping, true love at it’s finest,,,,, ALL THE FEELS!!!!! If there was ever a doubt that you can’t find true love, that you’ll never find your soulmate, then READ this BOOK!!! What starts out as an inseparable friendship between Magnolia and Hollis when they’re little kids, turns into a lifetime of togetherness. These two go through so much together.
I will NOT give anything away with this book,,,,, just trust me on this when I say you NEED to read this one!!! R.C. Boldt has blown me AWAY AGAIN!!!!
I do believe that Choose Me will go down as my favorite RC Boldt book ever!!! I was wrapped in from the first page. I loved being able to watch Hollis and Magnolia grow from kids to adults. I love the friendship the 2 share. They are totally different as in their ways of home life but are able to connect despite that. Choose Me is an All The Feels kind of book and I love it!!!
Hollis and Magnolia have been best friends since the day they met. Hollis was outside helping his dad build him a treehouse and she introduced herself. Magnolia was brought up to act a certain way and expected to do everything her parents told her. Her mother didn’t think Hollis and her should be friends. They didn’t care but as they got older their feelings changed toward one another. Would either admit how they felt or would it be too late?
Oh My…I floved this book so so hard and is more than a 5 star read for me! Choose Me sucked me into the story right from the start and I couldn’t put it down until that very last page. This coming-of-age-romance is one of the best that I’ve read. I honestly loved every freaking thing about this book, the story plot, the characters, the best-friends to lovers, and everything about the writing.
Hollis & Magnolia’s story takes you through their childhood friendship all the way to these two falling in love with each other. Their story gave me all of the feels from laughing, crying, and down right falling in love with these two. I couldn’t get enough of their beautiful love story!!!
R.C. Boldt is a new to me author and I absolutely loved how that her writing sucked me in and gave me everything that I look for in a great book. I really can’t recommend this book enough because it is absolutely a fantastic must read!!!
Get swept away with Hollis & Magnolia’s story!!!
Happy Reading Everyone!!!
Hollis and Magnolia were everything! I absolutely loved this book. It was so different from everything I’ve read. You grew up with them in this story and it leaves you hurting for Hollis when she’s walking down the aisle to marry another man…a good man, but not Hollis. It was heart-wrenching and wonderful and left me with all the feels. I highly recommend this book!
3.75 Cherry Pop Rocks Stars
RC Boldt is a favorite of mine. She writes a little of everything and does it with a simple flair. With Choose Me I got a charming, slow build romance.
As Magnolia Barton and Hollis Barnes grew in age and friendship, I grew right along with them. Both are so alike with much in common even though they come from opposite sides of the tracks. Magnolia is a sweet child that blossoms into a beautiful young woman despite the rigidity of her mother. Hollis Barnes has always been a good boy with a kind heart and grows into an even finer gentleman with the help and support of a loving father.
Escalated expectations, socio-economic differences, growing pains, moving through or around obstacles in their way, Hollis and Magnolia definitely don’t have an easy time navigating their relationship. It broke my heart at times. It’s dumbfounding how cruel those that are supposed to love us can be.
Her words and storytelling, even when heartbreak is involved, are light. And if you’re into music, you need to check out the accompanying playlist too.
First of all, this cover is gorgeous. The story is so moving. Magnolia and Hollis are there for each other since early childhood, and I love the bond they form. They have each other to lean on when they feel inadequate and unsure of themselves. I love how the treehouse is not only a shelter and a safe haven, but it holds most of their memories. It’s not an easy journey to take with these two, but it’s a beautiful one and so worth it as their love for each other blooms and matures.
4.5
The Girl Next Door and A Tree House
A friends-to-lovers romance filled with incredible love and angst that will drive you mad!!! A story of friendship and love that spanned most of their lives. A love that they couldn’t live without.
Magnolia and Hollis became best friends, inseparable. She moved in next door and decided they would be friends and so they were. Their epic love story began with the construction of their tree house.
Hollis was truly a good guy. Thoughtful, protective, a true gentleman. Impossible not to fall in love with. Magnolia was raised as a southern belle. Impeccable manners and finishing school included. She was loving and never cared about money or breeding, even though that was her mother’s sole focus.
Hollis and Magnolia grew up together. And through it all, boyfriends/girlfriends, disappointments, hurts, they were eachother’s constant support. They remained friends, even when others tried to pull them apart.
This story was a slow burn and a second chance romance. They were always friends, but their love ran much deeper than friendship. This story tugged at the heart strings and made me want to shake them both at times, but they needed to find their way back home…to eachother. I enjoyed their journey. The road was filled with heartache, but the culmination of their love was worth it! If you enjoy an angsty read, friends-to-lovers slow burn romance, then this is your next read!
What can I say but I loved this book. It was so so good. The emotions were all there. This is the story of Hollis and Magnolia who meet when they are 8 years old. Hollis is from the wrong side of town. Magnolia is from the upper class family. Even from them being from different parts of town and despite what her parents want for her they forge a life long friendship. And are completely loyal to each other. But as they grow up each of them at some point wished they would choose each other but life has a way of getting in the way. Will Hollis get Magnolia choose him? Please read this story to find out. It’s so so good!
WooHoo!!!!! I have been waiting patiently (not so much!) for this book since I first heard about it! And OMG!!!!!! It was worth the wait! I would choose Hollis in a heartbeat! Sorry Magnolia, you would have a fight on your hands! Loved the storyline, loved the characters, loved the writing, loved, loved, loved it all!!! I think I literally held my breath the last one third of this book! My new favorite book! I’m already thinking about a re-read!! That’s how good this is!!!
Choose Me is absolutely EVERYTHING so get ready for a huge book hangover!! I am absolutely floored at how amazing this book is and without a doubt, it is the BEST book that RC Boldt has written to date. Hollis and Magnolia are remarkable and easy to love characters who stole my heart and their deep connection as well as their emotional journey is portrayed wonderfully. These childhood friends have a long history, you can’t help but root for them and want them to get all the goodness they deserve. Their endearing and heartbreaking turmoil literally jumped off the pages and I devoured their story as I was desperate to see what would happen next.
Choose Me has a captivating plot which led to a beautifully crafted masterpiece. It’s everything I crave and more in a best friends to lovers romance. I truly adored this romance and all the ways it caused my heart to ache. This book will resonate with me for a while and it’s one of my top favorite books of 2019.
I adored this book! It was my first from this author, but definitely not my last. I’m giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.
I wasn’t really sure how this was going to play out given the summary, but I enjoyed every page. Most of the book was set in the past, and we got to see the story/connection between Hollis and Magnolia unfold. This was definitely a friends to lovers story (heavy emphasis on friends). One thing that threw me off a little was that I expected this to be set in the present more than it was. Regardless, this was amazing.
I loved both Hollis and Magnolia. From the first time they met, you could tell they’d be something special to each other. I loved their friendship; it honestly made me jealous, because I wished I had someone like that in my life growing up. A best friend who was there for you, who got you like no one else. Hollis is definitely going on my book boyfriend list. So sweet, and his southern hospitality/charm was amazing. *swoons*
Early on we also met the families, and I didn’t like any of them except for Hollis’s dad. He was a great guy who loved Hollis so much. I won’t say anything else except there was a twist later in the book that I’d been expecting. The epilogue was super cute, and gave me all the feels. I can’t wait to read more from this author soon!
There are no words to express how wonderful this angsty, friends to lovers story is from RC Boldt. Hollis and Magnolia are two wonderful characters that we get to follow from their first meeting in childhood through their aches and pains of growing up and making hard decisions. Both of these characters have their flaws to the outside world but the best part of this whole journey was how they never saw the flaws in the other but just how perfect they were, as they were. Once you start reading, the author draws you in with the opening scene and then you can’t put it down because you want to know what happens next to both of them. I loved how sassy and southernly prim and proper Magnolia was and how gentlemanly Hollis was and how they both just want to be loved for who they are! Well done RC Boldt!
Once again Ms. Boldt writes a book that will make you fall in love with the characters and shed a few tears.
I will say that I devoured this book because the prologue wrecked me. I raced through each chapters because I wanted to get to wedding day because I needed to know what happened for Hollis and Magnolia (I loved this name)
This book take two people who are broken down by others and forges a life long friendship. Each one of them had so many trial and tribulations along the way, both thinking they aren’t good enough. This is an emotional coming of age story of two people that need to find themselves for true love to shine.
Ms. Boldt writes a story that will always leave you with a book hangover at the end. As you read her writing you can tell she pours every emotion into her characters.
RC Boldt delivers a sweet, slow burn of romance through snapshots of time in Hollis and Magnolia’s life. From the beginning Boldt reels you in with Magnolia’s sweet, southern charm. This socialite beauty befriends the boy next door, Hollis. Hollis is strictly loyal once he lets Magnolia in. These two can conquer anything… or so we think.
With age all things change and so does Hollis and Magnolia’s friendship. Hearts get broken, people drift apart and together again, hurtle after hurtle, Boldt kept me riveted to Hollis and Magnolia’s story.
Overall, Boldt brought a very different view point to her books with Choose Me. It was very heartfelt, yet unique in its own way. Although you do get glimpses from some of Boldt’s other wonderful characters, you do not have to read those in order to enjoy these two best friends.
Truly an unforgettable story and so many heart emotions evolved while reading this book. Magnolia and Hollis are alike in many ways, but also different. There connection was immediate as kids and it only grew as they got older. The mothers who you would love to strangle a few times reading this book are a real piece of work and I think that may be putting it nicely. I loved Hollis’ dad though and he is a true father. Based upon their upbringings they could have been so different; however, they were complete opposites of the stereo types portrayed in both those worlds.
It’s amazing what a line difference makes, and you will see what I’m referring to when ready this book. In checking the play list on this book, I was really surprised that “Marry Me” by Thomas Rhett was not listed as a song to listen to relating to this book. Oh, my heart! It pumps one minute and then drops the next. That ending has you on pins and needles and you don’t know if you should cry or jump for joy. I know which one I did, and that epilogue was the Cherry to those Pop Rocks! Every time I see pop rocks now, I’ll think of this book.
Grab this book to read and find out if in Choose Me do they decide to go with “Like that” or “not like that”? You must read the book to get those quotes. There is not a book that I have read by this author that I have not loved and I highly recommend this book.
Choose Me is the next standalone novel by RC Boldt. I’ve only read a handful of her books, but what I have read I’ve really enjoyed. But this one…this one, I LOVED! Maybe it’s because it reminded me a lot of my own story with my husband. Maybe it’s because I’m a homegrown Georgia Peach with a romantic heart. Or maybe it’s because the characters and the storyline were so dynamic. Regardless, it is a really well-written, heartwrenching, friends to lovers contemporary romance.
Hollis and Magnolia (seriously…can you get more genteel Southern than that name?!) meet as 8-year-olds, and despite the fact that he’s from the wrong side of town, they become best friends. As time passes, and they grow up, there’s a part of each of them that wishes the other would choose them. So when life brings them full circle, will Magnolia have the courage to buck the system and choose Hollis?
Let’s talk characters for a moment. Hollis is the real deal. He’s the good (and good-looking) guy who usually chooses to do the right thing (I mean…we’re all human, so of course there are some wrong choices made). He’s got a great moral compass and loves loyally. Magnolia is the quintessential southern girl from a well-to-do family. While she tries to please her mother and stepfather, she also tries to balance that part of herself with who she truly is. She’s fiercely loyal to Hollis, even under the pressure of her upper-class family. The only person that could ever make her turn her back on Hollis is…Hollis.
NICUnurse’s Rating: I love the movie Sweet Home Alabama. There are a lot of similar themes woven throughout Choose Me that, along with the similarities to my own happily ever after, made me absolutely fall in love with this story. It’s well written, with well-developed characters, and a storyline that had me wanting to devour this book to the very end. Unfortunately, I had to eat and pee at some point, but I certainly didn’t want to put it down! I give Choose Me by RC Boldt 5 out of 5 stars!
I received an ARC in return for an honest review. I loved the friendship between Hollis and Magnolia. I have to admit it drove me nuts that they both obviously wanted the other for years and never told the other. But, situations like this make the story even better. I felt the pain and anguish Hollis felt every time Magnolia had someone serious in her life. I’m so glad she found that letter because I don’t think she would have ever had the guts to go after him. Great book!
This 4 star best friend to lovers story was a great slow burn. A friendship that started when they were 8yo. It was an heartfelt and heartbreaking all at once.
Half the story is told while they were still kids so we get to know them from a young age. We watch them grow up. Love each other from afar. A sweet storyline.
Beautifully told in a dual POV with an HEA. I recommend this story.
***5 ‘Pop Rocks’ Stars***
Oh my heart!
No seriously
My heart is all kinds of hungover right now.
This book was emotionally draining while being absolutely fulfilling all at the same time
Hell.
My eyes did that leaking thing and we all know how I feel about that. (If you don’t, I’m NOT a fan because it will mess up my eye make up *smirk*)
But this book. Hollis and Magnolia just killed me, in the best of ways, but still…
Hollis and Magnolia. I adored these two from the start. They are both simply good people with huge hearts and golden souls. They are not perfect, not by a long shot, but they are real and it was easy to connect with them both and feel empathy for all that they dealt with in their lives and understand ~ while not always agreeing ~ the decisions they felt they needed to make.
As for their journey to their HEA. It was a journey and one I had a hard time putting down. I loved watching how they became friends and just how deeply the connection between them went and how simple it was. They really were two peas in a pod. But the frustration over their choices were real. My heart understood, even though it hurt for them, why they made the choices they did in regards to each other and knew that despite their connection that they weren’t ready for each other as more than just friends…yet..but then there was my head. You know that scene in the movie Happy Gilmore where Happy is yelling at the golf ball to go into the hole, into its home? Yeah, that was what the voice in my head was doing for the mass majority of the book. Yelling at them to just go home aka be with each other. It was exhausting, but thankfully the ending was perfect and the mind and heart are very happy and at peace.
This one may just go down as my fav book by the author. It had everything I could want in a best friends to lovers romance and more. It had the perfect balance of angst, humor, sweetness and smexyness and though there are a couple of issues that pop up that could be triggers for some, they were handled well and gave depth to the story. And as for the supporting cast of characters. They ran the gamut of me absolutely adoring some of them to wanting to gut a few with a spoon. There is one that I am hoping may get an HEA in the future because this one definitely deserves it and there was mention of one of my fav characters from another series in this one, which made my heart all kinds of happy.
So, if you love besties to lovers romances and experiencing the ups and downs of the journey, then this is a definite must read for you!
~ Copy provided by the author & voluntarily reviewed ~