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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A coming of age, best friend to lovers romance that will make your heart pound and your gut twist right until the very end of the book.
Two kindred spirits that meet as young children, but born from opposite worlds. Aside from their stubborn will to remain friends, they are kept apart by social status, horrible family members, and so many missed chances that you wonder if fate is also fighting against them.
R.C. Boldt choose a brilliant way to tell a best friends trope. Give us the end…
“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 won’t ruin her perfect day, but my broken heart begs me to try and convince her.
Choose me.”
Then she dives back into the past and we learn Magnolia and Hollis’ story from the very beginning. They meet as eight year old children. Far away from the chances of falling in love. A wonderful bond forms over their heartbreaking familiarities, I suppose like many childhood friendships. Over time, even if they do notice their feelings changing for the other, they both prefer to ignore it, opting to keep their friendship top priority. Neither have a relationship that is closer than what they have in each other.
As the novel progresses through the years, you get to know Magnolia and Hollis through childhood years, teenage years, and into college. There is so much they experience together, but also so much they left unsaid. My heart was beating out of my chest the longer the story went on, the older they got. There were points I wanted to scream at the two of them. I also wanted to just close my book and walk away, but also speed read to the end to know that everything would turn out and be okay. I was so emotional!!
It isn’t until almost the very end that we get back to the beginning. This is all part of the beauty of how Choose Me goes. It was gripping, all encompassing and brought out emotions I’d thought long buried in my childhood. (Magnolia’s mother held so many similarities to mine it was eerie.) I hope you enjoy the journey of Magnolia and Hollis as much as I did because I read it way past my bedtime and it was well worth it!
Thanks R.C. I loved this book so hard!!
I have a major crush on this book. I adored the characters, loved their story and cheered them on from the beginning to the end.
Magnolia and Hollister’s story was beautiful through and through which is why I have a hard time coming up with good enough words for it. This book followed their lives from the first time they met when they were kids and she moved into the house next door, to their onward journey of adolescence.
And because of this book I can now add Coming of Age to one of my favorite genres.
I didn’t know where this book was going to take me when I started reading it, but I was certain that this author wouldn’t disappoint me. And I was right to take that leap of faith because let me tell you, this was one of the very best friends to lovers stories I’ve read. Fan-fucking-tastic and unputdownable! I absolutely adored these characters and loved this book so much!! I’m usually not much of a fan of stories that go back in time to when the characters grow up but this one nailed it so perfectly! There’s no way to not love this book!!
Not wanting to give anything away, I just urge you to read this book no matter if you’re into young adults, friends to lovers, or slow burn romances. This fantastically written book had it all in the best way possible!
Magnolia and Hollis were such loveable and sweet characters who, against all odds and despite or even because of their superficial differences and outside influences, formed the deepest of bonds between two people. A friendship that lasted a lifetime, two lost souls united. You have to meet them and read their story!
PS: To all the Out Of Series fans, there’s a little something in this book you definitely don’t want to miss out on!
I loved Magnolia and Hollis! This was a friends to lovers book. It starts with them becoming friends as children and following their lives. Magnolia is from an affluent family. Her mother is very much a snob and very controlling. Hollis comes from a poor one with an abusive mother, but his dad is loving. There are plot twists you will not see coming, so gird your loins! This book will both break your heart and warm it! Oh, it will also leave you craving cherry Pop Rocks!!! Such a great read! 5 amazing stars
Oh Ms. Boldt! You stole my heart with this story!
Hollis and Magnolia are just wow. Coming up with the right words to describe my feelings for this story is gonna be hard but I am going to try….
“I love you…but not like that….” That’s the start of the love story between lifelong friends Hollis and Magnolia. Words left unsaid, feelings of inadequacies and the secrets that separate them.
Hollis, oh my me Hollis, I just wanted to take that boy/man and hug him hard and hold him close. His southern manners and gentlemanly ways just made me swoon. He was there for Magnolia for everything, good times or bad, he was there….until he wasn’t and it about killed me.
Magnolia was brought up to be the belle of the ball, but deep down she knew that’s wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted her friendship with Hollis, going against everyone who was supposed to love her unconditionally.
You are gonna get all the feels with this book! Southern charm at it’s finest!
RC Boldt hits you with the feels from the first page and keeps the emotions on simmer for the whole book. Hollis and Magnolia are best friends. On the outside, they appear complete opposites. On the inside, they are a matching set. With horrible mothers that create crippling self doubt, they are each other’s life boat in the storm. So many missed opportunities because neither feel worthy or have enough confidence to speak their hearts truth. My heart ached till the end for these two but burst with joy at the end.
Choose Me is one of those books you will not want to put down until the end. R.C. Boldt is so great at slow burn romance and surprise.
You will love the story of the friendship of Magnolia Barton and Hollis Barnes. All I am going to say is that living from opposite sides of the tracks can cause struggles as they grow from children into young adults. Read the book to find out what happens. You will not be disappointed.
Boldt knows how to bring on the tears. Whether from laughter, sorrow or sentiment, remains to be seen. Choose Me is a reminder of how talented an author R.C. Boldt truly is. Hollis and Magnolia are a heartache away from losing something quite precious. Can their friendship survive the transitions heading their way? I LOVE the experience of reading this author because she never holds back from exposing her heart and it shines through in every novel.
Wow…this book. One of those ones that had me staying up way past my bedtime because I didn’t want to put it down!
Magnolia and Hollis…*sigh* If ever two souls were meant for each other, it’s these two characters.
Reading about their friendship and how it grows and grows from kids to adulthood and despite the obstacles they face because of their friendship, had me glued to the pages.
R.C. Boldt has written another favorite of mine. A coming-of-age story that will pull you in and not let go.
I love this book so hard! I couldn’t read it fast enough, but wanted it to last forever! R.C. Boldt delivers a phenomenal friends to lovers romance full of heartbreaking, beautiful love!
“To be someone’s first love is extraordinary, but to also be their last love is exquisitely magical.”
This quote one hundred percent sums up Choose Me. When you’re eight years old you don’t know what love is, but I’m absolutely positive Hollis and Magnolia had it even then.
Magnolia is the stepdaughter of a senator, and Hollis is the poor boy that lives next door, who’s mother reminds him daily he will never be good enough for Magnolia. Magnolia’s mother is never far behind him telling him the same. When you’re told repeatedly you’ll never be enough, and aren’t good enough you eventually start to believe it. Hollis repeatedly shows how amazing he is as a person, and a friend.
Magnolia the sheltered girl next door, and fiercely protected by Hollis from the first day they meet. Her mother is not a nice lady and in a lot of ways crushed her self esteem. She grew up being taught to worry about what others think , and sometimes old habits die hard.
Through the years of their friendship and shift in feelings neither one of them are willing to admit, afraid the other won’t feel the same and their friendship with be ruined.
After a death in Hollis’ family things heat up and they finally do the one thing they have each wanted for so long. Then like a wrecking ball Magnolia’s mother gets in Hollis’s head and he leaves. This is where my tears happen. I felt like R.C. Boldt was ripping my heart out. The emotion from both of them was just too much.
Hollis wants to better himself, so he can feel like he is worthy of Magnolia. The thing he doesn’t remember is that Magnolia loves him just the way he is. She fell in love with him when he was just a little boy bringing her pop rocks. They may have come from “two different worlds” but they are one. Not many people meet the love of their life when they are eight years old. Their story is heart aching at times, amazing.
From start to finish I was hooked on this book. I love the angsty, slow burn, emotional roller coaster she took me on. I love everything and every word of this book! If I could give more than 5 stars I would.