One wrong move, and she meets a guy with all the right ones… the best way to start the day, but it might be the type of shake-up she needs.
Male dancer Derek Grant has goals, and nothing is going to get in the way of achieving them. As a graduate student and the sole caretaker of his ailing father, he hasn’t much time for relationships. Then Talia crashes into his life. Sweet, pretty—and so buttoned-up that he can’t wait to help her cut loose.
For Derek, falling in love was a beautiful accident waiting to happen. And it might be exactly what Talia needs—if she’s willing to let go of the past and embrace every surprise Derek has to offer.
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Say hello to familiar friends. Although part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone. But be warned, you will want to read the others. Melissa Foster has a talent for making her characters relate-able. They face the same issues we do. An incredibly tough subject that hits home for many is handled with sensitivity and respect and helps those not facing it have a better understanding of the disease. Presented with characters you want to, and do, root for.
Love Like Ours is a story of family and loads of love. I found myself crying on numerous occasions. Derek is an amazing son who will do what it takes to care for his ailing dad . Talia lives her life safe. She wont do anything out of her comfort zone. Until she meets (or shall we say hits) Derek. He brings her out of her zone. Talia is also amazing person for accepting Derek’s dad’s illness. When most women would run, not Talia she offered Derek any help.
The Dalton family are the most incredible group of people. They are kind, friendly and accepting. They totally embraced Jonah!
You will love this book. If you’re anything like me you will shed a tear or two. Melissa is one of my favorite author. She
This book is a standalone with a HEA.
*I reviewed this book voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind for this review.
I adored this book. Derek is completely swoon-worthy; not just in looks, but in his loving relationship with his father and the growing relationship with Talia and even her family.
Talia has so many insecurities and it’s a joy to watch as Derek helps her work through them and get more and more out of her comfort zone.
I absolutely love how the story shows that a relationship is so much more than just 2 people, but really between everyone that those 2 people care about when they are so close to their loved ones.
I have really been enjoying getting to know each of the Dalton siblings and watching them find their HEAs but I must admit that there is just something about Talia and Derek’s story that will be sticking with me for a while. Melissa Foster doesn’t shy away from difficult topics while bringing us a sweet and sexy romance and I think that is one of the things I love most about her books. In Love Like Ours, Derek is caring for his father whom suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease, see what I mean about difficult subject matters, while going to school full time for his graduate degree, he also tends bar and dances at the bar for extra money. You can say that Derek has his hands full and has very little time for a social life let alone a girlfriend but when the sexy Talia nearly runs him over with her car things are finally looking up for him.
Talia is quiet, shy, and more secluded of the Dalton siblings and to be honest I thought it was because of her position as a professor made her that way, turns out that a jerk made her that way. Talia has had her heart broken and hid it from everyone except her brother Ben who happened to be there when it happened. I’m not kidding when I say that Derek was out of Talia’s comfort zone, it was even spoken about a few times in the story, but I will say that sometimes venturing out of your comfort zone can bring you happiness you never knew before.
This was a great heartwarming story about two people finding their perfect match and not letting others get in their way of happiness. Jonah, Derek’s dad, had his good days and bad and it was so nice to see that everyone was willing to help out and I am thrilled that Derek didn’t resent his father on the days that things got particularly bad. This was at times a bit hard to read, especially if you know someone suffering from this disease, but it was so well done it was definitely a feel good story. Oh and sexy times a plenty too, we cannot forget that because although Melissa Foster can write stories that pull at your heartstrings they can get you hot and bothered as well.
I recommend this book to everyone that enjoys a small town romance with big family love. The student/teacher trope isn’t a taboo factor at all so don’t even let that play into your consideration. I look forward to the companion book to be released later this year, Finding My Girl which will have all the drawings Jonah had done of his wife, Eva, and Derek, as well as the drawings Derek did of him and Talia that were mentioned in this book. This book can be read as a standalone if you haven’t read any of the Sugar Lake series yet, but I’m betting once you read this book you’ll want to get to know how Willow and Bridgette got their HEAs as well. Happy Reading!!!
**I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Readers Copy of this book**
This story touched my heart as it dealt with Alzheimer’s, an issue with many families today. Derek is the main caretaker for his father and when he meets Talia, he can’t help but fall in love with her. Both are cautious, yet both realize this may be much more than they had anticipated. Throw in Momma Dalton’s love potions and you have a great Sugar Lake book – a five star read.
Team Grant all the way!!!
Talia Dalton is a Professor and careful with her life and heart. She’s been hurt in the past and doesn’t trust easily. Derek Grant is working on his master’s degree and works as a bartender and male dancer to give him the freedom he needs to care for his father. When Talia almost runs him over, they begin a path to love. Derek is the opposite of the types of men that Talia usually dates. He has long hair, scruff and wears jewelry. His intense blue eyes draw her in though. His sexy body doesn’t help either.
I loved Talia and Derek. He will do whatever is necessary to care for his father. He has his priorities straight. Talia comes from a large and loving family, so she knows how important it is for Derek to be with his father. Their chemistry is hot and the sex scenes melt the pages. The deep subject matter of the story is heart touching as well.
I love Melissa Foster and can’t wait for more of the Dalton siblings and their paths to love.
‘I need to find a man who acts like a gentleman in public and who’s willing to do very ungentlemanly things to me in private.’
You know that is so funny, you are always searching for a special type of men but you will end up with a totally different type. (Or that was in my case the story.) Like Talia wanted a clean shaved academic men and she was full of prejudices and stereotyping. Derek is indeed a sexual dancer, he has long hair and his clothes are cut. That’s all true. But he also takes care of his father who has Alzheimer, he is intelligent, lives his life full and with purpose.
Melissa let you see with every action Derek takes, he is nothing like you originally thought. And that you think you don’t have prejudices, but we all have. She learns us that it is not bad that we have them, it matters how we act on them. For that lesson only, you should read Love Like Ours.
4,5 stars
Love Like Ours by Melissa Foster will surprise you in the best way. After reading this book you want to do better, be better. Derek is a hero is the most true sense of the word.
There’s so much more to love than just romance. Derek has been caring for his father who has Alzheimer’s, and being a male dancer/bartender allows him to do what needs to be done. Talia is straight laced and lives in a comfort zone. With Derek, she’s able to get out of her comfort zone. She sees him for the man he is, not for how he earns money. It’s everything else he does that makes him who he truly is, and what she loves him for. They bring life and color to each other’s every day life, making a romance worth reading.
I love the story, and it brings a reality of life that many people live with day to day in caring for someone with Dementia or Alzheimer’s. Love is the little things that make the hard times worth it all.
I’ve read A LOT of Melissa’s books, and this one by far is her BEST!
Follow the story of straight laced, never goes out of her comfort zone Talia, who’s family is looking to find her someone to share her life! Her mom coats her car in one of those love potion concoctions she creates and boom she meets, well almost runs over Derek!
Derek has a lot going on in the background, he’s an amazing man who cares for his father and wants to open a day care center for ailing adults! Melissa does an amazing job introducing us to his dads fight with Alzheimer’s and the struggles the families encounter. Beautiful story, I’m still sighing while thinking about it! My favorite quote from the book: “I don’t consider caring for your father as being strapped down. That would be like seeing Bridgette as strapped down because of her son. When it’s family, it’s not being strapped down. It’s doing what’s right, what your heart tells you to do.” Gah so beautifully said. 5 trillion stars for this one, I absolutely loved this one! Grab it as soon as you can!
It was great to dive back into the Sugar Lake series. This series has been sweet and fun, and Love Like Ours is no different.
Talia and Derek could not be more different, however their differences just make them all the more perfect for each other.
Derek is the chaos to Talia’s control. Whilst she is quieter and reserved, he is a dancer, a bartender and puts himself out there.
I love the spark between them. No matter their differences, their attraction to each other cannot be denied.
I adore the banter between Talia and her family -even if at times I wanted to slap them on Talia’s behalf. You can’t help but love all of them, even when they annoy you. However it is Derek and his father that stole the show for me. I don’t want to give anything away about them, but … swoon!
And oh so emotional. I have never dealt with what Derek is coping with every day – thank goodness – however it gave a pretty good insight as to how it affects carers and family.
It was lovely watching our lovelies fall in love, when it is the last thing either of them was looking for. I also really liked that there is no OTT drama for drama’s sake. Talia and Derek have their issues, but the deal with them like adults (which is refreshing in my stories!)
I loved that we got more from our lovelies in the previous two books, with some snippets of where their relationships are now.
I can’t wait to see what Ms Foster brings us next.
This book wrecked me. Completely, totally, utterly wrecked. And it wasn’t only the love story, which was phenomenally beautiful and sure to inspire romance in any heart. It was the gentle, careful handling of Derek’s father, Jonah, with early-onset Alzheimer’s, and the way Talia and every member of her family opened their arms and hearts and made Derek and Jonah a treasured part of their family. This book is everything home and family and hope should be.
Talia is a college professor and she’s admittedly distracted by her family’s group phone call while driving. Distracted enough that she nearly plows into the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen. It’s one thing when he shows up in her class, but when he asks her out, she’s conflicted. Derek is undeniably hot, and the first guy who has stirred anything in her in years, but there are a few problems. He’s off limits as a student, his work as a dancer is troubling, and he’s way out of her careful, controlled comfort zone.
Foster definitely pulls out the stops and pours on the feels in the early copy I read of this book! We have a heroine who got hurt badly and doesn’t trust men, choosing to focus on her family and responsibilities as a college professor. Then there’s Derek, an admirable guy with a really great heart who will do anything short of illegal, unethical or immoral to take care of his ailing father, including bartending and dancing, while trying to finish his master’s degree. Then the boisterous and meddling but loving Dalton family and Derek’s father, Jonah, add an entirely different layer of emotion.
The way the Daltons care for each other and unconditionally welcome Derek and Jonah into their lives is nothing short of amazing. One beautifully tender moment occurs when five-year-old Louie is talking with Jonah, who thinks Louie is a young Derek. Without missing a beat, Louie speaks to Jonah as if he’s Derek, then whispers to Derek, “He’s confused, so I’m pretending.” I swear, I thought my heart would burst free from my chest! Another thing that takes this story over the top and sets it apart is the unique and unexpected use of the drawing journals of Jonah and Derek, with important family memories memorialized in their cartoon drawings, rather than photographs. They provided for some tender, poignant, and truly special threads that knit the story together in a fresh, significant way.
I loved everything about this book. Foster created my favorite kind of characters who are mature, strong, intelligent and determined and don’t wallow in self-doubt or create juvenile angst as the source of conflict. Instead, Talia and Derek are secure in their relationship and band together to support each other through every challenge. This book sucked me in and captivated my heart, and I wasn’t anywhere near ready to let go of these characters, so this is one I’ll return to again. If you’re looking for something that warms your heart, stirs your soul, prompts a tear or two and still brings the heat then leaves you with a happy sigh, you’ll adore Talia and Derek. You definitely won’t regret 1-clicking this one!
4.5 stars–LOVE LIKE OURS is the third instalment in Melissa Foster’s contemporary, adult SUGAR LAKE erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women of Sweetwater, New York. This is college professor Talia Dalton, and male dancer Derek Grant’s story line. LOVE LIKE OURS can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. SUGAR LAKE is a spin-off, and interconnected with a number of Melissa Foster’s other series.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Derek and Talia) LOVE LIKE OURS follows the building relationship between twenty-nine year old male dancer Derek Grant, and college professor Talia Dalton. Having nearly hit a man, with her car, in the school parking lot, Talia must come to grips with what appears to be said man in the class she is currently teaching. An offer of coffee, and thoughts of something more force Talia out of her comfort zone with the prospect of a potential problem by dating one of her students. Enter Derek Grant, male dancer and bar tender, and the man with whom Talia will fall in love. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Talia and Derek, and the potential fall-out as Talia struggles with what Derek does for a living.
Derek Grant is the sole provider and money earner for his ailing father Jonah, a man with middle-stage Alzheimer’s but a man whose deteriorating condition warrants plans for the future. In the final stages of his Master’s degree, Derek knows that his unconventional career choice is only temporary, but a choice that has Talia questioning the how and why. Talia Dalton is the easy going, practical Dalton sister but meeting Derek Grant pushes all of her buttons including buttons that spark with Derek’s touch. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.
There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary characters including Talia’s sisters Bridgette, her fiancé Bodhi and son Louie (Only For You #2), Piper, Willow and Zane (The Real Thing #1), their brother Benjamin, and their parents Roxie and Dan Dalton. Bodhi’s mother Alisha Booker returns, as well as Bodhi’s friend Aurelia. We are introduced to Derek’s struggling father Jonah Grant, his caretaker Maria, as well as Talia’s best friend and fellow professor Ryan Fletcher.
LOVE LIKE OURS is a story of family and friendship; struggle and admission; perception and acceptance. The premise is heart warming and intelligent; the characters are real, charismatic and lively; the romance is provocative and flirty. LOVE LIKE OURS is a character driven and clever story; a wonderfully sweet and compelling tale focusing on real issues and struggles of everyday people.
I really enjoyed this sweet and sexy story! It has so much heart and made me feel so many different emotions. Derek is positively yummy and honestly one of the sweetest down to earth men. He is amazing, caring for his father who has alzheimer’s and trying to get his Masters degree at the same time. He works very hard as a bartender/dancer at a club to save up enough money to follow through on some big plans he has. I love his plans! He doesn’t really have time for anything else in his life. Talia is also very sweet but very closed off as far as relationships because of a past relationship that left her with a broken heart. She prefers to just work, she is a college professor, and spend time with her family. I love her family!! What a fun group of people!!
Neither saw the other one coming! I adore the way they meet! And I love the way he makes sure it is not the last time he sees her. So cute! Their story is wonderful and watching Derek get Talia to step outside of her comfort zone and learn to live and love through him is such an amazing journey. The sweet things this man does for her will absolutely make you swoon. The way Talia fits in so nicely with his group of friends and with his father will make you smile. Her sisters and mother are awesome and meddlesome as usual but with her best interests at heart of course.
Talia and Derek are just so good for each other! This is another great installment in the Sugar Lake series!
Talia is a professor and likes to stay in her comfort zone. She had her heart broken in college and never let another man near it. On her way to work, she’s arguing on the phone with her family and almost hits a man walking in front of her. His eyes are the thing she notices first. He’s sexy with long hair and a smoking body. Derek works as a bartender, a dancer, goes to college, and takes care of his father who has Alzheimer’s. He asks her to meet him at the bar. She goes and finds out he not only dances but takes his clothes off except for a little g-string. She is so out of her comfort zone she can’t even see it anymore. Derek tells her he wants to open an adult day care and him dancing gets him closer to that goal.
They start to see each other but it’s hard when he’s his father’s caretaker. Talia understands and does what she can to make it easier on Derek. She still hasn’t told her family about Derek dancing but when she does they are all supportive but now she must tell Derek that she’s just now telling them. He’s hurt and thinks she’s ashamed of him. Can she convince him she’ll love him not matter what?
A responsible, straight laced woman and a hunky, caring, dancer/stripper. Romance, sex, and a big, rowdy family. Very good story and I can’t wait for Piper’s story.
* Voluntarily read and reviewed this for Netgalley *
Melissa Foster is a new to me author, and I really enjoyed Love Like Ours. By reading the description, I knew the book was going to tackle a serious topic, Alzheimer’s. What I didn’t expect was the completely realistic portrayal of Derek’s life as a caretaker. Generally in romance books things are exaggerated, or under exaggerated in order to make the story fit, but that is not what you get here. It was refreshing, but at the same time it was a little heavy at times and I found myself easily distracted, I think in part to try to escape the realness of the story. I don’t not like heavy topic storylines, but they aren’t my go to. I like to escape from reality when I read. But in cases like this when the story is so well written that it is realistic, it’s a catch 22.
Tally and Derek were wonderful characters. They balance each other nicely, but both were great on their own. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing them in the future.
Talia has always been the studious, smart girl who put other people and family first. With a lackluster love life, Talia thinks she is never going to find her one true love and shut down her sisters involvement. In a freak parking accident she literally almost runs into a beautiful man with blue eyes and long dark hair, who she cannot stop thinking about but knows he is not her type. But even though Derek is a male dancer who strips down to a g-string on stage the two connect in more ways than she ever imagined. But will his responsibilities to his ailing father and her thoughts of dating a stripper be the two things that can keep them apart? Or will the inner ideals of who they really are and not what they do for a living be the items they hold onto to get their HEA? This book was so beautifully written. The characters were so well developed and the subject matter done so well that this is a must read. I was hooked from the opening pages and could not put it down. I absolutely love this series!!