A best-friends-to-lovers standalone romance from New York Times bestselling author Kendall Ryan. She says she needs some help … in the bedroom.Come again? No, really come again.Sweet, nerdy, lovable Keaton. She’s my best friend and has been for years. Sure she likes numbers and math, and thinks doing other people’s taxes is fun. And I like … none of that stuff. She’s obsessed with her cat and … … none of that stuff. She’s obsessed with her cat and reads novels I’ll never understand, and yet we just click. There’s no one I’d rather share breakfast burritos with or binge watch hours of Netflix. She’s my person. And so when she takes off her glasses and asks me to help her improve her skills in the bedroom, I barely have to think about it.
Of course I’ll help her. There’s no one better for the job.
I’ve been there for her through everything, why should this be any different?
But what happens when she’s ready to take her new-found confidence and move on?
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Love Machine is a fabulous friend to lovers romance. The characters are great and very easy to relate to. I really enjoyed the unique storyline and that it kept the same Kendall Ryan type writing style. This book made me laugh out loud, squirm in my seat and shed a few tears for them. This book is a complete standalone so five right in and enjoy!
Keaton and Slate have been best friends for over 10 years and never want that to change. After a long night of drinking and feeling sorry for herself she asks Slate for help in learning more between the sheets. He agrees but with the stipulation that nothing changes regarding their friendship. They both agree until feelings they didn’t want emerge and now they face losing everything.
This review makes it sound cut and dry but the antics that surround these two are hilarious and yet devastating. I definitely recommend that this book get put at the top of your must read list!
Friends-to-lovers is one of my favourite genres and Kendall Ryan has delivered a brilliant one with Love Machine. She knows how to write a great story with her trademark style of sweet, sexy and sassy, style of writing. Once you start this book you will be hooked and amused with the antics of Keaton and Slate. She brings a lot of steam to her pages which leaves you captivated and devouring this in one sitting.
Keaton and Slate have been friends for years. Keaton is the hot, nerdy girl with not a lot of confidence and Slate is the sexy, hot playboy. After Keaton discovers at a bachelorette party that she needs help in the bedroom. Who better to help her then her best friend Slate right??……………hmmm what could possibly go wrong. I know that the storyline is predictable where they catch feelings and much it all up but you will not be disappointed with it and will love every word.
I’ve heard amazing things about this book. It’s a best friends to lovers standalone.
Go One Click this book and get ready for a fun and sweet story of friends to lovers.
Keaton & Slate will have you laughing and swooning all around as you read.
Knowing why Keaton wants Slate to help her with being more experienced in the bedroom, I loved how we got to see the whole package of their friendship and seeing where this scenario would take them.
Slate & Keaton having a long friendship that never crossed the line sexually till now had me giddy. I mean how did Keaton not fall hard for Slate for all this time?
Loved the interactions, the connections and the romance that Author Kendall Ryan brought to us with these two characters.
Get your Swoon on with this fantastic read & find out if a long time friendship can turn into one Hard Loving Machine of a relationship.
4.5 Cherries Popped
Keaton is a successful girl living her life the best way she can. When she realizes she’s not as experienced as she should be, she asks her best friend for help while drunk after a night out with girlfriends. She wants a man but needs more sexual experience first. Or some sexual lessons, yep that’s what this gal needs. Who better than to help her with her sexual lessons then her best friend who is a player, Slate. Will Slate and Keaton be able to keep these lessons strictly platonic?
I won’t squeal, okay maybe just a little bit of squealing. Eeeeeeekkkkkk! This is one of my most favorite tropes! I love it when best friends get together and I love it even more when someone needs sexual lessons. It just makes the story so much more fun and exciting! I devoured this story in one sitting. I absolutely loved these characters and their chemistry. After being friends for YEARS, who would have thought these two actually were perfect for each other all along?!?! If you are a fan of Ms. Ryan, you will love this story! I still have this giddy and love struck look on my face weeks after finishing Love Machine. 5 purely perfection stars!!!!
Slate is everything!
I absolutely loved this friends to lovers romance! I’m a sucker for a good best friends to lovers romance and they always hold a special place in my heart because I’m a living example of this romance trope.
I immediately loved both Slate and Keaton. Their friendship was real and easy to connect with. They are both “workaholics” but are from very different industries. She’s the nerdy girl in a male dominated industry while he works as an agent for big names in professional sports.
After Keaton has an embarrassing time at her friend’s bachelorette party, she seeks help from Slate hoping he can help her improve her bedroom game. They agree that this will not change their friendship and things will stay the same when they are done.
I loved watching the way both of them maneuvered through this deal that they made together. Getting both of their POVs helped get inside their heads and see how they were really feeling, whether they decided to show the other or not. Their chemistry sparks off the pages and they both quickly notice that things aren’t going to be the way they were before.
If you’re looking for a super sweet friends to lovers romance, don’t hesitate. Pick this one up and fall in love with Slate and Keaton just like I did.
Kendall does some tropes really well, and one of them is friends to lovers. This latest one from her proves that. Love Machine was a nice quick sexy and sweet read.
Keaton and Slate cross the line when she wants him to help her get better at sex. Slate jumps at the chance and sexy times ensue.
Slate made this book for me. I loved his POVs, he showed me so much more than she did. It was hard for me to feel the chemistry between them and Keaton was the main reason for that issue. I just never felt it from her. I kinda wanted a little more angst from their struggle to transition from friends to more.
Everything else was on point with this latest release from Kendall. I loved Slate and I hope you take the time to meet him. Kendall’s books are great for a nice afternoon read when you want a quick book to read.
Slate Cruz just shot to the top of my favorite book boyfriends list! This man is so sweet, so sexy, so swoon-worthy that you have NO choice but to fall in love with him! He has such a good heart and a great sense of humor. He’s truly a great guy and that makes him even more appealing.
Keaton is the best! Intelligent, funny, and charmingly awkward, she’s a woman on a mission. And Slate is the perfect man to help her with it. She’s unfiltered when it comes to him and their friendship just makes everything easy.
I loved these two together! Their chemistry is amazing and their banter is both fun and sexy. Their friendship shines through the pages and you can’t help but hope they figure it all out. I always say: friends to lovers romances are some of my favorites and Kendall Ryan nails it with this story!
I love a good friends to lovers romance, in fact, they are my favorite. Kendall Ryan just topped my list of friends to lovers with one of the BEST stories I’ve read!
Keaton is looking for love in all the wrong places and thinks she needs help in the bedroom. Enter Slate, her best friend and the man for the job. Of course, there are rules the two of them put in place…but rules are meant to be broken, aren’t they?
Keaton and Slate had me completely involved in this story for the moment I opened the book! There was sweet, sexy and intense moments with chemistry that could just melt your panties right off 😉 I adored everything about this story and it is one that I will go back and read again!
Love Machine is a fantastic read which will hold you captive from beginning to end!
Love Machine is a standalone book from Kendall Ryan. This is a friends to lovers story and I really enjoyed it. Keaton and Slate have been friends for years and she asked her best friend to help her with her bedroom skills.
Get ready for a very hot and steamy storyline because Slate has them trying all kinds of new things for Keaton to learn. I loved that they already had a great relationship and the banter between them is supurb!
I can’t wait to read the next book that Kendall Ryan is writing. Love the stories she comes up with. I give Love Machine 4 stars.
I am a huge fan of friends to lovers stories and this is now one of my favorites! It was the perfect mix of sexy, swoony, and so much fun!
“My own personal sex coach will turn me into a certified love machine.”
Keaton is good at all things at life, with the exception of sex, after a disastrous meeting with a cucumber at her best friend’s bachelorette party. So she tackles it the way she always does…with spreadsheets. And she knows her best friend Slate is just the guy to teach her.
Slate is all for it; who better to teach her. But what happens when feelings get involved?
“Love is friendship, but it is a friendship with fire in its belly.”
This book was so much fun to read. It was steamy, full of friendships, and full of love. I just know when I pick up a Kendall Ryan book I am going to get a good read and this one didn’t disappoint. There was so much feeling throughout the story and is one of my favorites of hers to date. I can’t wait for more swoony-worthy men to drool over! (4.5 stars)
Every time I see the title of Kendall Ryan’s new release, Love Machine, I instantly start singing The Miracles’ song with the same name, and while I didn’t really know all of the lyrics, once I looked them up, it was easy to connect the song to Keaton and Slate’s story, especially this particular line of verse:
‘I’m just a love machine
And I won’t work for nobody but you
(Yeah, baby)
I’m just a love machine
A hugging kissing fiend
I think it’s high time you knew
Whenever I think of you
My mind blows a fuse’
But turning Keaton into a ‘love machine’ is not an easy process; in fact, her sexual inexperience, her nerdy girl and people pleaser personality, and her professional drive all seem to be road blocks when it comes to the opposite sex. Keaton desperately wants to improve her ‘bedroom game,’ which means she needs a ‘sex tutor,’ a personal ‘sex coach’ who will help her with her sexploration goals and prevent her from approaching every sexual act analytically.
What’s most interesting to me in these kind of friends-to-lovers romances is how the characters’ relationship, almost from the onset, is put in the ‘friend zone’ indefinitely despite an underlying attraction because the best friend bond that’s shared is not something they’re willing to mess up, but then all it takes is an ‘indecent proposal’ from one of them to change the dynamics of what they mean to each other, knowing that, if they cross that line, nothing will ever be the same between them despite how they’d like to think otherwise.
Readers are privy to all of Keaton and Slate’s thoughts and feelings as they transition from friends-to-lovers, and as Keaton’s booty camp progresses and their romantic connection grows, it’s clear that these two are in for a world of hurt if they can’t believe in one another’s true feelings and accept that a friendship is no longer what they want or even need.
Kendall Ryan’s Love Machine is a fun, flirty story that proves that nerdy girls can let their sexy side loose with the right partner and explore every lewd and sensual act in sweet and sultry ways. It’s a fast-paced read that’s on the lighter side; the drama actually stems from the characters’ insecurities, which need to be worked out on their own so that how they truly feel about each other can soak in and lead them to discoveries that go way beyond sexual.
4 Poison Apples
Steamy with a touch of sass! A really fun read that puts a tasty quirk on the typical friends to lovers storyline. She wants him to teach her how to be bad … oh so bad! Kendall Ryan always delivers a sassy set of characters that are really easy to fall for and who keep us entertained with the witty banter she’s famous for. This one was no exception!
Keaton Henley is tired of her staid life. She wants to be the exciting one for a change, the sexy one! She is so under-rated in the sex department that it’s not even funny … but she can’t become the bomb that she wants to be in the sack without a little help! Who better to ask to be her sexual mentor than the sex god of all that is holy, Slate.
Slate Cruz has been her best friend since college. They are polar opposites … she’s a nerdy numbers girl and he’s a charismatic lady’s man. He’d do anything for her, and when she puts the invitation out there to teach her the ways of life, well, he can’t wait to get his hands on that tight little body of hers! It’s all fun and games until feelings start to grow and when it’s time to set her loose on the world to show her new-found prowess, well, he doesn’t want to share anymore!
Keaton and Slate have been best friends since college. When Keaton blurts out she needs sex lessons Slate decides he is the man for the job.
Super sweet, swoony friends to lovers romance. Slate is the perfect blend of alpha male and sweetheart. Keaton is strong with a center of vulnerability. Fun interactions and steamy scenes. Perfect blend of steam and sweet.
Sometimes you just want a book that’s a ton of fun and doesn’t have a ton of drama. And for me, Love Machine was just the book I was looking for.
Told from dual points of view, Love Machine follows the story of Slate and Keaton. Keaton is smart, fun and sexy. She’s married to her job and totally confident in what she does. However, the one area she is lacking her confidence in is the bedroom. As much as she doesn’t want to admit it, it’s time for her to master it and who better than to call on but her bff Slate. Slate is a walking, talking sex machine. He oozes confidence and is totally comfortable with himself. Having your best friend help you in bedroom should be a recipe for disaster, but these two have a friendship that can withstand anything. Lessons will be taught and lines will be blurred. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. Slate and Keaton’s story is about to take you on one satisfying and exciting ride….
Love Machine was such a fun read. I mean I just loved it. Keaton and Slate were impossible to not fall in love with. Their friendship was so solid and completely special. You could just feel the sparks jumping off the pages. I loved watching these two interact with one another and the ease between them. Their chemistry was intense and you could tell just how deep their feelings ran, even if they didn’t want to admit it. The road to happily ever after was a little bumpy for these two, but I’m happy to report that the angst and drama is pretty light in this story.
Love Machine was just the book I was looking for. It was a quick and easy read for me. Love Machine was well written and just a ton of fun. It gave me everything I could ask for in a friends to lovers romance. From great banter to a fun story-line to moments that made you laugh like crazy and left you with a big smile on your face. To moments that steamed up the pages and had you swooning all over the place. Love Machine was a total hit for me and is another great summer read.
I loved this book! Keaton and Slate have been best friends for ten years. One drunken night their lives change forever in ways they could never imagine. Keaton needs a teacher and Slate is the perfect guy to help her out. What was once simple is now very complicated. This story is a refreshing friends to lovers romance.
Gah! There is something about Kendall Ryan’s stories that hit the spot. They are always sexy and swoony with the emotional punch that I always need. I loved Love Machine and thought it was a fun and sexy take on the best friend/romance tutor type trope. Slate and Keaton were OMG hot and fiery! I could not get enough.
I absolutely loved Slate and Keaton. They were obviously attracted to each other but I feel like the author nailed their emotional connection as well. I felt their feelings for one another from beginning to end. Ranging from the initial butterflies they both got to the pit in their stomachs when they realized lines got crossed and feelings developed. They were genuine, funny, honest and so smoking hot! Their chemistry was pure fireworks and I loved every minute of it!
All in all, this was another fantastic read from this author and I look forward to Flirting With Forever next!! Bravo! 4 stars! ~Ratula
Kendall Ryan just gets better and better with every romance trope! The outspoken Keaton has come to terms after an embarrassing moment, she needs help in the sex department. A bold comment to her best friend Slate turns into a deal they never expected. Slate agrees to become her tutor on all things sex; and he’s never been more willing for this sexy student.
There’s a twist to our little trope this time around. Our hero is the one that’s been pining for his best friend, not the heroine! A delightful and refreshing look at the relationships that develop between men and women. Not only is Slate incredibly sweet and sexy, he’s got a warm heart that instantly wok me over.
Keaton is a bit of a nerd, which I immediately connected with. The woman makes a sex spreadsheet that’s color-coded! HAH! But her honest approach to things with Slate was another refreshing look at the “nerdy girl” trope that some authors can get stick under. Keaton may be a nerd but she’s also independent, outspoken, and sexy as hell.
This was a quicker read than other Kendall Ryan love stories but don’t let it fool you. This love story packs an emotional punch when it comes to the lines that friends will and won’t cross in romance. Loved it and can’t wait for more of that feel-good romance that I know Ryan for!
One critical word about Love Machine….HILARIOUS!!!!!! It’s been a while since I’ve read a laugh out loud romantic comedy like this and I absolutely loved every minute of Love Machine.
Keaton is the nerdiest and most awkward character I’ve ever read. I really adored her. Her personality is quirky, sweet, kind and generous. And her sense of humor is quite contagious. Slate is her charming, sexy as hell best friend who also has a great sense of humor. They are loveable characters who are so good together and very easy to fall in love with. Their character and relationship development is well written and entertaining. And the sexy times between Slate and Keaton are so steamy and HOT!!
What I loved the most about Love Machine is that it’s not your typical friends to lovers story. The romantic gestures and spontaneity were unique and stood out to me. Their relationship also had a perfect combination of funny, naughty and saucy banter. I highly recommend this hysterical and sexy book.
Keaton Henley is at a party that just turned very interesting – and she’s including us in the experience. Slate Cruz is stunned by his friend’s request. These two have been friends for a decade and in all that time they have never even wanted to cross that invisible line. Something has Keaton rethinking her dating and needs some help in changing her relationship with men.
This story had me wondering about my own single male friends. Would it feel weird to give them a kiss – and I’m not talking peck. Would things become awkward? Do I want to lose that friendship because of one moment in time?
Usually we laugh at the man’s expense but this time it has to be at Keaton’s. There are times where we will feel empathy. There are times where you will want to shake her and tell her to wake up. Slate seems to have things figured out before she does. The author shows the emotional rollercoaster of these two – whether it be as friends or more than friends. She’s always very good at creating the steamy side of a relationship as well as the ups and downs. For me, it was Slate that carried this story and why I kept turning the page. There were times I felt that he could, and deserved, better. I like how the author leads us into the next story that’s coming while showing that maybe Keaton and Slate can be happy together. Apology to the author, but my jury’s still out on that one. I’ll just have to see if they make an appearance in Flirting With Forever where maybe I can put a period to the end of their story.
I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.