Dear Letter Girl, I need to see you. When can we meet?Her response never came. My secret pen pal with a dirty mind has ghosted me. I’ve roped Jules, my sweet as pie next door neighbor, to help me track her down.There’s only one problem–I’m falling for her. The tortoise shell glasses, out of this world curves and delicious treats are making the search for The Letter Girl even harder. My notes … The Letter Girl even harder.
My notes were supposed to be a one time thing. A little too much wine and naughty thoughts on a winter’s night. I never thought Berk would write back. I wanted to tell him it was me, but the fear of rejection kept my lips sealed.
Now he’s enlisted my help to track down The Letter Girl and our search has him hot on my, ahem, her trail.
She’s the girl next door.
He’s my secret pen pal.
Truth is on a collision course with their hearts and it’s only a matter of time before one of them gets wrecked…
more
Wow. That was one heck of a story. Very emotional. Great couple. Loved reading their story. The ending was different then others. And I totally loved it.
4.5 Stars
This curvy baker and her yummy football player are a book couple everyone needs to experience!
Jules! I’ve never related to a character as much as I did with Jules. With how she sees her body, her struggle with her image and being confident in who she is. Her insecurities and the fear she has of what others think of her. Are all things I have experienced/experience. It was like Maya Hughes was in my head. And I hope one day to gain the confidence that Jules slowly finds through her story. While Jules struggles, she also shines! She is one strong, fierce and beautiful lead, she gives so much heart and realness to this captivating story.
I want my own Berk! He was everything you could want in the perfect book boyfriend! Scared and broken, hidden behind smirks and laughs. He had so much pain from his past that he carried with him everyday. But he was so strong. The man he chose to become, the journey that made him who he is. Lots of ups and downs to achieve his dreams and make a life for himself. He’s so selfless and caring.With such a big heart!
I never wanted Berk and Jules story to end. Berk is my favorite in the Fulton U world! He is just so good! And sweet, and lost, and strong! He is just everything! I wanted to hug him and never let go!
The way Berk treats Jules, with his heart on his sleeve, is so swoon-worthy! I also really loved how Jules was always there for Berk, to pick him up and show him he was becoming the man he was fighting to be. Berk and Jules relationship is just so pure and deep and sexy and I loved every part of their path to find each other, and the fight to keep each other!
I adore this group of friends, I love getting lost in their world of love, laughs, sweets, friendship, and Nerf wars! I’m SO excited for more books from the lovely Maya Hughes!
Blog: JordansBookishLife
Berk and Jules are spectacular together! What could have been a very pedestrian “rich girl falls in love with big from the wrong side of the tracks” young adult novel. However, Maya Hughes delves deeper into the motives behind the main characters actions and fleshed out fully-formed mature individuals who each have goals and insecurities that are explored in-depth.
I highly recommend this book!
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Maya Hughes it’s a new author to me, I read the two first books of this serie on December last year and I loved them!
I was waiting for Berk and Jules book, because I was eager to read those hot letters! And I loved every word of this book.
I missed some drama, more ugly cry but I was definitely happy with the story and the ending! And OMG that ending! can’t wait to read book number four
Julia (Jules) has a crush on Berk, a star lineman on the Fulton U football team and who lives across the street in the brothel. Julia is a girl with feelings of self-doubt and insecurity. She has dealt her entire life with a mother who takes every possible opportunity to tell her how big she is and how she’s never going to get a guy to like her. Julia takes out her frustrations by baking to her heart’s desire and the results are amazingly delicious. She’s never at a loss for someone to take them off her hands. Jules is a fascinating character who really does take care of herself, has a pole in her bedroom for exercise, and is blessed with a heart of gold. Berk is set on going high in the upcoming NFL draft and he knows he has to practice and play well in order to get there. For some time, he’s been getting hot, provocative letters in the mail, but he only knows the identity of the sender as TLG, the letter girl. (Jules!) Yes, she’s too shy to tell him how she feels, so she is writing her feelings for him and what she’d like to do with him, under the guise of anonymity. Berk hasn’t received a letter from TLG for too long and he’s starting to get anxious that he won’t hear from her again. As the school year progresses, Berk and Jules begin to spend more time together and, as they get more comfortable, they actually go to Jules sister’s wedding as each other’s date. Here’s where her mother shows her worst colors and mortifies Jules once more. Back home, Berk just knows Jules is the one for him, but he can’t convince her that his feelings are real. Her insecurities once again get in the way of feeling she’s capable of being the object of anyone’s affection, especially Berk’s. What’s it going to take for him to show her that she’s not only beautiful, but that she’s everything he wants in a woman! With a conniving “sister” thrown into the mix, their path to a HEA is temporarily blocked! The Third Best Thing is a tender, emotionally satisfying and witty story that ticks all my boxes.
When we first learn about Berk and Jules in The Second We Met, I was just dieing for their story in The Third Best Thing. I had no idea how their story was going to go , but it was pretty satisfying.
I just loved the idea of how their friendship/relationship started, but I was soo curious to see how things would unfold. And what the reactions were going to be. Even if Berk was set on trying to find TLG, his friendship with Jules was just growing the more they hung out together.
The one thing I was hoping more of was just figuring out the truth behind TLG, there was quite a bit of build up from the previous book to this one. So once the truth comes out, it was a bit of a plateau for me. But besides that, I truly loved everything about this one.
Berk and Jules were absolutely adorable together, I liked that the more they got to know each other, walls were coming down. And all the wait was well worth it and super hot, might I add.
This was definitely a great addition to the series and you can bet I’m looking forward to the next one!
**AN ARC WAS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR IN EXCHANGE FOR A REVIEW**
Maya Hughes
*I was generously given an ARC from the author for an honest review of the book.
You know that feeling where you love something so much that words escape you? All you can do let out a heavy content sigh and stare wistfully in the distance. Yeah, that’s how I’m feeling right now after finishing this book.
It’s hard trying to figure out how to put so many feelings into words but I’m going to try my best, and try very hard to remain spoiler free as I do.
This book and its main characters are so so special. I knew coming into it that I would love Berk and Jules – I loved Berk from the second he opened his mouth in The Perfect First and I fell in love with Jules just as fast in The Second We Met. I didn’t realize how emotional they would make me though. They’re both complex and raw and real and the way they come together is so beautiful. The way they see each other for who they truly are, not just what they look like or what sport they play, made my heart feel so warm.
The Third Best Thing made me feel the whole emotional spectrum in just a few hours. I laughed at the jokes and the antics, I cried with them, I felt so sad and at times angry but then happy all in such a short amount of time. It’s hard not to feel for and with them when they’re such relatable characters dealing with things a lot of people have to deal with in this world. For me I related so hard to Jules and the way she feels about herself and it made this read 10,000 times more emotional for me. Seeing the way she talked down about herself and her appearance and how little self confidence she had at the start hurt, because I’ve been there and I’ve felt that. Then there was Berk on the other hand feeling lost and at times like he isn’t worth it because of what he had experienced through his life. I wanted to hug the hell out of both of them throughout the entire book. Yet, despite what they’ve both dealt with, they remained sweet people who always looked out for those around them. That’s what makes them so special. It’s hard to deal with so much stuff and not turn your back on the world and throw your fingers in the air, but these two never did and it was so refreshing.
Honestly it was one of the purest love stories I’ve ever read. I loved the Fulton U series from the start but this one made me feel very differently from the other two. It’s my favorite thus far in the series for sure.
This book was also very good (as all of Maya’s books are) at still giving us the other characters, some of which have already gotten their HEA, some of which will likely have their own books in the near future, and some who probably won’t but you can’t help but love them anyway (and secretly hope they do get a book). Even most of the characters I thought I would hate through the end ended up surprising me. I love that Maya could do that.
The Third Best Thing is sweet, funny, emotional, sexy, and everything in between. I love BerkJules to the end of the earth. I love how sweet they were to and for each other. I loved everything. Every last word. This has been my favorite read in some time.
Gah!! This by far is my favorite Fulton U book to date!! Berk and Jules were such a sweet romance, I absolutely loved their chemistry.
I saw myself in Jules so much it was absolutely refreshing. She’s shy and not completely confident in herself. She’s been crushing on her next door neighbor and friend Berkly (Berk) for over a year.
Berk as a secondary character in the previous Fulton U books is always the funny goofball of the group. In his own book you finally get to see how deep he really is. He’s so sweet to his neighbor and friend Jules and truly values his friendship there but has blinders to anything beyond that. When he starts receiving dirty letter from ‘Letter Girl’ he asks Jules to help him find her. Little does he know she’s the very girl he’s looking for.
Gah! As these two start to confide in each other and all the pieces come together it’s truly heartwarming sweet. I just melted for these two!!
Wow I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would!
I’ve really been enjoying this series but I’m not going to lie, I was hella nervous about this book. The trope is not a favorite of mine and even though everyone else has been vying for this book, I’ve always been more interested in LJ and Marisa. But wow, this book really took me by surprise and surpassed my expectations for sure.
There are so many great things about this book but what I think I loved the most is how this book kind of hits on a lot of different (and very important) topics. You can tell the author did her research and wrote about these topics with care and I really appreciated the level of detail and care that was put into writing this.
Jules is a great heroine, honestly it’s hard to not like her once you’re reading this book. There were one or two things that I wish were better written or just didn’t quite make sense to me in terms of the plot/drama but overall, I really enjoyed both her and Berk’s character arcs in this book.
The one thing I wish could be better is representation. There are no POC in this series as a whole and that is just…not realistic. I’d really love to see some diversity in this author’s writing because from what I can tell, this is an issue across the board in all her books.
I truly cannot wait for Marisa and LJ’s book! The way things end for them in this book…I am just salivating at the thought of reading their book. Their book cannot come soon enough!! Overall, this was a really great book! And if you enjoyed the previous books, I have no doubt that you’ll enjoy this one too!
If you are a fan of young adult romance, then Jules and Berk will steal your heart. Set at Fulton University, the third book in this series features wonderful friendships and situations that you would expect from a sports-themed romance. In The Third Best Thing, Berk is attending on a football scholarship and is a great friend, big brother, and has a real chance at going pro.
His friend Jules lives across the street and he can’t seem to stay away. What I loved most about this book was their friendship. He was so fun and flirty and easily dished out compliments about her mad baking skills and how much he enjoyed spending time with her. They cared and supported each other, but did not pursue a romantic relationship because at first it wasn’t even on his radar. He was young, handsome, and a gifted athlete with his share of women admirers, but couldn’t shake the feeling of comfort and belonging he felt whenever he was with Jules.
Oh Jules, she suffers from what many of us women do and that’s self-confidence in the body department. As the overview and other reviews suggest, she put her deepest desires down on paper telling him things she couldn’t tell him in person. Upon reading such dirty talk, he of course became obsessed with finding “Letter Girl” and asked Jules to help him.
That is all I will share because you need to read their journey for yourself. The more and more time the two spend together, the more they get to know each other on an intimate level. They share their feelings about their childhood, sisters, and parents, and this is all woven into the story beautifully and will pull you in! You will feel every emotion and route for them the entire time.
I loved when Berk was her “pretend” boyfriend he let her family know in no uncertain terms how awesome she was. He truly appreciated her and some of his quotes were the swooniest. I loved how Jules’ confidence began to build when she got the job at the bakery and how he was her biggest cheerleader. She soon started to see herself through his eyes and became self-assured opening up more.
Slowly he realized what we all knew…he was in love, and he had to let “Letter Girl” go. Jules had so many layers and was so genuine, giving, and sweet. I loved what a fabulous friend she was, how thoughtful, and how she could admit how vulnerable she was because of the lack of love shown to her by her family and ex-boyfriend. She was full of surprises like her choice of exercise, and it made her very interesting and real. I thought she was strong and resilient, funny and sensitive, and someone who loves with her whole heart and could open it up even wider to forgive.
Questions/Spoilers? Why was she a philosophy major? How did he get his letters to her? What happened with the draft? Did Berk go pro? The only part of the story that I did not like was something highly unethical that Berk knowingly did. I understand his reasons, but to risk his career and his team’s athletic standing is NOT hero worthy. He was perfect except for this and the reason I gave this book four stars instead of five.
Enter to Win a SIGNED Paperback: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8KezDpAnRd
Jules and Berk are absolute sweethearts and I love them with all my heart.
This book is just a tiny bit below five stars for me but I can’t put any of that blame on Jules and Berk. I adore them.
Everyone else however, is a different story. Jules’ sister and mom are terrible to her. I know her sister gets redeemed a bit at the end, but still, her family just spent too much time pissing me off. Also, Alexis? Nope, I’m never here for Alexis. She’s selfish and just absolutely terrible. I don’t think having one conversation with each of them is enough.
We do have an amazing support system around Berk and Jules though. Even Jules’ missing roommate was there for her at some point. I absolutely loved the friends she makes at the bakery and I’m low key hoping to hear more about them in the future.
Ok, on to my precious babies. Jules and Berk are both a classic case of “I don’t think I’m good enough” and I just wanna hug them both and tell them they’re more than enough and deserve ALL the good things. I love seeing them together and seeing them encourage and lift each other up. They kept a giant smile on my face, even when the other characters tried to bring me down.
Can’t wait for the next book!!!
I have really enjoyed this series so far, The Perfect First and The Second We Met. And this third installment was just as good! In fact I might have identified with Jules, or TLG, The Letter Girl. Even though I haven’t had the same family issues that she’s had, some of what she said are the things that have followed me my whole life. One quote was: “I wasn’t exactly the girl guys fought over. I was the one they settled on dancing with when my much prettier sister or friend was taken. The consolation prize.” That’s been pretty much my whole life.
But then there’s Berk. How can anyone not fall in love with him? I mean, he totally made a big mistake with that agent, and somehow it might be okay, but I wonder if it could come up later on? How he fell for Jules though, was just perfect, and when he found out her secret, the way he handled it was so realistic to me.
I also loved getting to see some characters from one of the author’s other series, the Kings of Rittenhouse. Especially since we got the characters from my first book by this author, Ruthless King. I liked the reality tv baking show part we got with Avery from that book and Jules as her sidekick. I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of reality tv baking show stories lately. And normally that’s not something I’d watch, so it’s funny how much I’ve enjoyed those stories.
Another book I highly recommend!
Wow, this book had me feeling all the feels! I’m giving it 5 out of 5 stars. This review is for an ARC, and reflects my honest opinion.
I really liked Jules from what I saw in the last book. She was so sweet, quirky, and also I loved how she was kind of an introvert. But that didn’t stop her from doing things she was passionate about: baking for lots of people and pole dancing. I wasn’t too sure how the plot was going to play out regarding The Letter Girl, but it didn’t happen like I’d expected. More could have been done with that plot point in my opinion. Also my heart went out to Jules for the things she had to deal with; people can be so cruel, and old memories/feelings of mine resurfaced based on her journey.
As for Berk, I liked his character too, but I felt like I didn’t know anything about him before this, despite him being in the previous books. His story was much deeper than expected and kind of all over the place; I can’t even imagine dealing with his childhood. His sister Alexis was a piece of work, but I won’t say more on her, because I don’t want to spoil anything. I loved how his character grew and changed over the course of the book, and how he finally got his future loving home. I just wanted to give him a great big hug while I read.
Overall, I thought this book was amazing. I wasn’t shocked by anything that happened really, but regardless, I loved reading it. It was an intense, emotional story. I can’t wait to read the next book after how this one ended, giving us a sneak peek at our next couple.
There are so many things I loved about this novel. The characters, the chemistry, the emotion- they owned my heart and gripped my attention from beginning to end. The Third Best Thing is undoubtedly my favorite of the Fulton U series, and one of the best books I’ve read by Maya!
Jules and Berk’s story was everything I’d hoped for and more. I laughed out loud, I sobbed, I was shocked speechless, and I couldn’t put this book down. The character depth is BRILLIANT, and the backstories rendered me breathless on more than one occasion. Jules and Berk fit together and complement one another so perfectly that you can’t help but NEED their HEA and root from them from beginning to end.
I knew the chemistry was going to be hot, but I never expected to feel so emotionally invested in this relationship. Maya crafted two kind, selfless, and insecure characters with histories that tug on your heart strings and make you desperate for their success. While reading, I wanted to fight anyone who hurt them, I wanted to come to their defense and comfort them anytime they felt pain, and I wanted to riot and rage until they got their HEA. I was invested and enthralled in Jules and Berk, because they aren’t only lovable characters, they’re layered and authentic and so very real.
I also really appreciate how well the secondary characters are crafted in The Third Best Thing, and it was so fun seeing some of my other favorite Maya Hughes characters, as well. This was such an enjoyable read and it is so much more than a secret admirer or a friends to lovers romance. The Third Best Thing makes powerful statements about family, loyalty, body positivity, and self esteem, too. I could sing it’s praises all night.
I highly recommend this book. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.
Jules and Burk are my favorite!!
I loved this book, it made my heart happy.
I’m even gonna go as far as yo say this was my favorite one of the series. Friendship, love, drama and oh the sexy times make for this story, a must read!
Seriously, read this book, you will fall head over heals for this characters.
I cannot wait to see who comes next, because there are more characters I wanna hear from.
*I read an advance copy, and this is my honest opinion.
Here is the thing, I have loved every single book in the Fulton U Series, but Berks book is the one book that I have been dying to get my hands on, so it goes without saying, The Third Best Thing has been highly anticipated. With the little glimpses of Berk and Jules from The Second We Meet, I knew they were going to rock my world, and they did more than that, they blew it to smithereens, and when the author intertwined the title into the story, it was one of those things, where I just had to stop reading because I felt those words move through me.
The Third Best Thing went in a completely different direction than what I anticipated. I did not expect the angst and the self doubt. There were times that I was left reeling with such raw emotion. This author did an amazing job of being detailed specific, especially when it came to the emotions being portrayed by the characters. I felt them, and I understood their situations on a different level because of the attention to detail.
The Third Best Thing had flowed extremely well. The Plots were fantastic, and done with expertise. They were not some off the wall thing, they matched the story-line perfectly.
A big winner for me when it came to this book was how this author took it old school with the letters. I mean what is more personable than a letter?? NOTHING! I feel like I got to know these characters on a completely different level. They were more open and honest, and to see the security in the main characters because of the unknown, was freaking awesome.
These characters I just adore. They were so different yet the same in so many ways. They complimented each other on a completely different level. So it goes without saying, it made for undeniable chemistry. Chemistry that had bounds and bounds of heat.
This is a story, I can definitely see myself reading again. So with that said, I RECOMMEND!
*REVIEWED FOR REVIEWS FROM THE HEART
~ Ashley
Follow the blog:
Instagram: http://bit.ly/RftHInstagram
Blog: http://bit.ly/RftHBlog
Facebook: http://bit.ly/RftHFacebook
Twitter: http://bit.ly/RftHTwitter
Bookbub: http://bit.ly/RftHBookBub
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/RftHGoodreads
MeWe: http://bit.ly/RfthBlogMeWe
It started with too much wine. Jules wrote a letter to star football player Burk. Not a nice one either. It was a dirty letter of things she wanted to do and try. Things she couldn’t say in words. Jules is a baking machine. She stress bakes and with her family, there’s a lot of stress. Add on to Burk wanting to find TLG and chick is baking up a storm.
Burk. Oh boy this one. On the surface he seems to have it all together, but underneath he’s still the foster kid that can’t show his pain without it being used against him. So he doesn’t. What he has is The Letter Girl to keep him company. Until he doesn’t anymore. So he asks his neighbor Jules to help him find out who she is.
When Burk wants something he goes for it. Full tilt. When he realized he wanted Jules, it was no holds barred. But there are people that don’t want this to happen and when push comes to shove, he shoved. There is so much drama and angst in this book. I am loving this series and can’t wait for the next one.
4.5 starrs! There is so much I love about this novel! The characters, the chemistry, the emotion- it owned my heart and gripped my attention from beginning to end. The Third Best Thing is HANDS DOWN my favorite of the Fulton U series, and one of the best books I’ve read by Maya!
Jules and Berk’s story was everything I’d hoped for and more. I laughed out loud multiple times, I sobbed, I was shocked speechless, and I could not put this book down. The character depth is BRILLIANT, and the backstories rendered me breathless on more than one occasion. Jules and Berk fit together and complement one another so perfectly that you can’t help but NEED their HEA and root from them from beginning to end.
I knew the chemistry was going to be hot, but I never expected to feel so emotionally invested in this relationship. In Jules and Berk, Maya crafts two kind, selfless, and insecure characters with histories that tug on your heart strings and make you desperate for their success. While reading, I wanted to fight anyone who hurt them, I wanted to come to their defense and comfort them anytime they felt pain, and I wanted to riot and rage until they got their HEA. I was INVESTED in Jules and Berk, because they aren’t only lovable characters, they’re layered and authentic and so very real. Ugh. This story. Jules and Berk. I love them so hard.
I also really appreciate how well the secondary characters are crafted in The Third Best Thing, and it was SO FUN seeing some of my other favorite Maya Hughes characters, as well. This was such an enjoyable read and it is so much more than a secret admirer or a friends to lovers romance. The Third Best Thing makes powerful statements about family, loyalty, body positivity, and self esteem, too. I could sing it’s praises all night.
I’m giving TTBT 4.5 stars. I deducted 1/2 star because there were a many places that felt like repetitive, unnecessary filler (I skimmed those parts), and there were a few parts at the beginning that I felt would be confusing to anyone attempting m to read this as a stand-alone. Aside from those MINOR things, I LOVED this story. It gets high recommendations!
ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
I haven’t read a book that has made me SO emotional in a long time.
I bawled my eyes out. Stayed up until 4 AM bawling my eyes out until I couldn’t keep them open any more. There is so much reality in this story that makes you feel yucky and angry inside. The lives that Jules and Berk have endured has broken my heart and yet…. they TRIUMPH. These are two of the most sweetest, honest, caring characters and I just want to know them in real life. I want to be friends with them and bake with Jules and throw the football around with Berk.
I can very well see this being one of the best books that I read ALL YEAR. It might be my new Maya favorite. Seriously, don’t miss out on this. Or this whole series for that matter.