Oct
I received this book for free from Valentine PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I Wish I Knew Then by Jessica Peterson Series: Harbour Village #1
Published by Peterson Paperbacks LLC
on October 5, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 345
Format: ARC
Source: Valentine PR
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My grandmother has a saying: what's done in the dark always comes to light, especially in small towns with big secrets. And I was hiding the biggest secret of them all.
Every summer I spent growing up at my grandparents' coastal estate was the same. Same cousins. Same chaos. Same long golf cart rides along the beach.
But everything changed the summer I turned eighteen, when my grandparents' new housekeeper moved in with her son, Riley. With his big personality and head-turning looks, he was the local heartthrob.
We fell in love instantly. Riley was my first everything. First love. First time.
And my first heartbreak when he dumped me at the end of the summer.
Ten years later, I'm back on the island for my best friend's wedding as her maid of honor. Who's the first person I literally stumble into?
Riley Dixon. Even worse? He's the groom's best man.
Being forced to spend an entire week together for wedding festivities quickly leads to more: hot hate sex, late nights of sneaking out, and unexpected revelations. The boy I knew a decade ago is gone, and the hate becomes...something else entirely. And I begin to wonder if Riley is hiding some secrets of his own.
After reading the book description and seeing the beautiful cover of ‘I Wish I Knew Then’, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. So I signed up for and ARC, and was lucky enough to receive it soon after.
In ‘I Wish I Knew Then’ we read the story of Louise. Louise spend her summers when she was young on an Island where her grandparents lived. She always had a great time. The summer Louise turned eighteen she meets Riley. Riley is the son of her grandparents housekeeper and they soon fall madly in love with each other. They spend every moment they can find together. But unfortunately they are from two totally different worlds. And at the end of their magical summer Riley ends up breaking her heart.
Now ten years later Louise visits the island again for the first time for her best friends wedding. The last thing she expected was to literally fall into the hand of Riley again. And things get even worse when Riley is also a part of the wedding. Now they are forced to spend a week together. And soon a lot of old feelings come to the service.
‘I Wish I Knew Then’ was right from the start a very fun read. I loved getting to know Louise and Riley. And there love story was definitely fun to read. There intense romance in their teens had this Romeo and Juliet feel to it and the Island made for a fun small town feeling. I definitely laughed reading about a lot of the characters. Especially Lu’s aunt was hilarious.
The chemistry between Riley and Lu was amazing. And I loved how being on the same Island again was enough for them to rekindle their romance. Especially Riley was this very swoon worthy character. He had some stuff to confess to Lu, and let me tell you.. He was epic. He was one of those characters that made me want to keep on reading.
The sex scenes where a bit much in my opinion. So in the end I skipped a few of those, but it still was a read I really loved. And I definitely hope to read more books by the author some day soon.
Available at (*affiliate):
About Jessica Peterson
Jessica Peterson writes romance with heat, humor, and heart. Heroes with hot accents are her specialty. When she’s not writing, she can be found bellying up to a bar in the south’s best restaurants with her husband Ben, reading books with her adorable daughter Gracie, or snuggling up with her 70-pound lap dog, Martha.
A Carolina girl at heart, she fantasizes about splitting her time between Charleston and Asheville, but currently lives in Charlotte, NC.
I received an ARC Valentine PR & Literary Management.
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Maureen is a mom, wife, nurse, and Ravenclaw living in the Netherlands. She spends her days juggling mom-life, reading, blogging, planning date nights with her husband and working as a nurse. Maureen also is a big Anglophile, loves cooking, Gilmore Girls, Bridgerton and Harry Potter.. Always! Facebook | Instagram
I’m not familiar with the author but I do like the sound of this one. I love when characters have such great chemistry.
It was such a fun read. And the chemistry was definitely amazing! Loved it!