Review + Excerpt: If It’s Only Love by Lexi Ryan!

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Review + Excerpt: If It’s Only Love by Lexi Ryan!

If it's Only Love by Lexi Ryan
Series: The Boys of Jackson Harbor #6
Published by Self Published on 9/10/19
Genres: Sports Romance
Pages: 293
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I don’t regret much.
Not my decision to enter the NFL draft before finishing college.
Not fighting for custody of my daughter—even if, biologically speaking, it turns out she’s not mine.
And certainly not seducing my buddy’s little sister ten years ago.
But when it comes to Shayleigh Jackson, my no-regrets attitude stops there. I screwed up royally where she’s concerned. Then I made another mistake when I let her shut me out of her life.
Now after more than a decade living in different time zones, I’m coming home to Jackson Harbor. My first priority is keeping my daughter away from the media circus in Los Angeles, but the moment I see Shay, I know something else brought me back here. Now I’ll stop at nothing to win her back.
So what if she won’t speak to me? So what if she’s changed? So what if she’s fallen for some douchebag professor? I’ve never gotten over her, and I know she feels the same about me.
I’ve let her go twice. I won’t make that mistake again.

If It's Only Love and all other books in this series can be read as standalones, but you'll enjoy reading them together.

This series is a must read. Each Jackson sibling has their own complicated story to tell, but within each interconnected standalone there’s this undeniable common denominator: that family is EVERYTHING. Shay and Easton take that message and ratchet it up several notches by proving that it’s not blood that makes a family but unconditional love, steadfast commitment and selfless sacrifice. It’s so beautiful, often heartbreaking, sometimes infuriating, but always WORTH IT. This series and this book are a MUST!

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Jessica’s Review

This was exactly the kind of book I needed to end my summer! It was juicy and delicious, ANGSTY and sexy, the push and pull was EVERYTHING, and ooooh my word was it SWEET. I adore this series, adore these characters, adore this world Lexi Ryan has so seamlessly crafted around this family that I can’t get enough of. Together, Shay and Easton are one perfectly complicated mess and I loved their story to bits.

Is their story a perfect one? Absolutely not. This couple has YEARS of baggage behind them, a boatload of complicated heartache between them, and a road of impossibility ahead of them. Their history SLICED and DICED my heartstrings and things only get harder when the former NFL player moves home to Jackson Harbor, to his hometown, to his old friends, to his best friend’s little sister, the one that got away. But through it all their longing, their devotion, their desperation is a palpable entity that reaches right out and suffocates the reader. There’s so many feelings, so many twists in their story and it’s the sweetest form of agony watching it all play out. This story was RELENTLESS in its emotional barrage to the heart. Just when things seem like MAYBE they can finally fall into place, they instead fall apart. It hurt so good and I wanted to devour every single delicious bit of angsty goodness.

Excerpt

“We need to figure this out.”
She spins back to me, her eyes blazing. “Do it yourself.”
I huff out a laugh and prowl toward her. “What did you say?”
Those defiant eyes brim with tears and her bottom lip trembles. “I said do it yourself. I have nothing to say, but you’re the one so determined that we have this conversation.”
I come closer. She backs against the wall, and I keep coming until there are only inches between us. “That’s real mature, Shay.” I cup her jaw and stroke her bottom lip with my thumb as I study her face. “This is what you want?” I dip my head and bring my mouth a breath from hers. “You want me to corner you and make you talk? Maybe I need to remind you how good we are together.” I cock my head to the side, touching the bridge of my nose to hers. “You try to keep hating me, but you lose your grip on it when I get close, so I wonder what would happen if I got closer.”
Her breath is sweet against my lips, and she grabs my arms and curls her fingers into my biceps.
“Is that how it has to be, then? You want me to press you against this wall and kiss you until you can’t remember your name and can’t blame yourself for letting your guard down?”
Her pulse quickens beneath my fingers and her back bows as she arches into me. “We have nothing to talk about.”
“Bullshit. But maybe first you want me to track down that fucker you’re sleeping with—the one who you’re fine to let ‘see other people’? I could throw my weight around a little. He’d probably leave you alone just so he doesn’t have to deal with me.” I drag my nose along her cheek until my mouth is at her ear. “Then you wouldn’t have to tell him that you don’t want him. You wouldn’t ever have to admit that even after all these years, even after all the shit fate threw at us and all the mistakes I made, you still want me more than you’ll ever want him.”
She swallows, and when she draws in a breath, I think she’s going to deny it. But she doesn’t say a word. Her only response is sliding a hand up to cup the back of my neck. Fuck yes.
“I’m not going to do that for you.” It takes every drop of my will to force myself to step back. “I want you to talk to me. I want you to scream at me for every shitty decision I ever made. Then I want you to kiss me and tell me I get another chance. I want you to break it off with that douchebag completely and be with me, but I’m not going to do it for you.” I take another step toward the door. “You’re going to have to make the choice yourself.”

About the Author

Lexi Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of emotional romance that sizzles. A former academic and English professor, Lexi considers herself the luckiest girl around to make a living through storytelling. She loves spending time with her crazy kids, weightlifting, ice cream, swoony heroes, and vodka martinis.
Lexi lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and a spoiled dog. You can find her at her website: www.lexiryan.com.

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