Title: Best Love
Author: Lily Morton
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 64 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I would have happily read twice as many pages of Sage and Noah’s story. I wanted more. More depth. More backstory. I really just wanted to connect just a bit more than I did. I supposed that’s not a bad criticism for an author to receive, though, right?
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Noah and Sage have been best friends since they were seven when Sage climbed over the wall between their childhood homes. They know everything about each other apart from one small thing. Noah is hopelessly in love with Sage and doesn’t ever intend to tell him.
However, fate has other plans. A dating website with a glitch in its system leads Sage to challenge Noah. Two days in which they will show each other their best dates. What could possibly go wrong?
At the end of these two days will the men discover that the best love comes with someone who really knows you, or will they fall back into being just good friends?
Review: This was my first time reading author Lily Morton, though I’ve heard nothing but raves for her Mixed Messages series, so when I was looking for something quick to read today and stumbled upon her short story Best Love, and saw that it was my most fave trope, I snapped it up. I was definitely less nervous about trying a new-to-me author since she’s come so highly recommended, but seeing that it was friends-to-lovers for sure sealed the deal. And, I wasn’t disappointed! Noah and Sage were the sweetest, and Lily Morton obviously knows how to set the stage for a good story.
First, the premise is super fun. I love the idea of the glitch in a dating app leading them to consider what dating each other might look like. They’ve been best friends since they were seven, so it stands to reason that they wouldn’t consider a romantic connection when the friendship connection is so strong. However, there are hidden secret crushes also in play, not to mention their obvious blind adoration of each other. I LOVED this, from when Noah is reminiscing about first meeting Sage:
I never realized I had found my soulmate that day, and a thorn in my mother’s side that delights me still. I followed him blindly and adoringly through every adventure and mishap his agile mind could conjure up, and in return he showed me the side of me I wasn’t aware was there – the daring and funny side.
Things feel very one-sided for Noah, though, it seems. He doesn’t feel worthy of Sage’s affection, since Sage is so fun and colorful and full of life, and Noah feels so boring. But, when Sage proposes the two-date challenge, where they will each plan their best date based on what the other person loves, Noah can’t help but go along with it and put himself out there. And, what follows in the story is pretty darn charming, albeit over all too soon.
Best Love was originally featured in the Heart2Heart anthology that came out in the beginning of this year but has since been expanded to include a new scene and an epilogue, which I am definitely grateful for because I think it may have felt really incomplete to me if it had been even shorter. I was rooting for Noah and Sage right out of the gate, and I really adored them both, but I would be lying if I said I was totally satisfied as I closed the book. It was super cute and so sweet…but, I wanted more. More depth. More backstory. I really just wanted to connect just a bit more than I did. I supposed that’s not a bad criticism for an author to receive, though, right? Give me more of your fantastic words! Heh. It’s true, though. I would have happily read twice as many pages of Sage and Noah’s story, so you better believe I’m going to be diving in to the rest of this author’s books. If you’re a fan of Lily Morton’s work, or simply want something short and sweet to read, definitely pick this one up. 😊
You can buy Best Love here:
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