The Way You Love Me: Includes a bonus novella

This is a fantastic small town romance that I absolutely adored. Gabby and Caden are great characters and they fit perfectly together. Gabby is a people pleaser, always following the path others have laid out for her. She does have a secret passion and that's writing. She would love to lose the day job and write full time but the best she can do is a creative writing class at the local college. That's where she meets Caden Marshall. He's a well known published author with a severe case of writer's block. Teaching is the next best thing. Problem is being attracted to one of your students could get him in all kinds of hot water. The pull between them is strong though. Can they wait until she's no longer his student? What will happen then? Great read with some amazing writing and characters. Put this on the must read list, I highly recommend it.

Gabby has just made partner at the law firm, moved, dumped a fiancé and is still feeling like something is missing. In fact, she’s spent almost all of her thirty years on the planet searching for something to bring her joy – and with this new writing class, run by a former NYT author, she’s thinking she just might have found her niche. But, she’s also too worried about her father’s reaction, her step-mother’s constant attempts to ‘fix her up’ and her Nonna’s struggles with dementia. There’s plenty on her plate – and it never quite seemed as if she actually spent any time on any one thing with conviction. Cade has returned to take a professorship at the local college: after leaving town for university and never looking back. Now with a three year old daughter, an ex-wife, he status of being a former NYT bestseller whose career exploded spectacularly after his wife’s claims of ‘stolen ideas’ and his own inability to put words on paper. He’s not only guarded and angry – he’s frustrated with his mother’s forgiveness of his father, unable to believe that the cruel and offhanded drunken father he knew could hold regrets or be able to do better. Gabby is a breath of fresh air that keeps him intrigued, even as he’s doing everything to ignore that – despite her coming in to rescue him from mega-tantrums from his daughter. The story here felt unnecessarily complicated with situations that were discussed yet rarely shown, at least not in ways that would engage me emotionally. Sad, as I wanted to like this couple (and Gabby) far more than I did. True areas for growth and development were often hinted at, then dropped and left hanging, only to pop up resolved in later pages – and the charm of the small town setting, the large, loud families and even the connection that developed more than the electric chemistry was missing and just never appeared for me. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review, all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Caden Marshall, a recently divorced single dad, accepts a job as a professor at the area college. While it’s a steady job, it’s not what Caden really longs to do. Caden is author who made the best seller’s list, but now has serious writer’s block. After being accused of stealing his ex’s ideas for his novel, he’s not sure writing is in the cards for him anymore. So he does the next best thing by teaching writing at the college. His daughter, Ava, being his main focus. Gabby Langdon is a successful attorney who doesn’t really want to be an attorney. Gabby, the whimsical one in her family, has tried just about everything. As a people pleaser, Gabby wants to make everyone happy. She became an attorney because her dad wanted her to follow in his footsteps, do something that was steady. What Gabby really wanted to do, was write. So she enrolls in a nighttime writing class at the area college. Where she instantly clashes and is equally attracted to her professor, Caden... Miranda Liasson hits it out of the park with this one! This novel is the second in the series, but can definitely be read without reading the first novel. This story is about having the courage to jump off that cliff and go after your dreams. Sometimes that means confronting the past, letting go, and going for it. It’s scary, but you’d regret it if you didn’t go for it. It’s also about making yourself happy, regardless of what other people think. Be you! Love yourself enough to do what’s best for you, then all the other pieces will fall into place. I absolutely 💕 it! I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.