Love, Lilly by Belinda Mary
- Published on
- Shalini
- in Book Posts, Book Reviews, Digital Reads Media, Digital Reads Reviews, Fiction
Life Update
The past 3 months have been annihilating for my family as we lost two of our loved ones within 2 weeks of each other and had my cousin battling for his life for 6 weeks, along with multitude of big and small bad news coming one after the other, until we were left crying or gasping.
Add to that, we were all down with a strange viral infection that kept us bed-ridden for 3 weeks and very weak and exhausted for the next three. I was emotionally, physically, financially, psychologically beaten by life.
At one point, there was only silence echoing in the rooms of my home. It was not only me, but also my entire family who was shattered. And nothing could have prepared me for the aftermath of all this. I lost interest in everything in life, and still have not bounced back. I was reading, but I am not sure if I remember any of the books I read in that duration.
In the last week, I have slowly tried to find my way back to life, but a sudden betrayal of a friend broke me. Literally broke my heart and soul. And this week, my best friend is in the ICU now, struggling to save his leg. Most of my time is spent outside in the waiting room or being there with his wife and mother.
But such is life. All I have left with now is to pray and slowly heal and get back to who I was before all this.
I thank all those who stood by me in all these years and hope you will do so even now and help me return back to this blogging world.
Publication Date: March 2023
Book Links
Blurb
He’s her best friend’s brother and completely out of her league…
Twenty-three-year-old Lilly is the quirky girl, the one with the c-c-curly hair. She’s always late, is rarely neat and does not have her life together. She will never be that girl, the one who gets the perfect guy. But hopefully, this is about to change. It is a new year and Lilly has made some resolutions to get her act together.
Her best friend’s brother Oliver is the reliable guy, the one who rescues Lilly from all of her disasters. He’s organised, makes lots of lists and has a strict five-year plan in place to get ahead in life. He never makes rash decisions, unless it relates to Lilly, and then he can’t seem to help himself.
With this in mind, it would seem that these two friends have little in common. Except perhaps a secret pining for each other that has gone unspoken for too long.
Can a weekend of fake dating convince Lilly and Oliver that they are actually perfect for each other? And that opposites really do attract, after all?
My Review
What was it all about
Love, Lilly was a sweet, clean romance with nary a steamy scene by author Belinda Mary. One of my swiftest reads at 215 pages.
The book explored the tropes of best friend’s brother, friends-to-lovers, fake dating, and I thought the author did an exemplary job of it.
A standalone essentially, the book had best friends Lilly and Amy, where Amy’s brother Oliver had the biggest crush on Lilly, without knowing it was reciprocated.
The book had both of them trying out relationships. But nothing worked, because the heart wanted what it wanted.
The Hook
Trigger Warnings: One of my coolest reads, this one had no triggers. Just cookies and other baked goods and love.
It was fun to see both the main characters getting pulled toward each other, yet not being brave enough to try love out.
My first book by this author, this kept me quite immersed in its pages the whole afternoon. So, I would say it lived up to its expectations.
I needed something lighthearted, and the book worked completely.
The Characters
What could I say that would endear them to you? Lilly was a klutz, especially in Oliver’s presence, who constantly needed his help. Make no mistake she was no damsel in distress, just self-conscious in his presence.
Oliver like structure and rules and had his life mapped out, and he knew Lilly would just be the wrecking ball to knock it out. Yet, he couldn’t seem to stay away.
I loved the string of attraction that kept both of them bound to each other. They were too cute and had me smiling at the oddest of times.
The Intricacies
The book followed the norm of a cute romance. The warmth the words emanated was its driving force. And kudos to the author.
I loved how the book was non-pretentious and didn’t fool me expecting beyond its blurb. An easy-breezy, fluffy read. No fillers.
Go into it just to relax the mind and read without getting into the depths of it.
The Setting
Friendship was the core of the story, and I loved that Amy and Oliver provided the right home that Lilly needed.
The entire atmosphere was one of cozy and to some extent, hygge.
Just look at the cover and you would realize the truth of my words.
I thought the author nailed the setting just right.
The Pace
I breezed through it post lunch over an afternoon. So, I would say the pace was perfect for the genre the book was.
The style of writing - The Prose
This was my first experience with this author’s style. I didn’t go into the book, expecting lyrical prose. I wanted the lines to show me the unsaid love between the characters, and it did so.
I had to add that the hero of book 2, Dr. McSteamy, where the sister Amy would meet her match, was also brought in. And I thought that story would be highly interesting. But that would come when the next book was published later this month
Self-doubting, lacking of confidence in Lilly and uber cool, helpful Oliver made the right match.
As Oliver rightly said – IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT LOVE LILLY – I agreed too.
How it made me feel
Happy was what I felt when I read the book. The story gave me a couple of hours of relief from my stress, where I could forget my real life.
I could analyze it minutely and tell you what all could have been better, but what was the point of it?
The book gave me all that the author promised me at the beginning of the book.
JOY
Do I recommend this book?
Yes. Very much so. It was a clean romance that would be the best book to read in between heavy, intense reads. And it is barely 200 pages. So could be finished in a single sitting.
Check out the other romances available on Amazon
I downloaded the digital version of the book from an online retail, and this is my journey down its pages, straight from the heart. STRICTLY HONEST and UNBIASED.
If you’ve loved the review, buy me a cuppa to perk me up.
Check out my other posts here
9 Responses
No. Nice Review. I just bought you a cup of coffee for the terrible times you and your family are going through.
Thank you so much Martie. This has been a tough year so far. Trying to take one day at a time. Thank you so much for the coffee. You are too sweet ❤️
awh, this seems like a cute book!
Thank you so much. It really was
Hi Shalini, seems like a cute book 🙂 Please do give a read to my blogs as well. would love to hear some feedbacks
Thank you so much. Done and commented on yours
thank you so much.
You Welcome.
Sounds like you appreciated the light reading, a nice break from the heavier stuff indeed. I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been having a tough time–but I was suspecting as such.