If You Were Mine

Melanie Harlow brings you a sweet and sexy read that will warm your heart. I’m a big fan of this author, so trust me when I say, that she never disappoints. Her stories are always entertaining and put a smile on my face, her characters are always endearing and relatable and the romance between those characters is always lovely. 'If You Were Mine' is a fantastic blend of sweetness, sexiness and humor. From start to finish, I found this one to be super enjoyable, so if you, like me, are a fan of this author, or you simply want to read something delightful, you don’t want to miss this one.

To avoid sitting at the singles table at a wedding she was invited to, Claire lies and tells everyone that she’s not alone anymore and that her new boyfriend will be her plus one. Claire is desperate. She needs to find a date to the wedding ASAP. Browsing the internet, she decides to hire a date for a couple of hours.

“Tall, dark, and handsome was fine, but Theo was the kind of guy who thought he knew everything, and furthermore, he was going to enlighten you on it, whether you asked him to or not. I liked his smile, but not his smirk.”

Theo is a drifter with a criminal record, who has some serious reasons for being an escort. He’s intrigued with Claire from the moment he lays his eyes on her. He figures out immediately that she’s sweet and kind and he likes everything about her. He can’t deny how attracted he is towards her, or how real this…”thing” between them feels. Even if he believes he’s not good enough for Claire, he can’t seem to stay away. Theo is not a relationship kind of guy, but he wants to spend all his free time with Claire. He wants to get to know her better and he wants to make her feel good.

“As I moved deep within her, I vowed to myself that I would honor that trust. That I would keep my promises. That somehow, I would become the man she saw when she looked at me, rather than the one I saw when I looked at myself. “

Claire knows that she is Theo’s opposite in every way and maybe she should stay away from him since he apparently has a lot of baggage, but she can’t help herself. Maybe he’s not exactly the ideal man, the man she thought she needed, but he’s the only man she wants.

“I just had to figure out who he was. And how to make him stay.”

'If You Were Mine' is such a lovely read. It’s sweet, it’s funny, it’s sexy, with just a little angst and drama and a bunch of characters I fell in love with from the start. I liked the premise and how everything between the two main characters progressed. Their first encounter was entertaining and I really appreciated that there wasn’t any insta-lust or insta-love between them. These characters’ relationship progressed naturally. I loved the chemistry between them. The sweet moments between them were simply heart-warming and the sexy ones plenty and well-written.

Claire is a wonderful heroine. She is such a genuinely good person. She’s sweet, caring, patient and considerate. The fact that she doesn’t take risks and lacks a bit of self-confidence didn’t bother me too much, mainly because her character development was very well done. I liked the fact that she’s not a doormat and the fact that she knows what she wants and what’s best for her. She’s doesn’t care about Theo’s past or the fact that he’s a little tortured, which I really loved. The way she was with him at times is simply heartwarming. She has such a big heart.

Theo’s painful childhood broke my heart. He is tortured and he truly believes he’s not good enough for Claire and that he can’t offer her what she needs. The author did a stellar job with his character. Theo is complex and, overall, a great character. There were a few times when I wanted to smack him in the head, but he figured out his sh*t pretty quickly, which I obviously liked. Theo is sexy and charming and has a big heart. I loved how good he was with his brother’s family. He is such a sweetheart!

The chemistry and the romantic aspect were fantastically done. Melanie Harlow always knows how to write palpable chemistry between her characters and her romances are always swoony.

“She was exactly the salve I’d hoped she would be— the moment I crushed my lips to hers, I felt the conflict in my body resolve. The anger dissipated. The sadness lift. All of it was swept aside, replaced only by the desire to get closer to her.”

Overall, an enjoyable, sweet, fun and sexy read!

Tall, dark, and handsome was fine, but Theo was the kind of guy who thought he knew everything, and furthermore, he was going to enlighten you on it, whether you asked him to or not. I liked his smile, but not his smirk.

But I want to touch you.” I moaned as he kissed his way up one trembling leg.
“I’m going to let you.” His lips and tongue traveled up the other leg. “But not until I make you come.” My breath caught as I felt his tongue stroke up my center and circle slowly over my clit. My fingernails scraped at the upholstery on the couch. “Not until I make you scream.” He slid two fingers inside me, so deep I gasped. “Not until I make you beg.”

As I moved deep within her, I vowed to myself that I would honor that trust. That I would keep my promises. That somehow I would become the man she saw when she looked at me, rather than the one I saw when I looked at myself.

I just had to figure out who he was. And how to make him stay.

Find me on:

So much about her was youthful, even childlike— her exuberance, her trusting nature, her excitement over small things— but she was all woman, too.

Jesus. That escalated quickly. I hadn’t meant for this to happen. I hadn’t meant to tell her the truth, hadn’t meant to kiss her, hadn’t meant to take her home and fuck her with my tongue next to the Christmas tree.

She was exactly the salve I’d hoped she would be— the moment I crushed my lips to hers, I felt the conflict in my body resolve. The anger dissipate. The sadness lift. All of it was swept aside, replaced only by the desire to get closer to her.

My cock stirred between us. “Uh, are we still observing the no-touching rule tonight?” I asked as she kissed her way up my chest. “Asking for a friend.”

“I bet you’re a fun uncle.” “I am pretty awesome at tea parties.”

To be fair and transparent, I think she is a good writer. It flows well, there's no repetition, her dialogues are good and even though she put way too much dirty talk in this book for a couple that had ZERO chemistry, I appreciate the effort.

The cover is nice, the narration on audible was also great, loved the female narrator. The guy was meh.

I am having a hard time figuring out if this whole fake-dating trope is just not for me, or if people just don't know how to do it right.

This girl wanted to go to a wedding, she didn't want to sit at the single's table so she hired a male companion online. Because that is what any other woman would do, god forbid women are seen or written as anything more than a man holder. God forbid we get a female character that doesn't act like her only value in existence is to look pretty and have someone love her.

But I know, I know. It's a fake-dating book, that is not really a fair comment to make, so let me give you a couple of fair comments.

In the hopes to make our FMC the quirkiest, silliest, innocent flower in this Disney garden, she is seen AND DESCRIBED as almost child-like by the male main character, while he thinks about how much he wants to fuck her in her jammies.

Mels, the word almost doesn't do much in this scenario, sorry to burst your bubble.

Don't. Just don't.

Listen, I love my fair share of taboo romances and HUGE age gaps romances but I don't need to be inside this guy's head while he is clearly attracted to her because she looks and acts like a child.

This might be an extremely personal choice but I am sick and tired of female main characters having to be infantilized so they can be seen as cute. Give her a colorful wardrobe, a love for dinosaurs, a river rock collection, give her a personality next time, maybe that's what they're missing. I don't know, just a WILD GUESS here.

Anyways, guy meets girl, they agree to make this a one night stand, but he is terrified of commitment so when he hears her use the word DATE once in a sentence he runs away scared. He doesn't date. He also has the emotional maturity of a lizard.

Our FMC, a 29 year old middle school art teacher, also sits down at a table with her parents and lies to them that he is a football player that went to a fancy college. When in reality he went to prison... Real popular school, look it up.

I don't care that he went to prison, I care that I am reading a book about a 29 year old lying her ass off over something absurdly shallow like she's the main character in parent trap.

She is selfish, bland, unconvincing as a human being and he is there to mention his dick is twitching in his pants every time he looks at her, and there you go. There's your fake dating book.

Grown-ups acting like they're 12.

I guess it's me. I just can't do the extra quirky, extra cutesy, extra silly, extra pedophily book. I have never read a fake dating book I enjoyed.

Honorable mention to:

"condoms are just an emotional barricade"

not unless Gonorrhea is an emotion Mels.

If you're a teen reading this book, please know that is not how life works.

what is it with authors trying to romanticize the need for condomless sex, it just feels better, it's not that deep.

We also have a very cute scene near the end where they're laying in bed hashing out their feelings, and she is going over the dad who abused him, the mom who abandoned him and he is still trying to stop his dick from twitching.

Some people say it never stopped. It's still twitching in his pants.

Maybe he should look into it, go to a doctor. I don't know.

Anyways

I might pick up another one of her books to see if I have better luck.