Their Feel-Good Story Is Positive & Leaves You With A Smile. Fans Will Be Thrilled That It Crosses Over With The Reed Family Reckoning Series.
Hayes Elliot, twenty-four, never plans to settle down. He loves playing devil’s advocate and is a natural cynic. He has never been in a committed relationship and never makes empty promises. Sleeping around is losing its flavor, but he saw what his father’s philandering did to his mother as he grew up. His grandmother was thankfully there to fill in the void some of the time, and he remains close with her today. But the apple never falls far from the tree, so settling down just isn’t in the cards for him. A year after graduation, he has a great job in financial services making six digits. He enjoys occasionally hanging out with the other young, eager, and single guys from the office.
It is his tight set of friends from high school that keeps Hayes grounded. Kella, Graham, Maryam, Xavian, and Echo are like family to him, and they all try to get together every Sunday. Xavian Costa and Echo Hope are a year behind their friends and just days away from college graduation themselves. It is Echo that is his best friend, though. Their friendship dates back almost eighteen years to when they were both new students at a new school, and it has continued seamlessly since. She is always supportive, and he is always looking out for her, especially since her older sisters married. She can certainly be adorable, but thankfully he isn’t attracted to her because that would inevitably destroy their friendship, something he cannot fathom happening.
But when she suddenly starts ditching her baggy clothes and begins to show some skin, thoughts of her begin to take on a different tone. He tries not to look, but it is impossible to avoid noticing her beauty. The more he sees, the harder it is to deny just how attracted to her he really is. And when she starts acting sketchy with him, it rubs him the wrong way. Hope is a romantic and has long vowed to save herself for love. She has never kept secrets from him before, and something is very off. A phone call from Xavian has him in a panic as he discovers that it isn’t just her clothes that she is changing. She is graduating from college and wants to be a woman in every way, and it is Xavian that she turned to. Xavian is a great friend, but he is also a bigger player than Hayes. Like Hayes, he is a cynic. He isn’t the right man, even if he would treat her well. Echo is an optimist and wants the fairy tale. Hayes is hurt that she didn’t talk to him first and struggles to understand why. As he watches his friends growing closer, his emotions surge and his self-control becomes almost impossible.
Echo Hope, twenty-two, is about to graduate from college. She is giving and caring, and it is no surprise that she hopes to work at a non-profit after college. The company she is interviewing with helps to supply play equipment for at-risk kids. Growing up with dysfunctional and selfish parents was hard on her and her sisters, Eryn and Ella. The three have always been tight, but with Ella marrying Carson and moving to North Carolina, and Eryn marrying West and moving to Vegas, she must rely more on her friends. She treasures her friendship with Hayes, whom she met back when they were just kids. She and Xavian have grown closer this last semester, though, and he just might be able to help her in a way that Hayes cannot.
When the three leave L.A. for a trip to Maui after graduation, Hayes is on a mission to keep Echo’s innocence intact. Xavian and Echo, however, have another idea in mind. Things are complicated further by news that shakes Xavian. He was raised by a single mom and never knew the identity of his dad, so he was left entirely alone when she died three years ago. His friends have been a great support group and helped him through his difficulties, but it doesn’t replace real family, a permanent connection to others. Xavian has been alerted that he might have some relatives from his father’s side of the family, and the cynic in him wonders what they want from him. With Xavian’s news and Echo’s determination, Hayes has his hands full as he tries to be a good friend to both. And even though he warns Xavian off, Xavian might have his own ideas about what is best for Echo. Hawaii proves to be a test in some ways as Hayes plods his way forward.
Wow! This is largely Hayes’s story, and reading about him and Echo from his point of view is great. He is absolutely blind and out of touch with his feelings, probably from a lifetime of conviction that he will never marry. There is a lot going on in his head, and he makes a load of rookie mistakes. Hearing his reasoning, though, helps to give perspective. Clearly, he has a lot of growing up to do. He and Echo have a lovely relationship as best friends, and in actuality, it has probably helped him to avoid becoming entangled in a relationship. Hope had promised her sisters to put her studies first, and she also worked through college. As a consequence, she never thought about dating previously, and Hayes never had a reason to feel threatened or jealous. The pair are adorable as best friends, and their angsty story keeps you on the edge without being too overly dramatic. The dynamic between Hayes and Xavian as they go back and forth about what is best for Echo is nice. I like that they are friends with a shared interest in her happiness rather than one of them being completely underhanded and despicable.
Hayes and Echo’s best-friends-to-lovers story is a sweet and steamy slow burn. Echo’s innocence contrasts with Hayes’s playboy ways, but they are both still quite young and growing into themselves, so Hayes can be forgiven for the mistakes of his youth. Their feel-good story is positive and leaves you with a smile. It is a great addition to the More Than Words world. Fans will be thrilled that it crosses over with the Reed Family Reckoning series. This story can easily lead to Xavian’s own story as so much time is spent on his own plight, so keep your eyes open. The story is well-written and a pleasure to read. The plot is fairly simple. The characters are complex and real. The story is told in first person> The POV alternates between Hayes and Echo. I rate this book 4.5 stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
More Than Possess You: A More Than Words Novella (1001 Dark Nights)
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Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2021
A trip to Maui is the perfect graduation gift for Echo, she will accompany her best friend Hayes Elliott and their mutual friend Xavian Costa on a business trip which will leave them with plenty of time to see the island and for Echo to lose that pesky V card she's been carrying around with her, with the help of X but Hayes has other things in mind. Let the fun begin!
I love Friends-to-Lovers Romances, especially when they don't think the feeling are reciprocated. Shayla Black did a wonderful job with giving us characters we will be rooting for right from the beginning while weaving not only this main story line but another one as well. There is big news for the Reed Family, and if you have read any of the series you're going to want to know what happens next for this ever growing family.
1,001 Dark Nights give authors and readers a unique opportunity. Authors get to write stories for secondary characters while giving readers that haven't experienced the series, or the authors work before a taste of it. And for those that have been reading the series, this is a way for us to get a story we may not have otherwise gotten.
I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoy Steamy Contemporary Romances, New Adult Romances, or the Friends-to-Lovers Trope.
Happy Reading!!!
Verified Purchase
A Friends to Lovers story and so much more
By Nadine Bookaholic [Nadine's Obsessed with Books] on September 30, 2021
I've met Echo Hope before in her sisters stories, MISADVENTURES OF A BACKUP BRIDE and MISADVENTURES WITH MY EX, so I was really excited to see that she was getting her own story.By Nadine Bookaholic [Nadine's Obsessed with Books] on September 30, 2021
A trip to Maui is the perfect graduation gift for Echo, she will accompany her best friend Hayes Elliott and their mutual friend Xavian Costa on a business trip which will leave them with plenty of time to see the island and for Echo to lose that pesky V card she's been carrying around with her, with the help of X but Hayes has other things in mind. Let the fun begin!
I love Friends-to-Lovers Romances, especially when they don't think the feeling are reciprocated. Shayla Black did a wonderful job with giving us characters we will be rooting for right from the beginning while weaving not only this main story line but another one as well. There is big news for the Reed Family, and if you have read any of the series you're going to want to know what happens next for this ever growing family.
1,001 Dark Nights give authors and readers a unique opportunity. Authors get to write stories for secondary characters while giving readers that haven't experienced the series, or the authors work before a taste of it. And for those that have been reading the series, this is a way for us to get a story we may not have otherwise gotten.
I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoy Steamy Contemporary Romances, New Adult Romances, or the Friends-to-Lovers Trope.
Happy Reading!!!
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2021
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Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
Kindle Customer
Surprises do happen
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2021Verified Purchase
sherri
great novella to an amazing series
Reviewed in Australia on October 12, 2021Verified Purchase
