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BLURRED LINES
Lauren Layne
Releasing Aug 25th, 2015
Loveswept
In a novel that’s perfect for fans of Abbi Glines and Jessica Sorensen, USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne delivers a sexy take on the timeless question: Can a guy and a girl really be “just friends”?
When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they’re still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland’s trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker’s boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben’s no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can’t seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.
The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker’s ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can’t go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.
“Milk?”
she asks again.
I
take another bite of cereal, and it takes all of my self-control not
to look pointedly at the bowl of cereal
I’m
eating.
Of course we have freaking milk.
“In
the fridge,” I say with a friendly smile. She smiles back and she’s
got deep dimples in each cheek. Cute. I can see why Ben likes this
one.
She
walks past the table to the fridge, and I cringe when I see the fact
that she has airhead
monogrammed
on the butt of her baby blue sweatpants. Really? Really?
Airhead
has apparently forgotten that she wanted milk and instead pulls out
one of the cans of Starbucks iced coffee that I keep stocked for
Monday mornings when I need an extra pick-me-up, which is every
Monday, because, well, Mondays are just the worst, aren’t they?
Airhead
pops the tab and takes a sip without asking, which I guess is kind of
annoying, but I’ve never really been one of those girls who likes
to waste energy getting bitchy about stupid things, so I let it go.
“Hey,
so I’m Parker,” I say.
“I’m
Liz. Are you dating Ben’s roommate?”
Considering
I know for a fact that Liz is the latest in a rather impressive
streak of one-night stands, dating
seems sort of a presumptuous word choice, because how does she know
I’m not just a onetime sleepover guest like her?
This,
too, I let pass without comment.
I
mean, what else is the girl supposed to ask: Did
you get drunk and sleep with a guy you barely know, like I just did?
Plus,
I have a fun surprise for her.
“I
am
the roommate,” I say, keeping my smile friendly. I’m wearing my
oldest pajamas and haven’t even pretended to have tried to take off
last night’s mascara, which is now all over my face. I’m pretty
sure I don’t look threatening.
But
I’d be wrong.
Liz
pauses halfway in, drinking my precious iced-coffee beverage, and her
previously curious expression turns wary.
I
mentally shrug. Ben tends to use my unisex name to full advantage by
avoiding female pronouns when referring to his roommate while a booty
call is in progress. He picked up this approach after several hookups
that failed due to the fact that some girls still subscribe to the
old girls-and-guys-can’t-be-just-friends axiom.
Amateurs.
Ben
ambles into the kitchen, his sweatpants matching the style of his
girl toy’s, although his are dark UO green, and instead of a tacky
phrase on the back, they just have the Oregon Duck, our old college
mascot. We graduated a couple years ago, so the frat-boy attire’s a
little
sad, but I can’t judge him too harshly since my entire workout
wardrobe consists of old college shirts.
He
yawns and smiles. “Morning. Have you girls met? Liz, Parker,
Parker, Liz.”
Ben’s
either unaware of the fact that Liz is giving him a dark look or he
no longer cares now that he’s gotten laid.
Here’s
the other reason I don’t exactly get my rocks off thinking about
Ben in a romantic light: He’s kind of a player. As a friend, I can
love him for it, but on the romantic front? Never. Ever. Not even
with every possible STD test.
“Hey,
what happened to the must-wear-shirts-in-the-kitchen rule?” I ask,
shoveling another bite of increasingly soggy Wheat Chex into my
mouth.
“No
such rule exists,” he says, with a wink for Liz-slash-Airhead. Her
expression softens lightly, and I resist the urge to slap a little
sense into the poor girl. I want to tell her that his winks are a
dime a dozen, but what’s the point? She has airhead
printed on her sweatpants for God’s sake.
“There
is too
a rule about shirts in the kitchen,” I insist. “House rule number
fourteen. Speaking of which, where are
my house rules?”
“Hard
to say,” he says, opening the fridge and glancing at its meager
offerings before pouring a cup of coffee instead. “But I may
have used them to mop up OJ the other day. Or maybe as a coaster for
my beer.” He snapped his fingers. “Oh wait, no, I remember. I
just plain threw them out the old-fashioned way.”
I
point to the doorway. “Shirt. Now.”
He
glances at Liz. “She can’t concentrate when my abs are on
display. We have to give her anti-swoon pills.”
Liz
giggles even as she shoots me a searching look, as though she’s
trying to determine whether I really will swoon over Ben’s
admittedly impressive upper body. The guy’s like a machine. He
misses workouts only on the worst of his hangover days.
“Do
you wanna grab some breakfast?” Liz asks Ben.
Aww,
poor Airhead. She doesn’t know the name of the game.
Lauren
Layne is one of my go-to authors and the friends to lovers trope is a
favourite of mine making Blurred Lines a
gem of a book.
Parker
Blanton & Ben Olsen have been best friends for six years. The
pair have spend a lot of time convincing people that it is possible
for a man and woman to have a purely platonic friendship. They are
roommates! Their arrangement works for them because Parker is in a
long term relationship with Lance, so Ben knows she's off limits
although very aware of her attractiveness. Ben isn't allowed to be
shirtless -that is one of Parker's house rules! This unusual living
arrangement works for them until circumstances alter the way they see
each other. At this point, Parker is a heroine you want to applaud
for her boldness and smack for believing her proposal would be so
easy. As for Ben, he soon realises there
are serious consequences to his actions.
The
interaction between the protagonists is palpable. After spending so
much time together they act like a couple who are very comfortable
with each other. The easy banter is fun which highlights the subtle
clues as to their true hidden feelings for each other. So when the
relationship turns physical it is deep rooted feelings of inadequacy
and misunderstandings that threaten to ruin the relationship they
both have cherished for so long. Only they
can't go back to the way things were now the line has been crossed.
What
happened next was unexpected but in a good way. The author manages
to bring all the loose strings together in such a convincing
way. On the surface Parker and Ben have always looked perfect
together, but like many couples they still have secret thoughts and
opinions that they don't share with one another until
the cracks begin to appear within the relationship.
Parker
and Ben's story is both fun and heart-warming with
just a touch of angst! The
author's writing style always manages to
keep
me engaged the whole time and Blurred
Lines is no exception.
4.5
Stars
***arc
generously received courtesy of Loveswept (Random House) via
NetGalley)
Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing
career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
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