Review: Someone Like You by Lauren Layne (Oxford #3)
Note: This ARC was provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept in exchange for an honest review.
"Why?" she said, a little stubbornly. "You wanted it all once."
"Yeah." His voice was curt. I did. I wanted it so damn bad, and then it was ripped away. And not all at once, no clean headshot. It was like being maimed, having one piece of your heart torn out bit by bit, stretched out over fucking years."
Her heart for him. It did, but...
"If I did it, Wallflower, if I felt that way again, it would be about someone like you."
Her eyes watered, and she tried to turn, and once again he held her firm. "But I can't. I'm not risking it all. Not even for you."
I read this book in the wee hours of the morning, in one sitting, from cover to cover, and with used tissues by the wayside. There was no way that I could have ever even contemplated what was beneath Lincoln Mathis's cool and calm exterior. From the moment he and Daisy Sinclair get in his car to make the trip he takes every last Sunday of the month, my heart beat a tad faster, and when his darkest was revealed, my heart took a hit, squeezing painfully in my chest. With each milestone that marked Lincoln and Daisy's friendship, my heart happily skipped a beat; but with every misstep, every painful truth that was unveiled, there would be a bruise, so that by the time I got to final chapter, it was a battered mess. And yet, there was always that feeling of hope--hope that Lincoln and Daisy, who may have both been broken but neither irreparably so, would realize that at the end of it all, they would be okay.
Someone Like You is the third novel in bestselling author Lauren Layne's Oxford series, which is a spin-off of her much loved Stiletto series (which I seriously need to add to my reading schedule since I've come across the couples from that series thrice already). Lincoln Mathis has a reputation for being a ladies's man, and it's reputation he's done nothing to dissuade people from believing. When he meets Daisy Sinclair at the rehearsal dinner for his best friend and her twin sister's wedding, he can't help but feel as if she sees beyond his facade. A friendship is born and it's fostered until Lincoln feels the need to distance himself, experiencing things that he believes he shouldn't. It's a friendship that's rekindled until too many feelings come in conflict with one another. When Lincoln and Daisy see each other again, they will be tested once again, and this time, he will have to decide if he's ready to keep her.
Lincoln and Daisy's story is told in three parts, each one with its share of ups and downs, and because I was so damned invested in these two from the get-go, I felt every single one of those ups and downs alongside them. Remember those tissues I mentioned? Well, all the weeping I did while reading this book made my already existent cold worse. Was it worth it? Yes, it was. This is, hands down, Lauren Layne at her finest. The humor that you expect to find in this series is still there, although more muted here in book number three compared to its two predecessors. Yet, Layne strikes this tenuous balance between tugging at your heartstrings and tickling your funny bone. Whatever thought and emotion I had while reading Someone Like You was a reaction to what I was reading, neither one forced or induced for effect. Five-plus stars...multiplied twenty times over. It's that freaking awesome. ♥
"What do you want?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist and smiling up at him.
He smiled back, resting his forehead on hers. "You, Daisy. I want someone like you."
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Read my reviews for the Oxford series:
Irresistibly Yours (book one) - five stars - My Review
I Wish You Were Mine (book two) - five-plus stars - My Review
Someone Like You (book three) - five-plus stars - My Review (posted above)
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