Review: Some Sort of Love by Melanie Harlow (Happy Crazy Love #3)

Note: This ARC was provided by Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to say something to her, something to tell her how grateful I was, how swept away, how beautiful she felt in my arms. I wanted to stay here and hold her like this until that insatiable hunger burned in me again, and the I wanted to take her to bed and fill her body with mine, lose myself inside her. I wanted to make promises and keep them.

But I couldn't.

Some Sort of Love is the third, and what I'm guessing is the final, novel in the bestselling contemporary romance series entitled Happy Crazy Love by Melanie Harlow. This is the story of the eldest Nixon sister, Jillian, a thirty-year-old pediatrician who doesn't begrudge her younger sisters the happiness and contentment they've found with the men in their lives but is quietly envious. At the wedding of her sister Skylar and Sebastian Pryce, Jillian literally bumps into Levi Brooks, a thirty-two-year-old architect and a close friend of Jillian's brother-in-law. But this isn't the first time that Jillian and Levi have met, having spent some "quality" time in a storage closet eleven years ago when they were both college students. Now sporting a sexy beard, Levi is even more tempting than he was over a decade ago, but he can no longer do spontaneous and adventurous things like willingly getting trapped in a closet with a girl. His first priority is his eight-year-old son Scotty whose autism has Levi sticking to tried and tested routines and things that Scotty is already used to. Jillian and Levi could very well fall in love, but will Jillian be satisfied with having Levi a day a week and having him keep his time with her and his life with his son separate from each other?

While the first two books in the series--Some Sort of Happy and Some Sort of Crazy--were more lighthearted fare that dabbled with a bit of drama, Some Sort of Love had a heavier feel to it, although it was still peppered with light moments that can elicit a smile on your face. Maybe it's the fact that Levi is a full-time single father who loves his son beyond measure but is saddled by guilt and is still human after all, even if he could very well be labeled a Super Dad. It could be that Scotty has autism--something I'm fairly familiar with having had students who were autistic and I was quite happy that Melanie Harlow had Jillian's character pointing out that not all autistic individuals are the same, varying in behavior depending on where they're at on the spectrum. Or it's possible that this story felt like a heavier read compared to the two before it because of both those things and how it was clear that Jillian and Levi loved each other, but were faced with the challenge of merging their lives together. It's already difficult introducing someone of significance to your children, but all the more when your children have special and specific needs. The additional angst and drama, however, do not diminish the series; rather, this was the perfect series ender.

It would be easy to label this a second chance romance, what with Levi and Jillian having shared that moment inside that Pine Sol-scented closet, but I think it would be more fitting to call this a romance about taking chances, because that's exactly what our main characters had to choose to do. Levi having a son gave both of them pause, as it should, because pretending that entering a relationship with someone who has a child is simple would be disingenuous. Levi wanted to make sure that this wasn't something temporary because having Scotty become attached to Jillian would have been devastating should the relationship end or should Jillian have decided to walk away from the added responsibility. Then there's Jillian who would have to accept that Scotty would always take top priority in Levi's life. Nothing is easy or simple about their being together, and the need to take time and make a conscious choice and make a concerted effort to work on and openly discuss whatever issues they may have helped give this story that "real" feeling that enables readers to either empathize or sympathize with Levi and Jillian. The road to happily-ever-after is rarely easy or simple, but it's overcoming those challenges that makes it worthwhile.

Now, aside from the love story between Jillian and Levi, I was thrilled that we got to see where Skylar and Sebastian were in their lives, as well as Natalie Nixon and Miles Haas, who you'll recall found out they were having a baby in the second book. There's a wonderful moment in the story that had me sighing contently because it just seemed so fitting to their love story. I won't say who among the couples the moment was for, but it did bring a tear to my eye because everyone who mattered in the series was there. I've enjoyed every single bit of the Happy Crazy Love series and since I already have the box set of Frenched on my Kindle app, I'm definitely going to be diving into that as soon as my review schedule isn't in the choke hold that it's been keeping me in for months now. This series is an all-time favorite and one that I would highly recommend other bookaholics check out if they haven't already. Now, as much as I love all three books, I'm the type to play favorites even when it involves books in one series, and yes, Some Sort of Love is my favorite Happy Crazy Love book, and not just because of Levi and Jillian's love story. This wrapped everything up in a way I suspect only Melanie Harlow could. Five-plus stars for this series ender. ♥

Release Date: 09 February 2016

Date Read: 09 February 2016

Learn more about Melanie Harlow.

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