Review: My Bad Decisions by Carrie Ann Ryan (On My Own #4)

December 06, 2021

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Give Me Books Promotions.

"You're mine, Natalie. I know we started this relationship backwards, but we're finding our way forwards. I love you with every ounce of my being. To the depths of my soul. You might be marrying a former stripper and an Air Force brat, but I'm marrying a princess."

I snorted. "You may be a former stripper, but I'm not a princess. I've never been."

"You're mine. Does that count?"

Carrie Ann Ryan has left the best for last, at least in my humble opinion, as she ends her new adult/college romance On My Own series. My Bad Decisions is the fourth full-length novel in the series and fifth book overall. This is Tanner Hagen and Natalie Blake's story. I must admit that of all the roommates, other than Dillon Connolly (for obvious reasons if you're a regular reader of Carrie Ann Ryan's and/or have read her Fractured Connections series), Tanner was the one who had piqued my interest the most. There was something about him that made me believe he had far more complexities compared to his housemates, not that they didn't have their own layers that demanded to be explored. That's the thing that I've learned to expect from Ryan's characters, regardless of gender, genre, and trope--complex yet endearing personalities.

Tanner and Natalie have been keeping a secret from their closest friends for quite a while. It started with one simple kiss that led to everything slowly but surely becoming complicated between them. They were always at each other's throats, but they couldn't get enough of one another. By the time they were faced with one particular realization courtesy of a positive pregnancy test, they knew that nothing would ever be the same again. They say that ignorance is bliss, but when the past makes its presence known, Tanner and Natalie when need to decide if this is worth fighting for. For themselves, for each other, and for their future together.

Le sigh. This book... It broke my heart, yet also took those broken pieces and melded them back together. I absolutely adored Tanner and Natalie! These two had hurdles on the way to their happily-ever-after, but once they made the choice to be together and no longer denied how they truly felt for each other, no one and nothing would stand in their way. I may have shed a tear or two at certain points of the book. Okay, there were more than a couple of tears, but I was so darn invested in anything that involved these young twenty-somethings. And that epilogue? GAH! It was EVERYTHING. The On My Own series has been a wonderful one from Carrie Ann Ryan, and My Bad Decisions has easily become one of my all-time favorites. Five-plus stars.

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Read my reviews for the On My Own series: