Review: Beneath the Desert Sun by Kaylee Ryan & Lacey Black (Never Too Far #2)

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

While I was reading Beneath the Fallen Stars in August 2021, I had a feeling two of the supporting characters had their own story to tell...and I was right! Beneath the Desert Sun is the second book in Kaylee Ryan and Lacey Black's Never Too Far series. This sibling's best friend and marriage of convenience romance features Faith Gregory and Chad Anthony. She's the twin sister of Ford Gregory and a recent college graduate with dreams of becoming a kindergarten teacher, and he's the cousin of Shayne Danner and a newly minted corporal in the army, Ford and Shayne being the main couple in the first book. Faith and Chad share a strong connection, but they mutually decide to not pursue a romantic relationship and leave things up to fate. So when Chad invites Faith to visit him while he's stationed in California, she bites the bullet and leaves her home state of Ohio for a couple of weeks. Then he and his team are suddenly set to be deployed to an undisclosed location. Needing to make sure Faith is protected and provided for, Chad proposes--and she accepts. She thinks he's doing this as her friend, but what will it take to convince her that he's all in forever and not just for months?

Sometimes, you just need a break from all those romances that have third act break-ups, and I found that in this book. I quite liked the comfort level that the main characters had in their relationship even before they went from platonic to romantic. Chad was an honest-to-goodness great guy who loved his family and his country, and I'd be hard-pressed to find anything I didn't like about Faith. Together, they had the kind of connection that was difficult to ignore, although these two tried their darnedest to do just that. While I loved seeing them spending time together, I adored how they maintained their closeness even while Chad was deployed. It was proof that you need to put in the work if you want to be able to hurdle obstacles like distance. The part with Chad and his team talking to Faith's kindergarten class brought such a smile to my face. From start to finish, Beneath the Desert Sun proved to be a worthwhile romance to read, and it gets four stars.

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Read my reviews for the Never Too Far series:

Beneath the Fallen Stars (book one) - 4.5 stars - My Review

Beneath the Desert Sun (book two) - four stars - My Review (posted above)

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Release Date: 30 July 2024

Date Read: 28 July 2024

Learn more about Kaylee Ryan and Lacey Black.

Purchase Beneath the Desert Sun on Amazon.