source: purchased
rating:★★★★★
from goodreads:
If I ever caught on fire, Dahlia Muñoz would fan the flames with a smile.
So, when she returns to Lake Wisteria, I fully intend to avoid the interior designer.
At least until my meddling mother exploits my savior complex.
The faster I help Dahlia find her creative spark, the sooner she will leave town.
But while I was busy getting rid of Dahlia, I overlooked one potential issue.
What happens if I want her to stay?
Dahlia
People say the devil has many faces, but I know only one.
Julian Lopez—my childhood rival and family frenemy.
I vow to steer clear of him while recovering from my broken engagement, but then the billionaire makes an irresistible offer.
Renovate a historic house together and triple our profits.
Our temporary truce becomes compromised as we face years’ worth of denied attraction and mixed emotions.
Giving into our desire is inevitable…but falling in love?
That isn’t part of the plan.
Love Redesigned is a steamy, small town romance about two family friends-turned-childhood rivals. It is the first book in the standalone Lakefront Billionaires series and has a happy ending.
my review:
lauren asher is a great author. i loved every book that i’ve read. love redesigned was nothing short of great. it was a slow start in the beginning and i was super uninterested but once we got started it didn’t stop until i ran out of pages to read (although this one was a lonnnnggg one……)
out of the two main characters dahlia was my least favorite but that’s only because julian is a heart-throb all in all.julian lopez, the perfect man. knows what he wants and goes for it at whatever cost, literally. i loved julian from the beginning he made this book for me, if most of it was dahlia’s POV i probably wouldn’t have rated it so high. his character development was felt early on in the book and i really liked to see how much he had changed and grown. he went through a lot to get to where he is in life. i respect him, like everyone else in lake wisteria, and appreciated his story so much more. he knew how to express his feelings, while still keeping dahlia and her feelings in his mind and included in whatever decision he made. and his feelings? he let it all out in his fathers workshop and it made me SOB. ugh julian was just a great man all around. a man who has a soft spot for his momma always knows how to treat a woman.
dahlia munoz, a mental health queen. dahlia has battled so much in life, depression, anxiety, you name it. it’s cool to see real life things being brought to light in books. she pissed me off in some scenes but i overall liked her. her character development took a little bit longer than julian’s but i guess it makes sense because she is super scatter brained and has a lot to battle internally. she had a lot going on in her life so i understood her standoff-ish-ness but she could’ve recognized what was in front of her, well she recognized it, but could’ve acknowledged it hell of a lot sooner!! but she also had her own boundaries and coping mechanisms and i respect her for it.
their relationship, from childhood till now has been fun to see. i thought we would’ve gotten more of the love since the book was so big but we didn’t but i felt enough love radiating from julian the whole damn time it might just be enough. i wish i could see the progress on some of the projects they worked on together being the super cool interior designer and construction guru that they are.
their families are the typical hispanic families that you hate but also love. the overbearing, lovable, nosey people that they are. i love the inclusion of rafa and nico, they were probably my favorite characters outside of julian and dahlia. also loved the cameos of the kane brothers, their wives, and cute ole cami!!!
love redesigned was a good book!!! i couldn’t put it down. stayed up till 2am finishing it. it is on the heftier side page was but it was overall a great read. i can’t wait for the second book!
favorite quotes:
"if you have to change yourself to fit someone's ideal version of you, then that's not love."