This was the perfect book to close out this series.
I utterly adored that this was a golden retriever/black cat book as well.
Miles has been a favorite character of mine since the very since the very first book.
As with all of Ms. Wolf's books, while this book looks like it will read one way, the story goes so much deeper than the story line teases you with.
Miles has been our happy go lab puppy character in the last three books of the series. He has been a friend, a brother, an annoyance, and a glossy cover photo of a good time guy. In this book we get to see past all of that gloss and shine to the real Miles. What we uncover is a much much deeper version of a human than most of the group has been aware of. Over the course of the book even Weston grows to understand that there may be more to his little brother than he ever thought there could be.
Daisy on the other hand is new comer to the group. She is an unknown. She has loose ties to the group through her pseudo boss Nick. A man who attended school with Elliot, Elise, and Weston. Who was once in the same friend group as Miles. But while Nick grew up with both Miles and Daisy, Nick was more in Miles' world while Daisy was a public school kid with a more middle class upbringing and a burden of a last name that she never asked for.
Fresh off of a bad break up, Daisy has gone from being a snarky sunny Daisy to being a darker eyed Susan -esque Daisy. Embracing her goth side and emerging from a depression that had her close circle concerned for her.
Miles meets our sassy broken sunshine on the night she returns to the world in general and work specifically. To say they are lightness and darkness colliding over mini bites cupcakes is to be the least of their story.
What I have and will always adore about Ms. Wolf's writing is that she draws her readers into her stories with a well paced story and a great hook. You think you understand the characters you are getting, the gist of the plot, then you settle in for your read.
Ms. Wolf has yet to ever keep me on that path she so steadily lays out early in her books though. No matter how genuine and open she writes her characters within the first chapter to the first five chapters they always turn into onions with varying layers of stories layering more stories that have brought them to the person we met at the opening pages. I love diving into Ms. Wolf's works, knowing that the person I meet in the first five pages is the result of whom I will meet in the following three hundred pages I have yet to work through. This author makes her readers work to get to know the people she builds on her pages.
Through her reverse building of her characters she weaves her current day plot. It's a craft technique that is unique to Ms. Wolf's story telling and one that I adore.
In this book while we learn about Miles and Daisy's pasts, we are introduced to side characters' presents. A newly made widow. A teen brother struggling with bullying that goes well beyond the school day and year. A family dealing with the aftermath of grief from another teen they lost too soon. Another family who is learning that the ties that bind aren't always blood or that blood can actually not bind you at all. A friend group that is as close as siblings who miss one of their own growing up in the deepest ways possible right under their noses and having to come to grips with the fact that they allowed past behaviors to blind them to change, new behavior and improvement.
All of these things are wound in, through, and around the story of two people meeting at a time in their lives where they are leaving pieces of themselves behind to embrace the newer pieces that are growing in that space.
Fake relationships are one of my favorite troupes to read as I feel that authors are allowed to write characters in their truest and rawest forms. You typically have two characters who are entering into a massive lie that requires them to be the most vulnerable with each other in public. This almost always bleeds over to them having to be even more vulnerable with each other in private as things they want hidden crop up as they navigate their public lives with a fake partner. Who better to share your deepest hurts, disappointments, perceived or real failures with but the person who has agreed to fake love you and is still clutching your hand at the end of the night when the world has torn you down? Even better you know this person has an end date in your life so anything you say to them won't matter as they will disappear at a certain time and date. It's like intensive speed dating with built in therapy. Of course they always end up falling for each other. Who wouldn't? You got years of revelations out of the way in two weeks or less. You know this person better than your therapist knows you. Bonus is always that physical intimacy.
Miles and Daisy are no different in their fake dating story. What was different were the secrets they were hiding from the world. Again, Ms. Wolf has a unique way of writing. She always sneaks in things that her characters have been hiding deep down from themselves. Her couples always seem to reach a point where one or the other always seems to drag forth what seems to be a simple statement from the other that later becomes this unburdening of a secret that the character didn't even know they were harboring from themselves. It's that moment of the things you hide the deepest always seem so much larger than they are until they are out in the light.
I also enjoy how these hidden secrets tend to compliment or play into the character's partner in some odd unforeseen way. Miles and Daisy had their pairings in small and big ways.
This book also had the bitter sweet twist of bringing the friend group full circle in a way with the actions that Miles and Daisy take at the end. I loved the symmetry of how Miles story ended and how another character's story in the group had begun (once upon a time).
Overall this book was nostalgic in nature as we say goodbye to this crew. It featured heavily in themes of family. Closure. New Growth.
New characters were introduced and now I have so many more questions I'd love to answers to in Denver.
Branches off of this core group were grown. It was delightful to see an author grow to love a series so much that they have grown out of their comfort zone into a new one and are expanding on this new area.
It's hard to say goodbye to this group of friends. So much was learned, grown, the author grew in leaps and bounds in her writing.
This story line alone covered topics of suicide, bullying, teen death, loss of relationships, widowhood, struggles with addiction, alcoholism, rehab, and a few other items. Please treat yourself kindly if any of these are important, personal, or meaningful to you.
The story was told in a richly layered manner that will keep readers engaged with the unveiling of newly discovered flaws and gems consistently throughout the length of the book.
Miles will surprise you in ways that you wouldn't expect from him from the other books. Miles even surprises himself in this book.
Daisy was an utter delight and a perfect addition to this friend family that has grown in Denver. I can not recommend this book enough as either a standalone or as the end of the series if you have been a faithful reader.
Not So Truly Yours: A Fake Dating Romance (The Harder They Fall)
4.8 | 3,356 ratings
Price: 4.99
Last update: 11-01-2024
About this item
From the Publisher
Top reviews from the United States
Maggie (The Librarian’s Daughter)
The perfect ending to a fantastic series
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024
Jeeves Reads Romance
Loved the hero
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2024
Terri
another great read
Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2024
Paula Sfitlic
A breath of fresh air!
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2024