Peanut by Lucy Watson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Heat Level: 🔥
Release Date: March 25, 2022
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author.
SYNOPSIS
A slow-burn friends-to-lovers standalone featuring Nick from Shortcake.
Note to self:
Next time your life falls apart, don’t hobble your broken ass back to your hometown to hide out. You think it will buy you time to glue yourself back together, but it won’t.
Why not?
Nicolas freaking MacGregor.
You remember him, right? Your stepbrother’s best friend. The boy you shared secrets with and maybe-loved once. The boy you asked to be your first kiss.
The one who shattered your glass heart into a million pieces.
Well, that Nick rents your grandpa’s guest house now. And yep, he still has boundary issues.
FYI, the lanky skater boy with a sweet smile and crooked glasses has turned into a tattooed Viking with a devilish grin and a body of lean-muscled perfection you will not think about. Ever.
You’re wiser now, Riley, so I know you won’t fall for him again. Right?
PS: When he smiles and his cheek creases in that near-dimple way, run.
Trigger Warnings: childhood abuse (not shown); mentions of weight (no sizes or scale numbers); discussions of mental health, including PTSD and anxiety; cheating ex (not shown); violence (in flashback); body shaming (by parent); cursing and vulgar language; explicit sexual content.
REVIEW
I just finished binge reading Peanut and this book…this book took my whole heart and ripped it apart and then put it back together again. Seriously I was sobbing into my pillow while staying up way too late reading this amazing book. I knew after reading and loving Shortcake that I needed the next book in the series ASAP and Lucy did not disappoint!
Peanut follows the story of Riley and Nick. These two group up together and shared their deepest darkest secrets with one another…until they didn’t anymore. Riley up and left to LA to pursue a dancing career and Nick stayed back to become a prolific tattoo artist. Riley is back after being gone for over a decade. Broke and needing a place to stay she ends up crashing at her grandfather’s house only to find out that her neighbor is – yep you guessed it – Nick. Will these two pick up their easy friendship? Even though Riley has always longed for more than that from Nick and he’s always shot her down.
I honestly cannot put into words how much I loved this book. I binge read it and every time I would look down to see what percentage I was at I wished there was more to this book. More Nick and Riley. More of the crew together again. More angst and swooniness and lovely lovely words written by the talented Lucy Watson.
At times, Peanut was not an easy read. But the writing was always beautiful and really tugged at my heartstrings. The love that Riley and Nick had for one another was so damn sweet and I was rooting for these two to get together right from the beginning. Their journey was filled with so much emotion.
Not only did I love Riley and Nick’s journey, but every single secondary character had an important part of the story. Nick’s co-workers and friends at the tattoo parlor were so much fun! When they were on the page I was guaranteed to be laughing. It was also a treat to see Nick’s friends from Shortcake including a few scenes featuring Ben & Emelia who I loved!
If you love a swoony, angsty, second chance, slow burn romance I would highly recommend you pre-order Peanut!
CW(from Lucy herself): childhood abuse (not shown); mentions of weight (no sizes or scale numbers); discussions of mental health, including PTSD and anxiety; cheating ex (not shown); violence (in flashback); body shaming (by parent); cursing and vulgar language; explicit sexual content
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