4.5 Wine Glass #Review of Always My Girl by Samantha Chase

Title: ALWAYS MY GIRL
Series: The Shaughnessy Brothers #3
Author: Samantha Chase
Format: Kindle, 352 Pages
Published: Sourcebooks Casablanca (July 5, 2016)
ISBN: ASIN:B01AO207B0
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Book #3 in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Samantha Chase's dazzling new series.

The Shaughnessy Brother you've been waiting for!

Sometimes the love that's closest to you is the hardest to see.

Quinn Shaughnessy's two older brothers have found their true loves ... but Quinn's not about to join that parade. Nope, as he tells his best friend Anna, there's a lot more to life than getting tied down to one person. He's positive tomboy Anna will be on his side - except she's inexplicably developing other interests - even dating! Suddenly Quinn is seeing Anna in a very different light.

Quinn has been Anna's buddy since they were both five years old. She can tell him anything - except the one big secret she's been hiding for years - that she's fallen in love with him. Now Anna is determined to make a life for herself that doesn't include pining for Quinn. Falling in love with your best friend? Easy. Telling them how you really feel? Impossible.

Linda's Thoughts:

She'd always been in love with Quinn. Ever since they were kids. She just... she knew. He was the one for her. Her soul mate. The only problem was Quinn didn't feel the same way. She was his pal. His buddy. There'd never once been anything romantic between them, and if he even suspected how she felt, he'd never let on.

I absolutely loved Quinn's and Anna's best-friends-to-lovers story in ALWAYS MY GIRL by Samantha Chase! The cover is delightful, too - it would have drawn me in all by itself. This is a very sweet read with flashbacks to the couple's childhood memories interspersed with the two in the present day. This is the story of Quinn Shaughnessy and Anna Hannigan.

They have a long history having been best friends since grade school when Anna's family moved in next door to the Shaughnessys.

"I love you, Quinn Shaughnessy. From the very first day when we snuck into my house and stole those chocolate chip cookies and then hid behind the jungle gym, I was hooked."

While Anna's feelings for Quinn have evolved over the years into a serious crush, Quinn continues to think of Anna as a tomboy, the  girl-next-door and his best friend. Anna really wants Quinn to see her as a woman, but she doesn't know how to go about that. Quinn has a well-earned reputation as a player. He only seems to be attracted to bimbos - and, even they, only garner his attention for a night or two. Her brother and friends tell her to give up on her fantasy, move on and find her HEA elsewhere.

Quinn sure doesn't expect to meet up with a new version of Anna when he arrives at the beach-side home where his brother's wedding will occur. On the contrary, he expects to be bored out-of-his-mind. He knows his brother's bride-to-be, Zoe, has a few friends attending and he hopes that he can convince one of them to indulge into some pleasurable activities during the long weekend. When he sees a curvy woman sunbathing by the pool, he thinks he's struck gold - until he introduces himself and looks in his best-friend's eyes. He'd never seen her in a bikini before and swallows his tongue knowing he can't hit upon her. His friendship with her is too precious. He does not want to lose what they have and fears that is what would happen if their relationship changed the way his body obviously demands. Now, if he could just get his mind and body to listen!

Samantha took the generic friends-to-lovers storyline, added a dose of tough reality with a slew of trials and tribulations and wrapped the package up tidily with an enchanting HEA. While I wanted to shake Quinn more than once during the telling, he sure said - and meant from the bottom of his heart - the sweetest, most yummiest things. This couple was so genuine - their feelings for each other so strong - that their story came across as intensely real. I was utterly mesmerized.

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from this highly entertaining read:

"You're the devil, you know that, right?"
His smile grew and became just a bit wicked. "You know it, sweetheart."
---

Quinn shucked his jeans but left his boxers on as he crawled on the bed and covered her body - kissing her along the way. "I think one of us is still overdressed," he murmured.
She couldn't help but tease him. "I was wondering why you left your boxers on."
And then he rested his forehead against hers, closed his eyes, and smiled. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?"
She shook her head. "I was hoping to make it... hard. Very, very hard."
---

He reached up and cupped her face in his hands. "Did it ever occur to you that I don't want to share you with anyone else? That maybe now that I've realized how much you mean to me, I want to show you as much as I can? Or maybe, because you're so damn sexy and my every freaking fantasy that I can't wait to get you alone, so I can touch you, kiss you, and love you from head to toe?"

This is the first book from the author's Shaughnessy Brothers' series that I've read - so I can attest that it works well as a stand-alone read, Even so, I still enjoyed connecting with the supporting characters who had obviously been featured in the prior books. Be forewarned that ALWAYS MY GIRL will leave you craving more of the Shaughnessy Brothers! They are all so hot and swoon-worthy! I will be catching up with this series soon. I already have both previous books on my reader!

I've enjoyed every book by Samantha that I've read. That said, this is, hands down, my favorite so far. I highly recommend ALWAYS MY LOVE to anyone who enjoys delectable sweet and hot contemporary romances with completely endearing characters!



Suggested Reading Order: 
Made for Us (Book 1)
Love Walks In (Book 2)
Always My Girl (Book 3)
This Is Our Song (Book 4)