Make Me: A widow, single mom romance (Blue Collar Romance Book 3), by Evelyn Sola

Publication: September 17, 2021

About:

Make Me is part of the Blue Collar Romance series, a multi-author series of standalone novels. Welcome to Oak Bend, where blue-collar hotties work hard and love even harder, especially when it comes to landing their happily ever after.

Laci Hogan isn’t looking for love when she moves back to Oak Bend. Coming home is all about Laci gaining the independence she once lost. Besides, getting over a rocky past and losing her husband is more than enough for her to juggle while raising her two-year-old daughter but old acquaintance – Cooper Stevens can be persistent when it comes to getting what he wants.

No stranger to hard work, he’s willing to do all it takes to prove to his new neighbor Laci that she doesn’t have to do life alone and that with the right person, a relationship makes life better – oh so much better.

Will Cooper make her see that this could be all the happiness she never knew she was looking for?

Welcome to Oak Bend where blue-collar hotties work hard and love even harder, especially when it comes to landing their happily ever after.

My Review

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Evelyn Sola’s Make Me, the second in The Blue Collar Romance series!

In this book, we get Cooper and Laci’s stories who went to high school together while Laci was temporarily living with her aunt. Laci’s unique, mixed-race looks made her an outcast and subject to mean-girl Candace’s bullying, but Cooper was immediately taken with her. Fast forward several years later, Laci and her young daughter, Ivy have moved into Cooper’s rental home right next door to him. As soon as Ivy spots Cooper’s dog, they become fast buddies while Cooper tries to figure out how to get Laci to trust him and give him a chance.

First of all, it was a rocky road getting Laci and Cooper together because he had off and on dated Candace who still as adults, constantly bullied Laci. Laci was reluctant to give him a chance because of his connection to Candace and for fear of getting her heart broken down the line. However, once they finally got together the chemistry was off the charts with these two! Besides being incredibly sweet and caring, Cooper was about as sexy as a girl could dream for. Swoon….

Anyway, there are some possible triggers in the book involving both weight shaming and racism but only from the villain, Candace, so it almost just makes you pity her for being so insecure rather than “feel sorry for” Laci. I think Laci is an amazing role model for any young woman being “fat-shamed” or made fun of about their skin color in that she handled herself with grace while her inner dialogue indicated that she felt good about her body weight and figure. So go Laci!

This is overall, a feel-good romance. Cooper and his family were wonderful, Laci and her daughter were wonderful, and it just felt so right with them all together. There is some heavy conflict involving Laci’s mother and the history of their relationship, in addition to, the drama with Candace. But overall, this is a fantastic read with the perfect balance of sweet and sexy!

*Thanks to The Indie Pen PR for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!