Second chance and friend-to-lovers are my top two favorite romance tropes and this story does them both justice in huge way. I didn’t think that Anyta Sunday could top her fourth book in this series, Finley Embraces Heart and Home but she sure comes close with Eliot, Song of the Soulmate.

Unlike most Anyta Sunday books, this one isn’t exactly a slow-burn but it’s not all hot and heavy right away either. Elliot and Wentworth meet in high-school and fall in love. They fool around and a little more but there is nothing explicit. They begin to make plans for their future. Wentworth has dreams of becoming a famous song writer and he is good, really good. When life throws a curve ball at Elliot all of their plans fall apart.

Fifteen years later have Elliot and Wentworth working for the same company on the set of a new movie. Wentworth is still bitter about what happened years ago and Elliot wants to tell him what really happened but it’s hard for him to talk to Wentworth. When Elliot and Wentworth act as stand-ins for the actors so that the lighting can be adjusted properly for a big love scene, I thought I might spontaneously combust. This was one of the most lovely and erotic scenes that I’ve read in a book in quite some time.

I suppose if you’ve read Jane Austen’s “Persuasion” you might have some idea of what this story is about but I haven’t read that book. I just know that parts of this story nearly ripped my heart out and I was glad that I had tissues handy.

Goodreads indicates that there will be one more book in this series. The Love, Austen series has reminded me of all the things I loved about the first series I ever read by Anyta Sunday (Signs of Love) and I will be sorry to see it end.

Reviews for Anyta Sunday

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“Annnnd, excuse us.” Elliot cuffed Wentworth around the arm and pulled. And pulled. “Yeah, you’re going to have to move, big boy.”

“Big boy?” Wentworth looked intrigued.

“Stop it.”

“Man, the big boy bit was all you.”

“You make me funny in the head.” Elliot pulled more insistently and Wentworth folded into it, allowing himself to be dragged out into the foyer. The heat under the soft material of his sweater made Elliot’s hand feel weirdly light. He let go hurriedly. “We can’t be friends now.”

“Why not?”

“I’d never be able to bring you home and look my mum in the face again.”

“You can always hang out on The Frederick. My houseboat.”

Elliot halted. “Your what now?”

“Dad and Jane and I live on a boat. I have no problems bringing you home and looking him in the face.”

“I don’t swim. I’m not hopping on a boat.”

Wentworth was once again leaning against a wall, one foot crossed over the other, arms folded, lazy smile tipping his lips. “If we cannae hang oot at your place, and you wullnae set foot on mine . . .”

“Exactly! Whatever weird fancy you had here, it’s a lost cause.”

Wentworth narrowed his eyes in concentration. “Elliot?”

He pushed off the wall; it halved the distance between them to a foot. One silly little foot, and it was both the shortest and the longest distance of Elliot’s life. Their eyes met. Such a brilliant, midnight blue . . .

“I’m a very stubborn guy. Think of me like an oak, roots deep in the ground. Immoveable. When I make my mind up about something, I see it through. And my mind was made up last night. I want—”

“To get to know me,” Elliot finished for him, hands on hips, frowning.

“Yes, but more than that.”

“You want to be my friend.”

“More than that.”

“My best friend?”

Wentworth shook his head.

Elliot froze and whispered, “My boyfriend?”

Wentworth paused, and again shook his head. Elliot wrung out a relieved breath. Electricity shot around his body at the mere thought of being Wentworth’s boyfriend. Unbearable.

Yes, unbearable. But . . . Also thrilling?

Wentworth met Elliot’s eye. “I want to be your husband.”

Love, Austen Series

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