Book Review | Only With Me – Brooke Montgomery (Sugarland Creek Series, Book Four

Only With Me
By: Brooke Montgomery

Series: Sugarland Creek
Book # in Series: 4 of 5
Genre: Small Town/Western Romance
Trope: Age Gap, Forbidden, Angst, Sister’s Ex Boyfriend.
Publisher: Brooke Writes Romance, LLC
Publication Date: October 25th, 2024
My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮
My Reading Format: I was given an Advanced Copy to review honestly.

Synopsis:

A forbidden age gap stand-alone from small-town romance author Brooke Montgomery about a girl who connects with a mysterious man and her sister’s older ex-boyfriend who knows he should stay away…

Looking back, I shouldn’t have sent a half-naked photo to the group chat.

But when someone asks about a specific horse saddle, I caution them to be careful or their ass will look like mine—covered in bruises.

While everyone makes inappropriate jokes, a guy who recently joined shows concern about my well-being. Turns out, “bruising like a peach” isn’t normal.

One innocent photo turns into more and soon we’re texting every day.

The only problem—I have no idea who he is or his age.

Even so, I find myself smiling at his messages and wanting to know more about him.

Until the time comes when we’re supposed to finally meet and he stands me up.

At the advice of my best friend, I sign up for a dating app because I’m not about to let one guy ruin it for me. But one after another, they either stop responding or block me.

After stumbling across my sister’s older ex-boyfriend on the same app, I ask him for advice. I beg him to teach me how to please a man and how to have more sexual confidence.

When he reluctantly agrees, things evolve between us, lines get crossed, and I find myself falling for the wrong person.

Except, I can’t shake this uneasy feeling about the mystery guy from the group chat—the one who never showed up.

But people don’t just vanish without a trace in a Southern small town.

Only With Me is book 4 in the Sugarland Creek series. Each book in this Southern, small town series is a stand-alone and ends in a happily ever after.

honey-script.light

Out of all the novels in the Sugarland Creek Series that Brooke Montgomery has written for us, this novel was the hardest for me to read on an emotional level. My dad passed away four years ago, and that pain still lives with me every single day. My good days are just now starting to outweigh my bad days. It’s taken me a few days to get my thoughts processed in a state where I’m ready to sit down and write this review. I have to say, Brooke Montgomery eased my heart into the outcome that had me in tears. It wasn’t a shock element, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for taking her time with this situation. I also had a grandfather, my pawpaw, who lost both of his legs to diabetes. I, like Harlow’s character, watched him become a shell of a person he once was. So, to say this novel was an emotional read for me would be an understatement of the century. She definitely hit the emotions flawlessly with this story, the characters, and their situations. My heart had no choice but to give this one a five-star rating for all the depth and character growth. I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Now that I finished with this somewhat trigger warning above, let’s get to the root of the story. That root being Harlow and Waylon finding their amazingly and sometimes awkward, happily ever after.

Harlow is starting to rise above the shadow that encased her when she was brutally and physically assaulted as a teenager. Now, she’s twenty and ready to live her life as free and fulfilling as she possibly can. When she meets a mysterious guy on her local horse group chat, she feels an instant connection with the faceless and nameless man. All she knows is, he’s the person that brightens her mornings and makes everything feel a little okay in her world with an ill dad and a mother and sister who have to work to provide for their family. When I said my heart shattered for this woman, I mean every single word. There wasn’t a moment when I didn’t feel the tears on a constant threatening to escape. Harlow is, by far, my favorite character in this series. I loved how she faced the world and her situation with a smile on her face and a fierce will to fight the threats that come knocking on her door. She’s also honorable when it comes to family being her number one priority. And any guy she dates is going to have to understand that notion or walk away. Oh my heart! I loved Harlow’s character.

And then we have Waylon. This man is a rock for everyone he holds near and dear to his heart, especially his brother. Brooke Montgomery had me crying in the freaking prologue!! From that moment on, I knew that would not be the last time I would shed a tear while reading this book. Waylon lives his life on constant alert due to his twin brother, Wilder’s mental health issues. There’s no time for love in his life, so when he’s randomly invited to a horse club chat, by his best friend, he figures he’ll see if he can offer advice now and again. What he doesn’t expect is to meet a mysterious woman who he’s attracted to just from conversation alone… but what happens when he shows up on the day they are supposed to meet face to face and recognizes his ex-girlfriend’s younger sister is the woman he’s been connecting with….. OH DRAMA! My heart darn near burst out of my chest at that moment! I’m not going to spoil the outcome for you. You all just have to get your hands on the book to see for yourselves!

One thing I loved about this novel was the unfiltered raw passion. If you love your romance novels a bit more on the steamy side of the romance spectrum, this is definitely the novel for you. I loved the age gap concept, and I loved the older sister’s ex-boyfriend concept even more. Both tropes are starting to become my absolute favorite! I love the forbidden vibes throughout this novel, and I even loved the slight secret relationship vibes. Harlow and Waylon had my heart beating out of control with all their sexy time lessons. WHEW! You should all keep a hand fan by you at all times! But on a serious note, it’s not just the sexy times that had me loving these two. I also loved the chemistry and connection that flowed between them from the very start. I loved how these two became the type of friends who could talk about anything, no matter how awkward the topic of conversation was. There was an element of trust that formed between them. Brooke Montgomery stole my heart with Harlow and Waylon’s story.

Overall, if you love age gap romances with a forbidden vibe, sultry sexy time scenes, and a relationship that can withstand the hands of time, you should read Only With Me by Brooke Montgomery If you also like your romances to be emotional and angsty as hell, the same thing applies! There is one more book left to be written in the Sugarland Creek Series, and honestly, I’m not sure it’s going to be possible for me to enjoy another couple as much as I enjoyed reading Harlow and Waylon’s story! I don’t think it’ll be possible, but Brooke Montgomery has proved me wrong in the past. We shall see!!

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