All My Life

So, I am currently loving the single dad trope, I was excited to read this after looking at the blurb, I hadn't seen the front cover which depicts a younger child sat on a male's shoulders, suggesting a younger child in the story but this younger child turns out to be 17 yrs old, so this didn't bother me as such, which I'm glad I didn't know because I really enjoyed the story - it was really sweet and quite true to life as far as I was concerned, I could totally relate to this and see this happening, for me it was a great story line!!

Set in the small town of Eden Valley, the mayor's son, local golden boy Garrett ends up getting his girlfriend Sheena pregnant, becoming the talk of the town and being shunned and avoided by everyone, like teenage pregnancy could be catching!! Baby Mia is born, and Sheena walks away from both Garrett and her daughter signing away any parental rights, leaving Garrett to raise the baby girl by himself, knowing she was not made of 'Mom' stuff!

The only person who was there to help him was his best friend who he had grown up with, Devlyn, who just couldn't stand by and see Garrett do everything by himself - Devlyn had been in love with Garrett since she was little, and would always be there to help her friend, no matter what trouble it caused with her parents. Eventually the small town of Eden Valley saw how much Mia meant to Garrett and rallied round behind him.

Mia is now graduating from school and in her speech she gives all the recognition to her dad and how he raised her by himself, she didn't want to go off to college and leave her dad all alone, asking if any woman wanted to date him, which went viral on social media, causing a major influx of women wanting to date Garrett.

So this story is told in dual perspectives from Devlyn and Garrett's POV, fliting back in time through Mia and her growing up. I loved the story, don't get me wrong, but I was also a little frustrated at times, especially with Devlyn having just waited around for 20 yrs for Garrett, always being in the friend zone. Unrequited love is the worst kind, yet she always put Garrett and Mia first and did what was best for them, always putting herself in the background.

Garrett was lovely with his daughter, putting her needs before anything else, and of course he is a man and is clueless as to how much Devlyn loves him and his daughter. This also frustrated me a little, how can he not know her feelings for him, Devlyn was always there for him and Mia no matter what, but as I said that's men for you, so yes I get this.

So when they eventually get together its like the jigsaw pieces falling into place, it's sweet and romantic, the chemistry between them is electric, but best of all they are friends who know how to be with each other, it's just so easy them being together. This is when the penny drops with Garrett and he starts to see just how much he has relied on Devlyn over these past years. This is also when someone appears in their life that causes mega disruption and heartache all round.

I really enjoyed this story, its sweet, romantic, funny, sexy, swoony and emotional - a great single dad / friends to lovers read that really is worth the read.

While most seventeen year old guys are carefree and possibly heading to college, Garrett Hollis was changing diapers and single handedly raising his baby daughter, Mia. What began as a holiday romance with his daughter’s mother ended in a situation that literally left him holding the baby.

He’s admirable in the way he shoulders the responsibility and the proof is in the pudding when his now seventeen year old daughter is Valedictorian of graduating high school class. Her gratitude to her father is humbling, so much so it’s the topic of her speech. Her hopes for him now is to find love and fulfil the moments he missed out on when he was raising her.

Mia’s heartfelt speech gains social media attention and it’s not long before it goes viral. In turn it brings with it an influx of women to the town hoping to bag themselves the catch that is Garrett. Although not at all keen Garrett agrees to go on three dates to keep Mia happy. In all the craziness he’s grateful for the sanity that is his best friend, Devlyn Drake.

‘DD’ has had the title of best friend for almost 20 years, and for everyone of them she has wished for something more. She’s been there for both Garrett and Mia and as much as she loves them the hurt of being on the outside looking in is becoming too much to bear. I have to admit I was looking forward to the torture of the unrequited love but I felt things moved quite quickly without any significant change to their dynamic. The reappearance of Mia’s mother was another was a source of conflict but to me she felt caricature of a villain.

Although not quite the heart-wrectching romance I hoped for, All my Life was a sweet friends to lovers romance with small town charm.

The second I read the synopsis of this book I knew if there was ever going to be a book that was perfect for me, this was that book. I can’t get enough of unrequited love and poor Devlyn has the worst case I’ve seen. This woman (who I think I’m a little in love with) has put her own wants and needs on the back burner for years, she’s got a heart of gold and I just adored her. In fact this could be the one time that I have absolutely no complaints about the main female character in a book....ever! I’m usually quite hard to be won over by female leads but that wasn’t the case with Devlyn. Her history with Garrett is complicated but she’s always shown that when she says she isn’t going anywhere, she means it.

Garrett surprised me. I expected to get frustrated beyond belief at him but that wasn’t the case at all. I loved him. Once he’d pulled his head out his ... and realised just how much Devlyn has done for him, it’s like he was a different man. I love a single dad and there’s few dads out there more dedicated than Garrett is. He’s an amazing dad and his daughter is his world <<< nothing sexier in a man than that.

I adored this story. It gave me all the feels and even though I went in to this book with super high expectations, Prescott Lane gave me everything I wanted and more with Devlyn and Garrett story.