Three Simple Words

What an exciting story about author Wes Hartley and Two Stories book store owner Annie Denning.
After his 1st book Down This Road hits the NY Best Sellers list Wes decides to leave NY and come home to Chicago, in hopes of breaking through his writers block. With the a wedge between him and his father, he calls his best friend Jeremy to see if he knows of a place he can crash. Jeremy does one better and not only offers him a room at his place, but offers him a part time position at the bar he works at, in exchange he asks Wes to do a book signing at his sisters book store that is having financial troubles. In high school Wes had a crush on Annie, so he's not only happy to help, but needs to hide how excited he is about it. One draw back.....
Annie hates his book and says it's a —no happily ever after—not-a-romance, who's *character Ethan, has women swooning for him right and left, almost all of them saying they love him—and he never returns the sentiment (*direct book quote). *Other than some pretty sensational sex scenes Ethan, the not-a-romance hero, is the most shallow, vapid, self-serving fictional human I’ve ever read. He takes and takes and takes but claims he cannot give. (*Direct book quote).
Can Wes change Annie's mind about his book? Can Wes get over his high school crush, or has it turned into more? You'll have to read THREE SIMPLE WORDS to find out, but I absolutely completely enjoyed this story. I wanted to share more favorite quotes, but they'd given away too much information. So here's just a few that won't spoil the story! Now I want to read SIX MONTH RULE & THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. I received an ARC via IndieSage through NetGalley in exchange for an honest blog tour review. Due to sexual content this novel is recommended for readers 18 and older!
FAVORITE PASSAGES ~~
- “Drunk on the nearness of her, on the warm, sweet scent of home.
- “Am I gonna be as much trouble for you as you are for me?”
- Why did it matter so much whether or not he believed that love could conquer all?

Another amazing return to the Kingston Ale House!!

Annie is a bookstore owner who believes in happily ever afters. Her bookstore needs help though and her brother's best friend just happens to be a best selling author who agrees to do a signing on short notice. So what if she hated his book.... Everyone else seems to love it. Wes had a huge crush on Annie in high school and wants to show her that he's not the same kid he was back then. So, he doesn't believe in happily ever afters, that's not what either of them is looking for right now.

This book can be read as a standalone but you should read the ones that came before it because they were equally as good as this one. I loved the check-ins with the characters from the previous books. Annie and Wes' banter was hilarious and these two couldn't be more perfect for each other. I'm really looking forward to Jeremy's story next!!

*This is a voluntary review of an Advanced Reader Copy.*

Annie is a bookshop owner and romance blogger. She believes in happily ever after and knows she will get hers someday. Wes is a romance author who doesn't believe in happily ever after. He's the confirmed bachelor who writes about confirmed bachelors. He's also Annie's brothers best friend who just so happened to have a huge crush on Annie when they were kids.

This book felt like I was reading a romance novel inside a romance novel. You got the player trope and the brothers best friend trope. Add in the heroine who believes she can change the player and show him he can love after all while hiding their relationship from the brother. It was pretty comical to read a romance novel while the hero and heroine are arguing whether life is like romance novels. It was well written and yes, we do get a HEA. There is a bit of other women drama with all the real life woman the hero based his book on but there is no cheating. ARC provided by NetGalley.