True story, I had utterly and fantastically given up on Lauren Layne. She writes shit NA, at least IMO. She even seemed to write shit second chance heroes in those books. Which is, like, really really tough for me. Second chance & proximity are my drug. Then I saw some friends saying the Oxford series was worth a shot, and because their tastes line up with mine, I gave it a go.

I'm not sorry. These have still been 3-4 star range (NA of Layne's tended to fall in 1-3 star range iirc) so they aren't anything I'm shouting from the mountaintops about or anything but they are really pretty cute and delightful. And yes, even a bit hot. Jackson Burke did it for me. Yes, their relationship veered into a bit of weird territory. I didn't adore the ex's prominent and, frankly, complicated position in this book, but I did like Jackson. And weirdest of all, I found him so so relatable. What is a QB without a football, after all? And without his team? And without his Texas? I'm dealing with oddly similar questions in the context of my own life, so I really understood his struggle with his identity. He didn't come off as too bitter, just kind of hurt, confused,and sorrowful, but in a very understandable and relatable way.

The heroine was sweet and tough. She was a great one. In the end, even with the complications of their relationship and the weirdness, I really rooted for this couple. They just seemed to deserve one another.

And that kitchen scene...yum....

Which makes me think again of this scene in another book where a hero licked the heroine's spine and I about died...I wish I could remember what book that was.

And thanks to the LL fans who convinced me to give her another chance. I think I even liked this one more than most of you! 3.5 ( )

My attention was captured from the first. The introduction to Mollie gave the story the touch it needed. Mollie and Jackson are so adorable together. More relaxed and open. They bring out the best in each other. The friends to lovers theme with a twist. I received an ARC of I Wish You Were Mine in exchange for an honest review. The friends with benefits storylines have been done to death but Lauren Layne had me within five seconds of opening this novel. The history between Mollie and Jackson proved to be an obstacle but Ms. Layne delivered a story that is as special as the characters. ( )

I am super excited to be reading another Lauren Layne book and to be very blunt, when I read the synopsis for the book I knew I couldn’t let it slip through my fingers!
Mollie has love one man all of her life, but it is an unrequited love of epic proportion! You see Mollie is in love with her brother in law Jackson, well I should actually say ex-brother in law and best friend…also roommate, so when Mollie goes big, she REALLY goes big.
Mollie suffered through years of watching her sister manipulate Jackson; but after Jackson’s career ending accident and subsequent divorce, Mollie feels like Jackson has been hiding from her. So it all come to a head, after they meet up and it ends up with Mollie moving in and soon sparks ignite, until the past comes back to haunt them.
I will give you a heads up that this book is mainly from Jackson’s point of view, which is why I gave you a taster of Mollie’s above. This book is riveting and it sucked me in from the beginning. I absolutely loved all of Jackson’s co-workers at Oxford Magazine, I despise Madison, but the show stealer is Lincoln! Oh my goodness I love him and I am completely desperate to know his secret!
The writing, plot and characters are simply perfect and left me wanting more! Which just means that I Wish You Were Mine is simply perfect, so I give it 5 stars.
( )

Of course I liked this book. Lauren Layne wrote it so that is kind of a given. I do have to say that this is my least favorite Lauren Layne book that I have read so far. I will admit that I didn't read the description before grabbing it. I saw the name on the cover and that was the end of my thought process when it came to selecting this book. This was probably a mistake on my end because I may have thought twice about reading this book if I had known that it was going to be about sisters.

I should probably say up front that for me there are certain lines that are never to be crossed. Never. Dating your sister's former husband isn't even in grey territory for me. It is way over the line that should never be crossed. I do try to just go with a situation in a fictional book because...well, because it is fiction. I had really hoped that the focus of the book would be squarely put on Mollie and Jackson and I could just kind of forget about the sister/ex-wife. Nope. The sister/ex-wife was in the book all the time so there was no forgetting about it.

There were parts of the book that I did really like. Jackson's personal growth during the story was really nice to watch. I loved it when he realized that his dreams had changed as his life had changed. Mollie was really pretty awesome when she wasn't being walked on by her ridiculous sister. I did sense the chemistry between the pair from the very beginning of the story.

Madison was really a piece of work. She was actually pretty easy to hate in this story. Madison and Mollie were definitely at opposite ends of the sister spectrum. I didn't like her presence in the book. I don't think that she added anything to the story except a level of discomfort. I get that she was not a nice person and that she was very self centered but that didn't make me feel any better about Mollie starting a relationship with her sister's ex-husband.

I would recommend this book to anyone who can overlook the sisters angle. I did enjoy many parts of the book. I do plan to continue to read Lauren Layne's work including future installments in this series. I am ready for Lincoln's story!

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

This review was also posted at Carole's Random Life. http://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.com/ ( )

Jackson is struggling to settle in his new job and to except the fact really that his career as a famous football quarterback is now over due to a horrible accident. It didn't help any when his wife served him with divorce papers while he was still recovering in a hospital bed and then she accuses him of being unfaithful...which he would never do...but he just wanted out of the marriage at that point. Then her sister turns up, Mollie, he has no problem with Mollie, In fact they've always been friends and she's become quite a looker.
Mollie has had a crush on her ex brother in-law it seems for ever. She meets up with him again and Jackson is stunned how she has change. When his ex learns that Mollie is now spending time with Jackson, she thinks it might be a great opportunity for her to get back into his life.

There's tension between the ex's, and the sister's, and lot's of guilt for Mollie and Jackson. This was a great story, a definite page turner. 5/5 ( )