Book: Calling Me by Louise Bay

I received a digital ARC copy via Netgalley for the purposes of providing an unbiased review.

Ashleigh and Luke have been friends for a long time - he's her best friend's brother. For much of that time, Ash has been in love with Luke, while Luke has never shown more than friendly interest in Ashleigh. From her perspective, he's a lost cause, and she's made an effort to date other men, even feeling like anyone else will be settling for second best.

Then Luke's longtime live-in girlfriend starts talking marriage and children. He thinks maybe there's something wrong with him, because the very idea gives him the heeby-jeebies. He's never even taken her to Sunday dinner at his sister's, for crying out loud. It doesn't take Luke long to realize he doesn't feel the same way his girlfriend does, and he breaks it off, starts spending more time with his sister and Asleigh.

Luke fairly quickly cottons to the fact that he actually *enjoys* spending time with Ashleigh, and the idea of marrying her doesn't make him want to run screaming from the planet. It takes a LOT more to convince Ashleigh Luke's sudden-seeming turnaround is for real.

The move from friends to lovers is satisfyingly slow, and even after they've become lovers, Ash and Luke's core relationship remains solid - their affectionate bickering and sarcastic sniping keep right on going, and they continue to have fun with each other.

This book is the second in a series - the first one being Luke's sister's story. The base relationships, though, were easy enough to get into, and I didn't feel like I missed anything by not having read that one first.

Calling Me was a hit for me, an unexpected one, and I'll definitely be checking out Louise Bay's future works. And finding that first book. :)