. .
Falling for my childhood sweetheart wasn’t part of the plan.
Moving back to Heather Bay wasn’t on Oliver’s agenda for the summer, but after inheriting a cottage in dire need of renovation he doesn’t have much choice. Supervising the builders should be easy… except the man in charge is Oliver’s childhood best friend and ex-boyfriend.
Lane’s spent nine years desperately trying to forget his first love, but that doesn’t stop him from fantasising about Oliver in every spare moment once he discovers Oliver’s back in town. Falling into bed together isn’t supposed to mean anything, even if Lane’s emotions feel too big to be ignored.
Being drawn to each other is one thing, but being stuck together after disaster strikes the renovations is another. The pull of the past is strong but Oliver and Lane have been down this road before. This time they’ll need to learn from their mistakes so they can finally keep their promises.
Like I Promised is a steamy second-chance contemporary MM romance featuring former childhood sweethearts, interfering friends, questionable barbecues, a very lazy collie, cosy coffee shops, and secret beaches.
Title: Like I Promised
Series: Heather Bay (Book One)
Release Date: 21st July 2022
Author: Charlie Novak
Cover Design: Natasha Snow
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions
I took a step closer until we were side by side. There was barely any space between us. I turned my head to look at him and found Oliver’s beautiful dark eyes gazing back at me.
“I missed you,” I said. “I missed you so much. There were days when all I wanted to do was talk to you—about work, about Sparrow, about some random shit I’d seen on TV. About everything.”
“I wanted to do the same, especially that first year. Everything was so hard. I didn’t know anyone, I felt so alone and isolated, and I kept wondering if I’d made a mistake moving away.”
Something deep inside me cracked as Oliver spoke. I knew we were both to blame for what had happened between us, but it didn’t stop guilt from spilling into my chest. My hand brushed against his.
I love a good second chance romance. Going back home to your small town. Faced with the guy you loved all your life but he chose to stay home while you went to college. And as soon as they see each other again **sparks**.
After literally not speaking for nine years, Lane and Oliver kind of fell right back into being friends. Probably because they started as friends when they were kids. But even with time and two broken hearts, they were meant to be.
I loved that neither one was all pissy at the other for what had happened. They both accepted fault and figured it was inevitable at the time. Imagine that, being all mature.
Then there’s the forced proximity. That always leads to sexy times.
It was fun to have characters from another book show up in this one AND there are big hints that another character will make an appearance. I love that because you get to revisit guys you fell in love with previously.
There is a lot of reminiscing, not only between Oliver and Lane, but also with their group of friends. Friends Oliver lost when he went away to college as well. Of course there are some newcomers to the group who are really interesting and I hope we get their stories as well.
No big drama. No bg angst. No big fight, subsequent break up and make up. Just two guys who know what they want and are willing to work for it. Oh and the sex scenes about lit my Kindle on fire. I kind of wish that had been explored a bit more. But I’m not complaining.
4 pieces of eye candy 
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Charlie lives in England with her husband and two cheeky dogs. She spends most of her days wrangling other people’s words in her day job and then trying to force her own onto the page in the evening.
She loves cute stories with a healthy dollop of fluff, plenty of delicious sex, and happily ever afters — because the world needs more of them.
Charlie has very little spare time, but what she does have she fills with baking, Dungeons and Dragons, reading and many other nerdy pursuits. She also thinks that everyone should have at least one favourite dinosaur…
You can find her at charlienovak.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter, on Twitter and Instagram as @charlienwrites and you can join her Facebook reader group Charlie’s Angels for cover reveals, sneak peaks and general book shenanigans!
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