Every Sweet Regret (Orchid Valley #2)

Ive never read anything by Lexi Ryan before, but after reading Every Sweet Regret clearly that is something that I need to rectify ASAP! I loved everything about this story!!

Stella and Kace have out of this world chemistry, but shes the wild child and hes a recently divorced single dad. On paper theyre all wrong for each other, and Stella is resigned to the fact that her childhood turned adult crush will never be more than that, a crush. However, when Kace finds her on a hookup app and the two start flirting, Stella starts wondering if shes finally going to get a real chance with him. She thinks he knows its her on the app, but when she realizes he has no idea, shes already fallen, the question is, has Kace fallen too?

The back and forth between Stella and Kace was gold. The shameless flirting had my laughing out loud at some parts. They are opposites, but they work so well together. This book has some angst thrown in, as well as some twists and turns that I never saw coming. I will say there were some parts that just broke my heart for poor Stella as well as for Kace. I do have to say that there were some points where I wanted to reach through the pages and punch Kace right in his face for being so clueless! This was an absolutely great story, and now I need to go back and read the first book in preparation for the 3rd book!

“Come to the door so I can tell you to your face how I feel.”

Jeez… the feels in this book. I found myself crying when I finished it yesterday, long past my bedtime for someone who has to work the following day. At the same time, it’s such a wonderfully sweet book I also found myself giggling and laughing out loud during some parts of it.

These are both flawed, real, sweet, clueless, and so so so wonderful characters.
Kace is the single dad, seemingly still caught up in his former marriage because he can’t get why it ended and what he did wrong.
Stella is a former party girl, who is looking for something else, but everyone still sees her for who she was. As a result, she still sees herself as a mess and not enough.

“What does she have that I dont?”
Stella’s had feeling for Kace for a long time, but never in a million years did she think he would reciprocate. Because, well, she’s Stella. She’s a screw-up, she made mistakes, one in particular she doesn’t want to share with anyone.
“I wont shave my beard because I dont want Stella to be less attracted to me…”
Kace is so physically attracted to her that their shameless flirting left me giddy at times. But what happens when he realizes flirting has turned into something else? Or maybe that it’s been there all this time?

“I realized I should tell you that Who Framed Roger Rabbit was my favorite movie when I was a kid.”
Not giving too much away regarding how this connects with the book, because you REALLY need to read it, this sentence kind of represents me. This was my favorite movie as a kid. And seeing it in the background of this book brought back feelings as well.

“I want your promises and your smiles and your vulnerable momentsnot perfection.
Bottom line is… there are so many wonderful moments in this book. It is a best friend’s sister, second chance story, yes. But I think it’s mostly a story about life, you know? About one side realizing they need to let go of what happened in the past and realizing they were not to blame, and the other being able to see what they have to offer is more than enough.

And love is often found in perfect moments between imperfect people.

This is going down as one of the best books I read all year.

Lexi Ryan has done again with the story of Kace and Stella. She is the Queen of Angst for a reason.

Kace is a single dad who is recently divorced. While he has always seen how beautiful Stella is, he is still dealing with his unresolved feelings for his ex. Kace tries to keep his interactions with Stella surface level only, but she has been in love with her brothers best friend for as long as she can remember and will settle for nothing more than she deserves. It takes her a while to figure out what that is. You see, she was the wild child who made some questionable decisions in the past, but she is trying to get her life back on track, put her past behind her, and give herself the future she deserves. They both come to the “hook up” app Random for different reasons. While Stella knows who she is talking to, due to no fault of hers, Kace has no idea, and Stella has no clue he’s in the dark. Cue the angst, the drama, the sexy banter, the misunderstandings, the heartbreak, and the healing. Stella struggles with the notion of whether or not people can ever truly escape their past and heal their reputation.

The world building that Lexi does, making us care for each character in the town she creates, has us hanging on for the next book in the series so that we can visit Orchid Valley again. She writes realistic stories of women we could all see ourselves being friends with, and men of strong character we would be lucky to have. Lexi has a beautiful way of tearing her characters down so that she can build them back up into something stronger, and she brings the story to a strong conclusion that it makes the journey worthwhile. I can’t wait for Every Time I Fall, book 3 in the OV series. Nobody does it better than Lexi Ryan.

Kace. Hes mine. Just getting that one out before I keep reading. His internal struggle over his feelings for Stella and his loyalty as well. Hes a complex character which I wasnt expecting but that I totally love about him. Hes interesting, hes fun and I genuinely fell head over heels for him so quickly.

Stella. Ah what can I say. I did struggle to identify with her at the beginning but as I got further into the story, it made sense why she did what she does in this story. There is a lot more to her than meets the eye and personally for me, I like that. People have flaws. It just makes them who they are and I love that she is who she is and feels no need to apologise for it.

I have to say a best friends sister romance is one of my guilty pleasures. I just love them because there is something special about wanting something that seems forbidden. I genuinely find myself sighing even after Ive finished the story. Lexi has managed to weave a tale of love, hope and angst. It reeled me in and refuse to let go of my heart, I love Lexis words generally and this book is no different. I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to read her books and fall in love with Kace and Stella.

Another fabulous story from Lexi Ryan… Kace and Stellas story keeps you glued to the pages from the very beginning, the attraction and flirting between the two of them is undeniable but can it be anything other than that.
Their flirting and easy conversations continue online through a dating app although Kace has no idea that its Stella hes talking too but hes drawn to her personality and enjoys the easy banter they share so it goes on… Stella on the other hand thinks he knows its her.
As the storyline continues disappointment soon sets in and Stellas past comes back to haunt her which doesnt help.
Will Stella ever get lucky in love?
Will Kace get a second chance?
Read it and find out!
Looking forward to Abbis story!

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