Only With You (Man Enough: Book 4) by Nicole McLaughlin

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Swerve

Date of publication: June 5th, 2018

Genre: Romance

Trigger: (highlight if you want to read it): talk of sexual abuse, talk of past drug/alcohol use

Series: Man Enough

All I Ask – Book 1

Along Came Us – Book 2

Should’ve Been You – Book 3

Only With You – Book 4

Where you can find Only With You: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The men in Nicole McLaughlin’s Man Enough series are tough Alphas devoted to serving their country and the women who love them.

National Guardsman Aiden King has been attracted to Hannah Walters for a while, but he never made a move because of her close relationship with his best friend. But when circumstances change, Aiden is surprised when his friend gives his blessing. Problem is, there’s a reason he’s still alone after all these years, and as much as he wants her, that secret keeps him from acting on his desires.

Hannah has finally decided to wait for the kind of love you read about in books and see in movies. After her failed engagement, Aiden’s unassuming support has become a touchstone for Hannah. It soon becomes apparent that he may be exactly the kind of man she’s been looking for. But the closer they become, the more he keeps her at arm’s length.

When Aiden suggests a road trip to take Hannah’s mind off her troubles, the two of them go on a journey neither one expected. She just hopes that the final destination is them together for good.

My review:

When I read the blurb for Only with You, I knew that I was going to like the book. It was the blurb made me read the book. I read the blurb of a book and forget it as soon as I start reading. I have been burned by too many blurbs incorrectly summing up the story or just being horrible. I am happy to say that Only with You’s blurb lives up to the book.

While Only with You is the 4th book in the Man Enough series, it can be read as a stand-alone….for the most part. I am not going to go into my rant about how I dislike picking a book up mid-series. If you have followed my blog long enough, you know how I feel. I don’t like starting a book and not knowing what is going on. The whole Hannah/her sister/Hannah’s best friend triangle is what I am talking about. I had no clue what was going on or what the backstory was and it drove me batty. Other than that, the book can be read on its own.

I did like the finesse how the author wrote about Aiden’s secret. I did figure it out pretty early in the book. My heart hurt for him and, later in the book, his mother. I couldn’t see how Aiden’s grandmother was blind to what was going on under her roof. When he finally did tell Hannah his secret, I loved how she reacted. She reacted exactly how a person should act when being told something like that. She didn’t treat him any different either.

I liked Aiden but there were times where I wished that he would open up more to Hannah. I felt her frustration at his one-word answers. As a reader, it annoyed the heck out of me too. But, in hindsight, his reluctance to talk was understandable. It drove me (and Hannah) bat poop crazy.

While I liked Hannah, I thought that she was too indecisive about her relationship with Aiden. She did than she didn’t. Then she didn’t know then she did and then she didn’t again. All her flip-flopping around started giving me a headache. And it led Aiden on. Which wasn’t cool. I did like that she had a weakness for estate sales. It made her seem more human.

Aiden and Hannah’s first sex scene made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I was uncomfortable because of Aiden’s reaction before, during and after sex. While justified, his reactions prevented me from enjoying that sex scene. Now the other sex scenes were super hot. Aiden and Hannah were on fire.

The romance between Aiden and Hannah was a slow burn one. There was no Instalove. They started off as friends and eased into the relationship. I loved it!!! The only thing I didn’t like was that Hannah was so flip-floppy about them being together. That drove me nuts.

The end of the book was your typical HEA. I did get a chuckle out of what happened at the very ending. That would be something that would happen to me.

What I liked about Only with You:

A) How Aiden’s secret was written.

B) No Instalove

C) The blurb

What I disliked about Only with You:

A) Hannah’s flip-flopping about their relationship

B) Aiden and Hannah’s first sex scene

C) Aiden’s one-word answers

I would give Only with You an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

There are trigger warnings in Only with You. If you want to find out what they are, highlight the trigger section. Because they are major spoilers, I will not discuss them. I will say that if you are triggered by those then I suggest you don’t read the book.

Only with You is a book that I would recommend to family and friends. This is also a book that I would reread.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, Swerve, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Only with You.

All opinions stated in this review of Only with You are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**