*****5 Charming and Wonderful Stars*****

This is a review of Foolish Expectations by Alison Bliss.

Foolish Expectations was another charming, perfectly heated, and completely enjoyable read by Alison Bliss. From the very first word until the very last, I was wowed once again by this author’s undeniable talent for creating such a distinct level of humor and charm, for crafting dynamic characters that jumped rooted themselves right into my heart, and her ability to create an authentic connection that just doesn’t quit. Her writing wholly submerged me into this book, heart first, and I could not stop reading it to save my life, and better yet, I didn’t want to stop because it was just that good.

This book was lively, had the best kind of vibrancy and charm with two unforgettable characters, and it gave me a story with the best level of feels, emotion, and fierce chemistry laced all the way through. Foolish Expectations had it all, and I loved every bit of everything that it was giving me because when you read a book as good as this one, there isn’t anything not to love.

Now it’s no secret that I am a huge fan of Alison Bliss. I have read each and every one of this author’s books, and they just keep getting better and better. Her writing is so fluid and easy to sink right into, and the stories she creates are so thoughtfully crafted that they completely take you over when you’re reading them. She always gives me a story that fantastically blends the right amount of everything into a book that is sure to give you one fulfilling reading experience.

Looking for a book with fierce characters that have a dynamic that will have you equally laughing and smirking and blushing through every page? Then this is the book and author for you. Looking for a story that will completely melt your heart from start to finish, and pull at your emotions in the best and most all-feeling way? Then run yourself, don’t walk yourself, to Foolish Expectations. (Or any of Alison’s other phenomenal books.) Looking for an enrapturing book that packs the most superb level of heat and story and fun and meaning into one fantastic package? Well then you guessed it, Foolish Expectations is for you, and I truly can’t say that enough.

I loved this book, and everything within it. Bailey and Nash’s story was full of their sparkling personalities, their unadulterated chemistry, and more humor, heat, and heart than you can shake a stick at. It had it all, and as I sit here writing this review, I just can’t help wanting and feeling like I need to read their story all over again to experience the literal amazingness that is them.

What I absolutely loved about Foolish Expectations:

• Bailey’s got some fire. Bailey was a character that I completely loved from the start. The fire shot out of that girl like fireworks on the Fourth of July, and I loved that she wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is no matter what. She was spunky and real and that fire that emanated from her made her so easy to love because it showed the fighting spirit she had. What I also loved about that fire was that with it, I also got to see a more vulnerable side to her too. I got to see what happened when that fire went away, and when those doubts and fears came in and how that affected her. Alison Bliss created her character in such a way that she let me understand and get every part of Bailey. She let me understand her fears and trust issues and where they came from, she let me get why she was scared and why she shielded her heart, and she let me get where that fire came from and why Bailey needed it, and that just had me loving her character to pieces. Bailey was strong yet soft, sassy yet guarded in ways too, and a firecracker to say the least, and that is just part of why I loved her so much.
• Nash is a man with a heart of gold. Now Nash Sutherland just about had me from the moment he locked eyes with Bailey in Foolish Expectations, even if she was bound and determined to give that man a run for his money. That man is a charmer, and I truly mean that, as he will have you eating out of the palm of his hand in no time flat because that’s the presence he has. He is charming and sweet and will just about melt your heart every chance he gets, but more than that, he is just an honest to goodness good guy. That’s what shined through the most about him, and that was probably my favorite thing about him. (You know besides the fact that he could melt me with just one look and smile!) He was real and honest and true with his feelings for Bailey, and he was determined to show her that what they were sharing was real and meant something. I loved that that goodness shined through every page of this book, and even when he had those moments of doubts or questions, he was still that good guy I knew him to be, and that just made him golden in my eyes.
• One undeniable connection. Bailey and Nash’s connection hits the ground running from the moment they lock eyes in Foolish Expectations, and it doesn’t stop for a second. Not for one single second. Their connection is full of heat and passion and need, and it’s something that neither of them can deny. As much as they might fight it from time to time, and as much as it might make them a bit unsure of what’s happening between them, it’s there, it’s real, and it’s practically palpable. Alison Bliss creates and evolves that connection in a way that is perfect for what Bailey and Nash are sharing. Though their connection never wavers, she couples that fierce connection with the ups and downs they face in a way that works so well and makes sense for them. It also makes the love story they share that more real, undeniable, and full of heartfelt feeling that you won’t soon forget because of the tangible connection Bailey and Nash share.
• The pains of the past. Both Nash and Bailey have things from their past that come into this story and threaten the connection that they can’t escape. She’s guarded and has trust issues from the last time she opened her heart, and he’s got some family drama that tends to cloud his thinking and reasoning from time to time. They both have pasts and they both have ramifications from those pasts that work their way into this story, and Alison Bliss weaves it all together in a way that fits their characters and everything that they’re sharing in Foolish Expectations. As much as I hated that they had to experience the pain and doubts that their pasts brought them both, I got it, and I completely understood why they felt the things they did because of their pasts. Understanding their pasts made me love them all the more, and it allowed me to understand them both on such a deeper and meaningful level.
• Some good ol’ southern charm. Now like any of Alison’s books, these characters and the world they’re in have the best, and I mean best, southern charm that is sure to have you feeling the southern love in no time. That charm is so distinctive, so vibrant, and so fun, and Alison Bliss weaved it all into Foolish Expectations in the best and most memorable ways. She makes the world of this book come to life with all of that charm and sass, and it makes everything you read in this book that more meaningful, that more fun, and that more undeniably southern in the most fantastic way. I loved that charm and everything it allowed me to feel with Bailey and Nash something fierce, and I truly couldn’t get enough of the vibrancy and effervescent spark that charm gave off through every page.

Foolish Expectations is a story about what happens when life throws you a couple of curve balls you never quite expected. It’s about what happens when you end up down a road you never thought you’d be on, a road full of twists and turns, and a bump or two. It’s about taking risks with your heart, letting go of the past even though it’s hard, and seeing where that new road, that new journey, and all that it has to offer can take you, as long as you give it all a chance and get in the damn car. Let me tell you, you need to get in the damn car and take that chance with Nash and Bailey.

This book was fantastic in every single way. It had dynamic characters that were vibrant, real, and so easy to love and root for. It had a sparkling story that was completely captivating from start to finish, and burst with the best level of connection, charm, and feeling that is sure to melt your heart in more ways than one. It also had Alison Bliss’s phenomenal writing that brought it all to life in the most all-feeling and memorable way that will seriously have you loving this book, these characters, and everything they have to offer in no time flat.

Simply put, Foolish Expectations is a must read book that gives you everything that makes a book exceptional. If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would, because it was that undeniably good, that undeniably fun and heated and wonderful, and that undeniably memorable all the way through. Alison Bliss rocked every single aspect of this book and its characters. She let me be there with them through it all. She let me feel everything they were, she let me understand them in the most authentic of ways, and she invested me whole heartedly in everything that Bailey and Nash were sharing, and it truly doesn’t get better than that.

This is the perfect addition to The Sutherlands Anthology, and I for one can’t wait to experience and get more of this author’s utterly fantastic books, stories, and characters real soon!

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