The Woods Lake series is a series of connected standalone novels with recurring characters that can be read in any order. Each book tells the story of one couple, including their happily ever after. Some scenes and stories occur in multiple books. When this happens, the story is told from a different character’s perspective in each book.
10 years ago, Jenna’s life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a racing accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter-mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries just to get by. The nightmares still come, and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12, and he was 16, he was her brother’s best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco became her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn’t we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave. Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more, but the timing was never right.
Can their 14-year friendship survive the relationship trial he requests? Will this week-long trial be what they need to make things work finally, or will they lose each other in the process?
Content Notes: book contains discussions and references to – anxiety/panic attacks; car accident; death (not a main character); military deployment; and past controlling/manipulative/abusive family relationships Trope List: Best friend’s sister, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, fake relationship, single dad
Excerpt 1
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you, and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
Excerpt 2:
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would, and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen. That’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young."
10 years ago, Jenna’s life changed forever when she watched her brother Ricky die in a racing accident. No longer the outgoing party girl who spends her weekends racing the quarter-mile strip, she spends her days battling anxiety and tries just to get by. The nightmares still come, and the only person who has ever been able to save her from the nightmares in her dreams and the nightmares in her reality is Marco. When she was 12, and he was 16, he was her brother’s best friend. When Ricky died four-years later, Marco became her protector. Now 14 years later, they have been debating the should we or shouldn’t we and have to decide if their friendship can survive the relationship they both crave. Marco has loved Jenna since he was 16 and she was 12. When Ricky died, his mom had Jenna move into their house because she had nowhere else safe. Marco held her every night when the nightmares came for the next year. The friendship has always felt like it was destined to be more, but the timing was never right.
Can their 14-year friendship survive the relationship trial he requests? Will this week-long trial be what they need to make things work finally, or will they lose each other in the process?
Content Notes: book contains discussions and references to – anxiety/panic attacks; car accident; death (not a main character); military deployment; and past controlling/manipulative/abusive family relationships Trope List: Best friend’s sister, brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, fake relationship, single dad
Excerpt 1
“I’m scared. Okay! I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t live up to the expectation that you have built up in your mind or that I won’t be what you want after a while. Mostly I’m scared that if this blows up, then I lose you, and I don’t think I can survive losing you. Nothing good ever lasts in my life. I can’t lose you. I won’t survive it.”
Excerpt 2:
“We’ve talked about what happens if I decide I don’t want this to continue after the week. We go back to what we were before and file it away as now we know if we should or shouldn’t. We haven’t talked about what happens if I decide I’m in and you decide that this isn’t working for you the way you thought it would, and you want things back to how they were.”
“Not going to happen. That’s why we haven’t talked about it. There’s nothing to talk about. It’s always been you. I couldn’t act on it because you were too young."