You will fall in love with the protagonist in Always With You by Layla Hagen. In fact, you’re either just like her or your bestie is just like her. This was my first Layla Hagen book and I picked a good one! You better believe I’ll be ‘adding to cart’ for her other books. (Never enough books. Ever.) Read on to see why Always With You will stay with you.
What Do We Have Here?
Our gal Hailey Connor is in her upper 20s and is killin’ it professionally. Loves her siblings. Enjoys life and people and travel. This girl is breathing life IN. Her PR career has her working with some demanding clients but she’s sure as sh** not going to be working with Reid Davenport.
Rein Davenport is in his younger 30s and has been running his family’s hotel business for years. He got burned pretty badly by his ex-girlfriend and that betrayal has closed him off to people on all levels. When this ex splashes lies about Reid in the press, Hailey comes in to offer her services.
These two couldn’t be more opposite. Extrovert vs. introvert. Levels of trust. Rigidity. You get the pic.
What They Don’t See Coming
What Hailey and Reid don’t see coming is their mutual attraction. Intense attraction. They try blurring the lines between biz and pleasure, but they don’t see Reid’s ex muddying the waters again.
Complications
Can Reid default to Hailey during these PR crises because she’s the pro and she’s been hired to smooth things out?
Can Hailey allow someone else to support and take care of her when she’s been independent for so long?
Do opposites attract enough to ease where things get sticky and painful?
Well Done!
Always With You checks SO many of my boxes for a good romance.
- Characters who are relatable ✔
- A lil steam ✔
- Catchy little phrases that I use in my own life ✔
- People who get their heads out of their own asses ✔
Important Issues Brought to Light
I love finding important issues within a book. To educate. To empower. To give those individuals a voice. Hagen brought forth two important issues: drinking and driving and dyslexia.
How fantastic to help educate people about dyslexia and also give credit to how hard indivudals with this learning disability have to work to get half as far as their neurotypical peers. I love this. (My Blue has dyslexia, so this is an extra important issue for us.)
And how awesome to hear characters in a book talking about the dangers of drinking and driving. Amen to that! Thank you, Layla Hagen!
My One Issue
I have one tiny issue. I only post books that I love or really, really like. This book absolutely fits the bill. BUT. The cover includes a blonde gal. Hailey is described at least twice in this book as brunette. This kind of stuff drives me bonkers. Yes, I’m a Type A nerd, I know. But the author wrote 300 pages about Hailey and Reid. Get the hair color right, for the love.