Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Brody has been Solomon’s best friend for thirteen years. The two of them have been together through thick and thin and that’s not about to change, no matter how much Solomon wishes it could. Brody is a serial dater—never satisfied, often picking losers, and bored easily. He just can’t seem to find his Mr. Right. Solomon, on the other hand, is not much of a dater at all, especially since most guys pale in comparison to the one he really wants. Solomon wants to be content just being friends with Brody, but his heart is busy telling him otherwise. But other than joking around and ignoring people assuming they are together, Brody doesn’t seem to be even thinking about making Solomon more than his buddy. Then something shifts. Neither one of them can figure out what exactly, but suddenly really giving dating a try is on the table. However, both Brody and Solomon are afraid they will mess it up somehow and possibly lose the best friend they have ever had.
Brittany Cournoyer offers up a classic friends-to-lovers story in her latest novel, Undeniably Yours. With little angst and lots of pathos, this romance is downright sweet. Two best friends become something more when they take a chance on their history together to see if they have a future with each other. Told in alternating points of view, each chapter documents how the guys are feeling after they decide to take the huge step of dating each other. While there isn’t a lot of action and just one rather obligatory snafu early on in their relationship, there is still a keen awareness of how important this move is and how much these two may end up sacrificing if it doesn’t work out.
There is a lot of inner angst in this story—agonizing questioning by both men over how their friendship could end if they are not compatible. It feels very realistic, primarily because the author gives us a real view of how close these two have always been and how they have had each other’s backs for years. From middle school, through college, and now years later, Brody may have always been the serial dater who never seems to land on the right guy, but Solomon has always been there to help him over any breakups. The idea that they may lose that makes them very concerned, but doesn’t stop them from giving it a try.
Undeniably Yours is a slow burn romance that pays off in the end. I must admit that, at times, I feel it is a bit long in the tooth. Repetitive is the word that comes to mind as it seems as though the author covers the same emotional ground in several chapters. Still, there is no denying that the feeling this is a risky venture for both Solomon and Brody is very strong throughout the novel, so the start and stop approach to being more than friends is realistic. I did enjoy how Solomon’s work mates rallied around him and eventually around Brody as well. I distinctly smell the set up for a next novel about Solomon’s flirty friend, Austin, and Brody’s work foreman, Marshall. Since there’s no indication this is going to be a series, I am wondering if that might change, since the obvious history between those two side characters is left dangling.
For anyone liking their romance sweet and fairly angst free, then this novel is for you. While I may have found it a bit long winded, I do think it’s a story well worth reading.
