Certified Bed Reader...

The heart was forever inexperienced.

When I sacrifice sleep by staying up until 3 a.m. to finish a book, you'd better believe it's a good one! I just couldn't put Noah down. I had to find out if Noah & Roni would get their HEA! It didn't matter that I knew they would, I needed to know how it happened before my head hit the pillow.

The Heroine
Veronica/Roni broke my heart. At the start of Noah, she is struggling with severe depression, has gained 40 lbs, and her unhappiness bleeds onto the pages. Roni put her life on hold two years ago to care for her cancer-stricken mother. After her mother lost the battle, Roni hasn't been able to overcome the grief and start living again.

The Hero
Noah spent his youth as a foster kid. His friends are his family, and he's loyal to them. Noah's dreams of being a boxer are sidelined when he hurts his shoulder during a match. For now, he's trying to get Jack, his friend & owner of 5th Street Gym, to give him a shot as a personal trainer.

I loved...
seeing the friendship between Noah & Roni grow. They both really needed & valued each other as friends, but there's a simmering physically attraction that was constantly beneath the surface. Roni won't go there with Noah, though. She's trying to get her life back on track, but most importantly, Noah is only 20. With an 8 year age gap, Roni isn't willing to put her heart on the line with a guy who, no doubt, lives for easy sex.

I loved even more...
how Noah sets out to prove to Roni he's the man for her. Ms. Reyes does a fabulous job keeping him real to his age. Noah's life experiences have made him more mature, dependable, and the guy has so much love just waiting for someone. There were so many moments in this book, when Noah would do something for Roni and I'd get this big, goofy grin on my face. They really were perfect for each other.

What made me cringe...
was Roni holding out for too long. Once Noah implemented "Operation Make Her See That We're Meant for Each Other", things started really heating up. It felt like she was waiting for him to mess up. Noah just took it in stride, didn't push her, but didn't back away from how he was feeling. He showed her, day-after-day, how much she meant to him. Then, she sees something and judges him guilty without asking him for the facts. That annoyed me. He deserved better than that after how patient he'd been with her.

In the end...
Noah gets his girl, and I was blown away by their story!

• 4 stars; highly recommended!