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Charlotte "Lottie" Night didn't expect her year to turn out this way. After finding out she's carrying more than just the emotional baggage of her breakup, life as she knows it quickly changes. Panicked, she attempts to balance everything alone until she meets Owen.

Owen Bower didn't know what he was missing until Lottie crashed into his life. She's everything he never knew he wanted, but a relationship is the last thing on Lottie's mind. Yet when a chance encounter between the two reveals Lottie's biggest secret, a bond is immediately formed.

Owen quickly becomes Lottie's closest confidant, but it's clear their connection is anything but platonic. Emotions can only be ignored for so long until someone cracks, and it looks like Owen will be first. Forced to confront her feelings, Lottie must decide, can she move forward without her past getting in the way?

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“We spend the rest of the night on opposite ends of the couch walking a movie, pretending that we don’t want each other as much as we do.”

I was introduced to Owen, Charlotte(also known as Lottie), and her big secret in Never Now. I have been wanting to read their story ever since. Owen and Charlotte were so much more than I expected. Owen is sweet, kind, and ‘good people’ as stated by Stan, Charlotte’s cousin. Lottie considers Owen an extremely caring person which is his best and least-best character trait. For some reason, I assumed Lottie to be this sweet, vulnerable woman who is going through a lot. I was wrong. She was so tough and had a great spunk. She’s also not a movie person. She moves away from Edinburgh to move on from her piece-of-s**t ex-boyfriend, Beck. Since Lottie is Stan’s cousin, Stan is Owen's best friend’s girlfriend. Yes, very F.R.I.E.ND.S-Ishq(if that’s a word) Lottie and Owen meet and become good friends. Owen is aware of Lottie’s situation and tries to help her in different ways. They both want more from each other but will Lottie’s issues from her past destroy their chance of a happily-ever-after?

There are a lot of amazing things about this book and what stood out to me the most was the casual tone and ensemble characters. Evie, Owen’s lovely mom, a surrogate parent to Ali and Em makes an appearance. Reeve’s presence was short but meaningful. I liked Stan and Lottie’s friendship and her role in Lottie’s life, unlike Em who didn’t have much significance in this book. I also loved the epilogue. I enjoyed Owen and Lottie’s relationship. Ironically, in the blurb, it is mentioned that their feelings towards each other are anything but platonic but in the novel, during most of it, their relationship felt quite platonic to me. But as the novel nears its end, the friendship phase wears off.

“It’s funny, I think so many people look at Owen and see this big sexy goofball, and sure, he definitely is, but there are so many layers to that man, I could start peeling them back today and I don’t know if I’d ever get to the center.”

Late Love is written in the first person in Lottie’s perspective and is slow-paced. Never Now was my first exposure to Scarlett Hopper and her writing was more engaging in this book. It took me a while to get into the mood of that book but Late Love’s an easy read. She is a brilliant writer, especially how she ends the phrases of the final, ending paragraph(s) in chapters. I still can’t believe they call the metro ‘the tube’, like what? But other than that, the British slang didn’t throw me off.

❤Related Post: Never Now by Scarlett Hopper review

I haven’t read saint street so I’m looking forward to reading that. I also bought a free copy of brief encounters, the copy was free during that time, so I do wanna read and review that but I don’t know when I’ll be able to or when I’m gonna get to read Scarlett Hopper’s other books because I’m currently drowning in my stack of arcs, on that note, I better get to it. Late Love is recommended to all readers in the mood for a cozy, slow-burn romance. Read Never Now before you read this since Reeve's story sub-plot is revealed in this one. ARC provided by Scarlett Hopper and thenextsteppr via NetGalley. Thank you.

Rating

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We stand close, the tips of our shoes almost touching. Far closer than anyone who's just met would. It's intimate, like somehow we've known each other a lifetime. It's corny, ridiculous, and something I'd never say, but it’s true. Hell, I wish I had alcohol to blame it on, but alas, soda is all that's in my system. Well, that and the fire brewing from his presence.

The warm summer air has a slight wind, brushing the tendrils of my hair around. That seems to be the only thing moving, as our eyes are locked upon one another.

Owen's stare digs into my soul, sparking a fire that I thought had been put out months ago. Scratch that, this is a fire I never knew existed.

I'm not one to lie about how many people I've dated. In all that time, there has never been a pull as intense and quick as this one.

I know, I just know, this wouldn't be nothing. This wouldn't be your average one night and never speak again. It would be more. And more is dangerous.

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Read the First Chapter HERE!

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10/11, 7:30PM EST, Late Night Support Group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/LateNightSupportGroup/

10/13, 8:30PM EST, All Things Schmexy, https://www.facebook.com/groups/allthingsschmexy/

10/14, 4-7PM EST, The Boudoir (BanG Love Affair Boudoir), https://www.facebook.com/groups/BLABBoudoir/

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Scarlett was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to Los Angeles when she was 10 years old. Her passion for writing came about at a young age when her sister would read her excerpts of Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. She currently lives back in Sydney with her family and their two pugs. When she isn't writing or reading, she spends her time traveling and searching for the best record stores. Eventually, Scarlett hopes to begin a new adventure in Edinburgh.