Note: I received an ARC of this book. These are my honest thoughts/feelings.

Release Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Blurb

Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?

House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.

The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.

As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?

Review

I ADORED MAGGIE, SILAS, DEAN, CODY, AND THE WHOLE SUPPORTING CAST, THE TOWN OF KINSHIP…

This book was everything I love about a Lucy book and still so much more, in part because it takes place in my neck of the woods, and in part because it’s a romance adventure unlike many books out there today. Lucy takes the reader on all kinds of adventures with journeys overlapping and characters growing in all different directions.

The main characters are people you root for from the very beginning. Each character goes through their own growth throughout this book, and even though each character is imperfectly beautiful from the start, I loved watching them go through some growing pains to become even more lovable by the end. There are so many layers to this book – love, romance, romantic love, family, friends, neighbors, communities, pets… it’s multifaceted, and there’s something for everyone between these pages.

One of the biggest themes of this story is family. Maggie doesn’t have a whole lot of family, except for the people she’s chosen as her own, while Silas has an overabundance of family, in a literal sense because he has two families, plus the community he was raised in. It takes Maggie stepping into this community, seeing Silas’s family, and intertwining her self-made family within the folds to see what she’s been missing by being a nomad. Her heart is still broken over the loss of her first true love, her mother, and since then, Maggie has been unwilling to choose people because she’s afraid of that pain. In a nutshell, she doesn’t let people get attached, and she doesn’t get attached, either. Enter Silas, a man who makes his living planting roots. Silas is, in all honesty, an amazing male lead. I love how progressive he is, how in tune with Maggie he is, and how he’s willing to show up and love people on their messiest and hardest days. I mean, LITERALLY THE FIRST TIME THEY MEET, Silas calls Maggie his future wife. He comes on strong, but Maggie NEEDS that kind of love to show her that taking hard steps into relationships CAN be worth the prospect of pain. It also helps that he makes her laugh AND he makes her swoon – the best combination in a man!

Now, let’s talk about the side characters: Dean, Cody, Michael, Dayana/Keaton, Wallace, Mama B and Mom, Nirina, even the Campbell’s of the Old Campbell House…

All of these people played such an important role in this story, and without them, you don’t get the wholesome love from both our main characters. Dean is the glue that’s been holding Maggie together, and Cody is the youth that inspired change in both Maggie and Dean and created a family unit, with Silas of course. Without Silas’ family – Michael, Mama B and Mom, Nirina, the dads, and even the sibling GIF group chat – Silas would be the perfect book boyfriend. Of course, his family humbles him, but it also allows us to see that Silas knows how to do what’s right because he’s stood up for and loved these people through all the things life has thrown their way. Wallace, the grump, was one of my favorite parts of the whole book. He brought in a generational understanding and a passion for how the past shapes the future, whether we are aware of it or not. His perspective was also important to the preservation efforts of restoration, and his character really made me think about how we all can leave a legacy behind – what do I want my legacy to be?

This review wouldn’t be complete without an acknowledgement of all the Lucy Easter eggs (Cat King, @CulpepperVicky, Rock Bottom, Kathryn a.k.a. Mrs. Nolan!, the shoutout to the BRAS, @PurplePeopleAvoider eating 7 tacos and margaritas, By a Thread) plus all of the really fun pop culture references (Taylor Swift, Jimmy Buffet, Christmas Vacation references, etc.).

Maggie Moves On is such a fun read. I also got advanced access to the audiobook for this book, and it was AMAZING. I will be buying it to add to my collection for sure. Hearing the characters come to life, the banter from Silas and Maggie, the fun had on the jobsite, it all equates to a really fun listen! I love when a quality story turns into a quality audiobook, and this one did not disappoint.

This book gets a big fat 5 stars from me. I wish I could give it 6, or 11 stars. It dethroned my previous Lucy favorite (it was only a matter of time), but I never thought I’d see the day. Silas sealed that fate for Maggie Moves On in my heart. Give this one a read and/or listen and let me know what you think!