A Long Time Coming by Meghan Quinn – 4.5 Stars (rounded up to FIVE stars)

Meghan Quinn does it again! Unfortunately, I haven’t been loving her latest releases… I LOVED A Not So Meet Cute, and sadly didn’t love So Not Meant to Be as much (Kelsey was annoying and JP deserved better), but I felt like this series ended on a high note with Breaker and Lia.

A friends-to-lovers story about two people who have been friends since college, who bonded over nerdiness and games, who were there for each other when they really needed a friend. That desire to comfort each other through difficult times left them both in the friend zone.

As you read, you get the sense that neither Breaker nor Lia ever thought about taking it to the next step… until Lia gets engaged to a man she doesn’t even fully love (she doesn’t even want to tell Breaker she’s engaged and she hates her ring and the groom’s mother is insane…. RED FLAGS ALL AROUND). Even though Breaker and Lia never saw their relationship as more, everyone else in their life sees it – their chemistry, their bond, and how they rely on the other in a way someone might rely on their partner. These two were partners even before the MQ spicy spice entered their relationship.

Things I loved: MQ spicy spice, the humor, the pop culture references (like Wonder Years), the two best friends playing whatever the latest game is together (it’s their thing), getting to see the other main characters from this series as their relationships have blossomed and developed, Lia’s bravery, watching Breaker truly pursue Lia with intention, the whole man-of-honor plot line and the outrageous mother-of-the-groom, text messages! Gosh, I’m a sucker for text messages! 🙂

Things I didn’t love: THEY WERE ONLY FRIENDS, STRICTLY, FOR NEARLY 70% OF THE BOOK (and therefore, I didn’t really feel like Lia had feelings behind the walls she erected to keep her and Breaker AS JUST FRIENDS ONLY – I just never felt like she had FEELINGS for Breaker that scared her until he started to make moves on her? Maybe I’m alone in this feeling, but maybe not?), the humor sometimes just goes a little bit too far, Kelsey being annoying again…

Featured here are both editions of this book. I love that Meghan has started producing illustrated editions of these books! Some of the illustrations are NSFW, and some are just downright sweet. I love to be able to visualize both situations!

QOTD: Breaker and Lia’s THING in college was playing Scrabble and present day is playing all kinds of new board games. What was YOUR thing, or what would BE your thing if you went back to college today?

AOTD: My thing today would obviously be reading and social media… my thing in college was college basketball (Go Zags!) and playing Dutch Blitz with my roommates.

For your own copy of A Long Time Coming: Hot guy cover, Illustrated Edition – and it’s also available in Kindle Unlimited 🙂