If I could give this book more than 5* I would. But it should come with a warning: do not start reading unless you're fully prepared to binge read. This is not the book you can read a chapter of and put down for a few hours. This is the type of book that requires you to gather some snacks and settle down for the entire evening, because I assure you, once you open the first page, it sinks its hooks into you and it isn't letting you go until you read the final word.
What I love most about this book is the journey it takes you on. So many authors skip along the timeline of the plot, rushing you from one place to the other. Not this author. This author puts her arm around you like an old friend, and slowly guides you along each page, painting a perfect, leisurely picture that has you feeling as though you crawled into the pages and are living the life of the characters.
I could easily picture being with Connor, Reid, Bryce, Luke and Gia along their adventures. I wasn't a third wheel, I was there. I drank beer with them in the bars, I placed cards and the alphabet game. I shot the darts and I lounged on the beach. As someone who has never been to America, this was a rare treat. I was a tourist along with Luke and the other men, and I got a delicious example of what another world has to offer.
The instant friendship they found them in was warm and familiar, springing to life before my very eyes. It was like reading a memoir more than a book.
As the book developed, the plot thickened. We do get one advantage as a reader, and that is that we know Luke is a Prince. Something Gia has yet to discover.
Connor and Amelia's wedding was so beautifully described, but the entire time I was on the edge of my seat. This was the moment. Gia was about to find out who her sexy stranger really was. It was the perfect mix of tension and description. I wanted to rush, I wanted to take my time and picture ever minute detail. That isn't an easy feat, and as a fellow author, I applaud you on a job well done.
Gia finding out who he was, was the perfect mix of humour and tension. She handled it in all the right ways. Throughout the book, I've loved her sassy attitude. She's down to earth, bubbly and fun. She's your best friend whilst you're reading. Someone you can relate to. You care about what happens to her, because you care about her. In fact, you care about all the characters. They are some of the most real characters I've read in a book for a long time - and I read every day, so that's saying something.
The author has given us beautiful descriptions, fantastic dialogue, and then spattered along the way are the bits we all know and love in romance books: the sex scenes. This isn't erotica, so they're not overly  graphic, (well, perhaps one with a sundae was particularly delicious) but they do fit the tone of the book. I'm trying not to give too many spoilers, so I'll leave those for you to read on your own.
Then enters Luke's mother. She's everything you'd expect from a queen and more. I'm giving nothing away, except to say, the story needed a villain, and the Queen sure delivered.
And then... cliffhanger. The author set up a perfect scene. A scheming best friend, a conniving mother, and then bam! It all comes to an end.
All in all, I loved this book. I cannot wait to read the second installment and find out what's going on. You have me as a lifelong fan from this moment on!