Imperfect Strangers: A Friends-to-Lovers Romantic Comedy

Four and a half stars. I'm a great fan of Mary Frame so I was stoked to receive an ARC of her latest book. Although the characters in this book interact with characters from the previous books in the series it can totally be read as a stand-alone novel - I have the memory of a gadfly so I didn't recall how our hero and heroine related to the previous books until about halfway through! Bethany Connell has moved to New York to get away from her mother. She's living in her BFF's old apartment (Gwen McDougall from Picture Imperfect) while she and her boyfriend Marc are travelling the world. Gwen has also started working for Marc's father, the mean Mr Crawford as his PA and generally smoothing over the feathers he ruffles with his non-PC attitude, whilst trying desperately to help him recruit a replacement for Marc. Bethany is actually sleeping in Marc's far more swanky apartment because she is scared that Gwen's apartment has a ghost, when she wakes up one morning to find she is being spooned by Marc's beautiful younger brother, Brent Crawford, the new tight end for the New York Sharks. and one of the sexiest men alive. How embarrassing is this? Being caught sleeping in your boss' son's bed like a creeper! As anyone who has read the previous book will know, Brent Crawford isn't the playboy he seems to the rest of the world, a potentially fatal genetic heart condition threatens his career and has seriously cramped his social life. He was so out of it when he returned from his holiday in the Turks and Caicos Islands that he didn't even register that there was a petite blonde asleep in his bed. After the best night's sleep he has had in a long time he is desperate to spend more time with Bethany, even if all he can offer is to be her friend. Meanwhile his impossible father is compensating for Marc's absence by trying to drag Brent into a dynastic marriage with a big client! Mary Frame is an auto-buy for me (I had to cancel my pre-order when I got the ARC), I love that her characters are quirky and different. She's not afraid to give her main characters disabilities or defects. She writes witty, plot-driven novels with likeable characters and this is no different. Oh and the puns, the puns! I'm a sucker for cheesy puns (is there any other kind) and Brent and Bethany are no different. I don't know whether I had insomnia because my husband snores and I have a sore throat, or whether that is the excuse I gave for devouring this book in a single day (and doing a full day's work). Love, love, loved it. I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

Started slow but eventually ended up being a really charming read.

Loved this story 💜🩵💞🤍❤️‍🔥