Title: My Best Friend Next Door
Author: Ella Marie
Date: 2023
Publisher: Ella Marie
Quote: "It's not just about finding someone, Sarah. I want to find the perfect fit."
Nate and Lucy grew up as next-door neighbors and best friends all their lives. They've always thought their feelings for each other were pure, innocent friendship, as if they were siblings or cousins. So when Nate's frail mother hints that she'd feel less stressed if he were safely married, Nate proposes to a woman he'd almost decided to stop dating, for his mother's sake--and asks Lucy to witness his proposal, cook for his engagement party (Lucy is a chef), shop for party supplies, help plan the wedding...
Nate has, of course, correctly guessed that his ex-girlfriend Ava was not in love with him. And readers can imagine why. Ava likes to spend money and hopes to get a good bit from Nate's dedication to business, but she's not the type to appreciate an idealistic nerd. Nate and Lucy are idealistic nerds. I suspect they come by this quality from their author, which makes it endearing. Ella Marie is given to formal phrasing. So is Nate. So is Lucy. Ava sounds much more like a typical contemporary American, choosing shorter words and sentences than Nate or Lucy use. Ava is actually planning to stay with Nate for about a year before demanding a good settlement on the divorce and marrying another man, who she claims is her cousin, and really, considering Ava's lack of morality, he might even be her cousin. In some places it's legal/
As they spend more time together than ever, Lucy realizes that the reason why she's not been satisfied with other men is that she's in love with Nate. Nate, distracted by concerns about the business and his mother, blithely makes plans with Lucy even while shopping with Ava, buys Lucy a lovely wedding-guest dress, and blandly tells Ava she ought to trust that there's "absolutely nothing between" him and Lucy when she explodes that he's supposed to be spending time with her. (It's not that Ava places a high value on time obligations, or doesn't keep Nate waiting. It's that calling or texting someone else on a date is an insult to the person one is dating. Nate doesn't think about this.)
All will be revealed, and Nate's mother will have the right daughter-in-law at last, by the end of the book. That's mandatory. It's a Sweet Romance. It's one designed to delight every woman who's ever felt like a Cinderella watching Prince Charming ignore the rich ladies, ignore her, and start to dance with the rat-turned-into-a-show-pony drawing her enchanted pumpkin.
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