Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Love Directions
SERIES: Good Bad Idea #5
AUTHOR: A.F. Zoelle
PUBLISHER: Sarayashi Publishing
LENGTH: 226 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2020
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Elias Forthwright
Can a chance meeting lead to true love? I sure hope so, because I’m falling hard and fast for North. I’m normally too shy to be attracted to a playful flirt like him, but he’s full of surprises that bring out the best in me. Even though we’re nothing alike, he’s everything I never knew I needed.
Maybe it’s silly to feel like the cosmic universe conspired to bring us together, but North makes me want to believe in the impossible. After all, it would be stupid to run away from love when all signs point to him being the one, right?
North Easton
To say I’ve lived a strange life is a massive understatement. I’m used to weird things being the norm, but even I never expected to fall in love with a sweetheart the first time I meet him. Elias makes me feel all warm and gooey inside like a hot brownie. If I get lucky, maybe he’ll want a bite. And if I’m really lucky, he’ll want to come back for seconds, thirds, fourths, and forever.
I know we just met, but is it too soon to plan for a lifetime of canoodling with Elias? Shockingly, I don’t mean that as a euphemism for once.
Love Directions is the fifth book in the Good Bad Idea series. This novel features a shy/flirt, instalove, opposites attract romance. Full of cute sweetness and sexy fun, every story ends with a satisfying HEA and no cliffhangers. Each book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series in order.
REVIEW:
Love Directions is the fifth book in the Good Bad Idea series. It can be read as a standalone, although the prior couples and some prior events are referenced (some prior characters briefly appear as well), but not enough to be spoilers. This book follows closely on the heels of Jules and Xander’s best friends to lovers romance in Book #4, Love Fool, where Elias Forthwright, the focus of this book, was introduced. The other half of the couple here is North Easton, who briefly appeared in prior books, although only fleetingly. (I didn’t remember him until I went back to the other books to check.) Elias and North are an adorably sweet couple and the romance is sappy and lovely, but, like Love Fool, that was the only note this book hit.
Elias and North come together through a chance meeting, predicted by a horoscope. It’s instant attraction which turns to instalove. There’s no hesitation or doubt about their feelings for each other, despite the speed. North has been anti-relationship up until this point; he’s been all “hit it and quit it” and was content with that. While he’s initially shocked that his feelings for Elias are so different from anything he’s experienced before, he quickly embraces it, jumps into a relationship with the accompanying love proclamations in short order, and there’s no looking back. In contrast, Elias, grieving over the recent death of his mother, just wants a solid, lasting relationship full of love and comfort. He’s desperately lonely and that, coupled with his grief, drove him to an emotionally (and to some degree physically) abusive relationship with Xander’s ex. (Read Love Fool for the details on that storyline.) As a result, he’s traumatized and his faith and trust in a partner and in himself have been deeply shaken. Enter North to slowly but surely heal those wounds.
I expected this book to be about Elias and North’s love story, and while it is, it also isn’t. The love hits them hard and fast. It’s Elias’s trust that takes time. He’s afraid of being hurt so he’s constantly holding his breath, waiting for North to show himself to be the same as Elias’s horrible ex-boyfriends (yes, he had more than just Xander’s ex treat him like sh!t.) This is primarily evident in their sexual relationship, and the book, for the most part, is about watching Elias heal and learn to trust North and his love, both in and out of the bedroom.
This book has a lot of what it self-deprecatingly calls “woo-woo” horoscope and psychic aspects to it, as well as some lovely, heartwarming family dynamics between Elias and his father, and especially from North’s over-the-top, crazy family. The horoscope aspects are fun, as are all of Elias’s mother’s predictions and her notes to Elias. Overall, it’s heartwarming and gooey and sweet. The problem is that, like Love Fool, this book hits that one note and sticks with it from start to finish. It’s definitely a nice note to hit, but there’s little drama, action or angst. It’s all relationship development in a vacuum. While I enjoyed the book, at times, it (almost) became boring.
Your enjoyment of this book may depend on your preference for story types or your mood. If you like little to no angst and just happy happy happy with a sweet adorable couple, then you’ve found your book. If you want an engaging plot or emotional dynamics, you’ll enjoy this less. Personally, I fell into the latter category, hence my rating, but if you’ve liked this series thus far, or like this type of book, you should give it a try.
RATING: 
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