Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ex-Rivals
SERIES: Local Beats
AUTHOR: Zoe Lee
PUBLISHER: Foolish Endeavors, LLC
LENGTH: 199 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2021
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The best way to get over your past is to get back under it.
Julian Corelli
After fifteen years, I’m back in Chicago for a new job, with enough sass and charm to power the whole city. There are two million people here, and only one I never want to see again. Except who do I come face-to-face with on my very first night back? My ex-rival, my ex-classmate, my ex… nevermind.
Camdon Gaines
As if getting over a breakup isn’t bad enough, the worst person I’ve ever had the displeasure to know is at my favorite club on guys’ night, laughing with my best friends. He’s still the most infuriating man, but at least I faced him, lost my temper a little, and now it’s case closed.
Except now that we’ve crossed paths again, it’s like we’re cosmically handcuffed together. Everyone else thinks he’s the funniest, cleverest man in the city and they want to be his new bestie. But I know the real Julian and there’s no way I can ever trust him again after what he did to me—especially when he’s acting like I’m the one who ruined everything.
This is a 70k word enemies-to-lovers, second chance, slower burn romance with a guaranteed HEA. It’s the third book in the Local Beats series and can be read as a standalone, but is more fun if read in order.
REVIEW:
NOTE: This is the third book in this series and can be read as a stand alone, but I heartily recommend reading them in order – or at least reading the first book before this one as it sets a lot of the context for this one and there are major spoiler for books 1 and 2 🙂
Julian Corelli has returned to the scene of the crime, as it were. Well at least of some crime – not necessarily his 😉 And his first night back in town he runs into the one man he never expected to see again – Camdon Gaines. Cam and Julian go way back – to a childhood as rivals at their private school and then to something else as college classmates. But one fateful night seals things and they have not been in contact for 15 years. And the job that Julian has returned to Chicago for is in fact with the charity that one of Cam’s best friends mother runs. So it’s clear that it will be nearly impossible to avoid Cam 100%.
Camdon Gaines has never forgotten the night that changed his life and he never expected to run into the man who changed it so spectacularly. He’s none too pleased to find Julian charming his friends at his favorite club hangout. In fact he’s furious! And he loses it a bit and stomps off. He doesn’t trust Julian and it’s clear that Julian doesn’t trust him either. But something doesn’t compute. They both think that they are the ones who have been wronged and it’s just below the surface.
Julian has agreed to plan the annual bachelor auction as a trial run for the job he’s after. And Cam’s family ends up roping him into co-chairing with Julian. Cam’s sister and his BFF Asher’s mother (who runs the charily) convince him to do it and he and Julian are constantly together bickering and picking at each other at every turn. But Cam’s family loves Julian and so do Cam’s friends. They pull him into a lot of their activities and Cam’s grudgingly begins to accept that he’s not going to be rid of Julian.
What no one besides Julian and Cam know is that their relationships had changed before Julian left Chicago 15 years before. And that departure was based on some misunderstandings, miscommunication and fears. They call a truce while they are working on the auction – to some degree – and it’s obvious (to everyone else at least) that they have some crazy hot chemistry. They agree to a no friends with benefits arrangement and that they will leave the past in the past. Except that past is really the key to the future, and if they can’t figure out a way to work through everything that happened, there is a good chance that they both miss the best thing that’s ever happened to them.
Oh how I loved this story! I feel like each of these stories is stronger than the last 🙂 Cam and Julian have such a long history back to their childhood as rivals at school. This rivalry changed at one point, but then events occurred that totally changed the trajectory of both of their lives. I will concede that this is a pretty angsty story in some ways (which I loved). I really felt the pain both of these guys were experiencing and the fear they both had of being hurt again – and possibly not surviving it a second time. They’ve both worked hard in their lives and grown into solid men, but something has always been missing 🙂 When they are thrown back together, they have to face that in some ways they each have to acknowledge that the way they parted 15 years ago has had a deep and lasting effect on how they have changed and how they have moved on with their lives. The things they accept and the boundaries that they have established with other people and relationships have worked for them, for the most part. But they haven’t been really happy. It’s obvious it will take a lot of work for them to be completely honest with each other and trust that they won’t be hurt again in the same way. I absolutely adored the way this story turned out. The stops and starts, the missteps, the learning to communicate again as men, not as boys, was so well done! I loved both of these characters and I really was rooting for them to find their way back to each other.
One of the other very strong aspects of this story are the supporting characters. Not only the couples from the previous books, but Cam’s entire family play a crucial role in getting these men to move beyond their fear and anger. Cam’s sisters especially are so important to this story arc. They see immediately that these two are just fooling themselves if they don’t understand their powerful connections. Cam’s mother and Asher’s mother (a favorite character from the first book) are also instrumental. They were just perfect!
This book (and series) is so good! Highly recommended.
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