Lauren Asher did it again and it was only me being very picky that stopped it from being a 5 star. I was nervous going in as normally I would say a contemporary romance should not be close to 500 pages, let alone 600 pages. However, this was so well paced and there was so much depth to the characters that it felt like it needed to be as long as it was. This was emotional from the beginning, with everything going on with Nico and then when you add Rafael and Ellie’s backstories it just had me feeling all the emotions all the time. I think because of the emotional start, the ending didn’t have as much impact as it just wasn’t as emotional as the start. I loved how well paced the romance was. I can be hit or miss when it comes to slow burn romances but this just made sense as they both had things they needed to deal with and get over before coming together and when they did it just felt like they then worked together to heal those final bits, which was perfect. There wasn’t a lot of spice and it was so well done that it felt like just the right amount. Overall, I think this was the best Lauren Asher book I have read to date and it has also got me excited for the next boom in the series as it has set up the romance just enough in this book to make it intriguing.

I wanted this to be a five star book so badly but sadly it wasn't. I liked the book overall l but I had some issues with it. First off, this book is way too long. It started to drag at times and by the time I was on page 500, I wanted the book to be done already. There was no reason for this to be so long. Second, kids don't talk like that. Nine year olds don't speak like that. Authors who aren't around kids probably shouldn't write about them unless they're writing about teens. Third, authors need to stop writing "song lyrics". Fourth, The mmc needed therapy. No way can you have trauma and then some woman comes and magically fixes everything. He still had issues even after they got together. Fifth, the transition from them not being in relationship to being in one was so weird. I didn't get the connection between them that much but I still like them as a couple. The side characters were great though. This wasn't a bad book but it definitely wasn't the best. I hope I like the next book more. 

Like the first book in this series, it is LONG. I think that’s part of what took my enjoyment away. It was like some scenes felt repetitive (“I’m sorry I said this super hurtful thing”, cold shoulder turned to “I forgive you!”, repeat). The ending was satisfying, and I like the setting and atmosphere of this town, but I felt like the length could be minimized. I also noticed a shift in focus from Nico to Rafael, which was expected, yet I felt sad seeing less of Nico when he started the relationship to begin with.

Ok so I knew I could trust you queen, sorry for doubting you for a second there

I wanted to read this book because I love Lauren Asher’s work. The Billionaire Brothers series is still my favourite series and I still think about those brothers daily. I was so excited to read this book, and my god, it was worth the wait. Ellie, Rafa and Nico will have my heart. I adore them. 

This book has two points of view. The first is Rafael, he is a struggling workaholic and has hired a nanny named Ellie who is a hopeless romantic who writes love songs. Rafael could inspire a hundred breakup albums. On paper, they have nothing in common except for his son’s wellbeing. For eight months, Rafael has avoided Ellie until the summer trip. Fourteen days. Two islands. And one nanny that Rafael shouldn’t be attracted to. Spending time with Ellie is expected, but enjoying her company? That isn’t part of the travel plans. After the divorce, he swore to protect his heart at all costs. Even if it means breaking Ellie’s in the process. The second point of view is Ellie, she used to have a secret crush on her boss in high school. But now he is a grumpy single day and had walls as high as the sky. Thankfully, Rafael and her have changed since they graduated high school. He is a billionaire with a company to run and a child to take care of. Ellie is an unemployed songwriter he hired to watch his son and teach music. They coexist without any issues until a holiday change everything. Lines blur and old feelings for Rafael return with vengeance as she faces a new dilemma. Being his son’s nanny is one thing, but wishing for more? Sounds like a heartbreak song waiting for written. 

I adore this book. I love Rafe and Ellie and how they both saw themselves as broken, but both saw each other as the sun and moon. The slow burn between these two and the fact that they didn’t want to pursue anything because trust wasn’t there, and work was involved showed a bit of reality compared to other workplace romances. I love that Rafe was like you are fired and you’ll get a settlement pay and then made out with her like his life depended on it. I loved that Rafe went from walls and wouldn’t like anyone in, not even his own son, to constantly telling everyone why he acts the way he acts and what happened to him in the past and that’s he is determined not to have a son that is toxic and will communicate. I loved Ellie, I just wanted to hug her the whole time. The way she got screwed over but was still trying to be positive and being afraid of making it again but then smashed it. I just adored her. I loved the vulnerability between the two of them and how was the dam opened, they were able to get over it and work together to fix the issues at hand.  I am really glad, that it wasn’t focused on Hillary being a bad mother and going back and forth. Even though Rafa doesn’t like her for what she did, he never bad-mouthed Nico’s mother in front of him. I just loved him for that and wanted to cry. My mother and father got divorced when I was like 3 and I grew up hearing my dad’s side of the family bad-mouthing my mother in front of me and there is just a lasting effect.  

I love the tropes in this book being workplace romance, boss/employee and my personal favourite grumpy x sunshine. This story worked so well and blended so well from the previous novel, and I loved seeing the previous couple of Deliah and Julian show up and tell them how to be in love and things. I cannot wait to see more of Lily and Lorenzo, I want more of this storyline and I cannot wait for his book to come out. The tension I saw between them in the first book and the fake marriage is going on. The banter between Lorenzo and Julian and Rafe and the sassiness he gives everyone and how powerful he is - I just know his book is going to be good.   

I don’t have anything bad to say about this book, this book could have been 8000 pages long and I wouldn’t have complained, I want more. Lauren Asher has me in a chokehold.   

I am such a sucker for a single dad x nanny romance. I really loved the tension in the first half of the book. You can really feel that push and pull between Rafael and Ellie. They both have been through things and find ways to support each other while putting in the work to fight their insecurities and traumas. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve. That being said the second half to last quarter of the book did drag a bit. This book did not need to be 600+ pages. I think the book would have benefitted from some faster pacing after the slow burn simmered. Also it must be said I just adore Nico. He is the cutest and such a sweet little soul. His relationship with Ellie warmed my heart. I also loved seeing him and Rafael re-build their bond. I recommend this for the single dad x nanny and billionaire romance girlies! 

Lauren Asher has quickly become my favorite romance author because of this universe. I don't find myself skimming because it's boring, needlessly explicit, cringy, or unrealistically written; it takes me about 2x as long to read her books not just because of their size (I love a good giant romance book) but because I reread paragraphs constantly. She has a way with her words that's borderline poetic without sounding pretentious. She treats her characters as people with thoughts, ideas, and feelings that can be affected and affect other people, I find many romance authors shove characters in for the plot like Disney villains with no regard to fleshing out their motives beyond "disliking" the MC. In Love Unwritten the "bad guys" are appropriately dealt with (as one can with a billionaire for a boyfriend) *(SPOILERS AHEAD)**like Rafael's ex-wife not just going away when she becomes a problem she is still in the story and I appreciate that because sometimes there isn't an easy way to deal with that even if you have a billion dollars. And Ava-Ellie's ex-best friend-does get dealt with in the most realistic way (and again her boyfriend is a billionaire with connections and this is fiction) but obviously it is still a fictional romance book so of course these problems are going to be dealt with somehow and with the resources at her disposal her winning the court case made perfect sense. I see in a lot of books centered around romance authors forget to add a plot either not centered around romance or a plot relevant to the character's romance, and a lot of times authors even forget to resolve the other plotlines until the next book that's not centered around the main couple. this leads to random inconsistencies at the end of the book and an unsatisfying ending (this does not go for multiple book series surrounding the same couple).

Needless to say, Lauren asher has made great progress in her Dirty Air series, and I'm glad to see it, i had problems with the views of the author herself represented in the book and the characters but she has developed since then and im glad I gave these books a try. Her women are better represented, the men are more than broody and sexist, and the fact that she changed from the end of that series to the first of this series is encouraging, and can only hope she continues writing for this series and others in this similar style. 

5/5 with many hearts for Love Unwritten (i will be rereading soon with new viewpoints)