Just Three Words

I hate Melissa Brayden. Why? Her books ruin me. They get in the way of pesky little things like work and sleep. I've read all of her books and I can only compare them to Girl Scout cookies - you say you're only going to eat a couple and then the next thing you know you've eaten an entire box of Thin Mints for dinner. (No judgment by the way...we've all been there.) Ok, so I don't hate Melissa Brayden. I actually adore her and I want her to be my best friend. If her writing is any indication, the girl is a riot. Plus, anyone who makes a reference to Grey Gardens is my hero. She is incredibly good at writing dialogue - like scary good. The banter between the characters is entertaining and authentic. (Authentic to my group of nut job friends anyway.) To echo other reviews, "Just Three Words" is another wonderful, sweet, charming, funny and romantic book that is hard to put down. You will laugh, you will sigh and you will sniffle. You'll wish and pine for that crazy little thing called love. You'll crave that spark that makes whatever that thing is, that thing. So, I'm not going to give a synopsis of this book as others already have done an excellent job with that already. I'm just going to tell you that Melissa Brayden will ruin your life. Consider yourself warned.

I’ve been pretty busy for the past year or so. My Board obligations with the Golden Crown Literary Society have kept me hopping. Because of this, my time for reading books and reviewing them has been cut pretty substantially. But, I am determined to get back on track and caught up!That said, I decided to start with the books I’ve neglected by Melissa Brayden – namely, the second and third installments of her Soho Loft Romance series. In order to do this, I went back to read the first book in the series, Kiss The Girl (see my review HERE). Ah, it was a lovely time, I must say. I was then ready to dive into Just Three Words (Bold Strokes Books).In Just Three Words, Brayden takes us back to check in on the ladies at Soho Savvy – Hunter Blair, Brooklyn Campbell, Samantha Ennis, and Mallory Spencer. We learn that Brooklyn is still madly in love with her girlfriend, Jessica Lennox. So much so that she accepts the invitation to move in with Jessica, leaving Samantha without a roommate. Fortunately, Hunter is in need of new living arrangements and is able to fill the roommate void. And so we continue with the story.Just Three Words is a fun, romantic story – precisely what I look for when I pick up a Brayden novel. Yes, there is conflict. Yes, I’ve been known to tear up a bit. But these are not angst-ridden stories that keep me on a twisting and turning emotional rollercoaster. Nope. No loop-the-loops here. They are balanced with just the right amount of “push and pull” to keep me engaged. And, to me, that’s perfect. If I want high angst, I’ll read War and Peace.I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the way Brayden writes dialogue. It’s fun and flirty. It’s deep and profound. It’s everything in between. She’s able to give each character a voice that distinguishes them from the rest. At the same time, there is a shared vocabulary among these friends that speaks of a long history and a deep friendship. I like that. I can hear these words being said by real people, not just characters in a book.I also love that New York is an additional character in the Soho Loft series. I’ve only been to New York City once and, really, I did the “tourist thing” – 5th Avenue, Time Square, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, etc. – so I’m not familiar with the “real” city. But it’s very clear that Brayden is familiar with it and she uses that to her advantage. However, she doesn’t channel Frommer and try to put all things NYC into one book. Instead, she chooses very particular settings and goes with those. The Savvy offices, Samantha and Hunter’s apartment, their favorite table at their favorite bar – these are the focal points. Sure they go other places as well, but they always come back to their “home base,” as it were. These spaces become as familiar to the reader as they are to the characters in the novel.Rather delightfully, the sex is HOT. Now, that’s not something I usually comment on in a review. Really, unless I’m reading something that is specifically labeled as Erotica, sexual activity is not a huge requirement for me in a romance novel. Oh, sure, it’s bound to be there. That goes without saying. But, it’s not the end-all-be-all for me. But I have to say that Brayden knows how to build up the sexual tension in a story and then follow that up with some really passionate scenes. And she earns bonus points because I don’t get pulled out of the scenes by trying to figure out if a human body is capable of doing the things that are described. Every make-out session, every bit of foreplay, and every sex scene is also pivotal to the story – they aren’t just there to be there. So, even more bonus points.Overall, Just Three Words is a very nice follow up to Kiss The Girl.

A lot of people mentioned this being the least favorite in the series. I really enjoyed it. So that gives me positive thoughts for book 3.I'm going to have to read more from this author. I feel like these are the types of stories and dialogue that I want in my romances but so often fail to meet the mark.I wish there would have been more Brooklyn and Jessica from book 1. I get that it wasn't their story anymore but we should have at least gotten some mention of a fight with Jessica about her messy habits. Am I right, or what?So I clearly see where the next book is headed. Mallory needs her love story and I think there is a generous bartender that might come in to play.These books have been heartwarming and fun.

Writing a series is a balancing act, and Brayden executes it as if she was born with the ability to juggle straight out of the gate. She’s able to give us details on the four women, highlight Sam and Hunter’s developing romance, and progress the story forward to prepare us for Mallory’s story later on. Along the way, she gives us witty dialog, romance, and those important emotional moments that help you connect and relate to the characters on a personal level.What I love about this book, this series as a whole, is it doesn’t matter where you start. I actually started the SoHo series with this book. Brayden’s characters were so much fun to read about that I had to go back to the first one. That’s what’s so amazing about this series. No matter where you start, it’ll make you want to read them all.

God, I love this book. I am almost ready to read it again.I can't rave enough about the dialog and characterization. I realize that romances in general follow a pattern, but the prose and the characters really distracted me from that fact and I read this in one sitting.I rarely give a 5 star with the intention that it is a "pure" 5 star. Most of my 5 star reviews are 4.x that I've rounded up. This one gets the perfect rating.My only complaint? I wanted another 300 pages or so :D

Well, Melissa did it again. This lady certainly knows how to write romance, so if that's not your thing (often sappy, sometimes sexy, always cute and adorable) then it's probably best you read something else. This book is all about the romance.When I first read Kiss The Girl - which is the first book in the Soho Loft series - I wasn't really focusing on anything but the two main protagonists, so Sam and Hunter kind of passed me by. I actually didn't much care for Hunter at all in that book. All a plan to surprise me with how much I liked her in this book, probably.Both Sam and Hunter were great characters, in fact. Sam's quirks and Hunter's hidden depths gave them new dimensions; they both had a kind of fragility to them that was endearing. I ended up liking them both even more than Brooklyn and Jessica (from the first book), which I didn't think was going to happen at all.The story was well paced, well written, emotional where it needed to be, sweet when it had to be, and a bit steamy where you'd want it to be. Some of those heated scenes were perfectly tense (I'm thinking of the first kitchen scene specifically).I had doubts that I would enjoy this as much as Kiss The Girl, and was dubious about reading it, but I'm so glad I did as I actually liked this even more. Definitely now a favorite of mine.

I just adore this authors work, she needs to write more snd faster! I’m re-reading as she has no more out! Buy it!

Just loved this book . A cast of awesome characters ,that you would just love to be part of. In this tale two are highlighted Hunter and Samantha (Sam) . Read this in one sitting and am already looking for more, just love the way Ms Brayden writes makes you really feel the emotions in this romance.

MB does it again. I think I preferred this just a tad to Kiss the Girl, mainly because I think Brooklyn acts like an overgrown teenager at times. It was refreshing to see her from this angle. Such an easy read, it flowed and had just the right amounts of drama, tension and love scenes. Who does not want to bring Midnight Chocolate into their lives??

Beautiful writing, story and characters! I can't describe how lovely this book was. It so cute. Samantha, her three best friends, their job, their history, their romances. And then love smashed into Samantha, a quiet, fun, accountant, in the most unexpected place. It just touched my heart, and pulled at my heart strings.