ARC received from the Next Step PR. Voluntarily reviewing and all opinions are objective and my own.

I have been most looking forward to Lottie and Owen’s story after Never Now. I knew it’d be the best of the series and I was sooooo right. These two are everything. This book WRECKED me. I stayed up all night reading this book, unable to put it down, while the tears continuously streamed down my face. Just when I had a dry eye, it started up again.

Scarlett Hopper and her amazing writing seems to be the only books I take the time to quote in reviews, but this book has so many heart-string-tugging lines, I’d be quoting the whole book. The level of angst and heartbreak in this one was almost too much to handle. This book defines the word ‘angst’. I love slow-burn romance and these two are the epitome of slow-burn, angst, and all those wonderful other emotions.

Owen is literally the sweetest character from the beginning. I felt for the poor guy; he was really trying. Lottie bugged me. I have no actual complaints against the design of her character as it made sense, but her as a person bothered me. I wanted to reach through my screen and strangle her for being so dumb. She thinks she’s noble, but she’s missing right in front of her.

I can’t wait to see what next this author brings to us but for now, I’ll be healing from this amazing 6 star read.

In full disclosure I did not know this was book #3. Oops! Lol BUT with that said ... I loved this book! I found it be a good stand-alone read, but I imagine it would be even better if you read the previous two books and had more invested in the characters.

Lottie is a very likable character - although I wanted to smack the crud out of her at a couple of points, lol. And even when I wanted to smack her I could understand where she was coming from. The way Lottie is written is very real and I think many of us have had her fears before, even if we weren't in her exact position. I enjoyed the friendship group, but really loved Lottie and Owen together. Owen is everything. He is everything Lottie needed and more! I also loved Lottie and Owen's mom's relationship - it's nice to read stories with strong family connections.

Definitely read this book if you're already invested in the series! But even if not, I think you'd enjoy it. I'm interested in going back and reading the first two books now. :)

*THANK YOU to NetGalley and Scarlett Hooper for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!*

(Posted on my goodreads and will be on my IG soon!)

Late love
By Scarlett hopper
Pub date oct 13 2020
Friends two lovers
May contain spoilers

Well what a beautiful romance story I enjoyed this book so much I wanted more chapters I didn’t want this book two end I loved the characters and the romance between lotti and Owen it was a slow burn romance but I loved it. Lotti a determined strong woman who defends for herself she had a hard year and she finds out her cheating ex beck leaves her lotti moves back two London for a fresh start two be with her mates new job new life she works in a chemist and Ioves her job allot and then she meets Owen that changes her life he caring funny smart he in a band has a drummer by night and works in the day they be some good friends only issue is that she pregnant with her ex beck and Owen finds out and looks after her through till baby due and his mother help her with the baby and her friends her mother comes home from travelling and help her and finally when Rosie is six months they decide two be more than friends and have a romance they buy a new house and Owens moved in and lotti wants Owen two be Rosie father for good likeva adopted dad two her and he agreed since he been there from the start and Owens wants lotti two find beck and sign papers that he won’t try two take back Rosie when she older they find bec and he agreed on the papers and things work out for them they have a happy life lotti gong back working three days Owens mums mind Rosie and over the years they have a boy together they really do love each other. Owens character is special he cares for lotti and even know he not the father baby he wants two help and raise the child like his owns and he cares so much for lotti he wanted something from the start they were friends now they lovers it’s a beautiful love story you cherish for a long time Owens seems like the perfect boyfriend the story is perfect I really enjoyed this romance allot.

Let me just say Late Love was the change of pace I needed.

It tells the story of Lottie who finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. After ending it with him in the most spectacular way, she moves back home to Nothing Hill. I loved the change in setting and the feel this story had. Unlike anything I’ve read of lately.

Now what Lottie lacks in a love life, she makes up for with a great group of friends. On a night out to hear her friends band play, she meets Owen the drummer. Owen has a personality that sucks you in. Lottie is trying to get her life back in order, only to find out she is pregnant. She hides her pregnancy from everyone around her except Owen. Owen, automatically recognizes the signs and is there for her. He provides a much needed level of support, comfort and understanding. He is so patient and kind, I was all in my feels for this man. Lottie struggles with her connections to Owen, constantly feeling as though she is holding him back from living his life. Lottie is so determined and so strong, you will find yourself wanting to shake her and say open your eyes he is crazy about you.

The emotions, struggles and changes she experiences throughout her pregnancy was the pure truth. Along emotional push and pull and the angst Late Love is a great slow burn. Is Owen’s love too Late for Lottie?

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this last book in the series. I thought the author wrapped it up nicely. Owen was adorable and I loved him. Thank you to netgalley for the arc.

Charlotte "Lottie" Night didn't expect her year to turn out this way. After finding out she's carrying more than just the emotional baggage of her breakup, life as she knows it quickly changes. Panicked, she attempts to balance everything alone until she meets Owen.



Owen Bower didn't know what he was missing until Lottie crashed into his life. She's everything he never knew he wanted, but a relationship is the last thing on Lottie's mind. Yet when a chance encounter between the two reveals Lottie's biggest secret, a bond is immediately formed.



Owen quickly becomes Lottie's closest confidant, but it's clear their connection is anything but platonic. Emotions can only be ignored for so long until someone cracks, and it looks like Owen will be first. Forced to confront her feelings, Lottie must decide, can she move forward without her past getting in the way?

This book is part of a series. While you don’t have to read the other two books, I feel that it would have been beneficial if I had done so.

The first few chapters were a little confusing for me as there were lots of characters mentioned and it would have made it less confusing if I had read the other books. But that is just me.

I struggled to get into this one as I did not relate to the main character and did not find her likeable.

Alas this book was just not for me.

Firstly Thankyou netgalley, Victory editing co-op and Scarlett Hopper for the review copy of this lovely book. Let me say this now .. don't we all hope for love and understanding from our people the most? That exact element is so well portrayed in this very book.

This is quite a common trope in a novel but what set this book apart was that the emotions were linked throughout all the characters who were mentioned in the book. Every feeling touched deep and the description of the desparate circumstances were highlighted in a bittersweet way.
I could connect to this story as a woman, I have a read of books focusing on problems but the familial support, the friends, the external family here just takes my breath away. In tomes where even speaking our minds can lead to violent outcomes .. the threat that we should not talk back even when we were wrongly pushed is constantly hovering on us our lead Lottie just takes up a life changing experience.

The male lead Owen is the person most of us will swoon over. Being in Lotties life who is drastically messed up isn't a problem and he is a proud mama's boy and a movie freak just like me !! Go Marvel fan !! I loved the overall and intimate reach of Owen's personality and respect this book a lot for this very aspect where the women are respected so much. Even parents treat the kids like adults trusting them and lending a comfort hand and that resonates a deep impression on me.

As always some of us expect the worst when things get good so you'll also see a lot of drama of you pick this book up 😂. I was a little disappointed in the landscape descriptions an the accent which didn't match the place the book was set it, other than it I liked the book. Thankyou for the ARC again.

This book is perfect for quick readers who love a good romantic drama and deep ingrained emotions. #latelove #netgalley

Full review: https://www.inabookshell.com/2020/10/review-late-love-by-scarlett-hopper.html

“We spend the rest of the night on opposite ends of the couch walking a movie, pretending that we don’t want each other as much as we do.”

I was introduced to Owen, Charlotte(also known as Lottie), and her big secret in Never Now. I have been wanting to read their story ever since. Owen and Charlotte were so much more than I expected. Owen is sweet, kind, and ‘good people’ as stated by Stan, Charlotte’s cousin. Lottie considers Owen an extremely caring person which is his best and least-best character trait. For some reason, I assumed Lottie to be this sweet, vulnerable woman who is going through a lot. I was wrong. She was so tough and had a great spunk. She’s also not a movie person. She moves away from Edinburgh to move on from her piece-of-s**t ex-boyfriend, Beck. Since Lottie is Stan’s cousin, Stan is Owen's best friend’s girlfriend. Yes, very F.R.I.E.ND.S-Ishq(if that’s a word) Lottie and Owen meet and become good friends. Owen is aware of Lottie’s situation and tries to help her in different ways. They both want more from each other but will Lottie’s issues from her past destroy their chance of a happily-ever-after?

There are a lot of amazing things about this book and what stood out to me the most was the casual tone and ensemble characters. Evie, Owen’s lovely mom, a surrogate parent to Ali and Em makes an appearance. Reeve’s presence was short but meaningful. I liked Stan and Lottie’s friendship and her role in Lottie’s life, unlike Em who didn’t have much significance in this book. I also loved the epilogue. I enjoyed Owen and Lottie’s relationship. Ironically, in the blurb, it is mentioned that their feelings towards each other are anything but platonic but in the novel, during most of it, their relationship felt quite platonic to me. But as the novel nears its end, the friendship phase wears off.

“It’s funny, I think so many people look at Owen and see this big sexy goofball, and sure, he definitely is, but there are so many layers to that man, I could start peeling them back today and I don’t know if I’d ever get to the center.”

Late Love is written in the first person in Lottie’s perspective and is slow-paced. Never Now was my first exposure to Scarlett Hopper and her writing was more engaging in this book. It took me a while to get into the mood of that book but Late Love’s an easy read. She is a brilliant writer, especially how she ends the phrases of the final, ending paragraph(s) in chapters. I still can’t believe they call the metro ‘the tube’, like what? But other than that, the British slang didn’t throw me off.

I haven’t read saint street so I’m looking forward to reading that. I also bought a free copy of brief encounters, the copy was free during that time, so I do wanna read and review that but I don’t know when I’ll be able to or when I’m gonna get to read Scarlett Hopper’s other books because I’m currently drowning in my stack of arcs, on that note, I better get to it. Late Love is recommended to all readers in the mood for a cozy, slow-burn romance. Read Never Now before you read this since Reeve's story sub-plot is revealed in this one. ARC provided by Scarlett Hopper and thenextsteppr via NetGalley. Thank you.

Owen was everything I’d hoped he would be in this book! He didn’t run away, didn’t back down, didn’t push too hard, and was there every step if the way with Lottie. Heck, he held Lottie together before she even knew she needed holding, and when he doubts and old hurts projected onto him, he didn’t pull a dumb man move. Oh, no. He did what he could to reiterate just how much Lottie and Rosie meant to him and just how permanently he wanted them both in his life.

Lottie was sometimes a little harder to love, but I got it. She was badly burned, stuck facing a great new world alone, and truly felt that Owen could and should do better than her. It’s a good thing she finally got past her hurts and realized just what Owen truly meant to her, because he wasn’t about to walk away without a gigantic fight.

I loved their road to happy and adored seeing Owen as the guy I thought he was in the first book of this series. This one definitely did both him and Lottie justice.

Unfortunately I have had to DNF this book as I find novels set in England but written by American's/Australian's etc irritate me as they do not use the correct English sayings or dialect and then can't keep up the 'English' voice and slip into Americanisms. Eg. Ass instead of Arse!

I have rated on here just to publish the feedback to yourselves but I won't actually rate or review it on any of the review sites as I feel it's unfair when I did not finish the book.

Apologies and thank you for the opportunity.

This is the third book in the "Saint Street" series, however this book could be read as a stand alone but then you wouldn't know the story behind the other two couples. From the previous book "Saint Street" we learned that Lottie was pregnant and Owen was the only one that knew until she fell and was hospitalized. "Late Love" starts from where Lottie left cheating Beck and moves back to London not realizing she is pregnant with his child. Strong, determined, self reliant Lottie has a hard time letting anyone in or trusting again. Owen, the strong, patient and supportive man knows Lottie better than she knows herself through her rollercoaster pregnancy. Owen knows what she needs and when. I enjoyed reading how Lottie and Owens friendship gradually turned into something more.

✨Late Love✨

Thank you to Netgalley and Scarlett Hopper for the e-arc
✨
Summary: this story follows 25year old Lottie who leaves her cheating boyfriend with more baggage than she bargained for. She meets Owen, an Adonis like Drummer with everything to offer, he soon discovers Lottie’s biggest secret. A bond is formed but the past keeps rearing it’s ugly head and insecurities run deep. Can Lottie get past this to embrace a life she never thought she’d have?
✨
Rating: (out of 5)
Overall:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Romance:❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Swoonability:😍😍😍😍

Review:

Firstly, let me just say this is not my usual kind of read. I’m a fantasy girl and it takes a good looking book and a catchy blurb to sway me and this had just that. This is a book that I’ll recommend to anyone that will listen.

Lottie is a strong mc, watching her progression (and regressions) throughout the book provided for an entertaining, yet realistic read. There were moments you wanted to just giver her a hug and other moments you wanted to shake her.

Owen, well theres not much to say about him other than I wish he was real and I want one. (Anyone that knows me know that Drummers are my thing 😍)

Having grown up in a similar situation to the one Lottie fears, I can completely understand her reservations and anxiety when embarking on her journey. This book resonated with me on a deeply personal level and was everything I didn’t know I needed.

The only reason it didn’t get 5⭐️ from me was due to the overuse of the words “bloody” and “lad” I’m from London myself and whilst we Londoners obviously do say these words, I’ve never heard them said quite so much but that’s a purely personal thing.

This story teaches that you can be strong and independent and still need people. You can let people in, show vulnerability and that in itself can be a strength. It shows that it’s better to be single than in the wrong relationship. It teaches that you can recover from heartbreak and betrayal and come back stronger and wind up in a situation so much better than you could ever envision for yourself.

Overall this book made me laugh, cry and want to scream and swear. An utterly compelling and emotive read that had me captivated from the first page. I could not put it down. I did think there would be a bit more steam to it but overall it didn’t detract from the story. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it.