A beautiful story of mental health , connection and love.

I'm late into reading it but at the time this was Hale debut. I'm so glad I got to read it and can't wait to pick more of their stories up.

The front cover is so lovely as well.

I really enjoyed this book. Sam and Brooke have always been best friends but when one night changes everything, can they have a happily ever after? This is a wonderful book about friendship, found family and love and it is a solid debut novel. I especially loved Brooke's son, Finley, who made this little family of 3 complete.

This story was the perfect cozy romance to curl up with. The cabin and snowstorms and description of the woods made for such an atmospheric read that I don't always find in romance novels. I enjoyed the love story and side characters as well.

After an initial slow start I really enjoyed this book. I loved both MC and also loved Dani and a Ruby. Finley was a great addition to the story and the family scenes were really heart warming. I really enjoyed how Sam found her ‘real’ family and the love that surrounded everyone. A real, true romance. Gorgeous reading

Truly Wanted is a really beautiful friends to lovers story about two women supporting each other through trauma.

This was a well written, complex story about best friends to lovers. I normally don’t love stories with single mothers, I feel that kids complicate things, but in this case it worked. Good read.

Brooke Fields knew right from her first meeting with Sam McKenna that they would have a friendship that would last forever. It didn’t change when she realized Sam had some learning issues along with a childhood spent in foster homes. Sam told Brooke no one ever wanted her, including her parents.
Making friends was a struggle for Sam with her believing everyone eventually leaves. When Brooke met and married Jake Sam thought, ok, this is it. Brooke won’t want her around but Brooke and Jake surprised Sam when they didn’t go on without her but Jake felt the same way about Sam that Brooke did.
A few years later Jake was killed in an accident and it was Sam who became her family, which now included three old Finley. How would she ever live without Sammy in her life?
The lead characters are so very likable. Supporting cast adds so much to this story. A very enjoyable read.
ARC via NetGalley/ Bold Stroke books

J.J. Hale’s debut novel Truly Wanted is a friends-to-lovers romance with an MC who is neurodivergent and grew up in foster care. Two things that are close to my heart, so I was really eager to see how this one turned out.

Sam and Brooke have a strong friendship built with years of memories, heartbreaks and support. Their foundations are strong and secure right up until they decide to sleep together. That one night brings to light feelings Brooke didn’t know she had, and Sam had tamped down out of respect for their friendship for years. They must then work through their own personal demons to decide if taking something that they both rely so strongly on and turning it into a relationship is worth the risk.

J.J Hale has done brilliantly in creating relevant characters, both in her MCs and their friends and family. Her themes of found family, trust and resilience are written with sensitivity and empathy. There is angst, but it’s needed and handled well, while interjecting sweetness in the form of Brooke’s son.

A really solid debut by an author worth checking out.

I received and ARC from Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Looks like I’ve come across another author to watch out for in the next few years! Truly wanted is JJ Hales's debut book. It has a solid plot, and realistic characters and centres around real life issues such as ADHD, childhood trauma and new chances. The only problem I had, is it is a little bit short.

Overall, I've given Truly wanted a 3.7 out of 5.

This was a lovely love story! I truly loved the two main characters: they were real and flawed and their development was even and felt authentic to real circumstances. This is a romance novel for the cynical realists of the world, and those who don't like the typical rom-com format!

Sam and Brooke are longtime friends. Brooke after a tragedy has lost her husband and her best friend was there for her through the whole tragic time. Sam has loved her friend from a distance for a very long time but fear of ruining their great friendship has prevented them from trying to have a have a romantic connection no matter how attracted they are to each other. When a spark ignites and they finally explore the possibility of what could be between them will they be able to grow their relationship. I loved the characters because both Sam and Brooke were people that had an important friendship that they could lose if a romantic relationship did not work out. Their fear was a rational one that put their friendship at the center that was the first, most important relationship that they had and I loved that because that was the consideration that they gave to that connection that they had.

This is a story about Sam who is raised in foster care and has always felt unwanted and unloved. She’s a self made web designer and with the help of her best friend Brooke has learned to cope with her ADHD. Brooke is a widow raising a 3 year old son Finley. Sam and Brooke met in college and became best friends. After Brook’s husband dies in a car crash, Sam helps Brooke recover from his death and helps her raise Finley. At the start of this book they both begin to realize that they are secretly in love with each other and are afraid to let the other know for fear of loosing their friendship.

I liked Hale’s easy writing style and the deep feelings that the MCs have for each other and the devotion to Finely and his love for both of them. It seemed like a very real life book. I think that they were almost paralyzed with fear that if they told each other how they felt they would loose one another. Sam had such a difficult life and was totally in need of Brooke’s love and sensibility. Brooke knew how much Finely loved Sam and was scared he would loose her too.

I would have liked more description of each MC physical appearance and details on their jobs. Also it felt like it took place in America and not Ireland. Very few Irish words used for common things.

And for a 3 year old, Finley had much older vocabulary and thought process., but still super cute.

Brooke and Sam have been friends for ten years, ever since Brooke invited Sam to join a group project in college. It took a while for Sam to let Brooke in but from then on, they’ve been best friends. Inseparable. Even more so after Brooke’s husband died. So where does this sudden mutual attraction come from? And can they really manage to act on it and keep their friendship intact? As if that wasn’t enough to navigate, Sam, who grew up in foster care, has to face hard questions concerning her biological family.

Truly Wanted is a solid debut novel, with relatable characters, a good plot, and a really sweet child. I wish there had been slightly more about Sam’s ADHD and rejection sensitive dysphoria. I understand not wanting the character to be entirely defined by being neurodivergent, but I would have liked to know a bit more about how Sam thinks, not just about how it has affected her life.

This novel is relatively short, with a nice pace, despite a few repetitions here and there. Some chapters, especially at the beginning, are more tell than show, which is a classic issue with debut novels. It gets better after the exposition is set, so if you’re not hooked from the start, be patient. The tension between the main characters is well-written, the lack of communication is just frustrating enough but not overdone, and the chemistry is real. 3.5⭐️

A cute forbidden romance with a refreshing take on what it means to be family.

After the death of her husband, Brooke has come to rely on her best friend Sam for support. Especially when it comes to her son Finley. When Brooke decides to start dating again it doesn’t take either of them long to realize that maybe there’s something more than just friendship between them. However, neither is willing to risk losing what they have. But, with the memories of a shared night of passion they can only fight it for so long.

The relationship between Sam and Brooke’s son Finley was adorable and really helped build the connection between Sam and Brooke. The relationship between the main characters leans more on romantic attraction than sexual attraction, but this works well given the premise. That being said, there are sex scenes. I really enjoyed the secondary storyline about Sam’s experience growing up in foster care and the chosen family she’s been able to find overtime. I wasn’t a fan of how the flashbacks were used in the novel, I felt like they disrupted the flow and only provided minimal insight into the characters’ pasts.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Good story. Loved the friends to lovers concept. Brooke and Sam were such easy characters to root for and like. I loved that they both communicated well with each other and talked through their feelings, before getting serious with each other. There wasn't a lot of angst, but there sure was quite a bit of drama, especially with the long lost mother can't say to much about that situation, because then I would be giving spoilers. The secondary characters were well placed and written and just made this an even more enjoyable story. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family, and I look forward to what's next from this author.

This is a heartfelt story and surprisingly it was not what I expected, and I enjoyed it a lot. I thought Sam and Brooke had a beautiful relationship. They communicated well and the pace was amazing. I also enjoyed the roles of the secondary characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Bild Strokes Books for this ARC.

J.J. Hale has written an enjoyable friends to lovers romance between a young widow and her neurodivergent best friend with Truly Wanted. As a reader, I felt for both women and their traumatic pasts.

As with most friends to lovers romances, one friend has been in love with the other for some time. It's the other friend I usually have a hard time believing suddenly falls for her best friend, but at least the author reinforced certain elements as having been long-standing to support it.

The child was believable and not too much, as some kids can be in romances.

The author did a nice job of not wrapping up one plot point with a happy bow. Sometimes choosing outcomes that are not ideal is more realistic.

2022 is becoming the year of amazing debut books. This book reads so fluently and is so full and leveled that it feels like a very experienced writer wrote this. I cannot wait to read more by this author.

That being said, I love the friends to lovers trope. I love that I did not have to wait for something to happen between them. I love how it got them both so confused that they failed to properly communicate with one another. But they still kept being best friends despite of it.

I loved the side characters and side arc of Sam's background. It's also very warming to see how they deal with Brooke being a widow and how her past fit into their future.

The only thing that felt a bit off for me was the conversations with Finley, the son. To me he felt a little older than the age he actually is in the book. But that's just really the only thing that took me out of the narrative a couple of times.

An ARC was provided to me by Netgalley in return of an honest review.

Sam and Brooke have been best friends since college, and since Brooke’s husband passed away 3 years prior, Sam has been helping Brooke with her son, Finley. Since some time has passed, Brooke is ready to start dating again, and of course, Sam has been harboring feelings for Brooke since they met. Brooke goes on a few disastrous dates when she meets Dani (who I love and need more of). While Brooke thinks things could go further with Dani, Dani points out that Brooke is clearly in love with her best friend, and friends, I do love it when the “oh yeah” moment hits one of the MCs in romance novels. Brooke, realizing how Sam is always there for her and Finley and maybe that could mean more, decides to give into her attraction and see if the two are compatible.

I really enjoyed Truly Wanted and think it’s a great debut. Friends-to-lovers / idiots-in-love are some of my favorite tropes and the book hits them perfectly. Plus Sam and Brooke have amazing chemistry. I love how well Sam and Brooke know and understand each other, even though there was plenty of miscommunication. Both Sam and Brooke want to be together, but never fully communicate that to each other. Don’t get me wrong, I’m here for the angst, but I felt like they were having the same conversation over and over, without changing the ending. Overall, Truly Wanted is a great read and full of heart. There’s amazing secondary characters (can Ruby and Dani kiss please), real life struggles we all go through, and a quick trip to see the Spice Girls! Like what else do you want in a book? I’m looking forward to what comes next from JJ Hale!

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books, Inc. through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I will post my review on Amazon, my blog, and other platforms closer to publication date.

4 / 5 stars.

A sweet story that has a lot of charm. It’s always good to see neuro diversity included and this part was convincingly written. The small child dialogue was almost there, but felt a tad older than the intended age. I liked the acceptance and love that seemed to envelop the book from all the secondary characters. This enhanced the overall feel good factor of the book. For a debut it was a pretty successful romance.