Unfortunately there was more wrong than right in this small town, dual POV, friends to lovers romance. I really LOVED the HGTV Property Brothers vibes, as twin brothers Davis and Garrett have their own reno show. However the mistaken identity, miscommunication and sadly, cringe-worthy love scenes turned me off.

I also didn't love the FMC, Kelsey. A single mother to three young children and a widow, Kelsey is very relatable as she tries to hold everything together, save her dead husband's bar AND keep her alcoholic mother out of trouble. It's A LOT! But I wished Kelsey was better at asking for help and really wished she had prioritized her children a little more over the bar.

Overall this gave me great Fall vibes and is an Indie romance author I'd read more of in future. I think the story could have benefited a bit more from some beta reading to help work out the kinks. Much thanks to the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

Oh, I just loved this story. It was a perfect October read and romance. I loved Davis as a person and how he really cared for Kelsey, her children and also the problems with the bar. Always there for them and helping without pushing Kelsey to do something that she will regret.

I like that their long-lasting friendship slowly become something more and that they didn't rushed to anything. They took the time they needed to develop their feelings for one and other. It was really a heartwarming romance that I couldn't put down until i finished it.

Read if you like:
🎃 Friends-to-lovers
🍂 Small town cosy vibes
🎃 Slow burn romance
🍂 A perfect October read
🎃 Some mild spice 🌶️
🍂 Everyone knows everyone in the small town
🎃 Fall and Halloween vibes

Tricked in October was a cute best friends to lovers book, and gave me all the fall feels!

Kelsey is grieving the loss of her husband, is the primary care giver to her 3 children, looks after her alcoholic mother, is owner of the family bar and grill, and is buried under a mountain of debt.
Davis (her best friend) and his twin brother are HGTV stars on a home improvement show, and Davis is always around to lend a hand when Kelsey needs him. Things have always been platonic between the two, until a late night water fiasco leaves them both feeling not so platonic, and wondering if the expense of their friendship is worth the risk of something more.

Overall, I really enjoyed the story, but was surprised at how lighthearted the book seemed with the two MCs at times, with such heavy topic undertones. I could have personally done with less scenes with Kelsey’s mom as well, I felt they took away from the story a bit.

Thank you NetGalley and city owl press for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

I Ioved this small town, slow burn, friends to lovers romance novel.
It gave me all the heartwarming cozy fall vibes a good small town book should.
The romance was sweet, slow burn and a little spicy.
I also loved the little pumpkin illustrations throughout the book. They were a cute touch.
Kelsey and Davis have my heart!

Thank you NetGalley, Starla DeKruyf and City Owl Press for this eARC copy of Tricked in October in exchange for an honest review!

This book gave me all the small town fall vibes and a sweet love story.

Kelsey recently lost her husband and is trying to juggle everything life is throwing at her. 3 kids, managing her family’s bar and grill, and her alcoholic mother.
Davis, Kelsey’s best friend from childhood, is starring in a renovation show on HGTV with his twin brother. He has been helping Kelsey out since she lost her husband.

Through all this time together the two have developed some romantic feelings for each other but can’t decide if they are worth ruining their friendship over.

Pineridge and the locals made me feel like I was in Stars Hallow enjoying the fall festival. Everything about the setting of this book made me feel so cozy. The story was really well written with a touch on some serious topics like death of a loved one, alcoholism, and financially struggling. I loved the realness of the problems the characters faced.

I really liked this book but I struggled to get passed the fact that Kelsey’s husband had recently died and she was in this new friends to lovers relationship. I wanted so badly for Davis and Kelsey to have a Happy Ever After but I kept feeling sad about her late husband.

Overall, I would recommend reading this book. It was a great read for the fall season.

Thanks @netgalley and @cityowlbooks for the ARC of Tricked in October!

Love this sweet small town romance. Best friends to lovers with a slow burn was amazing. I also loved all of the autumn vibes. Definitely recommend!

Davis and Kelsey have been best friends forever. Now that he is back in town and she is a widow with three kids, she finds herself relying on him now more than ever, even though she wishes she didn’t have to. All of a sudden, they have both noticed that sparks have started to fly. Can their friendship survive?

I love friends to love friends to lovers! I wasn’t expecting so much spice in this book, but I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed watching Kelsey learn to lean on Davis Moore, and while his first instinct was to fix everything for Kelsey, he had to learn to sometimes let her stand on her own. They were great together, in my opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great fall read!

Thanks to NetGalley and City Owl Press for the ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kelsey is a headstrong mother of three who has been struggling to keep the family business afloat after the death of her husband. Davis is a star on the hit show Renovation Dudes (think Property Brothers) and misses the days that he could go about his work without cameras following him around. Kelsey & Davis have been best friends since high school, but never anything more until the Halloween party...

This book utilizes alternating perspectives, which definitely enhanced the reading experience to understand both Davis & Kelsey's POVs. I liked Davis right away, but I found it difficult to connect to Kelsey in the beginning as she struggles to communicate what she's going through with her friends and family members, and often put her ego over asking for help. Tricked in October was a quick and easy read that I would recommend to readers who enjoy tropes like friends to lovers and single parent.

Thank you NetGalley & City Owl Press for the advanced copy to review!

This book is perfect for autumn time. It gave me the autumnal vibes that I needed for this time of year. It was a cute, easy romance that had many elements that I love. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

'Tricked in October' is such a fun fall read! I got swept up the slow burn romance, and I loved how realistic their relationship felt. It was so believable that Kelsey and Davis could find their way to each other. Kelsey has recently lost her husband, and she is now left as a single parent to raise her 3 young children. Kelsey has supportive family and friends by her side, but she also has to care for her alcoholic mother and figure out how to save her failing family business. Kelsey begins to feel overwhelmed by all of her responsibilities, and she heavily relies on her best friend of 10 years, Davis. Davis has always been there for her, and he begins to see Kelsey in a different way. He feels like maybe they are meant to be more than friends, but will Kelsey feel the same?

I love a good slow burn romance and a friends to lovers romance, and this book delivered! Their chemistry was amazing, and I loved the feel of the small town that they lived in. It was great to see a community come together and support each other. I enjoyed all of the side characters too. I plan to go back and read the first book of this series, 'Eight Days of Christmas' because I loved the character of Isabella.

I hope that there are more books to come in this series. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun fall read. If you love slow burn romances and friends to lovers stories, this is the book for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing for an ARC of this wonderful book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and City Owl Press for the copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I had a fun time reading this book! If you like best friends to lovers trope this will be right up your alley. Kelsey is a strong-willed woman who has a hard time accepting help,even though she can surely use it. Davis is a sweetheart of a man who is scared to ruin things by pursuing more than friendship. Trigger warning: loss of a spouse,alcohol abuse.

The cover was the magnet for choosing this book, and just like the cover the book is cosy, heartwarming full of Pumpkins patch and autum vibes
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A Friends to lovers romance with two brothers, twins who remodel houses in a television show and their best friend
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Kelsey lost her husband almost a year ago and finds herself in the midst of the chaos that is being a single mother of three young children, a financially troubled Bar, and an alcoholic mother. Luckily, she has his in-laws, friends and neighbors who are always willing to help her
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Davis has been a friend of Kelsey for years and supports her in everything she leaves him, but recently his feelings began to change and in the midst of the chaos that is their lives, the confusion of identity with his brother, the relationship between the two starts to change
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It was hard for me to empathize with the characters, especially with Kelsey, although if I found myself hoping a good story for Davis, his ideas and feelings seemed more clearer to me, a perfect book boyfriend
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It is an easy and entertaining read that deals with topics such as the loss of a loved one, the mourning of a separation and the weight of an alcoholic family member with a cozy, slow burn, sexy and heartwarming vibe
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Thanks to Starla Derkruyf and City Owl Press for give me a copy of this beautiful book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

I had seen this book posted a few times while scrolling through Bookstagram, and became intrigued. When I saw it available on NetGalley, I immediately requested it - and I was so happy to become approved! This is my first read from Starla DeKruyf and I hope to be able to pick up the first book in the Pineridge series and get some more of the backstory, very soon.

This was a fairly enjoyable storyline, but I did find it to start out very slow. It picks up later in the book, but it's definitely a slow burn, best friends to lovers storyline. I find that slow burn isn't my top trope because the anticipation isn't easy for me to deal with! I just want it to pick up faster and build up more, instead of having a lot of things dragging on forever. I was tempted to put it down and move on to something else, but I stuck with it - Glad that I did! The second half definitely brings the steam and the beautiful relationship. If you're reading it and having the same feelings that I did (and reading my review) it's worth taking the time.

Davis and his brother (who he is often mistaken for, being identical twins) star in an HGTV home renovation show, Renovation Dudes. The boys had been engaged to twin sisters, but one died in an accident, the other couldn't deal, and Davis was left nearly as devastated as his brother. Kelsey lost her husband about 11 months earlier in a freak accident, with 3 children and a bar to run, and a whole lot of bills she's struggling with. Her in-laws aren't able to help with the bills, and she's too proud to ask for any more help than the bank will give - or, no longer give as they are able to close the bar and take back her house. Enter Davis, her bestie and of course, the guy she had a high school crush on way back when... which was mutual, but no one knew and no one acted on it back in school days. She only asks for a certain type of help and not financial, which is what she really needs, and somehow, they end up in a relationship, and she still struggles to ask for help - so how is she supposed to save the bar?

The lead-up to the relationship and asking for help was the part that I struggled to get to, but glad I held out. This book is very surprising, and worth it - I do recommend picking it up and giving it a read!

I rate it 3.5-stars, rounded up to 4.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and City Owl Press, and this is my honest feedback.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the copy!
This book is really cute small-town autumn reading.
I really enjoy the books of Starla 🫶🏻
This book it’s a must read 😍

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Tricked in October' by Starla DeKruyf.

This book is everything you need for a cosy 'small-town' romance in October. 'Tricked in October' was a beautiful story that I binge-read in little to no hours because I was hooked. I dont usually like a single mom, friends to lovers trope but in this case I felt that the execution was done well and that I truly wished the best for Kelsey. However, I have to mention the man of the hour: Davis. His story felt eerily close to the property brothers (obviously) but that made me love him more. He was so caring and gentle the entire story and I just wanted to hold him.

There is sexual content that doesn't fade to black but I was okay with that seeing as it made sense in the story.

To conclude, I loved this romance.

I struggled through the first 10% of this book. The first couple of chapters have far too many “info dumps” that could have been sprinkled out further into the story. Let us see the main characters interacting with the story and get us wondering why they’re struggling; why is Kelsey stressed? Is she a single parent? Who is Ricky? Why isn’t he here now? What happened?

It would have kept me interested to get breadcrumbs than a full back story.

3.5/5⭐️
Kelsey O’Henry is struggling. Less than a year ago she tragically lost her husband and now she finds herself juggling her three kids, alcoholic mother, failing business, and the growing feelings she has for her best friend Davis. It just seems like Kelsey can’t catch a break and she’s desperate to keep everything afloat, but in order to save her family she may have to let something go.

This was a really cozy feeling fall read complete with specialty brews and a love interest who is a reluctant HGTV star. I was able to relate to some of Kelsey’s struggles, especially with her mother. I could also understand both Davis and Kelsey’s internal struggle while they were trying to decide what to do with these feelings they had for each other. They both wanted to protect their friendship which I understand.

I think my only criticism is just how much of the book was dedicated to this internal struggle. For a decent portion of the book we see this back and forth of them being more physical then immediately thinking “what if we ruin the friendship”. I think this was more of a me problem though and not a major criticism of the book itself.

Overall I think this was a good read and people looking for a cozy fall read with friends to lovers vibes would be happy with this. Thank you to NetGalley and Victory editing for providing me a copy of this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to City Owl Press & Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this before publishing!

I really wanted to love this story, but unfortunately it was quite hard to get into for me. There are a lot of moving pieces, some of which are related to where book 1 left off, which I did read last holiday season. Kelsey is dealing with a very major loss, as her husband passed away earlier in the year from the time this novel takes place. This presents some obvious strain on her, as a single mom & business owner, and it certainly adds some complication to her budding romance with her best friend in this book. Unfortunately, I felt myself feeling completely disconnected from this part of the story.

Kelsey & Davis had good chemistry on and off, but much of it was bogged down by needless miscommunication, characters flat out changing their plans and intentions with one another with no identifiable reasoning, and very forced drama that could easily be solved with the main characters working together and talking to one another. Their difficulty with this made their basis of friendship very hard to believe for me. And overall, the “grief” wasn’t explored much, if at all, leaving me feeling like all of the major threads involved in this loss weren’t complete.

Pine ridge is a nice setting, and I was able to get a bit of a fall feel from this book. Other than that, there was too much that fell flat for me to be able to recommend it. I did enjoy the first book in this series a bit better, and I won’t write this author off in the future. I think this book & I just weren’t quite made for one another.

I adored this cutesy small town, friends to lovers romance. It had some serious points that were about things I often don’t see in books like this. Alcohol abuse, death of a loved one, these things were displayed beautifully but did not take away from the story. It felt like I was watching a Hallmark movie for the fall holidays. I adored Kelsey and Davis, Isabella is an amazing side character, and Garrett’s banter with everyone was comedic relief between the tension of Kelsey and Davis. Overall I think this is an adorable fall romance, the chapters were a bit longer than I usually read but that’s no big deal because I couldn’t put it down no matter how long they were. The property brothers vibes and the small town bar was just *chefs kiss* I highly recommend if you need a cute fall romance! I am excited to check out the author's other works!

Thank you Starla DeKruyf, City Owl Press, and NetGalley for the ARC read in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved this book. I have a boom hangover from it. I just loved the friends to lovers story. The characters were so realistic and funny. I also love home renovation TV shows, and it has a Property Brothers vibe. Kelsey and Davis were an awesome pairing. I would love to have another book with Garrett, so I could follow his story. I would have loved an epilogue in this story to see where Kelsey and Davis end up in the future. Perhaps if the series continues, I can continue to follow their story from cameos.