Enjoyed this but didn’t love it. Sometimes these cartoon covers are hit or miss for me. Overall okay

Honestly this cover is perfection. Come As You Are is a stand-alone contemporary romance. . Madigan and Ashley have incredible chemistry and a true emotional connection that radiates off the pages

Wow, this one was better than I expected!!! Totally LOVED everything about it!!

Fun, emotional, heartbreaking at times, but absolutely beautiful at the same time! There is so much to love about this book! The writing, the dual pov, Murphy!!! This is not just an incredible cover! (but, it is what originally drew me to the book) I loved the whole concept of trying to save the mountain, while working together within the community, and all the secondary characters stories as well. I want more of the secondary characters!!

Maybe another book with Ashley's daughter as the focus....?

I cannot recommend this one enough! If you have read it, thoughts??? If you haven't, what's holding you back?

This copy was approved and provided by NetGalley, all opinions and feedback are my own

I want to state that every review is mood based. Not every day is the same, and opinions of some things, can always change based on the mood we're in.

There may also be spoilers, so read at your own risk.

Come as you are is a gen x romance, about 46 years old Ashley Cooke balancing her life with family, her career and her love for herself and others. It's a hard balance, but she finds her way. At first i thought it wasn't a book for me, because A and M is so much older (46F 53M) than me, and i really fought through that people their age can have so heated intimate moments, but age doesn't really matter, if passion is involved. Passion is a thing we have to hold onto, it's not always a natural thing and we need to nurture it when we find that special someone, or if we find ourselves for that matter. I am an old school romantic, so i liked all the decade references about cassettes, 80's music and so on.

The book was a quick easy romance steamy read even though i took a long break from it, i got into a reading slump, and that was not because of the book. Overall i enjoyed the book very much, i laughed, i cried, i got nervous and angry. I felt this book. So if you want an emotional quick read, then you should definitely read this book that Jess wrote.

Some of my favourite quotes;

"Do you ever feel like someone put your entire life on a sled and just launched it down a hill? And all you can do is watch it slide away, knowing no matter how fast you run, you'll never catch up to it again?" - Ashley Cooke - "Happiness is a choice, Ashley. You just have to choose it." - Maude Alice

He'd never heard her laugh before, and it was like if sunshine could make noise.

His looks, they made her feel desirable. But there was more to life than being desired.

Growth is uncomfortable. Clinging to comfort leaves little room for growth. Chase after comfort and you'll be running in place for the rest of your life.

He didn't know precisely where he fit in her heart, but no matter what happened between them in the future, she would now and forever have a home inside of his.

What was she worth? She's worth everything.
What would he risk? He'd risk it all.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. Unfortunately I did not get to finish it. I started the book, and got super busy with school. Before I knew it, the book was gone. I would have love to have read more of it. The book had a lot of promise.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I really liked the book. It made me laugh out loud so much. The banter between all the boys was so funny. I really really hated Chuck (her ex-husband). But I just loved reading about Madigan and Ashley. They're great together. The book was just the right amount steamy and spicy.
Both of the characters were dealing with real life issues and I liked how head on it was tackled.
I smiled and laughed throughout the entire book.
Though I don't like the third act breakup scene that is found in many romance books, it was done really well here.
I love the cover of this book. It's so cute.

Thankyou to Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc.

Ashley and Madigan’s story is so cute and fun but also, emotional. I really enjoyed this book, however I felt like it was too long.

Come As You Are is a sexy, swoony story about healing, set in the Montana snow.

Madigan, a former 90s grunge musician has turned his life around after drug addiction and prison decades ago, now running a halfway house/rehab for other addicts/parolees.

Ashley, who married and had a child young, is healing from the death of her much loved father, along with the battering her self esteem took with her cheating, gaslighting ex-husband. She’s battling to save her family’s ski resort from said evil ex husband who wants to buy it. It’s her mother who hits on an agreement with Madigan to have his men work in the ski fields as a way of rehabilitating them towards the ‘real world’.

This book is an utter delight, and it’s lovely to read characters in their 40s/early 50s have their chance at love; that it’s not over for them when the bloom of youth and youthful possibilities lay ahead of them. These are two people trying to heal from their past mistakes and the way life has shaped them from it.

Super cute and a perfect mix of sweet and heat! Madigan and Ashley have incredible chemistry and a true emotional connection that radiates off the pages. Heavier themes in the story are balanced gracefully by the richness of feeling and depth. The touches of nostalgia with the mixtape and 90s references are adorable. A fast, heartfelt read with wonderful characters.

I really enjoyed this book, it was one of those ‘right book, right time’ situations insofar as I was feeling a bit meh and this delightful, light hearted romance novel lifted me right up.
I really liked both of the main characters, Ashley and Madigan and quickly became invested in their lives and their journeys towards being together.
I found this to be an easy to read and enjoyable story. I would definitely recommend it.
My thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was a wonderful story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It was that good a story that it very nearly got full stars. I actually rated it 4.5 stars. The storyline was fun and exciting. The characters were easy to connect with and realistic. I loved how well the characters worked together. Such a positive work ethic. There were some great unexpected events that kept my attention throughout. I couldn't put this book down and had to binge read it in one sitting. I definitely recommend this book, especially if you love bad boys turned good and snow sports.

So much praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a brilliant page turning novel. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this fantastic author.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/come-as-you-are-by-jess-k-hardy-independent-author-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

this book was everything i wanted and more 😍
FMC Ashley is a divorced single parent whose ex husband won't come to terms with the fact that they're no longer married
MC Madigan is an ex-rock star who is in recovery and runs a sober living house
Madigan is a total heart-throb who spends the whole book flirting with Ashley and wow i'm so jealous

i love the dynamics in this book since it wasn't 2 perfect people who fall in insta-love (though there's definitely some insta-lust on both ends), have a perfect relationship, get married, and have babies
Ashley and Madigan are both struggling with different challenges and are able to be supports for the other without trying to fix each other

the vulnerability and diversity of the side characters was emotional and well done. we learn tidbits about some of their pasts while others remain more of a mystery but are no less lovable

this story deals with addiction, recovery, the loss of a parent, dating later in life, worrying about losing your family business, divorce, and betrayal

This book was so good!! I loved reading Ashley and Madigan’s story! Through all the love, and grief, and loss it was great to watch their characters grow and see them evolve!!

This book was full of some of the best things. The winter setting was my favorite. The romance was beautiful and heartwrenching at the same time. I loved Madigan and Ashley so much and was so invested in their romance. The angst and tension was chef's kiss. overall I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book!

I adored this book! I could not put it down and read it all in one sitting. Ashley and Madigan’s story was absolute perfection; I need a continuation of their story ASAP. It was a steamy and heart-wrenching romance. I would give this book 1000 stars if I could.

Really cute for this time of the year! It was wholesome and fun to read. I enjoyed it a lot and had a great time.

This was a really fun read and I really enjoyed it, although overall it didn’t wow me.

I really adored how mature all the characters were and the emotional maturity of their relationship – that was so amazing to read. Also, really excellent representation of addiction and recovery which is so important – I love seeing a story where someone suffering from this gets what they want and it isn’t all tragedy.

Overall, would recommend to people to pick up! Not the most memorable but was a lot of fun and I really did enjoy it a lot!

A really really cute read, perfect for this time of year! Come As You Are has all the elements of a classic contemporary romance. It was great to read a book in this genre that has actual *adults* in, with a MC and love interest who both have their own lives and issues, finding a way to be together against the odds (while looking adorable in ski gear).
Overall, an excellent read, its made me happy and that's all I could ask of it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pinkity Publishing for the ARC copy. This book is available now!

Ashley Cooke runs a struggling family owned and operated ski resort with the help of her mother, Maude Alice. When Maude Alice goes behind Ashley’s back to try to help her, Ashley is left to decide if she wants a group of recovering addicts working for her resort. In the meantime, she is also dealing with her controlling ex-husband trying to buy her ski resort to add to his list of corporate owned resorts. Enter Madigan, the owner of the recovery home. He will do anything to help Ashley save her family business.

I loved this book! It was one of my favorites this year. I loved the honest portrayal of addiction, and I think it’s important to include that subject in novels. It’s not something I’ve seen often. I loved seeing all of the characters grow throughout the novel. Ashley and Madigan had amazing chemistry, and their relationship made me really happy. This was a super cozy romance while still dealing with serious topics, and it was all dealt with in a beautiful way.

Ashley is trying to keep her family owned ski business afloat after her father passed away. Her cheating ex-husband Chuck works for the corporation trying to buy her out which she's desperately trying to avoid. To try to save on expenses, Ashley hires a group of recovering addicts to work the slopes at her mountain. The leader of this group is former rock star turned addiction counselor Madigan. Ashley has serious misgivings about hiring Madigan's group. She's terrified of losing her ski business which she feels would be letting her father down.

Ashley and Madigan are attracted to each other immediately but each have their own issues that keep them from connecting right away. Madigan thinks Ashley is too good for him since he's an ex-felon who hurt a lot of people close to him while he was using drugs. Ashley was really burned by her ex so her self esteem is shot. As the ski season gets underway and Madigan and his team earn Ashley's trust, Madigan and Ashley's romance starts to heat up.

This novel deals with a lot of heavy topics but the author doesn't let them bring the story down. There are plenty of side characters that are entertaining and add a lot to the story as well. I'm hoping that some of them will get their own books, especially Sam! I really liked Madigan and Ashley as a couple and loved the way the author showed older people dealing with plenty of difficult issues but still having a romance.

I felt that one plot point related to Ashley's ex-husband was glossed over and could have been handled better and the epilogue seemed a little disconnected from the rest of the book, but these are minor issues.

3.5 stars rounded up because I love that this romance has main characters in their 40s and 50s.