I'm really not sure why I'm ever surprised anymore with how much I love Adriana Locke's style of writing. She really writes a great swoon worthy heroes and strong, independent heroines.

Holden and Sophie left me with the biggest smile on my face. I found so much similarly in their relationship with my own. I loved the fact that they were friends before becoming more. I loved her for trying to do the right thing and letting him leave and I especially loved him for realizing how much she means to him.

Another story filled with laughter, tears and true love that will make you believe anything is possible.

***Review copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads Blog * * *

This was my first ever book by Adriana Locke. I must say that I had a feeling going in that her stories might be a tad too sweet for me. I was right on that count. There was nothing inherently wrong with the story. It just lacked depth and connection to me. I didn't feel the connection these two childhood friends should have had. I didn't feel the angst in my chest like I normally do. That doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't find that for themselves. I think I'm just hard to please when it comes to these types of stories.

I wouldn't not try the story out based off my review. Everyone has different preferences for reading a romance book. It may very well be your cup of tea.

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No one does small town love like Adriana Locke! Sophie and Holden spent summers together growing up. When she needs to find a way to pay the taxes on Honey House and he needs a wife to land a job, they embark on a marriage of convenience. It started as a ruse but they ended up falling in love. There’s also a ferret who loves candy and neighbors who know everything and a Pap who gives the best advice. The author knows how to craft a story that combines small town life with falling in love, with following your dreams and discovering where the sun rises and sets. And the wedding in Dogwood Lane? Priceless! Love how we got that quick visit! I can’t wait to read more about Honey Creek and it’s unique inhabitants.

I received an advance copy of this book at my request and voluntarily left this review.

I am in love with Honey Creek! I am such a sucker for a small town romance, add to it a friends to lovers second chance Love and I am hooked. Sweet charming and a whole lot of heat, this one grabbed a hold of my heart and it still hasn’t let go!
Holden and Sophie had me all in my feels and I loved every second of it. Their story was the perfect way to start the series and I absolutely cannot wait to see what Adriana brings us next!

Who is Holden? What does he do for a living? Who is Dottie and how does she know Holden? How long have they known one another? Where does Dottie work? Who is Liv? What has she been doing? What is the result? While this was the sweetest romance, it was also funny, loving, and tearjerking read once I hit 85% of the way into the story. Will people each get out of their own ways and give us an HEA? Read to see what happens!

This was a great read! The writing flowed well, and I LOVED Holden and Sophie together. Their banter back and forth was awesome! You could tell they had chemistry right from the start. Sophie was a wonderful heroine. She was a great mix of strong and playful. I loved that even though she had been wronged before, she was willing to love again. Holden was a genuinely good guy. He needed to figure out what he wanted out of life, and it took him a long time to be able to do that. Eventually he realizes where he's supposed to be, and the note was a perfect touch. I loved all the secondary characters. Pap was a wise man, and his conversation with Holden towards the end of the book made me tear up. I love Honey Creek and I can't wait to see what's in store!
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

Like You Love Me is the story of how a pair of childhood friends, Sophie Bates and Holden McKenzie, end up married to one another, and then how they fall in love. Holden is back in Honey Creek Tennessee, where he spent his childhood summers, from Arizona to help out at his grandfather's veterinarian clinic after he loses his job because the bosses wife though he was hot. Holden also has just broken up with his fiancee because he realized that they were just convenient to one another and there was no real love. When Holden hears from his dream job that he is one of the final candidates for his dream job and that he has the leg up because he's engaged he knows he's in trouble. Enter in Sophie who is struggling to keep up with the bills and the upkeep associated with running her family's bed and breakfast after her ex-husband left her with significant debt and she needs $5000 dollars soon or she will lose the B&B.
When Holden hears about Sophie's predicament he comes up with what he thinks is a brilliant idea, Sophie will marry him so the CEO of the veterinary clinic he wants to work at thinks he's in a committed relationship and he will give Sophie the $5000 dollars she needs to keep the B&B. When Holden first tells Sophie is inspired idea she first thinks he's joking, then crazy, and then she realizes she doesn't really have another choice. As Holden and Sophie continue to pretend to be the happy newly weds their feelings for one another continue to grow. What will Holden and Sophie do when he's offered his dream job in Florida and she doesn't want to leave Honey Creek?
Not only are Holden and Sophie a kick to read about but Adriana Locke created some amazing side character that I hope to see in the books in the series. In particular I want to see Sophie's sister, Olivia and her brother, Jobe have their own books.

4⭐️

This is a heartwarming story between childhood friends.

It's also kind of a second chance romance because part of them wanted the other when they were younger but never got to.

It's funny, sexy and it's a light small town love story.

Locke, in my opinion, is the small town author queen. She makes every small town book she writes feel real, vibrant, and like I’m a part of the community.
Holden and Sophie were so sweet, they touched my heart. Though it’s a marriage of convenience story, it really is so much more. It’s about falling in love with your best friend. It’s about those people who you click with no matter how long you’ve been apart. It’s about finding what is best for you, in a constantly changing world.
As always, the world Locke built is one I can get lost in. Her secondary characters are just as important to the story as the main characters. I finish her books needing their stories.
Highly recommend for fans of marriage of convenience and small town romance.

Nobody, and I mean nobody does small-town romance like Adriana Locke. In Like You Love Me, the marriage might be fake but the sparks are real between these two childhood best friends.

I absolutely adored Sophie and Holden. Both kind and hardworking. They were both up against it in the pursuit of making their dreams a reality. Holden, in all his genius, comes up with a plan that would be mutually beneficial. Now he just has to convince Sophie it's the right thing to do.

It was the small moments between them that started the shift. It was the thoughtfulness and dinners. The sense of community. The easy smiles and desserts. But there was always a timeline on their time together. They knew it from the time they said 'I do'. Oh my heart, it was aching right along with both of theirs as they tried to figure out what came next.

I legit had the biggest smile on my face while reading Sophie and Holden's friends-to-lovers romance. It was playful, witty and steamy and I didn't want to put it down.

4.5 Sweet & Swoony Stars!
I loved this sweet and swoony friends to lovers/fake marriage romance! Holden and Sophie's story takes place in a small town filled with quirky characters who are in everyones business but are ultimately loving and supportive. Holden visits his Grandfather, who is the town veterinarian, every year, becoming best friends with Sophie, during that time. He has big dreams of being a Vet and working at a prestigious wild life rescue center in Orlando. On the road to acheive his dreams, he stops to help out at his grandfather's clinic. He reconnects with Sophie and is smitten with the more grown up beautiful friend. Sophie has inherited her Grandmother's Bed and Breakfast. She loves what she does, but has run into hard times. Holden's situation has changed that jeopardizes getting his new job. They soon realize they can help each other by getting married, temporarily. But what happens when two best friends realize they might have more than friendly feelings that is deeper and more passionate? Do you sacrifice your happiness and let the love of your life walk away to follow their drams and be happy? I really loved Holden and Sophie, they were so perfect for each other. They were both so selfless, helping others and wanting to make a difference. Holden was a little slow on the uptake but he was very swoony throughout. I really loved all the supportive and quirky family and friends who made this story even more fun and authentic. I loved and was totally captivated by this feel good, sweet, heartwarming, and steamy romance!

A fake romance or marriage always catches my interest, its always fun.
Adriana Locke goes that bit further, its fun, it's characters that just leap right into your heart, it's humour, interactions and dialogues just make it all so down to earth and so relatable that they feel so real and become your friends!!
Both Luke and Sophie are all that and more!! They were childhood best friends and in adulthood when they meet again its all just as easy as back then. Their humour and personalities just fit together seamlessly, and boom your invested in their lives right then and there!!
Both had me in fits of laughter, Sophie with her open heart that just tumbles into sassyness without a second thought, and Luke with his confidence and smart comebacks. My heart was melting more at each page with their sassy way of trying to not be falling in Love !!
I loved it and the whole feeling you get from a small town that keeps their nosy ways right in your face, yet they all really care at the same time!!
This book gives you such a feel good vibe, and People you want to know and have in your life ! Yes people !! They are more than characters!! Family means all, and however much you deny love, when it hits you have no chance of escaping and both Luke and Sophies journey to realise that kept me glued to the pages with Adriana's unique way of making love both Hurt and Heal us all at the same time !!!! Such a fantastic start to this series and i definitely cannot wait for More Adventures at Honey Creek !!!!

I enjoyed Like You Love Me by Adriana Locke. Small town romance is a favorite of mine and Ms. Locke’s characters of Holden and Sophie are fantastic. The storyline is good, but the flow of the story was uneven. It was a good start to the Honey Creek series.

HJ Top pick!

This small town romance was pure brilliance! I am a huge fan of this trope add to the mix that the lead male character is a veteran and I was sold! Like You Love Me was the perfect sweet as pie (wink wink) friends to lovers romance mixed in with a bit of angsty drama and a whole town of meddlesome gossips. I instantly fell in love with Honey Creek and their small community.

Sophie was just perfect, sweet small town girl that loves to help her community and has a tight bond with her two siblings. Whereas Holden was more of a lost soul, trying to find what truly makes him happy. I was instantly invested in this couple from the first moment we got to see them together, their hilarious banter and underlying connection was palpable. I absolutely loved watching them play house and fall into a comfortable new normal, one neither knew they wanted. I loved getting to see them relive their shared past memories while they grew closer now.

This super honey sweet second chance, childhood friends, fake turned real romance was the perfect read that I would highly recommend reading! I can not believe it took me this long to get into a Adrina Locke book but I will definitely be looking forward to her next book in the Honey Creek series!

I absolutely love this book. It was such a cute, fun, light, predictable (in a good way) read. The characters were wonderful, the world the author has created is a sweet small town. It makes you want to live there.


Sophie and Holden are two characters that will have you rooting for them from the very beginning. Their big hearts, love of their family and determination are wonderful characteristics that they both have.


The secondary characters will leave you wanting to read about them in their own books Liv and Jobe are great siblings and I can’t wait to see you how their stories go. Absolutely love Pap, his quirky humor and his love for his town and the people in it.


This is such a great start to a new series and I can’t wait for the next book and Liv’s story.

Cute, sweet, second chance romance that doesn’t offer much depth or detail about their childhood spent together. The writing was great but I felt there could have been more chemistry building and more steam wouldn’t have hurt. The epilogue gave me more of the romantic energy I prefer which was disappointing that it came so late. Overall I love Adriana’s writing and will always give it a shot. It might not have been my favorite work from her but I’m hoping to see Liv’s and Jobe’s stories down the road.

Like you love me by Adriana Locke is the first book in the Honey Creek series and it is just small town goodness and I would totally move to this town. This is Sophie and Holden’s story.
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Sophie inherited the Honey House, a lovely bed-and-breakfast, and this becomes her very dear to her. But lately it isn’t as successful anymore because of the more modern hotels. She is divorced and now just wants to put her heart in the Honey House.
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Holden is a vet like is grandpa and totally prefers animals over people. He comes back to Honey Creek to help out in his grandfather’s animal clinic. He was fired from his last job and his last relationship ended badly, so Holden now wants to focus on his career. And his dream job would be in Florida and he works very hard to get it.
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Holden’s dream job is what really initiates the plot because they want a person with a stable life and a family person. This is far from what his life looks like currently, so he needs to change it. He stays at the Honey House and meets Sophie again. They were best friends during the summers he spend there and they follow up their natural connection. This leads them to a marriage of convenience and I also liked that they got married in Dogwood Lane and now I totally want to read this series as well. At first this idea sounds crazy, but it works astonishingly well for them. Sophie and Holden’s story showed me that while it is important to follow your dreams, they can also change and that is totally ok and usually things happen for a reason and I really liked this message.
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Overall, this story is just a feel good read with a lovely setting and wonderful characters. 4,5 stars.

(ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.)

This is simply delightful. Honestly.

The characters are just lovely counterpoints to each other, with humour, heat and heart throughout.

Take a seat, open the book and get lost in delicious, low drama escapism.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book

Honey Creek is the only life that Sophie has known and it is the only life she wants. She is determined to ensure the ongoing viability of the Bed & Breakfast she inherited from her Grandmother but between her financial situation and a competing business at times she feels like it is a losing battle.

Holden is a veterinarian who is in Honey Creek temporarily to help out at his Grandfather’s clinic. He has his career planned out but for that he happen he needs to be married. She needs an investor while he needs a wife a pretend relationship seems like a win-win for both of them but what happens when the only people they are fooling are themselves?

Seeing the relationship between Sophie and Holden unfold was so much fun to watch as they realize what and who truly makes them happy. Hot chemistry, witty banter and captivating characters makes this a story you won’t be able to put down.

Friends to lovers and small town? Sign me up! This is also the first book that I have read by this author. I just devoured it. I wish that I had taken my time.
The way that the author described Honey Creek just makes me want to go and visit and stay at Sophie’s B and B.
The connection that Holden and Sophie have is everything that you would expect funny, sweet, adorable, and loveable and pulls at your heartstrings.