Back of Book: 

All Astrid wanted was to plan weddings and stay out of trouble—not to fall for the sourest a six-foot-two complication named Aeron Ashbourne.

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Astrid was dragged to Orange Falls by her best friend to plan a wedding. It turned out to be exactly what she needed. A fresh start to heal after losing her dad.

The first time she met Aeron on a deserted road with a broken-down car, she called him an asshole. He gave her a ride anyway. The second time, she upgraded him to ‘pain in the ass.’ He saved her from falling off a moving train. Encounters three and four? Disasters she'd rather forget.

She wants to avoid him, but now she's stuck working with him on the town's biggest summer festival. His silence was easy to ignore. His touch was impossible to resist.

Aeron rarely smiles. Barely talks. But when Astrid cries, he's there with a shoulder to lean on. When she breaks, he's there putting her back together. Turns out the grumpy, brooding man has a softer side.

But Aeron carries a secret. When it comes out, it could pull them apart.

…….

Sunshine, chaotic, messy.

Grumpy, broody, allergic to sunshine.

They weren’t the perfect ingredients of lemonade. But somehow, they still tasted like lemonade

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Packed with laugh-out-loud moments, sizzling banter, dreamy weddings in rolling vineyards, lively summer festivals, and a twist you'll never see coming.

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Enemies to lovers. Grumpy× Sunshine. Small town romance. Forced proximity. Spicy-sweet romance. 

Book Number: One

Genre: Adult | Contemporary | Romance

Review: 🌟🌟 

A down on her luck wedding planner finds a new start in the cozy town of Orange Falls after the death of her father. 

After being constantly badgered to move to her best friend's hometown, Astrid finally gives in to Kelly's encouragement and packs her bags. After the death of her father and the lull in her career as an event planner, she could use a fresh start anyway. She expected Orange Falls to be a quaint city where she could quietly put her life back together. She didn't expect that she'd fall for Aeron Ashbourne, a grumpy descendent of the town's founder. When the two are paired up to plan the summer festival, Astrid's feelings start to blossom for the man that she was determined to keep at an arm's length. 

I honestly signed up to read this one because the cover was so cute and I figured that it would be a cozy summer read. Unfortunately, I didn't end up loving this one, which seems to keep happening to me when it comes to the books that I apply for from Torch Lit Ink. This saddens me, but I'm sure I'll find a banger of a book through them again soon! 

I actually found myself greatly enjoying the first half of the book. Yes, the pacing is really slow. It takes several chapters to even meet the love interest, and I think the main plot point starts around thirty percent of the way through, but I was just enjoying watching Astrid get to know her new town and her antics with her best friend, Kelly, during this time. From the thirty to fifty percent mark, I found it fun to watch Astrid and Aeron insult one another as their icy exteriors slowly begin to melt as they plan the town's summer festival.

Unfortunately, once the festival begins, I just found Aeron to get sorta creepy and way too possessive for my liking. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a guy who adores his girl, but the level of jealous that Aeron gives off was way too extreme for my comfort. Also, he kept touching her without her consent and the first time they kissed was just gross in my opinion. I can admit that the setup for some of these romance scenes had the potential to be really cute, but I just couldn't appreciate the way that they were executed. 

The love letter thing also fell flat on its face for me. I'm only going to allude to this scene because spoilers, but I just found it to be really predictable, boring, and made for a really dumb third act conflict (especially because it tied in Aeron being a jealous jerkface again). The book jusy sort of ends after the "big reveal," which I also thought was a bit weird. This book could seriously have used an epilogue with these two getting married or something productive. 

Before I end this less than positive review, I wanted to take a moment and highlight Aurin's strengths. Her figurative language is really unique, which I found to be a definite plus. Many of the ways that she describes things were completely new to me, and I really appreciated that. The way that she crafted the small town Orange Falls is also fun. There are the town gossips, the young children, the old timers, and an elderly train conductor who all have a role to play. I found Orange Falls to be an interesting little town and I did enjoy my time in it (when Aeron wasn't raining on my parade). I figure that the next book will follow Kelly, which could be entertaining, depending on the type of guy Ayden turns out to be. 

Overall, I had very mixed feelings about "Lemonade Love." I enjoyed the writing, the humor, the small town vibes, but there the MMC just ruined the whole experience for me. He was too possessive and I found him to just be a complete jerkface at times. It saddens me that this book such a drastic turn for the worst for me, but it didn't end up redeeming itself in the end, so I'm parting from this book greatly disappointed.