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Too Easy
Blake Harper is over it. She’s totally over everything—except, maybe, Ryan Whitaker…
Why should Blake care about anything anymore? It’s all just so hard. She drove more than halfway across the country in her dumb orange car to northern Michigan, and now she’s alone in a house she doesn’t like, doing a job she doesn’t really know how to do, in a place that seems determined to freeze her out. A place where she doesn’t know anyone but the little girl next door, the kid who won’t leave her alone.
Which she wants. Blake definitely wants everyone to leave her alone, totally, unbearably alone. No, she doesn’t want anyone.
Except, maybe, Ryan Whitaker. He’s local royalty, so good looking that he makes other women stop and stare, and with a family that seems to own half the state. Yes, he’s living the easy life. But while those other women will do just about anything to land him, Blake’s not interested. They can hang out, because she likes him. She happens to like him a lot, but not as a potential boyfriend. Not as potential for love.
Friendship is the limit for her and that’s all Ryan wants, too. For the first time in his life, he’s not after anything from a member of the opposite sex. Certainly not sex. For sure.
But they might find that love isn’t hard, after all—and falling for someone is just too easy...
Why should Blake care about anything anymore? It’s all just so hard. She drove more than halfway across the country in her dumb orange car to northern Michigan, and now she’s alone in a house she doesn’t like, doing a job she doesn’t really know how to do, in a place that seems determined to freeze her out. A place where she doesn’t know anyone but the little girl next door, the kid who won’t leave her alone.
Which she wants. Blake definitely wants everyone to leave her alone, totally, unbearably alone. No, she doesn’t want anyone.
Except, maybe, Ryan Whitaker. He’s local royalty, so good looking that he makes other women stop and stare, and with a family that seems to own half the state. Yes, he’s living the easy life. But while those other women will do just about anything to land him, Blake’s not interested. They can hang out, because she likes him. She happens to like him a lot, but not as a potential boyfriend. Not as potential for love.
Friendship is the limit for her and that’s all Ryan wants, too. For the first time in his life, he’s not after anything from a member of the opposite sex. Certainly not sex. For sure.
But they might find that love isn’t hard, after all—and falling for someone is just too easy...
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 18, 2022
95 people are currently reading
178 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 31, 2022
3.5 Stars
This book was a pleasant introduction to a new-to-me-author. A bit different – and a little quirky. I enjoyed the easiness of Bennett’s writing, and I found myself enchanted by the rather unconventional cast of characters.
The dynamics of the strangers-to-lovers relationship between Blake Harper and Ryan Whitaker was slow going with an easy and natural progression. The differences between them are quite notable – he’s a wealthy playboy living in a mansion and she’s barely able to make ends meet, sleeping on the floor of a small cottage. Both are carrying around emotional baggage that plays havoc with their outlook on life.
At times the story takes on an angsty roller-coaster ride between heartbreaks and hope while dealing with difficult issues. But that is combined with a well-balanced blend of humor and kindness as well. I found the pacing and the forward movement of the storyline well-managed.
An amazing highlight in the story is the fabulous Nour family who live in the cottage next to Blake -- especially Liliah, the eight-year-old whirlwind, who is responsible for some much-needed uplifting additions to Blake’s otherwise declining spirits. There's never a dull moment when the Nours are involved.
Beware that you'll encounter a scattering of missing words and spelling errors throughout the sentences. The book would have benefited from a thorough final edit.
January 8, 2023
Pretty much the best book I've read in a while. I've almost read 400 this year so you know I've seen a book or two. Starts out really tough/violent with a very tender character. The author builds this character up in the "odd ball" setting of northern Michigan. I live here so although, Green Bay Wisconsin has a professional football team in northern Wisconsin, it still is an odd place for a football franchise but I think the author projects (ha). Northern Michigan is great in all seasons!!
I love Ryan.
I think the little girl next door needs boundaries but we grow to love that family next door too.
I will treasure this book over and over. I started at 11 pm and read through to 3:30 a.m. I already want to read again.
Highly recommend.
I love Ryan.
I think the little girl next door needs boundaries but we grow to love that family next door too.
I will treasure this book over and over. I started at 11 pm and read through to 3:30 a.m. I already want to read again.
Highly recommend.
October 4, 2022
I glommed this in a couple hours. It was a tearjerker, but it felt a little manipulative in that - the heroine’s backstory keeps revealing new and tragic twists and issues like her unhealthy coping strategies were raised and then dropped without real resolution.
October 20, 2022
I thought this book got off to a very intriguing start, I just had trouble feeling any kind of empathy towards Blake. I really didn’t feel any kind of chemistry between Blake or Ryan at all. Could also really use a proofreader.
July 24, 2023
Heroine has a dead boyfriend. The dead boyfriend was an entitled, selfish idiot.
Hero has relationship phobia.
The story was nice. I wish we saw more of the hero and heroine together in a relationship.
I do not care for dual POVs. However, it would have been nice to read one chapter from the hero’s POV. The entire story is in the heroine’s POV.
This a slow burn. They do not get together until the very end.
Hero has relationship phobia.
The story was nice. I wish we saw more of the hero and heroine together in a relationship.
I do not care for dual POVs. However, it would have been nice to read one chapter from the hero’s POV. The entire story is in the heroine’s POV.
This a slow burn. They do not get together until the very end.
July 10, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
This one really hit the spot for me at the time I read it, something that seems to rarely happen for me lately. I loved Blake and Ryan's slowly built friends-to-lovers romance but more than that I just loved Blake as a character and empathized with her in many ways. Her journey of healing from a lifetime of bad breaks was heartbreaking and healing and inspiring all at once. Dalila was a delight of a side character (I want to see her get a romance when she grows up!) and it was just nice returning to the Whitaker crew again after so long in some of this author's other worlds.
This one really hit the spot for me at the time I read it, something that seems to rarely happen for me lately. I loved Blake and Ryan's slowly built friends-to-lovers romance but more than that I just loved Blake as a character and empathized with her in many ways. Her journey of healing from a lifetime of bad breaks was heartbreaking and healing and inspiring all at once. Dalila was a delight of a side character (I want to see her get a romance when she grows up!) and it was just nice returning to the Whitaker crew again after so long in some of this author's other worlds.
October 4, 2022
Read till.2 in the morning!
Very good.book, one of those that ill be wondering how.the characters are doing long after the book is done. I loved how.she intertwined the story lines of the missing brother , how she coped and how families can be so different. How much it matters that caring adults are.present. Great book!
Very good.book, one of those that ill be wondering how.the characters are doing long after the book is done. I loved how.she intertwined the story lines of the missing brother , how she coped and how families can be so different. How much it matters that caring adults are.present. Great book!
December 17, 2025
Eh. The H and h interact. They’re friends/friendly for most of it. h seems traumatized so that plays well.
August 5, 2025
I actually really liked this one and felt closer to 4 stars as far as enjoyment of the read, but I had some quibbles so I ended up rounding down to 3.
CW:
I maybe missed some things because there is a LOT of trauma in this book. It didn't necessarily feel overwhelming, but it was a little extreme how many horrible things were hiding in Blake's past. I unfortunately didn't love the way
This is less significant than my other issue, but I'm from Michigan and some of the details were just a little weird, lol. A lot of them were spot on! Like hitting a deer--everyone from my hometown has either hit a deer or knows someone who's hit a deer. "Drive safe, watch for deer" is a Michigan mantra. But how has the main character lived in a town ON Lake Michigan and never seen the lake???? It's hard to miss, you can't see across it (a point I wasn't sure was clear since Blake is wondering what people are doing the other side---you can't see the other side.)
But honestly overall, I really loved the characters. They felt like real, whole, complex people. The characters we meet in person aren't perfect but they aren't evil, either. (It's refreshing to have conflict without it being one-sided, like MC vs their evil parent. So it's nice to have a conflict where they both acknowledge they could have done better and they love each other.) So I will definitely be reading more by this author!
CW:
I maybe missed some things because there is a LOT of trauma in this book. It didn't necessarily feel overwhelming, but it was a little extreme how many horrible things were hiding in Blake's past. I unfortunately didn't love the way
This is less significant than my other issue, but I'm from Michigan and some of the details were just a little weird, lol. A lot of them were spot on! Like hitting a deer--everyone from my hometown has either hit a deer or knows someone who's hit a deer. "Drive safe, watch for deer" is a Michigan mantra. But how has the main character lived in a town ON Lake Michigan and never seen the lake???? It's hard to miss, you can't see across it (a point I wasn't sure was clear since Blake is wondering what people are doing the other side---you can't see the other side.)
But honestly overall, I really loved the characters. They felt like real, whole, complex people. The characters we meet in person aren't perfect but they aren't evil, either. (It's refreshing to have conflict without it being one-sided, like MC vs their evil parent. So it's nice to have a conflict where they both acknowledge they could have done better and they love each other.) So I will definitely be reading more by this author!
October 1, 2022
3.5 ⭐️ Jamie Bennett always has this way of having me wondering if I like this book at the start and then sucking me in. 🤣
It’s another heroine I wanted to shake because she doesn’t realize people don’t treat her well. But I was rooting for her.
And Ryan…hm. I did grow to like him. I wanted a little more, and didn’t love that his many past flings were mentioned so much. I think these books would benefit from the male POV because half the time I’m wondering their feelings.
I do love a slow burn and liked how organic it felt but wish we saw more of them together. I feel like they just ~got together~ and thought there would be more discussion.
I also wish we saw Blake heal more, not just at the end. She mentions therapy and finally tells Ryan things, but I wish we saw her implement some of them. And I really wanted to see her buy some furniture! 😅
But overall, I liked how Ryan changed and learned to care, and liked the story.
It’s another heroine I wanted to shake because she doesn’t realize people don’t treat her well. But I was rooting for her.
And Ryan…hm. I did grow to like him. I wanted a little more, and didn’t love that his many past flings were mentioned so much. I think these books would benefit from the male POV because half the time I’m wondering their feelings.
I do love a slow burn and liked how organic it felt but wish we saw more of them together. I feel like they just ~got together~ and thought there would be more discussion.
I also wish we saw Blake heal more, not just at the end. She mentions therapy and finally tells Ryan things, but I wish we saw her implement some of them. And I really wanted to see her buy some furniture! 😅
But overall, I liked how Ryan changed and learned to care, and liked the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 12, 2026
A TRUE slow burn, friends-to-lovers story! I love a depressed, nihilistic FMC. She's overwhelmed and she can't be bothered, and she's got no social battery left to filter herself. It took me a while to warm up to the MMC but that was very well done-- his gestures were authentic and even he seemed confused by them at points. I am not a big fan of using a kid as a catalyst in romance, because they're often poorly written miniature adult oracles who come spouting knowledge beyond their years to guide the protagonists in their journey... but that's NOT true of this book! The kid is authentic, silly, impulsive and truly added to my enjoyment of the story and to the FMC's character arc. Five stars, I'd read it again!
June 3, 2023
This is a slow burn romance between two people not looking for love. This story doesn't have sexual tension, but it has two people being there for each other, growing together and being surprised by the love that develops over time. This story is written in a different style than most romance novels. It was a good read.
I am giving it three stars because I felt there was too much focus on other characters besides the main couple for a romance novel. It seemed like there were just as many pages devoted to the FMC's interactions with her neighbor as with the MMC. I understand it was a part of her journey, but it's just too much focus away from the main romance, in my opinion.
I am giving it three stars because I felt there was too much focus on other characters besides the main couple for a romance novel. It seemed like there were just as many pages devoted to the FMC's interactions with her neighbor as with the MMC. I understand it was a part of her journey, but it's just too much focus away from the main romance, in my opinion.
October 9, 2022
I was lucky to have a whole day of reading and so I devoured this today. It was emotional. Blake was a girl who had gone through so much during her short life. As the reader, and the other characters, got to know her and her history, no one could help but fall in love with her. Ryan and Blake didn’t have a passionate romance but it was definitely one that has you rooting for them. Their relationship will last because of the strong foundation of friendship that grew into their HEA. Very sweet and very kind.
October 1, 2022
Bennett never disappoints!
I always get excited whenever I see Jamie Bennett has released another book. Her characters are delightfully quirky and reveal themselves to you bit by bit through their actions and what they don’t say. Thanks again, JB, for another enjoyable and meaningful read. I love the world you��ve created in Northern Michigan with the Whittakers and Woodsmen FB! Keep ‘em coming!!
I always get excited whenever I see Jamie Bennett has released another book. Her characters are delightfully quirky and reveal themselves to you bit by bit through their actions and what they don’t say. Thanks again, JB, for another enjoyable and meaningful read. I love the world you��ve created in Northern Michigan with the Whittakers and Woodsmen FB! Keep ‘em coming!!
December 29, 2022
Amazing
I loved how the book brings the very different Ryan and Blake together. The author wonderfully addresses bereavement, love, lost with a honest lens.
This book was well written, thoughtful and brings to characters who would not likely connect if they were initially friends.
It great book to read and discover when dealing with accepting we are just human and deal with life challenges and struggles differently and at times not perfectly.
I loved how the book brings the very different Ryan and Blake together. The author wonderfully addresses bereavement, love, lost with a honest lens.
This book was well written, thoughtful and brings to characters who would not likely connect if they were initially friends.
It great book to read and discover when dealing with accepting we are just human and deal with life challenges and struggles differently and at times not perfectly.
June 14, 2025
I enjoyed this i think. I likes how slow burn it was and we mostly just see these two build up a friendship that slowlwy blossoms into more. I dont know if i liked the sex marathon at the end though it felt a bit? Strange? For the book. I think i wouldve preferred a fade to black with these two. They’re tender and stunted & i enjoyed how for both of them it was a bit of an. oh. i wouldn’t mind being with you. moment
September 22, 2022
I LOVED this book! Heartbreaking and hopeful and just so, so sweet. Deals with some hard topics but in a genuine and sensitive way. Lots of humor combined with the fast pace of the story keeps it from getting too heavy. And the ending is perfect- best last page ever! This is my new favorite Jamie Bennett book!!
September 30, 2022
4,5 ⭐️
I love reading about people falling in love, with themselves and with each other. Jamie Bennett realy knows how to make as feel what the character's are going through. The doubts, the sadness, the ugly, the hope and all kinds of love (romantic, friendship, family).
Yes, it can be a litle formulaic, but I know I always end up with a smile and full heart
I love reading about people falling in love, with themselves and with each other. Jamie Bennett realy knows how to make as feel what the character's are going through. The doubts, the sadness, the ugly, the hope and all kinds of love (romantic, friendship, family).
Yes, it can be a litle formulaic, but I know I always end up with a smile and full heart
November 15, 2022
What a beautiful story of a broken girl called Blake and her friend Ryan, who slowly begin to depend and trust each other as they learn to cope with life’s struggles together.You feel their surprise leap off the pages as they realise that intensity of feelings they have for each other, a slow burn, but intense love story, highly recommend!
November 30, 2022
Emotionally Riveting
This was an easy book to slip into, but a hard book to digest.
I cried a lot of tears.
complex, powerful, funny, every chapter kept me riveted.
highly recommend- will now be searching for more by this author.
This was an easy book to slip into, but a hard book to digest.
I cried a lot of tears.
complex, powerful, funny, every chapter kept me riveted.
highly recommend- will now be searching for more by this author.
January 26, 2023
One of those really good.book from Jamie Bennett. The heroin is not perfect. She was struggling. But then, once she meet the right people, it starts slowly to improve
She was alone with her orange car when she arrived in town.
She was alone with her orange car when she arrived in town.
June 19, 2025
Huh. The main couple might as well be strangers because there was 0 chemistry between them. Kind of long and boring. The fmc was annoying. Mmc dry as as the sahara. Very conflicting statements and overall personality switches. In short this just didnt work.
September 24, 2022
Another perfect book by Jamie Bennett!
Another great book by Jamie Bennett. I’ve read all her books and they keep getting better and better!
Such a emotional and beautiful story!
Another great book by Jamie Bennett. I’ve read all her books and they keep getting better and better!
Such a emotional and beautiful story!
September 30, 2022
This might be my fave Jamie Bennett book.
October 11, 2022
Kindle Unlimited
October 27, 2022
Boring... Very Boring.
Expected... something... but.... It was really boring. I don't know why it was highly rated... I feel stupid and deceived....Damn.
Expected... something... but.... It was really boring. I don't know why it was highly rated... I feel stupid and deceived....Damn.
December 8, 2022
love it
Loved this book. Loved the characters. Loved the heroine and hero. It was a funny and sad booked but mostly I loved Dalia.
Loved this book. Loved the characters. Loved the heroine and hero. It was a funny and sad booked but mostly I loved Dalia.
December 15, 2022
Great Story!!
The story just pulls you in from the start and only gets better. You can feel her despair and her JOY!! Loved it and all her GREAT reads. She’s seriously funny too!!
The story just pulls you in from the start and only gets better. You can feel her despair and her JOY!! Loved it and all her GREAT reads. She’s seriously funny too!!
February 12, 2023
Good characters! I liked the ending.
February 19, 2023
'𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭.'
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews