Title: Love on Lexington Avenue
Series: Central Park Pact, #2
Author: Lauren Layne
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne comes the second delightfully charming installment in the Central Park Pact series, following a young widow whose newfound cynicism about love is challenged by a sexy, rough-around-the-edges contractor.

There are no good men left in New York City. At least that’s Claire Hayes’s conviction after finding out her late husband was not the man she thought he was. Determined to rid her home of anything that reminds her of her cheating husband, Claire sets out to redesign her boring, beige Upper East Side brownstone and make it something all her own. But what starts out as a simple renovation becomes a lot more complicated when she meets her bad-tempered and rough-around-the-edges contractor Scott Turner.

Scott bluntly makes it known to Claire that he only took on her house for a change of pace from the corporate offices and swanky hotels he’s been building lately, and he doesn’t hesitate to add that he has no patience for a pampered, damaged princess with a penchant for pink. But when long workdays turn into even longer nights, their mutual wariness morphs into something more complicated—a grudging respect, and maybe even attraction...

Love on Lexington Avenue is another reminder why I enjoy and love Lauren Layne's books. I've been waiting for Claire's book since she was "the wife" and how curious I was on what's going on in her head after the events that happened with her ex-husband's infidelity and death.

This book was a light and quick read for me, as most of the author's books, and I wanted more. I realized in the end that this was a slow-burn romance because when I was going through the book, I realized there weren't that much romantic moments between Claire and Scott until the last few chapters. Sure, there was the sexual tension and the comical banter, but do I count those romantic? Not really. However, I didn't mind. I enjoyed those moments instead and I loved reading Claire's journey of moving on and the things that she can finally do now that her husband's gone. Reading her becoming free of the past felt liberating. I was so proud of her with the goals she was trying to achieve like renovating the house, finding work, putting what she was passionate about to the field and having that as her stepping stone for a business. She does calligraphy. Let me tell you that that is hard to do. It requires skill and concentration and creativity that I all fail to have when we had calligraphy lessons in class. AND I'M JUST SO PROUD OF HER. Her happiness radiates from the pages and I want nothing more than to jump in the book, hug her, and tell her she's doing amazing and that she is amazing.

Scott... I kinda forgot who Scott was when I started this book. And then I remembered he was Oliver's friend so I reread the parts of him appearing in Passion on Park Avenue. The first book was a 50-50 for me so I hardly remember some stuff. Anyway, Scott was kinda hard to read at first but I grew a soft spot for the guy whenever he's with his dog, how he was being honest with Claire about his job that him being gone from time to time to travel for work is a possibility, and him actually being sweet to Claire even though he liked masking it. I AM STILL MELTING ON THE INSIDE AND EMOTIONAL WHENEVER I REMEMBER THAT HE PAINTED CLAIRE'S KITCHEN WALL [REDACTED] - I'm not saying the color because that's an essential fact about Claire so you have to read the book. It was just so precious, okay, and quite sentimental.

The other characters were also a constant presence especially Audrey and Naomi. The latter still being successful and in love with Oliver while the former being all adorable and me yelling internally for her to get it together with Clarke already. Seriously, one of the biggest highlights for me in this book was being able to get a glimpse of Clarke and Audrey's relationship that I am so excited for their story. I know I'll be served with best-friends-to-lovers excellence.

Overall, I loved it. I am willing to reread it like I do with my favorite romance books because it landed on my "ROMANCE BOOKS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY" list. I also would like to say that you all should read this for Bob aka Scott's dog aka Bobsie as what Claire calls her aka the sweetest gentle giant in this story.