REVIEW: Be Your Everything by Catherine Bybee

In Be Your Everything by Catherine Bybee, Chloe D’Angelo is pretty sure everyone knows someone who has, or maybe even has their own, story about a wild time in Vegas. Never did she dream that she’d drunkenly get married there to her childhood friend–her older brother Gio’s *best* friend–Dante Mancuso. A guy who’s known in Little Italy, San Diego as a player. All it took was him coming home from Positano, Italy for Chloe’s heart to start fluttering and for her to lose all sense. As evidenced by their escapades in Vegas. But as she tries to figure out their next step, whether to get an annulment or see where this could lead, Chloe’s soul-searching takes her to Bali on the yoga retreat she’s been putting off forever. Maybe there she can find a compromise between her head and her heart.

“What possessed you to say yes to his little game of *let’s say I do*?”
Chloe felt the smile on her lips. “He kissed me,” she said with a sigh. “I knew he was a player, but that didn’t stop me from wanting that kiss ever since I stopped thinking boys were dumb.”

Dante would be lying if he said he’d never given any thought to what a life with Chloe would be like. In fact, even though her brothers Gio and Luca warned him off years ago, he’s often dreamed of passionate nights and sun-drenched days with the dark-haired beauty. Then Vegas happens. Dante knows that he’s gone about wooing Chloe all wrong, starting at the end instead of dating her and getting to know her as the woman she’s become while he’s been in Italy. As he chases her across the globe, Dante is determined to make things right. First with Chloe, and then with their families, one way or another.

‘He couldn’t help but think that no matter what the morning brought, this moment, with this woman was worth it.’

A Catherine Bybee romance with Vegas shenanigans–including a quickie wedding–paired up with a brother’s-best-friend trope? Count me in! Be Your Everything was a delightful whirlwind trek across continents that proved to be every bit as heartfelt as it was passionate.

‘Never in her life had she felt the weight of the world on her as she did since she’d woken up the day before with a fake ring on her finger and a cavern of regret sitting in the middle of her chest. How had this happened?’

Catherine Bybee truly can do no wrong. Seriously. I thought Luca and Brooke’s relationship in book one, When it Falls Apart, was wonderful, but then came Chloe and Dante. And *wow* did they charm me. I already liked Chloe from her scenes in her big brother Luca’s book so I had a good feeling about getting her own HEA. Be Your Everything definitely didn’t disappoint. She and her often boisterous Italian-American family still had tons of playful banter and such deep love and care for each other that it made me want to sit down to a Sunday dinner with them and bask in it all. But that same adoring family was what made a relationship with Dante–who just happened to be Chloe’s second oldest brother Gio’s best friend since childhood–out of the question.

I got such a kick out of how Dante (*loved* him!) and Chloe’s intense attraction that built over the years was obvious to the females that surrounded them–friends and family–but not to Chloe’s brothers. Thank goodness. Because once the Vegas I do’s happened and the truth eventually came out, well, let’s say things hit the fan. And that’s where first Chloe’s, and then shortly after, Dante’s world traveling began.

I was more than happy to trail after them while they went to one exotic place after another (places that are actually on my bucket list), particularly since Bybee so vividly detailed the locations and sights that I really felt like I was right there with them. It’s also where Chloe and Dante had time to figure out if their impromptu wedding–and their feelings for each other–were worth the difficulties facing them at home. It was sweet. It was oh so sexy. And their stolen moments were so touching that they’ll make you sigh happily.

QOTD: Do you like to “travel the world” while reading books, learning about new locations and cultures?

Book Info:

Publication: November 15th 2022 | Montlake | The D’Angelos #2

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee comes a romance about childhood friends who marry in Vegas and embark on a wild ride to find their happily ever after.

With two protective older brothers and a traditional Catholic Italian mother, it’s surprising that Chloe D’Angelo can manage a date without someone in the family naysaying her romantic choice. And Dante Mancuso…oh, no. Her brother’s best friend is not a dating-app right swipe.

But when they are left unsupervised on a late night in Vegas, all of that changes. Add in a Vegas wedding chapel and a couple of “I dos” and Chloe wakes up with a ring on her finger and a hangover. Dating Dante was always a secret desire, but marriage? The rift that this news would cause in her family has the both of them keeping their nuptials to themselves as they scramble to undo their Vegas mistake.

Dante knew the rules: Chloe was off limits. Only he can’t stop once his mind starts to believe she might be his forever. Just as their attraction deepens, Chloe flees to Bali, desperate to clear her head.

All Dante has to do is keep her brothers from killing him and convince her that they are meant for each other. But first, Dante has to find her.