In Fool For You (Southern Bride #7) by Kelly Elliott, Emmerson Wallace and Landon Lewis have been best 
friends since early childhood. They’ve stood up for one another, shared countless laughs and tears along the way, and they have the type of friendship that they know will stand the test of time. But if they’re being honest with themselves, there’s a whole lot of attraction between them, too. Emmerson tries not to let her mind wander there. Yes, Landon is too handsome for his own good. But she’s not willing to give in to her hidden feelings for him if it means their friendship could be altered in any negative way.
“If things get weird, or if it’s not working, we vow to be honest with each other. Our friendship comes first, no matter what.”
With a nod, Landon replied, “Our friendship comes first.”
Then Emmerson lets her mouth get carried away from her, putting herself and Landon in quite the sticky situation–as a newly (fakely) engaged couple. As they navigate the fibs that are piling up quickly, they finally have a heart-to-heart conversation about the chemistry they’ve been ignoring for years. Things get very serious very quickly. And soon Landon and Emmerson make a pact that if things get too strained and could harm their friendship, they’ll call it quits. But with their family and friends all rooting for them and their (fake) engagement and subsequent (fake) wedding plans going viral, Emmerson and Landon will need to do some soul searching to make sure they’re doing things for the right reasons. And what they want the final outcome to truly be.
“You put on my favorite movie. How did you remember I liked this movie?”
I used my fingers to brush her hair back behind her ear and stared at her beautiful side profile. “I remember everything, Emme.”
Friends to lovers never felt so right as it did with Landon and Emmerson in Fool for You, Kelly Elliott’s seventh standalone installment in her Southern Bride series. The perfect pairing of sexy sparks flying and a heartwarming friendship made for an incredible reading experience.
“I am such a fool for you, Landon.”
“And I’m one for you, Emmerson. Don’t ever leave me.”
Her eyes met mine as she smiled and said, “Never.”
How does Kelly Elliott do it? With every new novel of hers I read, I finish the book thinking “this is my favorite couple!”. Then it happens again with the next book, and the next… There is something just so real, honest, and engaging with Elliott’s writing style–and with the characters she creates. In Emmerson and Landon’s case, I adored them to bits and would seriously love to hang out with them in real life. Especially if their nosy–er, loving family was there too. (lol) Because what a fun time it was when they were all together, everyone giving their two cents about how Emmerson and Landon should handle the mess they made with their fake engagement.
Yes, in this book we had two tropes: friends to lovers and fake relationship/engagement. Elliott masterfully wove them together into a predicament that was a wee bit cringe-worthy, had me chuckling more than once (the hotel scene!), and that had me giving a sigh of happiness over the bond Landon and Emmerson shared. I *loved* the flashback scenes from their childhood that showed just how long they had been besties–and exactly how strong their feelings have always been for each other. Whether they realized it or not. Those glimpses, when added in with the connection they had as adults, it made for a relationship that was absolutely meant to be.
Tender, achingly romantic, and entertaining as all get-out, Fool for You will have you swooning for sure. And thanks to Kelly Elliott’s epic epilogue, you just might find yourself getting a little misty-eyed as well. Highly, highly recommended.
QOTD: Fool for You had both a friends to lovers and a fake engagement trope. Have you read any books with either (or both!) of these tropes and enjoyed it? Or do you have an altogether different trope that’s your fave?
Book Info:
Publication: June 1, 2021 | K. Elliott Enterprises, INC | Southern Bride #7
It was only supposed to be for a few months, so where was the harm in going along with it? That is, until the fake engagement Landon and I came up with after a misunderstanding threw us both into the spotlight, and threatened to destroy the lives we had both worked so hard for.
Somewhere along the way, though, we realized everything had changed. So, we made a vow to one another when we crossed the line from being best friends to lovers, that neither one of us would get hurt.
But that’s the thing about promises made, they are often broken, and the fallout can be catastrophic.
So, when the real world comes crashing down into the fake world we’d created, neither of us knew who would break our vow first, and more importantly, which one of us would survive the betrayal.
Fool for You is a complete stand-alone novel.
