REVIEW: The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward

In The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward, Everyone’s probably heard the advice to never date your best friend’s sibling, right? Well, drummer Holden Catalano has tried to keep that in his head every time he’s run into Laney “Lala” Ellison over the years. After her brother Ryan, Holden’s best friend since childhood, passed away eight years ago, he swore he would keep his promise to watch out for Lala. And so did the rest of their close-knit group of friends: Colby, Owen, and Brayden. But in Holden’s case, it’s been a struggle. Because even though he’s got a reputation for being a carefree bachelor, Lala is the one woman he knows could make him think about settling down. The main problem with that? She’s engaged to be married to a brainiac scientist. Someone more suited to Lala’s career in science–and someone stable and safe–unlike Holden.

“Your happiness means more to me than my own.” He paused for a second. “Over the last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about Ryan. I promised him I’d always look out for you, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

When Lala found out she was going to stay in the city for a couple of months to work on a huge project, she couldn’t wait to visit with her brother Ryan’s closest friends–the guys she’s known since childhood. But she didn’t realize she’d be staying right across the hall from Holden when she agreed to use one of the apartments in the building they own together. Lala isn’t worried about being tempted to cheat on Warren with Holden. But she does know that she won’t be able to help herself from having late night conversations and renewing the friendship they once shared. And it all starts off so innocent and comfortable. Before long, though, Lala begins to wonder if she rushed into getting engaged to Warren. Because the longer she spends time with Holden, the more awed she is by the sparks between them. Enough so that she’s contemplating making some serious changes in her life…

“I care about you too much to be your biggest regret.”

Sexy and provocative, The Rules of Dating My Best Friend’s Sister was another winner from an author duo who can do no wrong in my humble opinion: Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward.

“I feel like you have just as much control as I do lately, Holden. And that’s really not that much.”
“You’d be surprised how much control I have, sweetheart.”

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Cheating (emotional), Alzheimer’s condition detailed. « Hide Spoiler

Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward are known for their super steamy, uber modern romances that will have your heart twisted in knots before being smoothed out by their killer HEAs and epic epilogues. Holden and Lala’s story most definitely fit that description. It was all kinds of angsty, and honestly felt at times like no one was truly in their corner as they explored the connection they’d had since they were teens. It basically came down to three things that were in Lala and Holden’s way: the promise Holden had made to Lala’s brother Ryan before he passed away eight years ago to watch out over her; people constantly telling both of them that Holden wasn’t relationship material given his track record of casual hookups; and, oh yeah, the fact that Lala was engaged to someone who SO was not Holden. Cue the drama!

I won’t lie–Lala and Holden pushed the boundaries when it came to cheating without fully going over the line. What that will mean for each reader and if they will be okay with the decisions made will be different of course. I was a little iffy on one specific scene. (A phone call) But the way Keeland and Ward handled it after that put things back into a place that I personally was comfortable with.

What I loved most–aside from the awesome cast of characters–was how Holden and Lala had been friends since their teens. Yes, there was a physical attraction. An *intense* one at that. But they were each other’s safe place to fall when they needed to talk something out or just have a good conversation about anything and everything. And that’s why, even though Holden doubted himself after listening to the naysayers and Lala was torn over if her relationship with Warren would be enough, I just knew they’d work as a couple. Once they figured everything else out obviously. But with the sweet ending that was filled with happiness and a bit of serendipity in regard to Ryan, I think Keeland and Ward gave their readers another romance to treasure.

QOTD: Do you prefer a series where the previous cast makes cameos in each couples’ book or having installments that are strictly about one couple?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: April 2, 2023 | C. Scott Publishing Corp. | The Law of Opposites Attract #2

From New York Times bestselling authors Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward comes a new standalone romance.

Rule number one for dating your best friend’s sister: Don’t.
Just don’t do it.
Especially when your best friend is dead and the last thing he made you promise him was that you’d keep an eye on his little sister, but not too good of an eye.
As a musician whose longest committed relationship was six weeks, I, Holden Catalano, was the last guy on Earth who should’ve been messing around with Laney Ellison.
The super smart girl whom I affectionately dubbed Lala since childhood was always off limits.
Though that didn’t stop me from thinking about her over the years, especially those times when the two of us would sneak out onto the roof and talk for hours after my buddy fell asleep. It was innocent, but I’d always held a torch for her.
After Ryan passed away, I vowed to always protect Lala. That included protecting her—from me.
Now all grown up and a scientist, Lala needed a place to stay when she accepted a temporary research position in New York. I thought I did the right thing by offering her an apartment in the building I co-owned with my three friends.
Except having her close by reignited all of those old feelings.
And things started to get complicated.
Especially since she was engaged.
And especially since, lately, I’d noticed something more in her eyes. Desire.
Lala didn’t exactly look at me like the platonic brother figure I was trying so desperately to be, even though I wanted her more than I’d ever wanted anything.
Yet, I was being good—on my very best behavior.
But you know what they say…all good things must come to an end, right?