When Julia Maguire meets Reed Baxter in a holiday in Hawaii, she knows that their relationship has no future. Reed is the mother of 4 year-old twin girls and a busy doctor with no time to have a full-time girlfriend. But their attraction is undeniable and Julia decides against her own convictions to engage in a holiday fling. Soon she realises that she has feelings for Reed but a relationship with her is impossible. Or is it?

This author has caught my attention since the release of her erotica novel ‘Party favors‘. ‘Three reasons to say yes’ is a slow-burn romance with some family and inner conflict on the side, set in the idyllic island of Hawaii. The main characters are well rounded and beliavable, and kudos to Ms. Clevenger for introducing an interracial couple. Writing this novel in third person exclusively from Julia’s point of view is a great choice as Reed is a mystery to the reader that slowly reveals to Julia and to us. The butch-femme relationship works here perfectly as Reed fits ideally as the dark and broody type of butch. But her character is far from being a stereotype and so is Julia. The secondary characters are multi-layered and well written, specially the twins and Julia’s best friends, Kate and Mo. The only flaw I found is that the 4 year-old twins seem too mature and eloquent for their age but it doesn’t affect the story at all.

The plot is tightly woven with attention to detail. It has a perfect balance between angst and joy, conflict and harmony. All the intimate scenes are convincing and sizzling with a little twist that is not usually dealt with in lesfic. Ms. Clevenger handles it skilfully (if you don’t want to read spoilers about this I recommend you to avoid reading the ‘extras’ section in the Bella Books website). Additionally, there is an exciting secondary plot that is left unresolved but I think that the author is going to pick up from the end of this novel in a new book as Ms. Clevenger states that ‘Three reasons to say yes’ begins a series of romances all set in island locations. Can’t wait for a second book and hopefully it’ll be as original and well written as this one. This is a promising start of the series.

Overall, a well written slow-burn romance with some family and inner conflict on the side. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.