TOE THE LINE by Penelope Ward -review tour

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GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/79759639

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 27, 2023

At first, I thought I’d hate spending the summer with Archie Remington—the conceited son of my parents’ friends.
What I knew about Archie: he was gorgeous, pre-law, and had always treated me like I didn’t exist when we were younger.
When our families bought a house together on an island in Maine, he and I were forced to share a bathroom.
The boy I remembered was now a full-grown man—but with the same attitude.
After a rough start, Archie and I unexpectedly started getting along one day and eventually became friends. We shared secrets and bonded during our morning jogs. I discovered that Archie had a wild spirit and that he struggled to conform to his father’s expectations.
Things were cool until I had to go and ruin it, getting drunk one night, and blurting out my fantasy—involving him.
I took it back, but it was too late. Archie had heard me loud and clear. After that, we never quite knew how to toe the line.
When that summer came to an abrupt and shocking end, I headed back to college, unsure if anything would ever be the same again.
Across the miles over the years, he and I stayed in touch as friends, but fate and timing always kept us from becoming more.
You know the saying: If two people are meant to be, they’ll find their way back to each other?
Let’s just say Archie came back into my life in a way I would’ve never expected.
And this time, my heart would really be put to the test.

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REVIEW: TOE THE LINE by Penelope Ward is a contemporary, adult, erotic, romance story line focusing on chef Archie Remington and journalist Noelle Benedict.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Noelle and Archie), following several timelines, covering approximately twelve years TOE THE LINE focuses on the frenemies to friends to lovers relationship between chef Archie Remington and journalist Noelle Benedict. Archie and Noelle’s fathers were both attorneys, with Noelle’s father mentored by Archie’s dad.Buying a summer home together in Whaite’s Island, Maine, the Remington and Benedicts would spend several weeks together, pushing their only children into an awkward friendship but Archie was a few years old than our story line heroine, more experience in the ways of dating and $ex. Eighteen year old, Noelle Benedict spent the summer watching as the man/boy she loved with someone else, never quite grasping the ways of seduction. In the hopes of finding someone for herself, Noelle makes Archie an offer, an offer to experience $ex before heading to college. Years pass, life, death and illness push Archie out of Noelle’s life until one final summer with an announcement of moving on without our story line heroine. What ensues is the building romance, relationship, and the fall-out of moving forward that threaten not only their friendship but their future together.

Noelle Benedict had always thought Archie Remington was a bit of a snob but the summer of her eighteenth year brought Archie and Noelle closer together. Noelle believed Archie only ever saw her as a friend, and nothing else, forcing Noelle to place some distance from the man that she loved. Archie Remington ‘s home life was a bit of a mess, and summers in Whaite’s Island gave Archie the freedom to play around but summers also meant a time to explore his relationship with our story line heroine, a relationship based on friendship and nothing else but years of miscommunication, misunderstanding and bad timing meant Noelle and Archie spent more time ruminating about one another than acting on their mutual love. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Archie’s parents Archer and Nora Remington; Noelle’s parents; Archie’s girlfriend Mariah, Noelle’s boyfriend Jason.

TOE THE LINE is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love; a story of love and loss, acceptance and second chances. The premise is emotional and heart breaking; the romance is seductive; the characters are determined and dynamic.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.

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