Early Book Review: The Only Thing (The Donnigans) by Marie Harte

The Only Thing is the third book in The Donnigans series by Marie Harte and is currently scheduled for release on May 1 2018. You do not need to have read the previous books to enjoy this read, but those that have enjoy the earlier books in this series, and the prior related series, will enjoy seeing characters they already know make appearances.

Hope Donnigan is finally getting her life together. She's working a job she likes, has some amazing friends, and is steering clear of Mr. Wrong. Now if only she could get her mother to understand that. Maybe a hot tattoo artist from the other side town is just the ticket to teach her mom a lesson. J.T. Webster fell for Hope months ago at his sister's wedding. So when she propositions him to be her fake boyfriend to get her mother off her back, he's all in. The only problem is J.T. had no idea their pretend relationship would be better than anything real he's ever had.

The Only Thing is the story of two adults afraid of love and getting hurt, but that have shared an attraction since the first time they met. They have been avoiding dealing with that attraction because of the level of connection between the families. If something went bad, it would be an epic disaster. However, in a frustrated moment Hope sets a plan in place that will bring them together, and start them in a relationship that never really feels as fake as they are pretending it to be. I enjoyed the slow evolution of both Hope and J.T.'s mindsets. I loved both characters, and how honest they were with themselves, even when they had trouble sharing those thoughts and feelings with each other. And as expected, the secondary characters and returning people from previous books added depth and humor to the story on several levels. The addition to the stalker, and the danger fit well for most of the story. I was not thrilled with the reveal of who was behind it, and it felt a little wrong and out of the blue for me. However, that was the only thing in the book I did not like, so it was still a wonderful read.

The Only Thing is yet another great contemporary romance novel. I did not love it quite as much as the others from Harte, but I still loved it and will be looking forward to continuing to read more and more from this author.