Shut Up and Kiss Me

SHUT UP AND KISS ME is the second instalment in Lauren Blakely’s contemporary adult HAPPY ENDINGS erotic, romance series. This is YouTuber food critics/restaurant reviewers Nolan McKay, and Emerson Alva’s story line. SHUT UP AND KISS ME can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Told from dual first person perspectives (Emerson and Nolan) SHUT UP AND KISS ME follows the best friends to lovers relationship between YouTube food critics/ restaurant reviewers Nolan McKay, and Emerson Alva. Nolan McKay and Emerson Alva are best friends, and partners in a successful YouTube show. An offer to come to New York, to ‘audition’ for a new network food show, places our couple into a competition with several others, a competition Nolan and Emerson aren’t sure if they can win but time spent together pulls our couple closer together as they act on their attraction and sexual need for one another. The back and forth ‘sexual innuendo’ with reference to eating and food is a part of what makes our couple the next rising stars on YouTube,innuendo the network hopes to use on their upcoming show.What ensues is the building romance between Emerson and Nolan, and the potential fall-out as their growing romantic relationship may impede their chances of getting their own show. Emerson Alva and Nolan McKay are best friends, and business partners but both are keeping secrets about the past. Emerson has lost somebody close, while Nolan has lost more than Emerson realized. As our couple must come to terms with one another’s pasts, going forward may require Emerson and Nolan to step back and reconsider the direction of the relationship. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text. The secondary and supporting characters include both Nolan and Emerson’s family and friends : Nolan’s brother Jason, Harlan and Katie (Wild Card Kiss 1), as well as agents, executives, fellow food network wannabe stars, and fans. SHUT UP AND KISS ME is a fast paced story of friendship, family and love. The character driven premise is captivating and engaging; the romance is flirty and hot; the characters are fun, flirty and determined.

One of my absolute favorite tropes is a friends to lovers. I feel it’s the connection they already have, and one or the other will realize that they can have both, a friendship and a relationship without the dynamics changing. One of my favorite things about reading a LB story, is her characters zest for life and their flirty banter, just makes me smile the whole time. With this book, I loved the uniqueness of the occupation they had, being vloggers and trying to make it to tv being food critics. Pretty cool! There were also some awesome cities they lived in or visited, San Francisco, Las Vegas and NYC - all of them this Aussie gal has sojourned too, so it was like I was there with them. Even though this is a rom-com, each main character had a past relationship or quandary that added another deeper level to this book. Emerson and Nolan were different but the same, and when they surrendered to the passion, it was like two pieces of a puzzle fitting back together. Lastly, there were some hints or even a first chapter of the book/s to follow, with Jo, Jason and TJ, can not wait for each of their books to be released.

Shut Up and Kiss Me is the second book in the Happy Endings series by Lauren Blakely. While this is part of a series, there is no reason at all this can't be read as a standalone. It will be enjoyed all the same. In this book we find YouTuber's and best friends Emerson Alva and Nolan McKay continuing to work on their show where they review food/restaurants. The show is full of innuendos, flirting and fun. They are presented with an opportunity to head to New York to compete to have their own Webflix show, but they have pretty stiff competition given the other people they are competing against. While these two friends continue to try to do their best work on their show, the romantic connection between them begins to grow. While they both want to see how things will play out between them, they aren't sure they want to risk the show if their romantic relationship doesn't work out. Will they decide that their connection is more important than the show and what will be will be? Or will they put their professional lives first? Told from dual POV's, we are able to hear from both Nolan and Emerson throughout the story. This fast-paced story kept me engaged and interested throughout. I also enjoyed the inclusion of their family and friends, which only served to make the story that much richer. This is another wonderful addition to the growing number of fantastic Lauren Blakely books!