More than Friends is the latest excellent standalone story from the brilliant Denise Hunter.

I’m not typically a big fan of this trope – the besties to more always seems awkward to me. But I trust Denise Hunter and wasn’t disappointed. Jenna returns to Chincoteague Island after her controlling boyfriend makes her an outcast when she declines his marriage proposal. When she gets home, she immeidately reconnects with her BFF Tyler, who himself is reeling from the after effects of a divorce he didn’t choose.

Despite plans to rebuild her career back in Alexandria, Jenna starts to settle in to her love of island life and the rekindling of her cameraderie with Tyler quickly turns into more. Tyler is delighted with how the new relationship starts to grow, despite problems with his work as a volunteer firefighter. But when his job puts him at risk, Jenna can’t handle it.

This story has a lot of feels. Danger, nasty exes, quirky family members, all deftly painted against the beautiful backdrop of Chincoteague Island and it’s wild pony population. This isn’t just a journey to somewhere most readers will have never been, but it’s a story of how when the right one comes along, you can overcome a lot to be together. This is another winner from an etremely talented writer.

I received a copy of More than Friends from the publisher via NetGalley. The views are my own.