Pause
by Kylie Scott
When Anna wakes up from a coma after a car crash, she discovers life has gone on without her. Her husband has been unfaithful—with her best friend—and she’s been long since replaced at work. While her old life is a distant memory, her new life feels like an empty shell. Then she meets the stranger who saved her life during the crash, and he changes everything.
Leif Larsen—tattooist, joker, and player—has his own scars thanks to the crash that put Anna in a coma. Helping her move on from her failed marriage, and create a new life, sounds like a perfect distraction. So when he needs a new roommate, he invites Anna to begin her new life with him.
Although their lives may have been put on pause, together they just might find a way to heal.
Spice Level: 3/6 | Story Score: 7/10 | Rating: 4.25/5 |
I can’t actually tell you where I found this one to begin with (I can only assume TikTok). But, I needed something short for a work day that I knew would actually be focus-necessary. At only 6 hours on audio, I imagine the text version would be quite quick. I’m not going to have a spoilers section on this one because the plot was pretty straight-forward, however, there may be some below that I’m not considering.
Anna wakes up after a car accident to find out that her husband has been banging her “best friend” because her 7 month coma was so traumatic for them. She also finds out that a man pulled her from said car accident and spent weeks reading to her each night -until he stopped. She goes to meet him (I think to say thank you, but it gets muddled quickly) and it turns out he’s a long-haired, tatted-up tattoo artist named Leif with an apartment void of any furnishings. While on their first visit, her “husband” shows up and demands she leave and she realizes that he is the reason that Leif stopped reading to her. They become quick friends, and then they become close friends. When she’s tired of her life being stuck, she decides she needs to move out of her parents and Leif offers to let her move in as his roommate. She does and then their lives quickly become quite intertwined (since his brother lives next door and she also eventually starts working at their tattoo shop to pass some time and help them out). She’s exceptionally gun shy about the concept of love and future relationships, but she’s also honest with herself about her crush on Leif. Eventually, they start having sex, but she’s quick to accept that they’re just messing around because, like I said, gun shy. Leif has the patience of a saint as he lets her figure out her mind.
#1) Anna is incredible. She is quirky as fuck and an overthinker. Her life before her accident was defined by her relationships (husband and friends) and work and suddenly she has to find a different anchor. Her husband is a fucking tool and while most FMCs would be simpering messes, this woman pulled up her panties and told him to fuck off. Like she hesitated a minute at the beginning, but then she fucking stuck the landing. I loved her. Her quirkiness was fucking ridiculous and I laughed because she was actually quirkier than I am. But she dealt with Leif’s quirkiness perfectly. She overthought situations a little too hard but she was so rational most of the time that I connected with her on a level that is RARE. Anna is awesome. I love her.
#2) Leif is…a fucking dream. This man is KIND and he is more patient than a saint. Like holy geez. And he was perceptive and persistent and comforting. When things get awkward, he just hugged Anna until her urge to run disappeared and it was so sweet. He was sweet without being overly sweet. His dirty talk was more dorky than I’ve read before and while it didn’t work for me, it did work in this story and it was great. Leif has his own issues he was dealing with, but he never let them compound with Anna’s. I kept wondering why he chose to say some of the things he did, but it was like he was playing the long game and that’s not something you get much in trashy romances.
#3) Ok, so calling this a trashy romance is misleading. The smut level was low. You definitely know what they’re doing, but it wasn’t ‘make you have to change your pantie’s clear. I think this might be my ONLY complaint. Once again though, he was playing the long game and it was necessary.
#4) This book was short, as mentioned, but I think it was an entire story – which is awesome. I felt like I got the whole picture. Obviously, I want more. I want to know that Ryan is miserable and then I want Seline to also be miserable WITH Ryan. I want to know if Anna ever gets a tattoo and I want to hear about their lives. But, the fact that I don’t feel like I was robbed of anything and I just want more because I loved these people is a testament to how much I enjoyed this.
Random thoughts: I loved that her and her mom got closer. I loved that her mom and Leif became buddies even though her mom was presented as being a bit uppity. I’m confused by her parents though. Her mom was awesome and her dad was shit for taking Ryan’s side. I was bummed that the entire book was in just Anna’s perspective; dual povs have spoiled me. This book was so low angst that by the end, I felt calm and settled. I enjoyed it enough that I want to listen to Repeat, however, just from the few details in this one about that one, I assume that it will stress me the fuck out.
Book #2 in the Larsen Brothers series | 260 Pages | Trope Challenge: Roommates |
Leif snorts. “The dude couldn’t recognize the love of his life without her makeup on and a fancy dress. I mean, how great was Charming really?”
“You’re talking about Cinderella, I take it?” I laugh.
“Yes. It’s a stupid story. Shoe size is a poor indicator for choosing a life partner. Ask anyone.”
- Pause by Kylie Scott
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