Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #02) - Samantha Young

Title: Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk #02) 
Author: Samantha Young
Rating: 4/5

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for letting me receive a digital copy of this book before its official release date.

Bailey Hartwell has many reasons to feel content - her successful business, a close circle of friends and her steady boyfriend . . . even if their romance feels staid after ten years without a serious commitment. The only challenge in her life comes in the form of sexy businessman Vaughn Tremaine. She thinks the ex-New Yorker acts superior and that he considers her a small-town nobody. But when Bailey's blindsided by a betrayal, she's shocked to discover Vaughn is actually a decent guy.

Vaughn admires Bailey's free spirit, independence and loyalty. As his passion for her has grown, his antagonism toward her has only worsened. Every little thing Bailey does seduces him. But when Vaughn's painful emotional past makes him walk away in fear he will hurt her, it opens an old wound in Bailey, and she uncharacteristically retreats.

Once Vaughn begins to realise he's made the biggest mistake of his life, he has no choice but to fight like he's never fought before to convince Bailey that the love they've found together only comes around once in a lifetime...

I was so super excited to get my hands on this novel, I literally screamed when I saw that the publisher had granted my request and let me read it before its official publication date. It felt like a second Christmas to me. Bailey and Vaughn captured my heart in The One Real Thing, which I read in German in summer 2016. To be honest, I liked them better than the main characters - Cooper and Jessica. Naturally, I couldn't wait for the story to come out. I think a lot of readers felt the same way, according to what I saw online, everyone fangirling over Bailey and Vaugh and their haters-to-lovers relationship.

I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Samantha Young speaks out about having had a writer's block during the process of writing Every Little Thing, but while reading it, it's definitely not visible. Every action, every phrase, every interaction feels natural, feels needed as if it's the most important part of the book for it to make sense in the end. Even the Devlins. Ugh. The mean family of Hart's Boardwalk. You didn't want to read about them, you didn't want them to have anything to do with Bailey and Vaughn, but it was necessary. They are just a part of this community as the rest, and we all need a little mean drama, don't we?!

With The One Real Thing I complained about being not able to get the vibe of this whole townie feeling, being born and raised in a huge city. Luckily, it didn't even matter to me in Every Little Thing anymore. I felt a connection toward each of the townie people - Emery, Bailey, Cooper, Ira and Iris... All of them. Between summer and now, I kind of missed them, as well. They are all individuals and in the end it's not the town I need to love, it's the people living in that town, and Samantha Young creates some of the best characters ever. I think Bailey and Vaughn might even by some of my ultimate favourites ever.

As always, it takes some time to find out one of the main character's flaws - the past that's haunting one of them. It was Vaughn, this time. Yes, we found out a secret about Bailey toward the end, as well, but it was Vaughn who bared his soul within the last pages. In the beginning, I was scared about how Samantha would figure out what to do with Bailey, since she still had a boyfriend nobody liked. (Seriously, we all knew he was a douche in the first book, too.) But she managed really well, never letting Bailey change who she is. Her actions and reaction fit her so well. It was scary, actually. She was so real, same as Vaughn. I'm swooning again, sorry.

Though we all love the sneaky comments Vaughn and Bailey made, their way of tip-toeing around each other, but never admitting it, I liked that these games didn't last too long. It would have been dragged, would have felt boring after some time. Their passion had to explode and that's exactly what happened and what had the story moving forward. The chemistry between these two was too incredible to put it into words. Read the book and see for yourself. It's awesome!

Having now read the second of the series, I am desperate for another one, preferably about Emery, because she's this super adorable person everybody can relate to in a way or another. There's so much more to her than we read about, I think, and I would love to find out what's going on inside her head, what her past was like and how she turned into the person she is today. I'm curious to find out whether there will be a third book or not. Please let there be a third book!