![Forbidden Miles by Claire Kingsley [Review]](https://thespellboundstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Cover.jpg)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I fell so in-love with this book… with everything about it. I’ve been so lucky to read the previous book in the Miles Family series, Broken Miles and I won’t lie – I totally social media stalk Claire Kingsley now as a result. Before the first book in this series, I hadn’t read anything by Kingsley, but I am trying to make up for lost time. 😉 Also, I am not going to lie, as a Seattle native, I have to read the Miles Family series because its based in Washington’s own wine country. But, it’s sooo much more than that. It’s about this amazing family that I feel like could be my own… You’ll get what I mean when you start reading this series. In the meantime, let me tell you a little bit about why I loved this Brother’s Best Friend romance sooo much!
I LOVE the way Claire Kingsley writes! Her stories just suck you in and you don’t want to put them down. I have yet to find a book by Claire Kingsley that I dislike. She also writes outstanding romances plain and simple. I loved the plot for Forbidden Miles and it kept me entertained throughout the story. I thought she paced it perfectly and that she told a truly beautiful romance. It wasn’t really your typical Brother’s Best Friend romance either. I have read a lot of those, and I was expecting this to go one direction and it really never did. Instead, the story told like it was the first of this trope that I had ever read and that’s always amazing! I also love that her books are always well edited since as an editor I tend to get hung up on poorly edited books. The copy of Forbidden Miles that I read happened to be an ARC as I am also a blogger, but it was still expertly edited.
Another huge selling factor for me with Kingsley’s books is her characters – I totally uber love her characters! Brynn and Chase win you over by the end of the first two chapters, when we meet them each respectively. Now, first things first, this review is going to throw a lot of names at you… The romance is between Brynn Miles and Chase Reilly – everyone else is just part of the Miles Family. Brynn is the baby of the family, but she’s no child and is in fact very grown up for her age and if I am being honest, when compared to her brother Cooper. She’s got this beauty that shines from the inside and is without question a heroine that you’ll love. Chase is the good time guy, and best friend to her older brother. And while the antics of Chase and Cooper had me dying with laughter in Broken Miles, this book casts Chase particularly in a new light. Learning his backstory, how he’s lived as the unwanted son his whole life really broke my heart. But it also made me appreciate the connection that he finds with Brynn and was truly beautiful. Not going to lie, his skills in the bedroom definitely earn him some serious brownie points too, haha! And I would be willing to put money down that it will for you too! Getting to see how things have progressed for Roland and Zoe, as well as getting to see the rest of the family again was wonderful. I love reading standalones within a series because when you fall for primary characters, you always want more, and then you’ll always see them again with the next book. The same is true for the secondary characters, you fall for them too and pine for their HEAs as well. So it’s always incredible when you get to see glimpses of characters who steal your heart.
In regard to the Miles Family books, you’re in for a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I was laughing in one breath and then was weeping in the next reading about Brynn and Chase’s romance… (Seriously, you’d think I was as pregnant as Zoe with all the back and forth during this book 😉 but I’m not – it’s just the way Kingsley tells these particular stories). I was also furious with Cooper for how he was treating Chase – his best friend. Bro Code or not, it was something that just set me off repeatedly. Kingsley wrote a story that is sweet and sexy… really, really sexy! I can’t say that I have any unrequited love for my brother’s best friend… or that particular fantasy but it was really hawt to read about Brynn and Chase – the temptation, the desire to do things the right way and ultimately scumbling to that temptation only to be caught in the worst possible way and time. (And don’t take that last line as a spoiler… you have NO clue what I am referring to until you read the book 😉) I wasn’t totally surprised by the pairs romance in some regards since I did read the first book in this series. I just somehow swore these two were going to hook up AND be the next in the family to get a book written about them. After all, Cooper is a confirmed bachelor and Leo’s story is going to likely be full of angst… Hell, I’d even venture to guess that it will likely rip my heart to shreds so I seriously doubt that it’s going to be any easier for Kingsley to write that one! So really, guessing that Brynn would be the second book in the series wasn’t rocket science. And that was the extent of the book that I found predictable.
Like I stated above, Claire Kingsley writes outstanding romances and I truly don’t think you’ll ever go wrong. Whether you are new to her or a longtime lover of her words, Forbidden Miles is sure to be a 5-star read for you as well. While it is written as a standalone, I would recommend you reading it after Broken Miles since the stories have some progressive elements to the family. However, don’t let that stop you from reading Forbidden Miles if the story calls to you!
