Release Blitz + Review: "Only Once" by Ashley Munoz

Today, I'm thrilled to take part in the release/review blitz celebrating "Only Once" by Ashley Munoz. I was captivated as soon as I read the book's prologue, and it turned out to be an even better story than I had hoped. I adored this well-crafted second chance romance and highly recommend it for all fans of emotional contemporaries.

 

Main characters Bexley Black and Ryan Prince were both quite likeable and relatable, which made it easy for me to root for them to find their way back to each other despite the difficult circumstances of their breakup in college. They were so young when they were together the first time, and no matter how much they loved each other, it was clear why things didn't work out between them. When Bexley and Ryan met again by chance ten years later, it gave them an opportunity to understand what had happened from the other's point of view, with the benefit of greater maturity. I appreciated how honest they were with each other and that they talked through everything that had happened, making an effort to understand and resolve the old hurts before moving forward.

Bexley's kids, Cole and Bella, were great additions to the story, and I loved that Ryan fell in love with them just as much as he fell in love with their mom. I also liked Bexley's best friend and former college roommate, Shay, who was always so supportive of her and willing to help with the kids. She wasn't a very good matchmaker (some of the blind dates she set up for Bexley seemed pretty awful!), but she was great fun in other ways. I'd love to see Shay return in a future story.
 

"Only Once" was the first book I've ever read by Ashley Munoz, but it definitely won't be the last. I look forward to whatever she writes next.

 

*Review copy provided by the author via Wildfire Marketing Solutions. All opinions expressed are my own. 

 

About "Only Once"

𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀: 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘄𝗼𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗯, 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹?

No, I hadn’t heard that Ryan Prince was staying at the very resort I had just started working at.

If I had, maybe I would have called in sick.

On second thought, maybe I wouldn’t have, because I really needed that paycheck. Being a single mother and having a lapse in child support had made me that desperate.

Still, I would have rather avoided the circus that rolled into Hawk Tail Resort and the man who sauntered in with it.

All these years later and he was still that same gorgeous football player I left behind in college.

Except now he wasn’t gracing the gridiron unless it was for a movie role.

I assumed he wouldn’t even recognize me, not with the actress on his arm and the crowd pressing in around him.

Ryan Prince didn’t just recognize me; the angry tilt of those lips on that too perfect face told me he remembered exactly what I did when I left.

I thought maybe this was a gift, a way to put the past to rest…but the look on his face told me he had plans to dig up everything that was unfinished between us.

The summer was about to end, but it felt like my penance for the last decade was about to begin.