The Way of Us

Claudia knows how to bring angst, passion and love into her books and writes beautiful characters. Atzi and Heath are best friends and are always there to help one another through their challenges. They feel safe sharing their fears and hopes for the future with once another. A situation forces them together in a “more than friends” situation…what comes out of this experience is full of passion, care and love. HOWEVER, Heath is a jerk, selfish and a big dummy…he messes things up. Claudia writes groveling in the best way and Heath has his work cut out. Lol. The way Atzi and Heath find their way back to one another is really special and beautifully written. Claudia leaves a few things unanswered…as usual :)…but I’m guessing the answers will come in another book. Love the Spearman family and all their antics. Joe Arden and Janine Granda deliver a spectacular performance. Joe’s voice is so growly, smexy and delicious which is perfect for Heath. This is my first book narrated by Janine and I really enjoyed her voice as Atzi. She is strong, determined but also vulnerable…beautiful performance.

Claudia has done it again! I laughed out loud. I cried. I cringed. I smiled. I feel like I am a part of the Spearman family. I first started this series with the first short story, "My Favorite Night" & then the first full book, "Faking the Game". Aslan and Keaton were my favorite Spearman couple, until NOW. Heathcliff & Atzi have CHEMISTRY! The love that they share, without Atzi knowing, is unmatched in any other book that I have read. The series regular, Dawn Spearman makes an appearance. Were questions answered? Yes. Were even more questions asked? YES! SO MANY QUESTIONS! This book is a must read IMO!

I have one thing to say about this fantastic book, is has to be one of the greatest books I’ve read. Heath and Atzi’s love was also for awhile pure heartbreaking and so unnecessary. This has to be one of my favorites from this series .

Heathcliff in disguise… I really enjoyed The Way of Us. Best friends to more, a long slow burn… Heath is in love with his best friend, Atzi. He is a doctor, a serious caregiver and flawed. He doesn’t want to get married and have kids. Something Atzi desperately needs, since she lost her family, she’s desperately lonely. So, though they are besties, what they want and need keeps them apart under the guise of friendship. Until the lines are well and truly blurred when Heath is given free range to express his love. Except for the part where he doesn’t want kids. Recommend.

What happens when two best friends, who have been denying their feelings for the other for years, face a crossroads in their lives and their relationship? Lots, and lots of angst! I know many reviewers, myself included, throw that word around a lot when describing Claudia Burgoa’s books. And it’s not an exaggeration, especially where Heath and Atzi are concerned. While he’s convinced he needs to take a fellowship opportunity across the country from his home, to get over his feelings for Atzi and let her move on to a better guy…Atzi herself is afraid of losing yet another person that she loves. I’m not going to rehash the plot, especially since there’s so many OMG twists along the way. Not to mention Heath acting like an idiot and Atzi breaking my heart. I wanted to shake one and hug the other! I loved this book and the crazy Spearman family, who show up all over the place. They add some much needed laughs, and one adds so much drama! The ending felt a wee bit rushed, but that’s probably just me. As much as I want the HEA to happen, I like the journey once feelings are finally confessed. Either way, The Way of Us was a great story with wonderful characters. I can’t wait to see which of the last few singe Spearman sibs is next to fall.

Heath and Atzi have been friends since they were just kids but Heath has been hiding his love for her all that time. Atzi has all the plans for her future and Heath isn't interested in any of that. This book is so so angsty! And omg the slow burn of hidden feelings. It's why friends to lovers is my favorite trope. There's a little mystery tossed into this one and now I'm super impatient for the next visit to Paradise Bay.

The Way Of Us is the fifth book in the highly addictive Paradise Billionaire Brothers series and it’s the most emotionally devastating book in the series so far. I definitely wasn’t prepared for all this angst but who am I kidding, given Claudia Burgoa’s writing style, I honestly should have been prepared for all of it. This fake fiancé, best friends with benefits and accidental pregnancy romance started out on somewhat of a light note when Heath agreed to help his best friend Atzi out with a difficult predicament. And my goodness, it escalated into so much more than that. Because Claudia enjoys torturing her readers, (I love the angst and torture lol) she had to go ahead and raise my blood pressure by creating a deeply emotional, heartbreaking and soul crushing storyline. With that said, The Way Of Us is my second favorite book in the series (Along Came You is my number one, Elliot McPhee has a permanent lock on my heart). And each book really and truly does keep getting better and better. I LOVE all the Spearmans (except for their mother, Helicopter and Deranged Dawn) and given all of their obstacles, I love that Claudia continues to exceed my expectations by giving them all the goodness and happiness they deserve. Heath and Atzi’s connection was instantaneous from the time they met as children, throughout adulthood and they’ve been best friends ever since. They’ve been low key dancing around each other for years with their repressed and unrequited feelings. When they started their situationship, the lines were blurred and it made things even more complicated. Because Heath harbors a lot guilt from his past, he feels unworthy of love and marriage and self doubt has reared it’s ugly head for years. He’s developed a hardened heart, he’s firm on his position to focus on his career as a pediatric cardiac surgeon and to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life without children. However, it doesn’t stop him from going along with the fake fiancé facade and pretending to be madly in love with Atzi since he will literally doing anything for her. Anything but opening his heart to her. It’s not a hassle for them to pretend to be in love considering the reality of their feelings for each other. Initially, it probably wasn’t the best idea for Heath and Atzi to cross the friendship line however, I was desperate for these two to open their eyes and I was heavily encouraging their romantic relationship as well as their naughty and tantalizing behavior. And my goodness, they most definitely released all that pent up sexual tension. Their lovemaking was filled with sensuous pleasure and passion. It was definitely worth the wait for both of them. Dr. Spearman is very good with his hands and he’s talented in more ways than one. Some scenes will bring tears to your eyes and make you repeatedly clutch your heart. The Way Of Us is just another wonderful addition to the series and everyone most definitely needs this book in their life. It’s written so beautifully and I will say there are some shocking secrets that open Pandora’s box. While this book doesn’t end with a cliffhanger and definitely can be read as stand-alone, Claudia does a fantastic job of creating curiosity and anticipation for the future books in the series.

I received a complimentary early release e-book prior to release and am voluntarily leaving a review. This is book 5 in a series and this book had so much happening in it. In a really good way but also in a way that if you are a new reader, I recommend you start with the first book because this is not a standalone book. There is mystery, suspense and many twists and turns for the main characters to find their happily ever after or happily for now. This is a story about two besties who have been friends for 18 years, since they were 13. But Heath is in love with Atzi and she has no clue at all. But she also has been pretending for the last 12 years that she has a fiancée and the people she lied to are coming to town and so as they say the jig is up. In this story we also explore Heath's family and especially his toxic connection to his mother who also hates Atzi and why she has always hated her. One aspect of the story is that because of his mother, Heath never wants a family, a wife and children. It's one reason he has always hid how he feels for Atzi because she wants a family pretty desperately. In this story we also learn why this is a really big factor is Heath's secrets and why Atzi has been looking for love and why Heath and his family is so important to her. This was an awesome story and there are big things that happen in this book that I do not want to spoil. It was a really fun story with some real angst but so much happens in it that it's a fast read that you are not able to put down.