Lauren Layne

Meet the men of Oxford magazine! In the first captivating spin-off of Lauren Layne’s Sex, Love & Stiletto series, a not-so-friendly battle of the sexes turns into a scorching office romance. Hotshot sports editor Cole Sharpe has been freelancing for Oxford for years, so when he hears about a staff position opening up, he figures he’s got the inside track. Then his boss drops a bombshell: Cole has competition. Female competition, in the form of a fresh-faced tomboy who can hang with the dudes—and write circles around them, too. Cole usually likes his women flirty and curvy, but he takes a special interest in his skinny, sassy rival, if only to keep an eye on her. And soon, he can’t take his eyes off her. Penelope Pope knows all too well that she comes off as just one of the guys. Since she’s learned that wanting more usually leads to disappointment, Penelope’s resigned to sitting on the sidelines when it comes to love. So why does Cole make her want to get back in the game? The man is as arrogant as he is handsome. He probably sees her as nothing more than a barrier to his dream job. But when an unexpected kiss turns into a night of irresistible passion, Penelope has to figure out whether they’re just fooling around—or starting something real. Praise for Irresistibly Yours “Irresistibly Yours has it all: fun banter, hot chemistry, and a couple that you just can’t help but want to be together!”—New York Times bestselling author Marquita Valentine “Lauren Layne had me at baseball, and I stayed up way too late devouring Cole and Penelope’s story. Sassy, sizzling, and sexy (with sports!). This one’s a grand slam!”—Tracy March, author of Should’ve Said No Lauren Layne’s New York Times bestselling Oxford Novel series can be read in any order: IRRESISTIBLY YOURS I WISH YOU WERE MINE SOMEONE LIKE YOU I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE I THINK I LOVE YOU Don’t miss any of Lauren Layne’s hot reads: The Love Unexpectedly series: BLURRED LINES | GOOD GIRL | LOVE STORY | WALK OF SHAME | AN EX FOR CHRISTMAS The Sex, Love & Stiletto series: AFTER THE KISS | LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH | JUST ONE NIGHT | THE TROUBLE WITH LOVE The Redemption series: ISN’T SHE LOVELY | BROKEN | CRUSHED The I Do, I Don’t series: READY TO RUN | RUNAWAY GROOM Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

An Oxford Novel

Irresistibly Yours

romance books weren’t hitting the same and then I read this. dare I say real romance is back? fuck yes I dare 

manar 

Bailey Johnson

Really liked this story line. Light and fun with some smut. Naomi is such a good girl next door and cole is too cute to handle

penelopecole own me like i couldn't stop giggling <3 their friends to lovers progression felt perfect! also seeing the stiletto girlies (from the spinoff series) welcome penelope into their little group was my favorite and all the crumbles from all the other couples

"you are in love" by taylor swift

penelopecole own me like i couldn't stop giggling <3 their friends to lovers progression felt perfect! also seeing the stiletto girlies (from the spinoff series) welcome penelope into their little group was my favorite and all the crumbles from all the other couples

celene

** spoiler alert **
           4.5 
Likes: 
-i love that cole was drawn to penelope whe he first saw her not bc she’s gorgeous or whatever but bc he finds her interesting and that she’s totally not his type like that’s cute fam (imo lol) :(( i mean he’s drawn to her bc her personality not bc of her looks what the fudge :(((
-i like the stilleto girls like a lot theyre greaaaat
-whenever cole calls penelope ‘tiny’ and ‘pen’ awee
-i love that they became friends first,,,, that shiz right there makes me tear up *wipes my tears away then sniffles*
-and,,, uhm,,, penelope is just,,,, so precious?!?! i wanna hug the shiz out of her mygoodness love her!!!??!
-their chemistry build up was like done in a slowly but surely way and i love that for me
-their! height! difference! :(((((
-the in-front-of-penelope’s-apartment scene was amazing what the fudge :((
-their pact?!?! how cole said his terms,, it is just,,,, bravissimo amazing spectacular so full of respect and idek what im saying anymore lol
-that scene when they were with cole’s brother that’s cute fam 😩
-that scene where they were both wearing baseball caps (they look cute okay uwu 😩) and cole kissed the back of penelope’s hand,,,, yeah so precious 😩
-“weekend bed partners and weekday colleagues” that shiz right there aaaah

minor issues:
-anyway where’s the groveling??? i needed it??? NEED esp when the H does it like,,, oof but yep didnt really happened :(( what the fudge 
-it took 3 weeks for cole to finally realize to make a move to make things okay with penelope??? uhm that’s just,,,? what? that’s way too long man,,, 
-cole makes like a move (those few times) to penelope whenever there’s another guy in the picture,,, im like??? i did not want it to be that way,,, that he would take a leap for penelope bc he loves her not bc there’s another dude,,,

Connor 

4.5. Lots of adorable nerdiness—already knew I’d love this one based on what I’d seen of them in the other books.

AMO A ESTA GENTE 💓
PUEDE HABER ALGO MÁS BELLO QUE COLE Y PENELOPE?

Inês Filipa

oh just so charming. 

i really adored cole. i loved the banter, the friendship. all of it. 
and again… the whole group. it’s the best part! 

these books are my one and only source of serotonin. 

5-tiny-stars ✨

ingrid

loved that so much! penelope and cole were a very fun couple and i loved how great they worked together. penelope is on my favorite ll girls so far and her finding a place in the slas group was so cute. i do think the resolution could’ve been a bit more fleshed out but other than that i loved everything about this!

krissy

feel like something was missing and i definitely could have done with more angst but it was a fun quick read

meha 

4.5 stars!!! 

penelopecole were so adorable! both of them were so soft and it just warmed my heart reading them!

catia

“I’ve fallen in love with you, Penelope. Yes, that scares the shit out of me. And yes, it caused me to freak out. But my head’s out of my ass now, and I just, I want…I’m yours, Penelope. If you want me. Irresistibly yours.”


Okay Penelope and Cole got me!! Again Lauren Layne slayed and gave me another reason to live, and that is PenelopeCole!! They got me by surprised because I knew I was going to really enjoy them and like them because you know? Lauren Layne. But damn they really did stole all my soul and I to be honest I'm not even sorry!! Friends to lovers at its finest I don't care!! Penelope and Cole are one of my ultimate couples right now!! 
I known and loved Cole since "Love the One You're With" and I was so excited for his book and wow, it was so much more magnificent that I was expecting and Cole's story didn't disappoint and it was so beautiful! Loved following his growth and see him finally understand he's not really alone and he has a family in his friends and Penelope and of course his brother! Cole and Bobby had such a perfect connection and the way Cole cared and looked after his big brother was so damn good that I was a goner, totally down for Cole Sharpe.
Peneloe Pope, I finally found my twin, Penelope Pope is me and I am Penelope (minus the sports knowledge but wtv ahjf) she is a beer girl, one of the guys, and she feels she's not sexy or worth of male attention and boy how much I related to her!! And her personality? God, she is the best friend anyone could ask for, she has humor, she cares, she's just so amazing i!! I loved meeting Pen and loved how much energy she has and seeing her finally realise how worthy she really is and to finally fully respect herself!! Like Cole, Penelope's growth was so damn beautiful to read and that's one of the reasons this book was so important to me and means the world because I did relate to her so much god! Seeing her finally getting the happy ending she deserved all along was heartbreaking and breathtaking.
So yeah overall, I feel like PenelopeCole are one of my #1 couples and they will always mean the world to me! Like I said before, friends to lovers at its finest period!! 


   “Wait a minute. I have a little notebook. And you first met me at a Yankees game.”
“Hmm, that so? I don’t remember.”
She pinched his arm playfully. “Cole Sharpe, don’t you dare tease me about this. The woman who distracted you from that Yankees game. It was me?”
His hands found her face as his thumbs gently brushed her lips, his expression tender. “Penelope. It’s always been you.”

Emilie Adele Rognmo

4.75 stars

why isn’t this longer. literally crying i miss them already. i absolutely fell in love with cole in stiletto, but oh my penelope stole my entire heart. i love them so much.

the found family in this universe gives me sm comfort it’s ridiculous. and the cameos from stiletto, i miss them.

J Ashlie

LOVED the two main characters, and the witty humor between the two. I was a bit worried there in the beginning when I wasn't sure if Penelope would be able to move past what happened with her ex, but thankfully that resolved itself quickly. I can't wait to read the next one, and I wish I had known about the Stiletto Series because I would have read it first, shame on me for not doing my research. Must go back and read those now lol
full review on my blog
https://bookbaybeeh.wordpress.com/201...

Nedu

Andrea Cabezudo García

Me he zampado este libro en un dia y jo que bonitos Penelope y Cole me muero creo que son mis favs

Samantha Alukas 

Oh god, this was so *cringe-y* and bad (Cole is the worst, ugh, so annoying) But did I finish it? I mean, yeah, I did. Was I, begrudgingly, but sufficiently, entertained enough? I mean, yeah, I was. Still doesn’t mean it’s good, though.

Edit: OK, actually everything about this was the literal worst lol - 1 star

Find this review and more at 
  kimberlyfaye reads
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I can't even lie, when I first picked up this book, I fell in love with it. There's just something about Lauren Layne's writing that I love. She's quickly become one of my favorite auto-buy, auto-request authors over the last few months. Her characters are relatable, the stories addicting and, once I start reading, I can't put her books down. 

Penelope was a girl after my own heart. A tomboy (of sorts) who is not only a sports fan, but has made a career writing about sports, she was amazing. She knew her stuff. She could "talk sports" with the best of them. She was spunky and enthusiastic. She was real. She'd also been hurt in the past after falling for someone she thought was a friend, but who ended up using her to advance his career instead. When things started to heat up with Cole, she made it clear there was never to be anything more between them than a friendship with some benefits. This wasn't because she wasn't into Cole, but because she was terrified to fall for someone else who might hurt her. She knew she wasn't Cole's usual type and didn't want messy feelings to get involved, because it would be that much more difficult when things ended and he went back to the women he usually dated.

Cole had me swooning all over the place nearly immediately. He wasn't perfect, but he was charming, attentive and funny. Of course, he was also sexy as hell. He knew all this too. But he never came off as the bad type of cocky bastard. It was always more of the endearing type. ;) He was keeping some secrets and struggling with some tough family stuff, but those things only made me like him more. Despite his arrogant exterior, he was a really good guy underneath. I mean, he'd done his fair share of dating around and was a bit of a lady killer, but the women he was with knew the score, so I could take it. Plus, minus one scene, we didn't see him in playboy mode and that made it even better. 

Together Penelope and Cole were damn near perfection. She might not have been the type of girl he usually dated, but she was exactly what he needed... even if he wasn't quite ready to admit it to himself. Their interests were similar and they could talk sports all day. I loved their banter and their obvious passion for their jobs... and each other. That's the dream for the sports fan, right? Finding another person you can share that love with? Someone to spend the day on the couch with watching sports, trading stats and facts and then have hot as hell sexy times with later? I mean, it's at the top of my list. (Too much info? Haha.) Despite their claims that nothing serious was going to happen between them, it was obvious from the start they were just trying to fool themselves. I adored these two together! 

There were, however, a couple things that happened that bothered me because they just didn't ring true to me. SPOILERS AHEAD! One of which was the time Penelope walked into Cole's office and saw him in a liplock with another woman. The scene was annoying enough to me because I was shipping them hard, he was supposedly interested in her and here he was with his tongue in someone else's mouth. (In his defense, they were NOT together... she was trying to keep him at a distance, but STILL.) That wasn't the worst part for me, though. The fact that he confronts her about her jealousy and pushes her just hard enough that SHE KISSES HIM. You know, after he had his tongue in someone else's mouth just mere minutes before. I... don't believe that. Maybe it's just me, but I don't care how into a guy I am, I catch him kissing someone else, the absolute LAST thing I'm going to do is kiss him right then. There needs to be a toothbrush and mouthwash and a few hours separation before that's going to happen. The other scene that bugged me was the "break up" scene. I won't get into the full details, but it was cold... even for a guy who was trying to put distance between him and the woman he was falling for. It just didn't seem like Cole to me. 

Honestly, if it hadn't been for those couple scenes, this would've been a five star read for me. As much as the book redeemed itself for me after these blips, I still couldn't go to a full five. But, if I gave half stars this one would definitely be four and a half stars. So very close to perfection. 

All in all, however, this book was wonderful. I loved the cast of characters and, after looking at Lauren's backlist, I realized this is a spinoff from another series. (Confession: I have this thing where I don't really read the blurbs for books by some of my favorite authors. I just start reading the book instead, so I'm often surprised by the storyline.) Now that I've met the lovely ladies of Stiletto – and their men, of course – I feel like a good ol' fashioned binge is in order to find out the full story for each of them. Plus, you know, more time in that world with characters I really enjoy. So, I'll be doing that soon. 

I finished this book and, though it doesn't release until February, jumped right into the second Oxford book, I Wish You Were Mine, because I was just so hooked on everything about this series. It's going to make the wait for Someone Like You, the third book, straight up excruciating, but I'll deal. Somehow. Probably by bingeing the first series and perhaps rereading the first two books in this one. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Lacey

Also posted at Booklovers For Life

Lauren Layne has quickly become one of those authors for me that I won’t hesitate to read because I know she’ll give me a book I won’t be disappointed with. She does a fantastic job of infusing humor, wit, and lots of sexiness into her books, all of which I’m a fan of. Irresistibly Yours is no different in that it’s a wholeheartedly enjoyable read. This is the first book in the brand new Oxford seres, the spinoff of the Sex, Love, and Stiletto series.

What I love most about Irresistibly Yours is how it’s got a mix of romance elements incorporated into it. Office romance, sports themed, rivalry, opposites attract, friends-to-lovers – Lauren Layne manages to balance all of these so well to create an incredible book I adored so much!

Cole Sharpe is a freelancer for the Oxford magazine, but there’s the open spot of sports editor that’s calling his name. Unfortunately, even with his inside connection, he’s got competition for the position – competition in the form of a small, tomboyish, adorable-as-hell woman named Penelope Pope.

She was looking up at him, her expression unreadable, and he felt a sudden surge of tenderness for this woman he barely knew and yet somehow knew completely.

What starts off as a competition and rivalry soon turns into something friendlier and more charming – Cole and Penelope both feel some chemistry between them, but they put their feelings aside in order to work together at Oxford. Penelope has moved to New York for a fresh start, and Cole has become her very first friend, though he’s the sexiest man she’s ever met. Penelope knows the gorgeous playboy is totally out of her league, and puts herself firmly in the friendzone. Cole, however, is completely taken aback by this incredible woman who is his equal in every way. Never has a woman meant as much as Penelope does to him. They share an incredible love for sports, they’re around each other at the office every day, but before long, neither of them can fight the attraction they try to hide.

How had this happened? How was it that this sweet, feisty tomboy could turn him on just as easily as she turned him completely inside out every time she looked at him?

You’re really in for a treat when you pick up a book by Lauren Layne. Equal parts sexy, sweet, and hilarious, Irresistibly Yours is a fun-filled read you won’t be disappointed in. Cole and Penelope are wonderful, endearing characters, and I rooted for them right from the very start. And I absolutely loved their group of friends at Oxford, who had me laughing so hard. I haven’t read the Sex, Love, and Stiletto series, whose characters are also in Irresistibly Yours, but now I’m thinking I should – which means more Lauren Layne for me! I highly recommend any of this author’s books for those who love funny, light-hearted romances. You are missing out if you haven’t tried her books!

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

Amazon Ebook: http://amzn.to/1Qs0Y4F

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Irresistibly Yours An Oxford Novel

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