I’m going to use the first paragraph of my review for some housekeeping, so to speak, about the placement of this book. It is listed as Volume II of the Make Me series. The Make Me series is a series of books approximately 150 pages each. Mills & Boon published them under their Dare imprint in 2018 and 2019. This rerelease comes in two volumes with two stories in each volume. I haven’t read any of these stories so I requested and received ARCs of both volumes from NetGalley. Of course, I started with the first volume, but I couldn’t help feeling the story (Make Me Yours) was not actually the first book in the series. It may have been okay to read first, but that’s not how my brain works so I looked into it. Sure enough, for some reason, Harlequin is releasing Volume I first with the 3rd and 4th stories in this series and Volume II in January with the 1st and 2nd stories. (This info is as of 9/1/24) I don’t know if this is a sloppy mistake or if it’s being done on purpose but I cannot read books out of order without it inducing anxiety. Okay, on to my review…

Make Me Want

In a way, this is a second-chance romance. Although Lucy and Gideon were not in a romantic relationship in the past, they were great friends whose friendship ended when things fell apart for Lucy. Now, Lucy reaches out to Gideon to help her find a husband. It’s kind of a blow for Gideon who has always loved Lucy, but he’d do anything to help her to find happiness.

In the meantime, Lucy also feels she needs to rediscover confidence in herself in the bedroom. She asks for Gideon’s help with that, too. How can he say no? Her ex really did a number on her self-esteem and Gideon has some guilt about that as her ex was his best friend at the time.

Gideon and Lucy have fantastic chemistry and she definitely finds her mojo again. As honest as these two are with each other, they aren’t telling the whole truth when it comes to their feelings for each other. This is one of those stories that does not need a “break up”, so it was unfortunate that it was given one. The couple had enough to work through without having to hurt each other just to turn around and get back together. I was still invested but disappointed the HEA had to be withheld those few extra days.

Make Me Crave

Did I love Allie? Yes. Did she drive me bonkers? Yes. Allie has such a huge heart. She opened a gym and fed the profits from the gym to a women’s shelter she also founded. But Allie didn’t have it easy growing up (hence the woman’s shelter) and doesn’t trust anyone. In her mind, if she wants something done she has to do it herself. Not only that, but she absolutely cannot give up any control to anyone else regarding those things she loves. Both of her endeavors are in dire financial straights, but she doesn’t trust that any investors would have the well-being of the women she helps at the top of their priority list. But she’s running out of options…

Did I love Roman? Yes. Was he a bit stalkerish in the beginning? Yes. It turns out that Roman is actually a very good guy. He has the standard NDA that is keeping him mum about a fantastic investor for Allie’s gym and shelter. She doesn’t trust him or the situation, naturally. Even once Allie gets to know Roman she cannot seem to give up that control and trust him to not hurt her to make a buck for himself.

I love how these two meet (sans the stalker issue) and was all in on their chemistry. I’m also a fan of the two main characters seeking each other out at the same time to grovel. They both make mistakes, when it comes down to it, so I like that they both fess up to their faults.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**