I WANT IT THAT WAY ebook

"Watching this woman discover her own sexuality is the honor of a lifetime and a hell of a turn-on."

Wow, Karen Grey has done it again! I Want It That Way is a lovely forced proximity, workplace, fake relationship romance. I have been rooting for Dani from the beginning of this series. I knew she would be one of my favorites, but I wasn’t prepared for how deeply her backstory and motivations would affect me. Her story is relatable, poignant, and sadly relevant to many women’s stories then and now. Lukas’ backstory hit home for me as well. This is a true testament to Grey’s authentic storytelling; the writes such beautifully heartfelt stories that readers can connect with on many levels. The Carolina Classics Crew is tight-knit, yet each friend and significant other is unique and fascinating in their own right. I love that Dani and Luke don’t question each other’s motives for their life choices; they respect one another’s decisions and offer help without interrogation. The depth of kindness and friendship that shows, despite not knowing each other well, warmed my heart. Their slow-burn love story was so engaging, I couldn’t stop reading. I loved their genuine, heartfelt, spicy marriage of convenience romance. Oh, and I know you’ll love Lukas’ “my wife” moments too. I enjoyed each character cameo from past series and novellas. I loved spending more time with Tina and George; their comic relief was perfect as always. It was wonderful to read more about how the lives of each of the Carolina Classics characters have progressed since Hold On To Me. It was lovely to revisit with Violet and Nate, Sully and Helen, Whitney, and Ford. My heart ached for their hardships and rejoiced for their triumphs. With perfectly placed pop-culture references, expressions, and music, Karen Grey has a magical way of making her stories a visceral experience and transporting readers back to the nineties. Grey’s vivid imagery took me back to certain tv moments; it was like watching a re-run play out in my mind. I cried, snort-laughed, and I swooned hard for Dani and Lukas.

This is my new favorite Karen Grey book! Dany and Lukas are an amazing pair that take us on an adventure of big life decision, taking chances and ultimately an amazing love story. Dany is a strong, independent woman who knows what she wants. She’s on a journey to find a doctor to help her get what she needs. Lukas is embarking on a new adventure but some baggage is holding him back from being all that he wants to be. Dany and Lukas have known each other casually over the years but begin a deeper friendship, learn to trust one another with their life stories and realize how much they can help one another. What starts out as a casual agreement turns into an amazing love story filled with laughs, fears and a lot of patience.

I liked that it was a fake relationship/celebrity/90s style book. I thought I would just start with a couple chapters, but I ended up using the rain outside to justify reading the entire book in one day (it's raining, so why not?). I had previously read the other books in the series and I like the additional character development that happens over the course of a series vs. meeting characters in just one book. I'm already looking forward to Whit's story. I've read all of the Carolina Classics books, and while I Want It That Way could be read as a stand alone, it's part of a series of interconnected characters that appear in each of the stories.

I received a copy of the book at my request, and the opinions here are my own.

What is there to say except that super-talented author Karen Grey has done it yet again: brought back all our favorites elements from her previous books and series, brought us up to speed on everybody we met and loved in the past, and then pointed her expert writerly laser focus on another member of the Carolina Classics gang? We met Violet, Sully, Ford, Whitney and Dani in 1991, when we were getting a delicious little peek at our favorite characters from Grey’s fabulous Boston Classics series. What a way to segue.

Book One in this Carolina Classics series, You Get What You Give, brought Violet and Nate hilariously and sweetly together. Book Two, Hold On To Me, saw Sully, recovering from a serious accident, surprisingly and perfectly paired with Helen. Whitney, tired of years of competition between Sully and Ford for her affections abruptly married someone more suited to her parents’ liking and faded into the background. Ford and Sully patched things up, so the gang is still mostly intact, just expanded a little.

Which brings us to this book, I Want It That Way, the third in the series. Dani’s turn to be in the spotlight. It’s the late 1990s and Wallington, North Carolina is still going strong as the Hollywood of the East Coast, and everybody is more or less involved in some aspect of movie and TV production. Dani still bartends, but now also drives for the actors, executives and crews working on the movies and TV shows being filmed locally. If anybody hasn’t changed over the years, it’s Dani. She’s not against (very, very short) relationships and men, but isn’t looking for anything long-term, marriage is a maybe-someday-but-not-on-my-current-to-do-list thing, and she is adamant that she does not want, and will never want, to bear children. Growing up saddled with much of the responsibility for her siblings by a mother who liked having babies but raising them not so much, and surrounded by extended family always with a hand held out for her time or money has convinced her that motherhood is not for her and never will be.

All Dani wants is a tubal ligation. Now. Not when she’s thirty, not when she’s married, not when she’s had time to “think it through.” No, not then. Now. But no doctor will agree to do it. So what’s the problem? Well, there are several problems: It’s the 90s, it’s North Carolina, it’s the culture, it’s just one giant roadblock after another. Come back when you’re 30 and maybe we’ll think about it. Come back when you’re married and you can prove to us you have your husband’s permission. Come back – wait, what’s wrong with you? What woman doesn’t want children? When (not if) you change your mind you won’t be able to reverse it. Dani is a clever, independent, self-supporting single woman but obviously she’s not “normal” if she doesn’t want to be a mother.

Enter Lukas Keith. Child star-turned-TV producer. Dani has driven him before. Not rude, but not a talker. Adorable as a child; more than adorable as a man, steamy thoughts whenever he floats into her mind (hey, she just doesn’t want a serious relationship – she’s not dead!). And when he gives her that thank you gift of sticky notes: well, wow, whoa. If Dani had a dream man Lukas would be it. And now he’s b-a-a-a-c-k. And of course there’s a lot more under the surface than she thought. So through a series of hilarious, sometimes sweet, sometimes sexy encounters while she’s driving him they come up with the perfect fair exchange: she’ll teach him to drive, he'll be her fake husband so she can finally get a doctor to perform the surgery. What could possibly go wrong with such a sound scheme? Well, it’s Karen Grey, it’s a Carolina Classic, and it's an outrageous premise, so I guess we’ll have to read on and see.

I Want It That Way is an amazing story. Author Grey takes a difficult, controversial topic and tackles it head on. Thoughtful. No flinching. Dani is a woman who knows her mind and Grey makes your mind step back and think about this. Amidst the always well-written, well-plotted humor, heat, romance and difficulties to be dealt with by well-formed, likeable, loveable characters, Grey inserts a very serious subject and deals with it very seriously. Excellent job with a little cliffhanger to make you eager for the next book. I was sent a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review; all opinions are my own. I recommend it and the other Carolina Classics and the Boston Classics without hesitation.

What is there to say except that super-talented author Karen Grey has done it yet again: brought back all our favorites elements from her previous books and series, brought us up to speed on everybody we met and loved in the past, and then pointed her expert writerly laser focus on another member of the Carolina Classics gang? We met Victoria, Sully, Ford, Whitney and Dani in 1991, when we were getting a delicious little peek at our favorite characters from Grey’s fabulous Boston Classics series. What a way to segue.

Book One in this Carolina Classics series, You Get What You Give, brought Victoria and Nate hilariously and sweetly together. Book Two, Hold On To Me, saw Sully, recovering from a serious accident, surprisingly and perfectly paired with Helen. Whitney, tired of years of competition between Sully and Ford for her affections abruptly married someone more suited to her parents’ liking and faded into the background. Ford and Sully patched things up, so the gang is still mostly intact, just expanded a little.

Which brings us to this book, I Want It That Way, the third in the series. Dani’s turn to be in the spotlight. It’s the late 1990s and Wallington, North Carolina is still going strong as the Hollywood of the East Coast, and everybody is more or less involved in some aspect of movie and TV production. Dani still bartends, but now also drives for the actors, executives and crews working on the movies and TV shows being filmed locally. If anybody hasn’t changed over the years, it’s Dani. She’s not against (very, very short) relationships and men, but isn’t looking for anything long-term, marriage is a maybe-someday-but-not-on-my-current-to-do-list thing, and she is adamant that she does not want, and will never want, to bear children. Growing up saddled with much of the responsibility for her siblings by a mother who liked having babies but raising them not so much, and surrounded by extended family always with a hand held out for her time or money has convinced her that motherhood is not for her and never will be.

All Dani wants is a tubal ligation. Now. Not when she’s thirty, not when she’s married, not when she’s had time to “think it through.” No, not then. Now. But no doctor will agree to do it. So what’s the problem? Well, there are several problems: It’s the 90s, it’s North Carolina, it’s the culture, it’s just one giant roadblock after another. Come back when you’re 30 and maybe we’ll think about it. Come back when you’re married and you can prove to us you have your husband’s permission. Come back – wait, what’s wrong with you? What woman doesn’t want children? When (not if) you change your mind you won’t be able to reverse it. Dani is a clever, independent, self-supporting single woman but obviously she’s not “normal” if she doesn’t want to be a mother.

Enter Lukas Keith. Child star-turned-TV producer. Dani has driven him before. Not rude, but not a talker. Adorable as a child; more than adorable as a man, steamy thoughts whenever he floats into her mind (hey, she just doesn’t want a serious relationship – she’s not dead!). And when he gives her that thank you gift of sticky notes: well, wow, whoa. If Dani had a dream man Lukas would be it. And now he’s b-a-a-a-c-k. And of course there’s a lot more under the surface than she thought. So through a series of hilarious, sometimes sweet, sometimes sexy encounters while she’s driving him they come up with the perfect fair exchange: she’ll teach him to drive, he'll be her fake husband so she can finally get a doctor to perform the surgery. What could possibly go wrong with such a sound scheme? Well, it’s Karen Grey, it’s a Carolina Classic, and it's an outrageous premise, so I guess we’ll have to read on and see.

I Want It That Way is an amazing story. Author Grey takes a difficult, controversial topic and tackles it head on. Thoughtful. No flinching. Dani is a woman who knows her mind and Grey makes your mind step back and think about this. Amidst the always well-written, well-plotted humor, heat, romance and difficulties to be dealt with by well-formed, likeable, loveable characters, Grey inserts a very serious subject and deals with it very seriously. Excellent job with a little cliffhanger to make you eager for the next book. I was sent a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving this honest review; all opinions are my own. I recommend it and the other Carolina Classics and the Boston Classics without hesitation.