Beginning of the End, the prequel,
and End of Story
Kylie Scott
Hilarious contemporary romantic comedy with a cat!
Blurb for Beginning of the End:
When her boyfriend announces he’s accepted a yearlong contract in London, Susie’s relieved that Aaron suggests a long-distance relationship. But then it makes her think. Is it her imagination, or does he seem just a little too eager to leave? Is she reading too much into his excitement to hit the British pub scene? And all relationships cool off after a while…right? As Aaron’s departure approaches, Susie confides in her favorite aunt and best friend to help her figure out—is this the beginning of the end or just the beginning of something even better?
This is a short story prequel to “End of Story”.
Susie has no filter, which makes her snarky and humorous – something Kylie Scott writes so well. It starts off with Susie dating Aaron. But it is obvious Susie and Aaron are not meant for each other. Susie has a heavy case of denial. Even the sex has gotten bad.
“He came, and I did not. Or, at least, I didn’t come until later when I could take care of business alone.”
Lars is Aaron’s best friend, “lumberjack hot” and a contractor. But he has a seemingly great girlfriend that Susie really likes. Susie and Aaron have a very public break up at Aaron’s going-away party. But it was a good thing that needed to happen.
At the end, Susie’s hoarder aunt died and left her a house, which is the setup for…
Blurb for End of Story:
When Susie Bowen inherits a charming fixer-upper from her aunt, she’s excited to start living her best HGTV life. But when she opens the door to find that her contractor is none other than her ex’s best friend, Lars—the same man who witnessed their humiliating public breakup six months ago—she isn’t exactly eager to have anyone around whose alliance is with the enemy. But beggars can’t be choosers, and the sooner the repairs are done, the sooner she can get back to embracing singledom.
Things go from awkward to unbelievable when Lars discovers a divorce certificate hidden in a wall and dated ten years in the future—with both their names on it. It couldn’t possibly be real…could it? As Susie and Lars work to unravel the document’s origins, the impossibility of a spark between them suddenly doesn’t seem so far-fetched. But would a relationship between them be doomed before it’s even begun?
Lars shows up to work on the house Susie inherited when Susie expected a different contractor from the firm. Awkward. We quickly learn that he is no longer with the girlfriend he had in the prequel.
“Lars went through various girlfriends during the year I’d been with what’s-his-face. Neither he nor his friend were down with commitment. Which was fine if you just wanted to have fun. But Jane was a keeper, smart with a wicked sense of humor. Lars definitely had a type. All of his girlfriends were petite, perfect dolls who behaved in a ladylike manner. The opposite of buxom, loudmouthed me.”
The best friend of my ex is not my friend. Confucious probably said that.
After pulling away a section of sheetrock, Lars finds a very old piece of paper. But, upon reading it, discovers it is a divorce decree for him and Susie, dated ten years in the future. Crazy!
Finding the divorce certificate raised about a billion questions. But it also made Lars and me look at each other in a new, different, and unwelcome way. It brought hearts, flowers, and sexy times to mind, rather than a you’re an okay human being whom I don’t object to spending time with mind-set. The idea that someone might be your everything was a lot. Same went for finding out in advance that a relationship would fail. Messages from the future weren’t as helpful as you’d think.
There is a cat that visits the house. I always adore the addition of a cat in a story!
The cat was crouched at the other end of the porch with the bowl of milk I’d left for her. It seemed rude not to offer her something to drink too. We discussed the weather for a while, but she didn’t have much to say. She mostly flicked her tail, watched the occasional car go past, and kept an eye out for birds.
It was clear to me that the cat was Aunt Susan, and she devised this whole scheme to get these two together. But this is never said or hinted at in the story itself. See if you agree with me or not.
I really loved the way the relationship grew out of friendship. It was organic, sweet, fun, and humorous. I really felt like I got to know the characters, and they had both great qualities and flaws that they accepted about each other.
I’ve never been accused of being deep. My talents consisted of having great style and saying weird shit.
This is a slow burn, with the intimate scenes not starting until about halfway through the book. But they are worth the wait! Foreplay is in no way skipped like I see too much in movies and TV these days. Has anyone else noticed that? It seems to go straight from a hot kiss to penetration and it’s over in 2 minutes. That is not good sex! But here…
His past lovers and girlfriends deserved thank-you notes. And cupcakes, maybe?
The humor in this is what really makes it so great. I love the snark! Some of my favorite quotes:
“Are you saying she was correct when she said we’re horny for each other?”
“There’s no way in hell I’m answering that.”
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“Thanks.” He laughed. “Why are you always picking on me?”
“Why are you always picking on me?” I asked. “It’s like that old nonsense about how the kid in third grade who pushes you over is secretly crushing on you. They’re not. They’re just an asshole. And yet we cannot seem to stop poking at each other.”
He grinned. “Maybe we’re both assholes.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Isn’t it nice that we have things in common?”
Wait a minute. That was not me getting poetic about a male. Heck no. Wash my mind out with soap.
Overthinking things was such a joy.
He grinned down at me. “Thank you for holding my man feelings in such high regard, Susie.”
“You’re welcome, Lars.”
How dare he not manhandle me. This was outrageous.
…he glared at my cute black sleep shorts and tank. Never had my sleepwear been so maligned. The lack of a bra seemed to particularly upset him.
If only people had mute buttons. That would be so useful.
“He should press charges,” hollered the evil witch. Though that was being too mean to witches. Even the ones that were evil. Like I’m sure they had their reasons.
Read this for a cute, feel-good story with a lot of laughs! And come back for more great books by Kylie Scott: Wildflowers, Flesh, and Skin.
Contains graphic sex scenes.
Occasional foul language.
Both the prequel and novel are 1st person past tense from Susie.
Errors: 1 repeated word in the novel “Make sure it hasn’t been accidentally been tucked away…”
195 Pages
$14.99 and $1.99 at Amazon.
I borrowed both of these from Hoopla, a terrific source of free books and audiobooks likely available to you if you have a library card.
V. B. Law 