The Six Month Rule by A.J. Pine

Title: The Six Month Rule (The Kingston Ale House #2)

Author: A.J. Pine

Publisher: Entangled Select

Release Date: July 18, 2016

Source: ARC from Author

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

She created the game, but the rules are about to change.

Taurus: Hold fast to your single-minded nature today--no matter how long her legs or how lush her red lips.

Gemini: You were a shining star last night, but reality can be a real--well, you get the picture. Just remember: Tall, dark, and British equals no corner office for you.

Will Evans never wanted a reason to stay.

Holly Chandler wants nothing more than for him to go.

But neither one is prepared for what can happen in six months. Because it doesn't matter what you want when what you need walks out the door.

Holly's been busting her butt to make partner at Trousseau and there's no way she's going to let some stuck-up British arsehole get in her way--no matter how drop-dead gorgeous he is. But that doesn't mean she can't have a little fun in the process. She has a six-month rule: date just long enough for the honeymoon phase to wear off, then walk away before anyone gets hurt. If they both know the rules up front, walking away will be a piece of cake. Or maybe not... 

After falling completely in love with the first book in A.J. Pine’s Kingston Ale House series earlier this year, I couldn’t wait to read more about the group of friends that hung around the bar. I absolutely got my wish with The Six Month Rule.

I read A.J. Pine’s The One That Got Away earlier this year and absolutely loved it. So I was excited to find out that it was the first in a series of contemporary romance standalones. What made me even more excited? Finding out that the second book, Six Month Rule would be about Holly. Because those she might only have had a minor role in the first book, I knew right away that I wanted Holly’s story. And Holly’s story? It ended up being pretty freaking fantastic. I loved reading this office romance about two people who don’t really think they have time or are able to be in any sort of long term relationship. In fact, there were plenty of times when it was almost fun to see them try to deny that what was going on between them wasn’t going anywhere and that it was just temporary. Because as someone reading their story and seeing it all happen, I totally knew there was nothing temporary about what was happening between them. The chemistry between Holly and Will just leapt off the page, and there wasn’t a single moment when I wasn’t rooting for them.

Have I mentioned that I loved Holly and Will? Because I really, really did. I was kind of sad when I got to the end of the book because it meant I wouldn’t be reading about them anymore and all I wanted was to keep reading about them forever. I loved how independent Holly was and how determined she was to get to the top on her own merit. Sure, there were times when I wanted to tell her that it was okay to try to have a life outside of work and to let someone else take care of her (especially if that someone was Will), but Holly was who she was and she knew it. And Will, he thought he knew who he was and what he wanted. But then Holly came into the picture and threw a wrench in his carefully laid plans. And maybe that makes me a bit of a sadist, but I loved watching Will struggle with how he felt about Holly because it was always so fun to watch. But my favourite Will moments were the ones when he was interacting with his daughter. I am a sucker for romances that feature young children because they always have a way of stealing the show and melting my heart when they interact with their parent. Adorable, heart-melting moments were exactly what I got with Will and his daughter and it only made me love him more. And just in case I hadn’t made that abundantly clear by now, I pretty much adored Holly and Will together.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I absolutely loved A.J. Pine’s The Six Month Rule. I loved the story, I loved the characters, I loved the romance, and I just loved getting to hang out with the Kingston Ale House gang. And I can’t wait to hang out more with them in future books.