*3.5 Stars

Harper is a swim instructor with a traumatic experience in her past that haunts her several years later. Levi is a videographer who is slow to trust after getting his heart stomped on and then some by his ex. They knew one another as kids, then happened to meet again years later in a bar. They enjoy a passionate tryst and part ways. The two are forced to reconnect when Harper becomes a spokesperson for PSAs that Levi is filming, as if it weren't hard enough sharing close friends.

I thought it was really cute the way they were childhood friends who happened to bump into each other years later. The way their romance played out, and the way that they couldn't fight how they felt really made this a great read!

Robin Bielman puts the fun in dysfunctional. Lips Close to Mine has a special kind of crazy that only Ms. Bielman can create. Harper is a touch neurotic. Between matchmaking mothers, a controlling father and a pesky attraction that refuses to go away, who can blame her. What happens when the man of of your nightmares becomes the guy of your dreams? Chaos! Levi and Harper are proof of why any Bielman novel is a class act. She never strives for perfection, only truth. Flaws and all. Her ability to allow us to laugh at ourselves is why she continues to be a constant on any bestseller list.

4.5 stars

I would call this a friends to lovers story, but also a second chance story. Harper and Levi were best friends and inseparable since they were babies until they were six years old. Then they were changed to different schools and lost touch. Now Levi’s best friend is going out with Harper’s best friend, so they were thrown together, and had a one-night stand. At least, for Harper. She recognized that Pants Charming could charm her pants off very easily so she’s veering out of his way. She’s very susceptible to Levi’s smile. Fast forward several months to where the action starts in this book.
Seven years ago, someone important to Harper drowned and she still hasn’t overcome that loss. She was training for the Olympics swim team and the incident broke her will to continue with her goals. For a while she hardly lived, and it took getting acquainted again with swimming, by way of giving lessons, that brought her back. So she doesn’t want to get involved with anyone, even Levi who bewitched her with his smiles. She doesn’t want to feel that pain ever again.
Levi himself is still overcoming the betrayal of an ex-girlfriend who messed up his mind. Until recently, she was still stalking and messaging him, but she cheated on Levi with another guy and got pregnant. Levi was still reeling from the betrayal, so he only wanted a fling, no serious relation.
Their attraction was too strong to resist. The connection they had from when they were kids caused that they had an easy going connection, and they could chat and joke for hours, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. Each one brought a relief and relaxation to the other that no-one else could. Since Harper had a cousin’s wedding where she was a bridesmaid, Levi was a convenient escort, so that ensured they were together a lot.
So there you have it, sexual fun and reluctance to get involved. And Levi had a bet with one of his besties, Neil, that he could get Harper to bed a second time. As Levi’s feelings for Harper intensified, the bet was a bad idea that he tried to nix but Elliot didn’t let him. Another conflict for them.
The past in the form of the psycho ex-girlfriend came to complicate matters, their work was also an issue since they worked together in a Public Service Announcement. They both had goals and Levi was very supportive of Harper’s goals and helped her choose her direction.
I liked the story and liked both characters, but there were a couple of things that threw me off. One was the constant innuendos of sex, in conversations, in gestures, in their thoughts. They really felt insatiable and for me, it retracted from the story. At one point I considered not reading any more because it was getting a little too much. Later on, things got better and the author got more invested in the story and I liked it much more. Then Harper got too stubborn in her refusal to date Levi and ran scared several times, to the point I wanted to swat her. I loved one scene where she went to Levi’s house and there was a pretty woman just leaving and kissed Levi goodbye. Harper was devastated and was about to run away until Levi told her it was his sister. Serves her right for being so stubborn!
The reading was light-hearted except for a couple angsty moments and was an entertaining read. I liked the author’s writing style because there’s no excessive prose and she combines humor and with some angst and lots of family time, the excess sexy times at the beginning notwithstanding.

Note: This ARC was provided by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review. The full review can be read on Dog-Eared Daydreams.

Sigh. This book was just...gah! These two twenty-three-year-olds may not have seemed to have a lot in terms of quantity stacked against them, but the baggage could have very well been insurmountable had either one of them given up on themselves and each other. Neither Levi nor Harper is at the point where they're over what happened with his ex-girlfriend and with her first love, though in Levi's case. I don't want to go into specifics, though if you've read book one in the series, then you'll have some idea what Levi's ex did and why Levi's friends hate her as much as they do. Harper's back story, particularly the one to do with her high school boyfriend, is heartrending, and there's a particular point in the story where she reveals to Levi what occurred when she and her boyfriend were sixteen that had me reaching for a tissue. It put everything that I knew about her up to that point into perspective.

Lips Close to Mine still brings with it moments of levity and lightheartedness that were a constant in Talk British to Me. However, this second in a series did have more angst but it's a warranted kind of angst. You'll get what I mean when you read the book, and I'm seriously encouraging--imploring!--you to do just that. Read this book. Read both books (in order, please, even if they can absolutely be read as standalones). I'm going to qualify my next statement by fully admitting that I haven't read ALL of Robin Bielman's books, but based on the ones that I have read, I'm going to say that this is her at her very best. She isn't telling you a story, and neither are her main characters. Nope, Bielman has made it possible for her readers to experience what Levi and Harper have and are going through. She made me feel and she so made me believe in the healing power of love. This book was everything. Five-plus stars. ♥

I loved the first book in this series so I knew I had to read about the next couple. I am so glad I did. This book definitely swept me off my feet. It was swoony and romantic and had tons of emotions that I was not expecting. It was also fun though as well. I really enjoyed reading this story and I am so ready to read more about these characters and more from Robin.

4.25☆

**I was kindly provided with an ARC by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review**

I enjoyed Lips Close to Mine a lot. As the story was sweet, engaging and fun. But it also had moments of angst. Yet everything was balanced well. Which made it incredibly easy to read and hard to put down. Plus the characters were likable, and not just the main two Levi and Harper. But their friends, including Teague and Mateo from Talk British to Me. Which is actually a story I've never read. But that did not put me at a disadvantage. As this story can easily be read as a standalone and I would happily recommend it to others.

Lips Close to Mine is the second book in the Wherever You Go series by Robin Bielman and is the story of Levi and Harper, who were featured heavily in Talk British to Me. Both Levi and Harper were very good friends of the lead characters in that story, so I knew that there would definitely be some chemistry in this book.

Levi is a one night stand that Harper would never see again. He makes her live complicated and she just can’t have that. Harper pushes Levi away with every snarky comment and rude attitude she can muster but Levi just won’t leave well enough alone.

It’s clear from the start that both Levi and Harper have demons that have not been dealt with as of yet and there is a connection between the two of them as those demons start to resurface.

I enjoyed their banter, the chemistry and the connection between Levi and Harper but I really did not like the secondary drama with an ex popping into the story. I just felt that they had enough to deal with and the ex was an unnecessary part of it.

I did enjoy catching up with the characters from the first book and am looking forward to seeing where Robin Bielman takes the next book.