Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“I know I have no real claim to her, but I want one. I need one. I need this woman to be mine. For this body to be for my eyes, my hands, my mouth…my worship only. “

Rebel Soul, LK Farlow’s newest book, follows the story of two friends, two people, who, looking at their appearances, are very opposite. West is the CEO of his own company. He comes from wealth, and Stacia is struggling to save her family from a financial predicament. All of her money is tied up in an investigation of her father. However, given their differences in appearance, there is a keen attraction between these two and a problem. In order for West to inherit his grandmother’s estate, he must “produce an heir by the age of twenty-five” and his time is running out. Initially, he and his lawyer buddy, Colton, believe they have found a resolution to West’s issue. Unfortunately, his heart struggles to accept their solution. The more time he spends with Stacia, thrown together as roommates due to her family’s troubles, the more he wants Stacia to act as his baby-mama. Will Stacia accept West’s proposition? Or will West have to stick with his initial plan? Even more, will Stacia fall for West as he begins to fall deeper for her? Only time will tell.

This is my first LK Farlow book. I have always loved the “opposites attract” and “baby/marriage of convenience” tropes. There is tension rife within these tropes related to ideas of acceptance. I think it’s human nature to want to find acceptance and love with anyone. That idea runs as the undercurrent of Farlow’s Rebel Soul. The tension of this story lies in Stacia accepting West’s proposal, but, even more, in accepting West.

Farlow has created a heroine with such strength of character that she, oftentimes, self-sabotages the resolution to her problems due to pride. She struggles to accept help from her best friend and West. It’s easy to love her because she seeks to help her family overcome their troubles. Yet, her choices oftentimes derail her ability to move forward. In all of that, though, you can’t help but love her. She’s self-sacrificing, true to herself, and she challenges the hero, West. In fact, that is the best part of the story: their chemistry.

Farlow crafts their chemistry in such a way that it leaps off the page, and whether you agree with West’s want to procreate with Stacia, you root for it because you see their future, even when Stacia can’t. It would be simple to state that the story is unbelievable, yet Farlow constructs their coupling in such a way that it feels believable and you hope they will find their way to each other.

West represents your typical hero. He’s stalwart, at times a bit like a caveman, and quite frankly, he falls faster for Stacia, I think. For me, I like that. I love when a hero cannot help himself, and he does everything possible to win the heroine to himself. That is the case in Rebel Soul. West goes from player to dedicated baby daddy in fast form. If I struggled with anything, it was the whiplash of West’s change, but, I guess, when you know, you know. West morphs quickly into a dreamy hero with nothing but Stacia on his mind.

For my first LK Farlow book, Rebel Soul hits all of the notes. There is definitely an attraction between Stacia and West from the start, and this book takes its readers on a journey of acceptance of each other and a non-traditional arrangement. The reality is these two are made for each other, and it isn’t a stretch for them to find their happy ending. Farlow reminds us with Rebel Soul that opposites attract and find love just like the rest of us.

“Seeing her right now, though, I’m struck with a sense of rightness, like she belongs here, in my home…my bed…my heart.”