Review: No Holding Back

Title: No Holding Back
Author: Kate Evangelista
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: October 18, 2016

Everyone knows that Nathan is in love with his best friend, Preston…Everyone except Preston. Nathan has always accepted that Preston was too focused on his swim training to worry about love. But Preston is heading off to train for the Olympics soon, so if Nathan wants his chance at love, he has to speak up now. But saying “I love you” is surprisingly difficult, even for someone as confident as Nathan. Maybe a whirlwind vacation in Europe could help? But… what if it doesn’t work out and he loses the best friend he’s ever had?

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A while back I reviewed No Love Allowed, and I thought it was adorable.  Perfectly representative of what I have come to expect of a Swoon Reads title.

We start out the summer after No Love Allowed ends, with Nate taking his party planning to the next level. Preston's mother is infamous in the party planning circle. Infamously difficult to work with, that is. And Nate knows that if he gets her recommendation, he's set for the rest of his life working in the business he loves.

Preston has just finished a swimming competition for Olympic training. But it'll be weeks before he knows if he made it with his favorite coach, and he might be slightly obsessive to the point of almost injuring himself while training. So of course Nate tells Preston's mother he will help get Preston's mind off the competition if she lets him plan her big upcoming party.

I don't usually talk about world building in contemporary books. But this one deserves it. Because most of the book takes place in different countries across Europe, Evangelista did an excellent job helping me to picture how each country looked and felt. We got some really cool culture and random history lessons, and I loved that.

I loved how there was dual POV in this one. Preston is not very present in No Love Allowed, even though he has a fairly important role. So we don't really know much about him other than that he is a quiet swimmer. But his constant confusion about what makes Nathan upset and his constant cursing made him one of my favorite characters. 

So on the opposite end, it was hilarious seeing Nate try to romance Preston and get so frustrated when Preston was so clueless. So when all is said and done, I think I actually loved Preston and Nathan's story more than Caleb and Didi. 

Overall

I think this was even better than the first book. If you like cute contemporaries, this one is absolutely adorable.

Note: I received this book in exchange for an honest review.