The devil is in the details, and the Lady of the Lake holds the clue.

Honey Blois is no stranger to pain. The lasting effects of an abusive childhood have made her life challenging, but it’s the ache of unrequited love she can no longer bear. When her confession goes unanswered, she has no choice but to fall out of love with her best friend.

Mathias Jørgensen is living a lie. The billionaire playboy buries the pain of loving the one woman he can’t have with flashy cars and bad decisions—until Honey’s letter comes to light. With renewed hope for the future, he vows to find his way back to the boy she fell in love with if it’s the last thing he does.

And it might be.

As the pair blurs the line between friends and lovers, his unscrupulous past demands a reckoning. To save the woman he loves from a watery grave, Mathias will have to remember every last detail of the life he’s desperate to forget.

Titles in the Butterfly Junction series include — Butterflies and Hazel Eyes – Honeybees and Sexy Tees –

Title:  Honeybees & Sexy Tees
Series:  Butterfly Junction #2
Author:  Katie Mettner
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  July 20, 2021
Publisher:  Breaking Night Press
My Rating:  4 stars

Honeybees & Sexy Tees is the second title in the Butterfly Junction series, and although I haven’t yet read the first in the series (that’s on my to-do list) I was able to enjoy Mathias’ and Honey’s story without any trouble at all.  Oh, sure, there were probably nuances (there is that mystery to learn more about) relating to the series overall that I missed, but it did not affect the enjoyment level of their story for me.  I try to read in order but time wasn’t on my side for this one.

I love a friends-to-lovers romance and Honeybees & Sexy Tees is that but so much more as both Honey and Mathias have not only trust issues but other baggage from their pasts that will get in their way.  Honey had an abusive childhood, the memories of which are always with her, and a medical condition that affects her to this day.  She is strong in so many ways that it doesn’t take long to see beyond any frailties you might think about Honey.  She is determined, has strengths that she hasn’t even begun to draw on yet, and is ready to move on since it seems the man she’s come to love will only ever see her as a friend and nothing more.  She confessed her feelings in a letter… and nothing’s ever been said so what else is she to think?

Along the way to becoming successful enough to be able to afford his lifestyle, Mathias might have forgotten the dreams he shared with his childhood friend Honey.  His desire to do good for himself, his family, his friends, and his community might have sounded good as a kid but the grownup man has forgotten those vows… until recently.  Having just read a letter that Honey wrote to him Mathias has begun rethinking what he’s doing with his life… and how to keep Honey in it.  But it’s not going to be easy reinventing himself or to undo the hurt he’s unwittingly caused to the woman he’s come to love as far more than just a friend.

Add in some outside forces, that mystery, familiar faces, and you’ll find a very good story.  I was aware of Honey’s past, and Mathias’ part in, well, saving her in many ways when they were children but it wasn’t overpowering, just like knowing that Honey faced medical issues wasn’t overpowering either… they were simply parts of who she is, they didn’t define her.  I saw a strong woman who is in love with a man who needed a smack upside the head to get his attention (in the kindest of intentions sort of way) before he truly saw his future standing right in front of him.  I liked them both and together they made a powerful couple.  I need to read Butterflies and Hazel Eyes then I can keep an eye out for the (hopefully) next story in this series.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own – good, bad, or indifferent. I was not financially compensated for this review and no expectation of a positive review was promised.*

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