Annie is a Crohn’s disease warrior and boss babe who started her own eco-friendly toilet paper subscription service called S#!t Happens. When her competition offers her paper supplier a better deal, Annie is forced to work with the only person who’s willing to help; her ex-boyfriend Link, whose family owns and operates a struggling paper mill in town. The longer Annie and Link work together, the harder it becomes to ignore their intense chemistry, especially when Link is obviously and desperately working hard to win Annie back. But Annie wants to keep things professional and guard her heart by focusing on growing S#!t Happens and restoring the paper mill…that is, until she figures out the real reason that Link broke her heart all those years ago.
Love Flushed is the second installment of Evie Mitchell’s All Access series, which focuses on a group of differently abled girlfriends searching for love in a small town. It is not necessary to have read the first book in the series (Knot My Type) before you read Love Flushed, but I highly recommend it as we are introduced to Annie’s story in book 1 and Jay and Frankie’s love story (the main characters in book 1) continues in Love Flushed!
Love Flushed is a spicy and unique new adult romance novel featuring the second chance romance and enemies to lovers tropes. This book would be perfect for fans Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey, the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, and the Brown Sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert. The novel deals with themes and topics such as invisible illness and disability, love and heartbreak/sacrifice, war, family and parental abuse, body type, physical and emotional scars, quest for power, female roles and feminism, friendship, and appearance versus reality. Throughout this novel, the characters (and the readers) challenge their own misconceptions about invisible illnesses (like Crohn’s disease) and disabilities. Additionally, Love Flushed highlights the importance of found families and second chances.
On the positive side, I appreciated how this book was on the shorter side (a little over 200 pages); we get to dive right into Annie story right from the get-go and all the writing was to the point with little to no “fluff” that didn’t aid in driving the plot forward. It seemed as though it incorporated a realistic portrayal of Crohn’s disease in addition to debunking falsehoods about invisible illnesses like Crohn’s and colitis. Other than With You Forever by Chloe Liese, I haven’t come by a book that features a character with chronic IBD, so it’s great to see books spreading awareness! I also enjoyed Annie’s sassy, supportive, and differently abled girl squad—especially their “red and read nights” whereby they get together to read and drink wine—and I cannot wait to read the rest of the girls’ love stories in the next All Access books! Similarly, I loved Link’s heartwarming relationship with his veteran twin brother Theo and I hope that we get to see Theo finding his happily ever after in future books. Lastly, Annie and Link’s second chance love story was full of romantic moments and loads of spice! The book also included two epilogues whereby we get to see what’s in-store for Annie and Link post happily ever after and we can also expect their story to continue on in All Access book 3.
There wasn’t a lot about this book that I didn’t like. Some minor downfalls for me were the excessive talk of bathrooms and bodily fluids, but given the fact that the main character has Crohn’s disease and owns a toilet paper supply company, this was expected. It was also a bit frustrating that the events from the epilogue of book 1 (Knot My Type) were repeated in Love Flushed (albeit with additional information pertaining to Annie and Link’s story). Lastly, even though it was relevant to the story, I could have done without the parental emotional abuse that was present in Link’s backstory.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend Evie Mitchell’s All Access series to fellow new adult romance readers.
Love Flushed is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Annie
I sell toilet paper for a living. It doesn’t seem glamorous but S#!T HAPPENS is going places. We’re the fastest growing eco-toilet paper subscription service around. We’re amazing—and I should know, I’m my own best customer.
After years of hard work, I have everything I need to take my business to the next level—well, everything except the paper.
When my competition swoops in and offers my supplier a better deal, I’m left up a certain creek without a paddle. I must have done something truly crappy in a previous life because the only person willing to help is my ex-boyfriend, Lincoln ‘Linc’ Garrett.
The man is arrogant, infuriating, and far too attractive for his own good. Thankfully, I flushed any lingering feelings for him the moment he dumped me all those years ago.
So… how did I end up in his bed?
Link
Annie and I were hot and heavy in high school. We were the golden couple, ready to ride off into the sunset for our life together.
Until my life went to poop and like the ass I am, I flushed everything good from it.
Now she’s back in town and stirring up all kinds of feelings I thought I’d purged. Feels like desire, happiness, and something that feels a whole lot like—NOPE! It’s not happening. No way. No how.
Or at least it wasn’t. But when Annie’s left with no choice but to accept my help, it seems as if my heart might have other ideas.
Looks like s#!t really does happen.
