Reading in the Mountains

Popping my Jennifer Hartmann cherry because all I’ve heard lately is about this book.

I saved Older as a winter read, mostly because the author captures that season so beautifully that posting about it in autumn would feel like a crime.

Before he discovered her age, he uncovered her heart.

Seventeen-year-old Halley, bruised by a loveless home, meets Reed one fateful night under the stars—a man who sees her in a way no one ever has. What begins as a fleeting connection turns into something dangerous and forbidden when Halley realizes Reed isn’t just any man… he’s her best friend’s father.

Older is a forbidden, slow-burn, age-gap romance about heartbreak, healing, and love that dares to break every rule.

To be fair, I wasn’t looking for a slow-burn romance (because honestly, I can’t yearn any longer), but when Halley meets Reed at that party by the lake—some small talk, a spark, a pull—and then things take a turn behind closed doors, I was instantly hooked. Reed believes she’s 21, he’s 34, and everything seems set for a classic tension-filled affair… until a neighbor calls out that Halley is actually 17. The second Reed hears it, he walks away—and that’s when the story truly begins.

And shame on me, because they had me from the start.

It takes a lot of slow-burn moments to make one catch fire, and I was there waiting, hoping that massage scene would burn the building down. Instead, it just simmered—months passing before Mr. Reed even admits to himself how much he wants Halley.

They weren’t kidding about the slow burn. Things barely happen, and when they do or might, another two or three months pass before they see each other again. I get the age issue—it’s complicated—but even after she turns 18, he’s still 34, and the whole “best friend’s dad” situation just keeps twisting the knife. Especially since she lives with his ex-wife and daughter.

Still, I can’t help rooting for them. They’re a perfect match—wrong on paper, right in every feeling that matters.

It’s painfully slow, but beautiful. I loved the characters, loved the writing, and yes, this romance made me cry (and I’d like to point out—dark romances would never!). It was heavy, wrong, emotional, and raw, and it made me feel every bit of that forbidden tension.

Even knowing it’s wrong, I couldn’t look away. And that’s the magic of Jennifer Hartmann—she makes you question everything, especially your heart.