4.5 Friends to forever Stars! 
 Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Author 
 Genre: NA Contemporary Romance 
 Part 1 in a new spin off series 
 My Lucas Review . . . 
 Lucas is a the first book in a spin off series from the More Than series. I don't feel like you had to have read the More Than series firs,t but I think it helps getting the back story on the gang especially Lucy and Cameron. 
 "Luke's family doesn't just open up their home, they open up their hearts." 
 We first met the Prestons in the previous series and when I found out there was going to be a spin off series about them I nearly peed myself, I was that excited about it. :) As I was just about to start reading this I realized I never read the last More Than book. At this point, I put Lucas down and jumped into More Than Enough. Again this didn't have to be read first but I'm a bit OCD when it comes to series and spin offs, so I felt the compulsion to finish the More Than series first. 
 By reading More Than Enough it also helped refresh my memory to everyone in the series, since its been awhile since I read about them. In Lucas, the prologue immediately sets the tone of the book. Then it goes into the past where we get to meet young Lucas and his new best friend Lois aka Laney. 
 "One day, Lucas, you're going to fall in love with a girl, like your father fell in love with me, and you'll understand." 
 "Understand what?" I asked. 
 "That it's not about the dance. It's about moving, as one, with a person 
 whose heart beats to the same rhythm as yours. It's about love, about life." 
 Lois and Lucas become instant best friends and remain that way till the present. The only problem is, there are now more than platonic feelings happening on both ends, but both are dealing with those new feelings in different ways. For Lucas, he knows Lois is the end game but he's playing the field until Lois is on board. I wasn't sure how that strategy was going to work for him, because there were many flaws in his plan. For Lois, she was just allowing Lucas's behavior to continue and just hoping that one day Lucas would notice her to be more than a friend. These poor two had to go through so much. At first before they were even friends and then the hills and valleys of heartache for these two after they realized they had feelings for each other. And let's be honest they could have stopped so much of that heartache if they just told each other how they felt instead of the mistakes they made. 
 Lucas and Lois's friendship is super sweet and Lois becomes a huge fixture in the Preston family after the loss of Mrs. Preston. Once the feelings are out in the open the two of them jump at making them more but don't think about all the existing variables first, which leads to their first heartache. 
 "I'm sorry he hurt you, but hurting yourself isn't going to change that. You can't control what people do or how they treat you. You can only control how you react to it." 
 After being hurt by Lucas, Lois closes the door on that friendship and jumps feet first into something with Cooper, whom also happens to be Lucas's nemesis. The above quote at first may seem like its got merit but not all is as it seems. Some people may know the right thing but their demons can take over them causing them to not always have their words and actions be at the same level. 
 As Lois has to deal with her choices she also has to find her way back to her heart. With the help of Lucas long gone mom she gets the motivation to right her wrongs. However, not everyone is on board with those changes. 
 ~Love hard, love fierce, but love right.~ 
 As Lucas and Lois are faced with harsh realities they're also both trying to forgive themselves so they can finally more forward to something that always should have been from the start. 
 "I don't want us to walk away with any regrets. From now on, I'm going to do it right." 
 Gah! I loved Lois and Lucas together, especially in the end. I have to admit that I was struggling a bit with at first, Lucas's terrible win over Lois game plan and then for Lois's run no talk method of dealing with a situation that could have been dealt with in a different way. Don't get me wrong loving someone from a far can cause all kinds of hurt, so having it thrown in your face makes it so much worse. So I get it but it was still hard to read about their bad choices. 
 "Our eyes loved and I think, in a way, they've never left. Its' been years, Laney, and I've never stopped looking at you, looking to you, and I don't want to stop. Not now. Not ever. And I need to see your eyes and I need to hear your laugh and I need you. I need to love you. And I need to love you right." 
 These Prestons and their SUPER large hearts get me every time. I love this family and I can NOT wait for more from them and this new series. Thank Jay McLean for always writing such heartfelt stories. 
 "They love each other. You said loved. Love doesn't die just because one heart stops beating. When you love someone, you have the same heartbeat and it's still there, just not as strong. So no. There's no loved. Dad still loves her." 
 The More Than series is one of my favorites and I have a feeling that this Preston Brothers is going to be right up there as well. I freakin's adored this book even with Lucas and Lois's bad choices. Truly the only thing that I would have wanted to see is for there to be a bit of overlap on what happened in More Than Enough since Lucas was part of that story line as well. Otherwise I adored it. It kept me going from beginning to end. It had tons of angst and lots of humor from those Preston shenanigans. This story had heartache but also loads of heart, love and second chances. I absolutely love Jay McLean and can't wait for more from her and this series.