Rating: 3.5 Stars

Linden is concerned about who his new neighbor is. Jasper is trying to start fresh but it may be a lot of work. He likes things a certain way. Her life seems complicated. He’s all about telling it like it is and no thought to how the other person might feel. She’s all about doing things her way.

As I was getting to know our main characters, I loved how each had issues about the other. It made it a necessity to keep turning the page. The author was good in creating one situation after another between them. The back and forth was almost nonstop.

Sadly, it just felt more like friends with benefits once they got past all the issues. It’s tagged as a romantic comedy but I’m afraid that I missed the comedy part somehow. When I read about the book, at the beginning, I went in expecting a fairy tale retelling for modern times and somehow I missed that mark as well.

I was not feeling them as a couple but I could see them as really good friends. Jasper seems to have a very complicated life. Linden seems more of a take life as it is but has opinions about certain things. His job was interesting since my uncle was in the forestry business. And maybe that was part of my issue when it came to Linden’s job.

Living in that state my whole life, and having gone to the Cape a time or two, I could see Linden working in the Berkshires – felt that area may have been more suited to his job. I know this is a work of fiction but my mind just wouldn’t connect him to the Cape. When Jasper was in his space, I couldn’t feel a connection that we expect to grow into more. It was like I was reading two separate stories with no thought of one ending. The ending was great but I still didn’t feel that connection two people would have when they get that close. I have read one of the author’s other books and just because I couldn’t connect here doesn’t mean that I’m not going to check out more of her work.

I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.