Alexis Hall is one of my favourite authors, and this book hits all the right notes of the things I love about his work, including: 
- a side cast of extremely funny and loveable characters. From Jonathan’s madcap family to the chaotic coworkers, every time there was an ensemble scene it was a delight 
- grumpy/sunshine romance 
- main characters who are flawed in realistic ways, and whose bad choices hide deeper, realistic insecurities - there’s never a time where I got annoyed because the choices they made didn’t make sense, which is the danger with pastiches of early 2000s/90s romcoms 
- deeply romantic 
- brilliant banter 

Having said that, I wish the deeply romantic bits had had more time to breathe. I can sort of see how Jonathan and Sam end up endeared to each other to the point that they fall in love, but aside from the extremely cute ‘ornament shopping’ scene, and the wagyu pizza/American diner scene, we didn’t get a ton of them really enjoying each other’s company pre-confession scene without it devolving into an argument eventually, the way that some of his other books did, despite being together almost the whole book (my favourites being Boyfriend/Husband Material, A Lady for a Duke (if there’s a more romantic book that exists, I don’t know it), For Real, and the Billionaire series - Arden, my beloved!). 

There was a lot where it seemed like they were going to have a good time together that then ended in an argument, or Jonathan blowing up, and while that’s necessary for character development in the beginning, it started to feel a bit like you needed to be on eggshells around him even after he admitted he liked Sam, which was a sort of uncomfortable feeling. 

Don’t get me wrong, I still loved him and Sam together, but I wish they’d addressed Jonathan’s terrible communication style a bit more than Sam just calling him a bastard (which he does quite a bit, this isn’t a dynamic where he lies down and takes verbal abuse, which is good). It would have been great to see Jonathan trying to be better to his employees, along with trying with his family and Sam. Then again, I suppose the larger point is that you can only change a heart so much, and have to otherwise accept them as they are. 

Alexis is always laugh out loud funny though with this series, and some of my favourite funny bits he’s ever written are in this book (“ooo eck the badgers!”, cooking a chicken together, and the fact that they both kept repeating the full retail name of every bed and bath item in his house). Despite the minor criticisms above, this is definitely worth the read (or listen, in my case). 

The audiobook is an absolute delight. I adored the way he performed all the characters, even if it took me a few chapters to get used to the very strong Northern accent for Sam - there were a few times I had to skip back and listen more carefully to make sure I understood it - it’s not one I hear much in day to day, being extremely far removed from the UK, but once my ears figured it out, it flowed beautifully. And the contrast in that accent and Jonathan’s ultra crisp, clearly a shield, very proper Southern English accent was fun. Jonathan was the standout performance - the narrator really made you feel when he was amused, laughing or close to tears. Absolutely brilliant casting.