5 Pommes Frites Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level:🌶️.5/5

Critically, this book is not perfect. The romance is messy and rushed, sometimes leaving you wanting more. The characters have flaws and can be irritating, especially when they struggle or fail to communicate with each other, but even though it is not perfect, it was perfect for me.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Clementine works for a small publishing company and has recently moved into her new inherited apartment, which previously belonged to her aunt. Clementine had an extremely close relationship with her aunt, travelling the world and feeling free to be her true self, so the loss is extra hard on her. The twist is that her aunt’s apartment is magic and can sometimes send the occupant seven years into the past by Clementine always thought that was just a story her aunt told her... until one day the Apartment sends her back and she meets a mysterious man standing in her kitchen. A man that no matter how perfect he seems, she cannot fall in love with... because he lives Seven Years in the past.

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
As I have said, this book is messy. It is raw, emotional, poetic, and at times ugly in the honest ways it portrays grief... the loss of Clementine's aunt has left her with profound grief she has not properly dealt with. So a large part of the book is the emotional journey of her working through that grief and rediscovering who she is, including the possibility of new love.

This is a VERY character-focused story that, at times, feels purple in its prose and poetic in its emotion. I loved (and at times hated because of how true it was) how it explored avoiding grief, how grief can creep up and hold you tight until you have to choose to let go and, ironically, not live in the past. A major theme is Clementine learning that by literally going back in time, spending moments with Ewan, and realising that clinging to an idealised version of her life is part of her stagnation. She needs to move forward, confront her own truths, and stop burying herself in what she misses about her aunt.

The relationship with Ewan did leave me wanting a little more but besides this Ewan is sweet and romantic. I did have some struggle reconciling who he was in the past with who he becomes in the present. I wanted more insight into the "present" part of their romance, since their feelings develop quickly and most of their connection is shown in the past, yet Ewan’s goals and aspirations have changed over the seven years, and I hoped for more exploration of how Clementine and Ewan navigate that gap now that they have found each other again.

I have always said though that if a book manages to make me cry, it gets five stars. This one made me cry. I bawled my eyes out! It was sad and heartbreaking, yet ridiculously romantic and sweet. It was the thing I didn't know I needed and Brittany Pressley did such an amazing job of narrating the story and conveying all the emotion I felt!

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨 and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Roommates to Lovers
▶ Strangers to Lovers
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Written in the Stars
▶ Time Travel
▶ He makes her food
▶ Secret Pining
▶ Rolled Sleeves/Forearms
▶ Good Girl
▶ "More"

Overall this was the perfect book for me to finish 2024 with.