Nia Forrester has seemingly always had a certain finesse when she writes her stories and this somewhat deep cut in her catalogue is no exception. Forrester has an endless way of masterfully crafting intimacy between her characters that will have you see all the ways love can be present without a single touch or kiss. 

Trey and Shayla were reminiscent of the couple in The Makeover just older with different career paths and backgrounds. With this being the umpteenth book I’ve read from Nia, going through her catalogue allows me to see how she’s grown as a writer and how her formula for character building has evolved. Shayla’s background is heavy and seems to be the springboard for how the author eventually crafted a character like Devin from The Broken series. Needless to say, I found this couple’s journey to love and self discovery to be compelling and heartwarming.     

The ending is a little abrupt, yet still satisfying, and that’s more than likely due to the second installment which focuses on another couple as well. Nia Forrester is a severely underrated author, but is undoubtedly a pioneer of the romantic realism genre. 

*TW: abuse