3 stars

this isn’t a bad romance book by any means, but it didn’t have me kicking my feet and giggling like i expected and hoped for (also why did this take me almost a whole month to finish??!?)

this is my first emily henry read, and her romances aren’t as light and fluffy as i thought and there are some topics that are deeper and more meaningful than your typical romcom. january with her fathers infidelity and mothers illness, and gus with his abusive father were interesting back stories for the characters and the root of their problems butttttt…

personally, it was just too much parental trauma for me that i lost interest. this book made me realise that i like parental trauma as a plot line to a very certain extent, and this was essentially the main cause of conflict, with each character continuously referring back to their trauma. i really just lost any bit of sympathy i had, which is awful of me probably. i am also aware that january’s one was recent so it makes sense for her to have it at the forefront of her mind particularly with getting to know gus, but for me it’s just not a romance plot line i find too fascinating or impactful when it’s so in your face. towards the end when they started working through it somewhat together and she was actively trying to resolve it, i gained somewhat more interest, but not much. i don’t ever enjoy characters comparing the love interest to a parental figure, and although it didn’t happen everytime in this book, it happened frequently enough that i just disconnected emotionally and got less invested than i expected

besides this, i did enjoy the book for what it was. once i realised it wasn’t going to be pure fluff, i took that into consideration and reprepared myself for what to expect. their banter was okay? nothing too crazy. i was not laughing out loud as promised. their dynamic was also just okay? i wasn’t really rooting for them to be together, and maybe some more development of their actual relationship would have helped. it felt very “parental trauma - lust - trauma dump - lust - miscommunication - lust”, and not enough relationship development for me to love them. i might be being picky but also it’s a romance, let me feel the love. their spicy scenes also did nothing for me, was bored and skimming over those parts, which is unlike me. was not gushing blushing and giggling like normal

little side note for gus appreciation though. i did like him as a male mc and love interest. for the most part he was open with her and communicated decently well, particularly towards the end of the book where he completely strips himself bare and leaves himself vulnerable telling her how he does not know how to make her happy or how to do the things she needs. i liked him, but i did not love him. i couldn’t fall in love with gus, but love him for her. also, i did love that they’re both writers, i seem to love this trope.

shadi i wish we saw more of. she was a bundle of fresh air and i actually looked forward to january interacting with her. shame there wasn’t much of her and her lover boy. pete and maggie were a cute little lesbian aunty couple, they just felt safe. the environment was actually quite cute and i wish it was delved into and explored some more. i feel like we got a lot of lake, some beach, the houses, and a sprinkle of random places they had to travel for research and dates. but the town itself, the little secret spots, special monuments, personally that’s what brings the magic into it and makes it feel real. this book didn’t have that magic ):

overall, would i recommend this? sure. is it the best romance i’ve read? no. will i give emily henry another shot? of course. her writing is nice, she has some nice quotes, and towards the end of this book she did have me smiling. was just a shame it took so long to get my heart feeling ANYTHING.