As much as it pains me to give this book a low rating, I do have to agree with everyone that says this books was not it.

Because.... it was.. not it :') Sadly.
And I will summarize it shortly, as I didn't hate the book that much but overall, it was just lacking per say. But I do want to highlight some important things that I feel is important in how TB portrays her characters in this book.

Firstly, lets get out why this book felt just "meh" for me - mostly, in the romance department.

This book had everything that I loved in a book :-
x Smalltown Romance tropes - we gotta love them
x Vulnerable MCS - Julian and Hailey is just cute ngl
x Somewhat childhood acquaintance crush came to love each other? sign me up
x Found Family - i'm a sucker for this one

Like its a formula that I feel that will never miss, and paired with the spicy scenes from TB, this will turn out as a good book you might think? But apparently, it failed me terribly.

The short review of this book is that : Its like the Walmart Version of It Happened One Summer.

The long review, well, I'll go through what just doesn't work for me in this book one by one.

1) The Chemistry
Honestly, at this point of a romance book, I don't really mind Insta-love (instant falling in love), but it needs to be done well. However, this one was just.....meh. Its to a point where I'm just going HMMMMMMMMMMM at the plot of the book. There were some cute moments but them falling in love was just all over the place. As this IS A ROMANCE BOOK, the romance just wasn't it for me. I tried, I really did but even I had to agree with what everyone is saying. It just didn't work.

2) The Plot
This may sound harsh but the plot somehow felt like TB just dumped everything that we love in It Happened in One Summer and tried to recreate another with less grumpiness from the guy but less flavour. I feel that despite the fact the book's main point is the secret admirer letters, it just felt subpar and wasn't highlighted as much. I was a tad disappointed to say the least and it felt too hurried. Everything just felt hurried in this book.

3) Bland
There was NO FLAVOUR IN HERE. Like none. Zilch. It was just very very boring. :')

Now there are some good parts and I feel that with more finesse, this would have made a really fine book.

Mental Health
I actually don't mind the plot where TB focused on the mental health of Julian in here. Its very realistic. His reactions, his need to stay in schedule and everything in it makes it important for eveyrone that is going through the same thing to know that they are not alone in this world. I actually really really love all the characters in here. Julian is a sweetheart, like please I want a man like him, and Hailey is just this sweetheart that I just adore. And the rest of the characters were great. Characters were not much a problem for TB, but I feel that overall, the execution could have been a lot better.

TB will always be that author that I will read everytime she comes out with a new book. I do love her works but lets face it this one was just meh. But I do look forward to her next book in the series cause MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE???? SIGN ME UP AND HAVE READ THE EXCERPT AND IM ALREADY LIKING IT. Looking forward to the second book for sure!

Biggest thank you to Times Reads for this copy! Def appreciate it :)