note: this review will contain spoiler for the plotline involving MMC and his parents.

The MMC was kicked out from his parents' place for having "drugs" in his room that he was planning to sell later when he was 19 years old. The drugs were weed. He moved in with his best friend and best friend's partner and essentially pulled himself up by his bootstrap and now owned a plumber business. By the time the book started, the MMC hadn't talked to his parents for over ten years.

Meeting the FMC and her child had convinced him to attempt reconcilation with his parents. This is when the book really disappointed. Yes, his father was wrong but so did he for not reaching out in over a decade, apparently. His father never even apologized outright. Instead, the MMC tried to justify his actions because his uncle died by "going down the wrong path" and his dad reacted so harshly "for his own good." So are we going to talk about how putting a 19-yo BLACK YOUNG MAN out on the street makes him MORE vulnerable??? And what is this weird demonization/dehumanization of "the drug-selling criminals"? We all know how the drugs got circulated in gentrified/predominantly Black neighbourhoods to begin with, right? (It's the cops. This isn't a conspiracy theory.) Plus, what WAS the circumstance that pushed his uncle to sell drugs? That pushed MMC's friend and almost MMC himself to do the same thing??? It is definitely not just greed or laziness or a desire to "make a quick buck." This idea is so dangerous. The author didn't address any of it. I was really enjoying the fluff and the romance but this part of the story just killed it completely for me.