5⭐️/ 3🌶️

Flint Hopkins was once a happily married man, with the love of his life, and their son. All seemed perfectly happy, until the night that Flint’s world was over, and he blamed himself for his wife dying. Ten years later, Flint working his daily grind of being an attorney, caring for his precious and intelligent son, Harrison, and more. One day, Flint met his newest tenant for the building he owns, Ellen Rodgers, a.k.a. the sunshine music therapist that would turn his world upside and leave him wanting her, but also annoyed at the loud noise of music from her part of the building. This story had grumpy/sunshine, single dad trope, forced proximity, kind of workplace romance, themes of loss, grief, and lighthearted humor that’ll bring you some laughs. 

The prologue set up the story in a way that made it clear as to why even years later why Flint was the way that he was. Flint was the grumpy, single dad who was also a successful attorney. When Flint wasn’t working, his main focus and priority was Harrison. I liked how Flint was with Harrison, their relationship was unique and Harrison was funny at times without even realizing it. I can only imagine how Flint felt after the loss of his wife, but even in the present (when the story takes place) Flint still felt guilt at how his one choice took the life of his beloved. So there was that element of grief that was part of Flint’s story, but there were still some lighthearted moments such as, Flint’s interactions with Ellen. When it came to Ellen, Flint couldn’t understand how someone could be so cheerful and happy all the time especially with her constantly humming and her flirtatious comments towards him. As Flint would say, she was the bane of his existence, and yet…. this man couldn’t stop checking Ellen out! 

Ellen was sunshine, light, carefree, and had an emotional depth to her that she utilized in her profession as a music therapist. Right away, Ellen was a joy and all kinds of fun, flirty, a bit sassy, and never backed down against Flint. I will say, I do agree with Flint in that, who would own a rat as a pet?? Sorry, Ellen, but I’m with Flint on being against rats as pets, ew. Anyways, aside from that one tidbit, I really liked Ellen, she was understanding, sweet, and quickly formed a friendship with Harrison. In many instances, if the kid likes the main character then it’s a good judge of character and hello, if Harrison likes her then that’s an good sign to Flint! Ellen was also strong from going up against Flint’s “mild” threats of evicting her to even making Flint take a step or two back, especially loved when she was able to turn the table on him, and make him go gaga over her haha. 

Try as he might, Flint was no match against Ellen, she had him charmed at all times, with the little moments of back and forth banter. Like any good grumpy/sunshine romance, the sunshine (Ellen) always found ways to get under the grumpy (Flint’s) skin. Flint found himself gravitating towards Ellen, and while he occasionally felt annoyed by the loud noises from her sessions, he couldn’t help but wanting to have her, ahem he wanted to go the no pants dance with her. Of course, our lovely Ellen was always up to the task of managing to charm and seduce our resident grump haha. 

One thing I picked up on that I found interesting early on was that, while Flint was obviously attracted to Ellen, he felt guilt for experiencing some sort of happiness/ pleasure. Understandably, Flint’s grief and guilt over the loss of his wife was still present in the story, but it held him back in fully opening himself up to new love, and other aspects of joy. I could see that Flint liked the way he felt when he was with Ellen both intimately and emotionally, but there was always that part of him that would retreat back into himself, and the dance would start all over with him being grumpy and somewhat distant with Ellen. If anything, Ellen was the one since the beginning who was upfront about wanting to have sex with Flint and going after what she wanted (YOU GO ELLEN!) The chemistry was great, but early on Flint still had many strides to make in order to be with Ellen completely. 

Girl, by the halfway mark, the humor and romance was picking up and I was loving it! Also side note, Harrison was just more and more wholesome, blunt, and ironically funny without trying haha. Back to my original point, omg the banter and romance between Ellen and Flint started to pick up once Flint and Ellen gradually started to rest the waters around becoming more serious and what not. There was some spice, and omg let me just say, the part when Ellen thought she got jewelry as a gift from Flint, but it ended being… something else! Omg i laughed at that! Haha Flint had an interesting gift for Ellen, but hey with what she and Flint were talking before, it made sense. The humor with the banter, the romance, and it all just made me laugh, smile, and lowkey Hot! 

As the story progressed, Ellen and Flint were faced with some difficulties not only in their budding romance, but also with their families. Usually when one or both characters are dealing with a family member in need, that’s a significant part of the story because, what the other character does tells you a lot about how far they’re willing to go for the one that like. In this instance, the way that Flint showed up for Ellen even after they had an argument at their date, he did everything he could to help her when it came to her dad. When it came down to it, you could see just how much Flint wanted to be there for Ellen and it warmed my heart especially seeing at how affected Ellen was at seeing Flint still waiting for her at the hospital.

(Sniff) I know in context this quote seems sad, but the meaning behind it just made me go “aww” and feel like Flint and Ellen were getting even more serious about their feelings for each other. 

Once again, Jewel E. Ann wrote a fantastic book that was entirely unique and unexpected in the best way possible. Flint and Ellen’s story started off as them sharing a workplace space within Flint’s building and little by little Flint and Ellen’s attraction to each other grew immensely filled with desire, passion, and a deep love. Harrison was intrigued by music and seeing him cultivate his skill of playing the guitar with Ellen was great, but also seeing them bond quickly was one of my favorite parts of the story, especially in the ending and epilogue! (Sniff) aww how sweet! Flint was always convinced his life would never have meaning after experiencing such a terrible loss, but with Ellen coming into his life, his rediscovered love, a new fond hope for his future, growing his family, and overall peace. Jewel did a fantastic job of writing this story with heart, lighthearted, funny moments, and much more. So many scenes come to mind that were note worthy, but for sure I loved the epilogue in seeing how even years later Flint and Ellen’s family grew, and omg I just absolutely adored it! Not going to spoil it, but when you read it, you’ll know what I mean when I say, it was heartwarming. Looking back, from all that I read in this story, it was kind of wild to see how in such a short amount of time, Ellen and Flint went through, fell in love, but ultimately grew stronger in the end. Anything by Jewel E. Ann is an automatic yes for me, and I have nothing but good things to say about this book!