Once again, another book I had a lot of great things about, and I finally got my hands on it. In the beginning, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect aside from what was mentioned in the synopsis, but I was still intrigued. Matthias was such a grumpy pants, and all he cared about was the well being of his mother (rightfully so). Adelaide was hard working, trying to make ends meet for the sake of her family, and for being young, it seemed like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. Both Matthias and Adelaide went through a lot individually and even together. A beautifully written story with sadness, loved ones, tragedy, and a slow burn romance.

Right away from the beginning just when things couldn’t have gotten any worse, Adelaide was let go from her job and left jobless. For Adelaide, she was the one who worked full time in order to provide for her family that consisted of her father and little brother, Louis. Adelaide seemed older than what she really was (she was twenty-three) and she was faced having to decide many things on her own. Thankfully with the job opening as a caregiver to Matthias’s mother, Helen, it seemed like everything would be better for Adelaide… or maybe not. Matthias always needing to control everything, wanted to ensure that however he hired to take care of his mother would be professional and have the credentials to back them up. You could imagine that during the interview, things didn’t go quite well between Adelaide and Matthias, and certainly not during her first day on the job. Although Matthias was a bit harsh, I could understand that from his place, he was worried about his mom so of course his temper got the best of him at times, and he may or may not have been slightly attracted to Adelaide, but that’s besides the point. The point being that there was a sense of reasoning from Matthias actions.

Through the story being told in dual point of views, it really highlighted key thoughts that answered some questions for me. For instance, Adelaide would sometimes wonder why Matthias acted the way that he did, and through Matthias parts, he would talk about how he felt in that certain moment with Adelaide or even how he felt about his mother’s diagnosis, etc. 

Matthias wasn’t a complete grump the whole time, he actually started to become nicer to Adelaide and found himself enjoying their conversations together, and felt happier just because of her. Through his parts in the book, it was clear Matthias felt bad for how he initially acted towards Adelaide as well as what he said to her so he made the effort to apologize and get to know her better. I loved the progression between Adelaide and Matthias, I would definitely say they fell under “slow burn romance”. There were some moments between them, and funny enough even Helen (Matthias’s mom) was hoping Matthias and Adelaide would end up together. 

Can I just say that Louis was the sweetest and most adorable child ever! I feel sometimes when writing a child character sometimes it can be a hit or miss with some people, and with Louis he was a hit. I loved the sibling bond that Adelaide and Louis had. You could tell just how much love there was between them, and the lengths that Adelaide would go for her little brother. Aww got me in the feels with the cuteness! Especially when Matthias interacted with Louis! (Gasp) so precious!

This story was multilayered with emotion, love, family, and loss. I also really loved the bonding between Matthias and Louis. Louis being the ever sweet kid was excited when learning that Matthias was a pilot and Matthias equally wanting to show him everything about being a pilot. Meanwhile, Adelaide went “goo-goo-ga-ga” in the heart seeing Matthias being such a sweetheart with her little brother. Also, Matthias was so attentive in the smallest things from offering to go to Louis’s school, getting dinner for Adelaide and her family, to just talking to her about anything and everything. (Sigh) these characters all made me want to jump into the story and hug them all. 

This story was amazing. I loved Adelaide and Matthias, their story was beautifully written and through the loss of their loved ones, experiencing grief and pain, they were able to overcome it together. The romance was worth the build up and I enjoyed all the moments between Matthias and Adelaide. Truly worth the read, couldn’t get enough of it! N.S. Perkins did a wonderful job with this story and I can’t wait to read more of her books in the future!