Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
I was very much drawn in by the concept of this book, and I love that it is an #OwnVoices book (I am trying to read as many of those as I can), but it unfortunately did not quite meet all of my expectations. Maybe that was on me – I could have had too high of hopes – but that doesn’t mean this was a bad book either. I did enjoy it but I also will keep it on my shelf for a while before considering a reread.
Pros: there are no messy love triangles, there is a very clear HEA ending, and everything works out in the end. The characters (for the most part) don’t beat around the bush too much with their thoughts and so there is a lot less misunderstanding that could have easily been solved if people just talked to each other/were honest upfront.
Cons: I felt like the writing style switched about halfway through the book. I don’t know if it was the characters personalities changing based on the story progressing, or if it was the actual writing itself, but at about 60% into the book I started to struggle to read it because something shifted and I wasn’t a fan anymore. That is VERY much a personal thing, and it is very likely it was just me, but it did impact my reading of the book. Going along with that, I felt like the characters were being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn for the plot at times and that is just one of my personal pet peeves in books. Really the cons in this book are my personal issues – so if these kinds of things don’t bother you then this could be a really enjoyable book for you if you like the concept!
Overall it was a nice read over the few days I read it, and I have been enjoying all of these romance books recently where the leading man very clearly wants the leading lady & does not play any games. We love to see a man confident in his feelings! I appreciated the opportunity to read this book and I definitely think a lot of people will enjoy it. 3.5/5