Reviews with content warning for Stalking - What If You & Me

This romance was great! I loved that Andie is a horror writer and that Hill is a retired firefighter - I loved the conversations about horror, misogyny and the treatment of women in horror including female writers, as well as the ones about disability and not feeling attractive/'manly' enough due to a disability. This romance has one of my favorite tropes which is when the MC and the LI both have baggage and trauma but they come together and help each other address and process what they've been through 😭 Also, one of the best things about this book is how openly the MC and LI talk about boundaries and consent - it was beautifully done and I wish that all romances handled these topics with more care because I want to live in a world where young people read books where consent is openly negotiated and communicated, and where someone saying 'no' is always respected - because this is what they are going to model in their own relationships. This is probably the best romance book I've read with regards to consent and boundaries, and I especially appreciate that because it addressed a form of sexual/romantic trauma and how Andie needed to take things very slow and needed to be able to say no and trust that that will be taken seriously at every step along the way. A beautifully done, emotional, funny, and steamy romance - highly recommend! There were some cheesy moments including the third act conflict and I usually like a bit more angst and/or enemies-to-lovers vibes in my romances but aside from all that, a very solid read.

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katebrownreads's review against another edition

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4.5

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aiyam's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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hannah109's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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aliasbooklover's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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amym84's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

4.5

Years ago, Andi experienced a horrific relationship and was lucky to get out of it, but she still suffers from extreme anxiety when certain situations present themselves. She's been able to channel some of her anxiety into her podcast where she talks about lessons-learned from popular horror movies, plus she also write her own horror novels under a penname. While on a deadline for her new book, Andi discovers her new neighbor's stomping around at all hours of the night does not help her get her work done.

Two years ago while on a call, former firefighter Hill Dawson was injured and that resulted in the loss of his leg and his career. While Hill is now on the mend physically, mentally he's not doing so great. But his new neighbor is not the type to let him be alone and brood.

Andi and Hill meet each other at just the right time. They're both still healing from past trauma and both on the precipice of moving forward, that is, if they can both just believe in themselves enough to take that step.

Andi was a standout character for me from the first book [b:Yes & I Love You|53439441|Yes & I Love You (Say Everything, #1)|Roni Loren|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593619484l/53439441._SX50_.jpg|83098605]. I was happy that she got her own book. It's a little bit of serendipity that I was concurrently reading this book - which deals with a character that kind of uses horror movies to help deal with their real-world anxiety - while also reading a book that deals with the "Final Girl" survivors that are immortalized in those horror movies. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

That being said, I liked how Roni Loren tackles both Andi and Hill's traumas. Seeing how they each handle their situations in their own way and the bad and good parts of that. Of course Andi's occurred quite a number of years before Hill's and while that doesn't mean that she should be further along in her recovery, it does mean that she's had more time to find the tools that work good for her in coping. Hill's is more recent and still raw. Not only did he lose a career he loved, and suffered a bodily injury that changes the rest of his life, but his fiancé also left him shortly afterwards, which also changes the trajectory he saw his life heading towards. Hill is still going through the why's and how's, doubting himself and it's made him very depressed.

Seeing both Hill and Andi help one another out of their almost self-imposed exile from the world was just sweet. Seeing their connection and their belief in the other was just written so seamlessly and could have not been done any other way.

I've so far really enjoyed this series and I'm hoping we'll get more books. I think Roni Loren has a deft hand at taking these various issues and circumstances that people deal with and making them seen and heard. Giving a different idea and perspective that I haven't experienced in the romance genre before. Taking some of the bad times and showing that, that is not all there is. There can be healing.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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