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fkshg8465's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Cancer, Abandonment, and Death of parent
onthesamepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Steam level: 🌶🌶🌶
Considering how often contemporary romances don't work for me, I don't have much to complain about. It didn't hit me in the feels, which is why I'm not rating it higher, but I also wasn't yelling at the characters to please behave like actual adults, so I consider it a win.
I really appreciated the dual perspectives. The dual timelines I appreciated a bit less because I was way more interested in the present, but I ended up being glad of the context anyway. I wanted them to reconnect more in the present timeline, however. All the romance was basically in the past.
My biggest problem with a second chance romance is that I have to believe that they can do better the second time around, and Ama and Elliot didn't quite get there for me. I liked both characters, but Ama really needs therapy to deal with her commitment issues, and I don't buy that she's suddenly able to overcome them just because Elliot is a sweetheart.
Minor: Cancer
poupimali's review against another edition
4.5
This a second chance romance.
Back and forth between the past and now.
The spice is 🌶️🌶️/5 but you’re here for the love story.
Minor: Death of parent and Cancer
superbrats's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Death of parent and Cancer
dkgreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer
alexasolis98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
P.S. This whole wedding planning was stressful.
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
amy_in_the_city's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
So much time was spent on the wedding planning plot and describing all the details and to-do lists that there was no time left for the romantic relationship or for character development in general. There were two chances to show them falling in love (past and present), but I never really felt they were in love. The past timeline mostly seemed about lust. They had sex a lot, but they didn't really have any conversations where they get to know each other in a way that makes their "love" believable. I couldn't tell you anything they like about each other besides he likes her ass and she likes his tattoos. They have maybe two conversations in the present timeline and neither show them falling for each other again.
Ama was pretty immature. I spent most of the book wondering why she never saw a therapist to deal with her feelings about her mother's many divorces and how that affects her views on relationships. You would think she would have sought out a therapist after her outlook on relationships ruined what she had with Elliot the first time but apparently not. Other than her relationship hang-ups and her career goals, she didn't have much of a personality.
Elliott was just kind of a jerk. Repeat after me: "grumpy" does not equal "being rude to everyone you're not currently banging." His first scene with Ama when she was trying to discuss a business opportunity and he was just negging her nonstop was not cute. It was also dumb as a business owner to be needlessly rude to a potential client. His inner thoughts were funny at times though, and I liked the general idea of him in theory.
A lot of reviews praise the steamy scenes but something about them felt off to me. There were some beautifully written lines in here about love but unfortunately, they felt out of character when the romance was so underdeveloped.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Cancer, Medical content, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Alcohol
Minor: Car accident and Classism
lex_is_bookish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Emotional abuse and Cancer
booksandteatime's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I actually loved the depth it went into with the MCs feelings, as well as their work, because they were both so important to them for different reasons. The development of relationships and the secondary characters also made the book so much more fun and colourful.
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for new books by Julie Soto going forward - her writing is addictive. All in all, this is a new favourite for me!
TW: sexual content, workplace emotional abuse, injury detail; mentions cancer, death of a parent, sexual harassment
Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment