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emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Stalking
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Pregnancy
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The slowest of slow burns!
I hate to say this, because I love me a slow-burn romance, but it possibly could have been a little quicker. Near the three-quarter mark, it began to feel like we'd make romantic progress and then back track again and again. But it was still believable and enjoyable. All of the characters have such a great fleshed out back story that you can tell this was a loved book by Zapata. While I don't think that I loved Aurora as much as I was supposed to, it was because she acts like a real person. She's messy and sometimes a little too selfish, but so are a lot of people. And Amos and Rhodes's family situation? Gosh, I wish I had Zapata's skill. Wonderfully created and I will be looking out for other works of hers in the future.
I hate to say this, because I love me a slow-burn romance, but it possibly could have been a little quicker. Near the three-quarter mark, it began to feel like we'd make romantic progress and then back track again and again. But it was still believable and enjoyable. All of the characters have such a great fleshed out back story that you can tell this was a loved book by Zapata. While I don't think that I loved Aurora as much as I was supposed to, it was because she acts like a real person. She's messy and sometimes a little too selfish, but so are a lot of people. And Amos and Rhodes's family situation? Gosh, I wish I had Zapata's skill. Wonderfully created and I will be looking out for other works of hers in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Complicated
This is a wholesome read about finding your people and your place in the world. I love how the book depicts grief respectfully and shows how new interpersonal relationships – with not just romantic love but all kinds of love – build over time and give you happiness. The main characters Aurora, Rhodes, and his son Amos revolve around each others lives, slowly getting more involved with each other and forming beautiful, meaningful relationships together. The beginning of the book felt s little slow to me, but once I got invested in the main characters' lives, I loved seeing their mundane life changing and intertwining with the others'.
The forming relationships show how the characters get more comfortable with each other, which results into their communication getting from easily misinterpreting the other one to expressing themselves more clearly and being able to read the others' nonverbal communication easily. The result is that the main characters have good communication throughout the rest of the book: even when there are difficulties or disruptions to this, the main characters always follow through with a conversation about the situation.
The bonus epiloque has Aurora and Rhodes discussing the love languages of the important people in their lives while on a hike with Amos, and that shows the best aspects of this book: good, open communication and love that is shown in so many ways in the whole book.
The audiobook has one narrator from the pov of the main character Aurora, but there's another reader voice for the male characters – that works really well and gives those characters added depth, making you immerse yourself into the story more.
The forming relationships show how the characters get more comfortable with each other, which results into their communication getting from easily misinterpreting the other one to expressing themselves more clearly and being able to read the others' nonverbal communication easily. The result is that the main characters have good communication throughout the rest of the book: even when there are difficulties or disruptions to this, the main characters always follow through with a conversation about the situation.
The bonus epiloque has Aurora and Rhodes discussing the love languages of the important people in their lives while on a hike with Amos, and that shows the best aspects of this book: good, open communication and love that is shown in so many ways in the whole book.
The audiobook has one narrator from the pov of the main character Aurora, but there's another reader voice for the male characters – that works really well and gives those characters added depth, making you immerse yourself into the story more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, Blood, Vomit, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This felt more like women's fiction than romance? There was a lot about the fmc's journey and the romance felt kind of secondary
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content
Minor: Animal death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Pregnancy
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I started reading this on vacation and zoomed through the first half of so of the book. Once I got back from vacation, it felt as though the book dragged on. It was interesting, but a lot more emotional and darker than I was expecting. I found it very hard to read and very hard to stay interested in to finish.
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the free eARC!
Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the free eARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Infertility, Sexual content, Blood
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pregnancy
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this book i loved the kinda man that Tobias Rodes is 😍😍😍 i almost died when he called her after she left and asked very concerned where she was going and then he showed up to where she said she’d be before she hung up on him and told her how much he loved her and how his son told her they were mad but never wanted her to leave and they begged her to come back Tobias is every women's idea of a good man he was a gentleman he cared for her whereabouts and safety even mad at her he still couldn’t hide any concern he had for her i also loved when he ran to the hiking location she’d be at after she was out to late and he was such a grumpy man and lord have mercy when she got him in the mood ifykyk he was very spicy not insanely though but he was indeed spicy i loved the ending to when Kaden came after Aurora and she picked Thobias Rhodes over Kaden infront of both of them and then at the ending finding out that Tobias Rhodes and Aurora got married had a baby and she was pregnant i loved it so much this book was so good this was the first one i read by this author and i wasn’t disappointed i rated it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Not all content warnings are about the main characters some are and some are about the characters you hear/see about in the book 😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🙃🙃🙃
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
5⭐️ (lengthy review for a lengthy book)!
guys i loved this book so much. and im not one to complain about a slow burn so let’s start with that. i don’t mind lengthy books especially if they’re good, have plot, and characters i love. which is exactly what this book was.
the characters really sold this book for me. aurora, rhodes, and amos became my favorite people. they’re dynamics and how they interacted with eachother was everything my heart needed.
let’s talk about a slow burn done right bro. when they first met the dynamic between rhodes and aurora was my personal favorite a grumpy sunshine. then they became friends and became partners. BRO IT WAS SO GOOD. there’s only one smutt scene btw.
quick mention of the tropes! grumpy x sunshine, small town romance, single dad, slow burn
honorable mentions to clara and yuki they’re my favs bro. i’m just saying clara, yuki, and aurora would’ve been an amazing trio!
okay one last thing the epilogue was everything i wanted in an epilogue. i’m sorry but i can’t get over how healthy the relationship between rhodes and aurora is. so yeah i love marianna zapata and i’m so in love with my first book written by her <3
guys i loved this book so much. and im not one to complain about a slow burn so let’s start with that. i don’t mind lengthy books especially if they’re good, have plot, and characters i love. which is exactly what this book was.
the characters really sold this book for me. aurora, rhodes, and amos became my favorite people. they’re dynamics and how they interacted with eachother was everything my heart needed.
let’s talk about a slow burn done right bro. when they first met the dynamic between rhodes and aurora was my personal favorite a grumpy sunshine. then they became friends and became partners. BRO IT WAS SO GOOD. there’s only one smutt scene btw.
quick mention of the tropes! grumpy x sunshine, small town romance, single dad, slow burn
honorable mentions to clara and yuki they’re my favs bro. i’m just saying clara, yuki, and aurora would’ve been an amazing trio!
okay one last thing the epilogue was everything i wanted in an epilogue. i’m sorry but i can’t get over how healthy the relationship between rhodes and aurora is. so yeah i love marianna zapata and i’m so in love with my first book written by her <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail