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blackveilbeccy's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book and its characters really grew on me by the end. At the beginning, I struggled with the cynicism of MMC Charlie and the whininess of FMC Bailey, but their character development and friendship over time was lovely. I felt very sorry for Bailey as a child of divorce who had two selfish (in different ways) parents - some of that, especially with the subplot relating to her mother, was handwaved away. This book kept a lighthearted tone despite some of the serious subject matter, and the wide variety of side characters worked well. I didn’t like it as much as the last Lynn Painter book I read, but I still enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Medical content and Infidelity
Minor: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Toxic relationship
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Lynn Painter can do no wrong! This book felt like if you combined Better Than the Movies, Mr. Wrong Number, and The Love Wager into one book, and since those are three of my all-time favorite books, that was a very good thing!
I loved having this book being dual POV! I feel like I wouldn’t have liked Charlie as much if I hadn’t fully understood his motives for his decisions throughout the book. He was such a fun and witty character that I instantly liked him. I also really liked Bailey. She reminded me a lot of myself when I was in high school.
Bailey and Charlie had amazing chemistry! They had my heart fluttering so many times throughout this book! I was almost giddy at certain moments at how adorable they were. I thought the mixture of fake dating plus being two friends that have feelings but refuse to admit it even to themselves worked perfectly in this book! I also loved how they were there for each other! They would each drop literally anything for the other and I loved that for them!!! The way that she didn’t even ask questions about his anxiety and just helped in any way that she could was so sweet. And him just straight up dropping anything at any point to come to her rescue (which happened like three times) was adorable!
The only thing that I didn’t love was how Bailey’s mom treated her. There was never a conversation about Scott being added to Bailey’s life and it felt like her mom crossed a boundary. It would have been fine, except that I didn’t love that Bailey never really confronted her mom about it, but I guess that’s realistic. I also wished we could have seen Charlie’s interactions with his family and had Bailey be there for him with his family like he was for hers.
Overall, I am a little obsessed with this book and it just reaffirmed why Lynn Painter is my favorite author!
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, and the greatest romance author, Lynn Painter for providing me access to this book.
I loved having this book being dual POV! I feel like I wouldn’t have liked Charlie as much if I hadn’t fully understood his motives for his decisions throughout the book. He was such a fun and witty character that I instantly liked him. I also really liked Bailey. She reminded me a lot of myself when I was in high school.
Bailey and Charlie had amazing chemistry! They had my heart fluttering so many times throughout this book! I was almost giddy at certain moments at how adorable they were. I thought the mixture of fake dating plus being two friends that have feelings but refuse to admit it even to themselves worked perfectly in this book! I also loved how they were there for each other! They would each drop literally anything for the other and I loved that for them!!! The way that she didn’t even ask questions about his anxiety and just helped in any way that she could was so sweet. And him just straight up dropping anything at any point to come to her rescue (which happened like three times) was adorable!
The only thing that I didn’t love was how Bailey’s mom treated her. There was never a conversation about Scott being added to Bailey’s life and it felt like her mom crossed a boundary. It would have been fine, except that I didn’t love that Bailey never really confronted her mom about it, but I guess that’s realistic. I also wished we could have seen Charlie’s interactions with his family and had Bailey be there for him with his family like he was for hers.
Overall, I am a little obsessed with this book and it just reaffirmed why Lynn Painter is my favorite author!
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, and the greatest romance author, Lynn Painter for providing me access to this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
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