Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Summer Romance

I like this! But I didn't LOVE it! I had tried to read from this author before, "Nora Goes Off Script", and wasn't jelling with the writing or the MMC so I dnf it. I saw so many people giving this 4.75 and above so I decided to try this author out again. After finishing, I can totally see why people were in love with this. Her writing definitely improved from the other book I read.

I liked the story. The last 100 pages had me in an emotional chokehold. I couldn't believe I was shedding tears for this book. I like the characters, especially Ethan. He was a sweetheart. And I loved how he made it evident that he only had eyes for Ali and never got mad at her for her lifestyle (considering she has kids and all). However, something that did bother me about Scooter was how child-ish he seemed at times. It would just be certain things that he said and the way he acted sometimes that would make me forget that this guy was nearing 40. Similar to the FMC, she was fine, but she was a horny mess at times and I was just like girl "reel it in, babe". And there are a lot of quirky bits here that I found to be a little cringy, but I can see how others may find it charming.

Overall, I enjoyed the story. Like I said before the last 100 pages really made the story for me. However, I didn't rate this book too high, because I just wasn't connected to the characters that much. I don't know if it's her writing or what, but I just felt like I was observing just watching, and not really attached to what was going on.

Spice Rating: no spice (just brief mentions)

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beebowbabe's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted medium-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? Yes

5.0

What a beautiful tribute to a woman's relationship with her mother, her children, and herself. 💛

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

I loved this so much — I always love Annabel Monaghan (loved all three so far); and I loved this as much as Nora, which is to say it is among my favorites of all favorite romances and rom-coms. I am a major romance reader! So I don’t mean this as a negative about the genre, truly: but this, and AM’s books in general for me, truly transcend their identities as romance novels and are about love in bigger and more transcendently human ways somehow. I am truly just so stunned and moved by the way in which she deals with grief in this book: in the main character’s ongoing grappling with the loss of her Mom, and the ways in which that is not at all a simple sadness; but also in Ali’s reckoning with her divorce — the breakup not in itself a source of grief, but rather mourning the ways in which she was not true to herself in a relationship that was deeply unhealthy and painful.

I love the depth of the side characters (again, an aspect of storytelling that Annabel Monaghan handles so masterfully and with such care): the layers of love and complexity in parental relationships, and the fact that the children are so thoroughly drawn and vividly themselves; and I love the ways in which these side characters and their relationships with our heroes impact the plot and arc of the story. The dogs are SO wonderful!! I love them! (And by the the way - they do NOT die! I’m not sure how that is a content warning others added here, and I want to mention it since it was worrying me a bit. Brenda and Ferris are totally ok!!)

Some of the language was so heart-stoppingly beautiful that I went back on my audio and listened a couple more times — I will definitely get a physical copy of this one since I want to hold it.

Anyway. I could go on forever, as I wish this book had. But I loved it. I will read it again someday. ❤️

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dooleynoted's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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bmpicc's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-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

4.0

Light, easy, exactly what I needed when I needed it.

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thegabscast's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

4.0

When we meet Ali, she’s grieving the loss of her mother and the end of her marriage. She is stuck in a rut and hasn’t been taking care of herself and has been absent from her own life. One day, she gets motivated to go to the dog park and her dog pees on a handsome man. Enter: Ethan. Ethan is funny, smart, kind, and doesn’t live in town. Ali thinks she can sign up for a summer romance, but as a rom-com, this obviously develops into something so much more. I loved how the exposition was done in this book. You slowly start to understand just how Ali got to this point in her life and really root for her to find her happiness. Ethan is very sweet, although a couple of his memories and how obsessed he was with Ali back in high school took me out of the story a couple of times. I do love how you come to understand him as well and why he doesn’t want to move back to his hometown. I adored Phyllis and her insights. Frannie was a bit annoying and her parents were very inconsiderate of their children, but I didn’t hate them. I really loved that the characters weren’t all in their 20s and felt like fully fleshed out people with realistic problems. The relationships all had depth to them and felt so human. I do wish we had gotten a little bit more time with Ethan’s trajectory as his story felt a bit rushed towards the end. I do also wish Ali’s motivation to put herself back together stemmed a lot less from finding a new love and was more inspired by how her emotional absence was impacting her children. It just felt like a really easy way to fall into a bad pattern. Overall, I really liked this book and how it tackled the topics of loss, divorce, and finding yourself again. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a romance book with a little more substance. I give it 4/5 stars. There is sexual tension but no spice, the one scene is closed door/fade to black.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

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enzopudge's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

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readingonthefly's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

OBSESSSSED. I giddy kicked, I laughed, I cried. I just absolutely loved this book so much. How Annabel covered loss and grief, divorce, how messy life can get, and love, ugh *chef’s kiss*. I just want to start it all over again. Don’t miss this book this summer!

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