Reviews

I ADORED this medium-spicy queer romance novella (and yes, btw, I am having a weirdly good reading year so far with three books added to my all-time favourites list!). I often find that I just don't have enough time to get to know the characters in novellas, but that was not the case here. The character development is spot-on and the characters have rich emotional lives beyond their interactions with each other. I loved Kai and Aiden both. I also loved the explicit consent, intentionality, introspection and communication in this story, as with the previous novella in this series. It is just so damned refreshing. So many romance books feel like the love story is a circumstance happening to the characters and they're just along for the ride. In this series, it is clear that love is a choice and an action. I can't wait to read the third installment and was stoked to see that there's a collection available with all three novellas in one. Highly recommended, for romance readers...and actually, if you think you don't like romance, this would be a good one to test-drive.

riahwamby's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

good but not as good as the first

Is this a second chance romance or is it an enemies to lovers story? Depends on which POV you’re currently reading. That dynamic was fun and the show day vibes were cute, but I didn’t connect with the characters as much in this one.

Would recommend for folks who like characters who always say the wrong thing and are dog people.

Representation notes:
Bisexual man
Gay man

torilaird's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

Not her best work. The relationship between the main characters didn’t feel flushed out and the conflict wasn’t realistic.

Representation: mlm

norassick's review against another edition

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3.0

Adorable oh my god i loved kai.

thelaynierose's review

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5.0

Everything about this book is an absolute winner and 100% checked all of my boxes. a combination of the winter, holiday vibes that tickle my brain, the childhood enemies who liked each other but didn't understand their queerness to understand what it was that they were feeling that made me screech my head off, the queer swifties that made me giggle, the queer people MY age dealing with shit I deal with that I related to, and of course, the absolute damn DELIGHT of the more,,,,spicy scenes in the book that just made me feel like I was loosing my goddamned mind. For a short novella, it completely sucked me in and infused itself into my heart. Y'all GOTTA get your hands on this one because it absolutely blew me away.

cokerosary's review against another edition

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relaxing

2.0

This is exactly what I thought it would. Quick easy read, did its job. Read like an Instagram caption, and felt like it was trying to be heartstopper.

indiekay's review

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4.0

I liked this, though not as much as the first story in the series. I loved the first 2/3rds, but the open ending kind of frustrated me because Aiden was a real asshole to Kai and I'd liked to have seen a proper on-page apology from him.

Also the last chapter being in third person (instead of first like the rest of the book) was weird.

That said, this book includes a snow storm and forced proximity, which I enjoyed. It also included grief, and romance and grief are always a nice combo in books.

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