Scan barcode
sezillee's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Death of parent
nearbethexperience's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-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
4.5
This felt so much more well-rounded than most romances and I loved it. The book is just as much about Sammy repairing her relationships with her chosen family as it is about the romance. I love that the romance only falls into place after both parties genuinely work on themselves. For such a short book it does amazing at capturing a plethora of messy relationships, with a happy and satisfying ending!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This fits more into coming-of-age fiction with a romantic subplot rather than a capital R romance. I love either! I just want to help level others’ expectations.
This book is told in first-person, present-tense POV of Sammy Espinoza, who was almost let go from her music writing job and was just publicly dumped by her musician ex-girlfriend. She is returning to the one place she ever felt she could call “home,” a small town in the Pacific North West, Ridley Falls. With her mom constantly traveling the world and following her next love interest, Sammy has learned to expect abandonment from everyone who claims to care about her.
She had stayed in Ridley Falls for one year with her friend Willa and Willa’s parents, and heard that a former one-night-stand (from 11 years ago), Max Ryan is returning to Ridley Falls to record his first ever solo album at his home studio. Sammy hopes to write a review on him that will save her job, but things get complicated when she starts developing feelings for him again. You could call this a bit of a second-chance romance, but I think it focuses a lot more on Sammy’s growth, as far as the way she views love and connections, especially with her neglectful mom, her friends Willa and Brook, and her estranged grandmother Paloma (who lives in Ridley Falls too👀)
There is a lot of miscommunication and “ghosting” in this (not just romantic ghosting!) so be prepared! I think it all felt quite authentic though, and I really appreciated the representation of:
This fits more into coming-of-age fiction with a romantic subplot rather than a capital R romance. I love either! I just want to help level others’ expectations.
This book is told in first-person, present-tense POV of Sammy Espinoza, who was almost let go from her music writing job and was just publicly dumped by her musician ex-girlfriend. She is returning to the one place she ever felt she could call “home,” a small town in the Pacific North West, Ridley Falls. With her mom constantly traveling the world and following her next love interest, Sammy has learned to expect abandonment from everyone who claims to care about her.
She had stayed in Ridley Falls for one year with her friend Willa and Willa’s parents, and heard that a former one-night-stand (from 11 years ago), Max Ryan is returning to Ridley Falls to record his first ever solo album at his home studio. Sammy hopes to write a review on him that will save her job, but things get complicated when she starts developing feelings for him again. You could call this a bit of a second-chance romance, but I think it focuses a lot more on Sammy’s growth, as far as the way she views love and connections, especially with her neglectful mom, her friends Willa and Brook, and her estranged grandmother Paloma (who lives in Ridley Falls too👀)
There is a lot of miscommunication and “ghosting” in this (not just romantic ghosting!) so be prepared! I think it all felt quite authentic though, and I really appreciated the representation of:
- single parent/child dynamic
- teen parent/child dynamic
- losing a parent before you were even born!
- alcoholism/addiction/sobriety
- found family
- sensitive, messy bisexuals
- 29-year-olds at a crossroads in life & having their own midlife crises
steam rating: 2/5
cw: child abuse, death/death of a parent, grief, sexual context, abandonment, toxic mother-daughter relationship, gaslighting, addiction, alcoholism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
jillkaarlela's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
Taylor Swift songs: “Wildest Dreams”, “afterglow”
Age rating: 15+ (2 brief steamy scenes, 0.5/5🌶️)
if you are a fan of Ashley Poston (“The Dead Romantics” and “the Seven Year Slip”) you will LOVE this!! I know I did! Just without the paranormal aspect. This was a story about finding identity, family, dealing with past trauma, and finding love in the midst of that. I loved watching Sammy’s chaotic, messy, very human journey throughout this story. I truly connected to Sammy, even though I have not experienced the same circumstances. I also truly loved all of the side characters!! All of the relationships, especially with Sammy and her found family were so beautiful and loving. I will not lie, this might lead me to read a lot more celebrity romances and enter a delulu era, but I’m not mad about it. This book really felt like a warm hug, while still being very entertaining. I will be reading any other romances this author writes. I listened to the audiobook but I WILL be picking up a physical copy!
Plus, I love the representation in this book! We love a Pansexual Latina FMC! And I loved Willa and Brooke’s relationship/marriage! It was so healthy and loving and supportive!! We love seeing queer joy represented!!
Also side note: the audiobook narrator was fantastic!
Tropes:
Second-chance-romance
Celebrity mmc (singer)
Found family
Small town
Pansexual Latina fmc
TW: recovering alcoholic, abandonment issues, parental trauma
Age rating: 15+ (2 brief steamy scenes, 0.5/5🌶️)
if you are a fan of Ashley Poston (“The Dead Romantics” and “the Seven Year Slip”) you will LOVE this!! I know I did! Just without the paranormal aspect. This was a story about finding identity, family, dealing with past trauma, and finding love in the midst of that. I loved watching Sammy’s chaotic, messy, very human journey throughout this story. I truly connected to Sammy, even though I have not experienced the same circumstances. I also truly loved all of the side characters!! All of the relationships, especially with Sammy and her found family were so beautiful and loving. I will not lie, this might lead me to read a lot more celebrity romances and enter a delulu era, but I’m not mad about it. This book really felt like a warm hug, while still being very entertaining. I will be reading any other romances this author writes. I listened to the audiobook but I WILL be picking up a physical copy!
Plus, I love the representation in this book! We love a Pansexual Latina FMC! And I loved Willa and Brooke’s relationship/marriage! It was so healthy and loving and supportive!! We love seeing queer joy represented!!
Also side note: the audiobook narrator was fantastic!
Tropes:
Second-chance-romance
Celebrity mmc (singer)
Found family
Small town
Pansexual Latina fmc
TW: recovering alcoholic, abandonment issues, parental trauma
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Cursing, and Abandonment
alyssajp's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Pregnancy and Medical content
tenderbench's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death, and Addiction
applejacksbooks's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher for review.
I really need to stop requesting Lit Fic books. they always make me so...sad. That being said, I think this one is worth the read. You get a woman on the verge of losing her job get one last chance to redeem herself by basically finding the one guy who she spent one amazing night with, then got ghosted by 10 years prior and writing an article about why he fell off the face of the planet. Along the way Sammy finds herself through meeting the grandmother she never met/was led to believe didn't want her, figures out what she wants from life, and honestly does more healing without a therapist than with.
So overall, I think this book does what it sets out to. we get the second chance romance (kind of), the main character reconnecting with her chosen family and some blood relatives too, and the chance for Sammy to really lay into her deadbeat mother. Here's my issue though, nothing really kept this on my mind enough for me to absolutely fall head over heels for the story, leaving me just feeling very "meh" about it. Like if this kind of healing journey is your thing, you'll definitely enjoy it, but for me it's very YA almost (and I know this is the author's adult debut, but she does come from YA). I do wish in the end, Sammy's chosen family was one member larger, but it's paramount that the thing happens so the ending can happen and I get why, but like I cried when that thing happened.
I really need to stop requesting Lit Fic books. they always make me so...sad. That being said, I think this one is worth the read. You get a woman on the verge of losing her job get one last chance to redeem herself by basically finding the one guy who she spent one amazing night with, then got ghosted by 10 years prior and writing an article about why he fell off the face of the planet. Along the way Sammy finds herself through meeting the grandmother she never met/was led to believe didn't want her, figures out what she wants from life, and honestly does more healing without a therapist than with.
So overall, I think this book does what it sets out to. we get the second chance romance (kind of), the main character reconnecting with her chosen family and some blood relatives too, and the chance for Sammy to really lay into her deadbeat mother. Here's my issue though, nothing really kept this on my mind enough for me to absolutely fall head over heels for the story, leaving me just feeling very "meh" about it. Like if this kind of healing journey is your thing, you'll definitely enjoy it, but for me it's very YA almost (and I know this is the author's adult debut, but she does come from YA). I do wish in the end, Sammy's chosen family was one member larger, but it's paramount that the thing happens so the ending can happen and I get why, but like I cried when that thing happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
what_karla_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent