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A review by looseleafellie
Best I Never Had by Jeannie Choe
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
Natalia Marquez is feeling empty after her fiancé breaks up with her and immediately gets engaged to another woman. But when her old high school friend Hayden Marshall (who’s secretly been in love with her forever) comes to town, it rekindles her hope for the future. But do they dare risk their second chance at friendship for something more?
I became desperate to read this book when I discovered it was a slow burn friends-to-lovers romance, which I am a SUCKER for! I think the first half of the book was kind of slow, with tension bubbling under the surface but without much payoff until the second half kicked into gear. However, it felt like Hayden and Natalia’s romance progressed naturally, and the way they support each other and enjoy each other’s company was so wholesome! No instalove here (and y’all know I HATE instalove).
Something that tended to pull me out of the narrative was over-descriptions of actions — that is, some scenes had every movement the characters make described in great detail, which made it read a little clunky sometimes. I think readers who are especially visual might appreciate this, however.
Finally, a disjointed list of things I lapped up in this book and that you might like too: mutual pining, angry love confessions, jealousy, cooking as a love language, bookish protagonists, nasty dudes getting punched in the face, dirty talk, slow dancing, and Shawn, who was not an endgame love interest but I’ll date him if nobody else will :)
Also … Chapter 40!!! Enough said 😏
Thanks to the author for the ebook ARC!
CWs: loss of a parent, sexual assault (non-graphic), underage drinking, mention of drug use.
Spice level: Graphic
I became desperate to read this book when I discovered it was a slow burn friends-to-lovers romance, which I am a SUCKER for! I think the first half of the book was kind of slow, with tension bubbling under the surface but without much payoff until the second half kicked into gear. However, it felt like Hayden and Natalia’s romance progressed naturally, and the way they support each other and enjoy each other’s company was so wholesome! No instalove here (and y’all know I HATE instalove).
Something that tended to pull me out of the narrative was over-descriptions of actions — that is, some scenes had every movement the characters make described in great detail, which made it read a little clunky sometimes. I think readers who are especially visual might appreciate this, however.
Finally, a disjointed list of things I lapped up in this book and that you might like too: mutual pining, angry love confessions, jealousy, cooking as a love language, bookish protagonists, nasty dudes getting punched in the face, dirty talk, slow dancing, and Shawn, who was not an endgame love interest but I’ll date him if nobody else will :)
Also … Chapter 40!!! Enough said 😏
Thanks to the author for the ebook ARC!
CWs: loss of a parent, sexual assault (non-graphic), underage drinking, mention of drug use.
Spice level: Graphic
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol