Ok this was just adorable and wonderful. I loved Jacob so much. He was so sweet and had so much bottled up inside him. His awe of the writer he'd built up in his head for Rasul was one of the things he held onto to get him through hard times. But meeting his hero, that's never been something he's wanted, he'd rather keep him on the pedestal he'd built for him in his mind. But then Rasul shows up in town and seems to find Jacob's little bookshop and apartment the perfect place to write his long overdue third novel. How can he refuse?

I loved watching these two fall for each other. Rasul was so bound up in his head and didn't know how to move forward with his life other than to lose himself in booze and bad ideas. But being in Copper Point is showing him another way and is actually freeing him to be the writer he should be. His attraction to Jacob was unexpected for him. It was sweet watching them go through the slow burn of coming together.

This was a wonderful story dealing with a wider spectrum of the LGBTQ+ community. I liked that we had not only an interracial couple but also a loving relationship between MC's who were bi/pan. I can't wait to read more of the mini Main Street stories, they all deserve their HEA's. :)

3.5 rounded up

This is the start of a spin-off from the Cooper Point Medical Series, which I didn't love, so I was a bit unsure about going into this one. To start, while the characters from that series do make brief appearances, I do think this reads fine as a standalone. And, thankfully, I enjoyed it much more than any of those ones!

Like those books, it's relatively low steam, which isn't a direction I love, particularly as there was such great sexual tension here, though we do get some smut! I really liked the characters and their connection, and the whole story felt quite interesting and unique. Some aspects were perhaps a bit overblown, and Rasul seemed to clean up his image quite quickly and with little growing pains, but overall I just enjoyed reading this one!

Meh, I hate being critical of books written by my favorite authors.
Unfortunately, this was not a win for me.

This is a well written book. It's Heidi Cullinan, so I expected no less.
The character are interesting and an interracial bi/pan MC, couldn't be happier about that.
There is actually a lot of inclusivity in this book (secondary characters) which is something that I hope to see more of in this genre.
The setting is dynamic and I felt Copper Point come alive.

My issue lays in the balance of romance against other factors. Which directly led to me feeling quite disconnected from the romantic aspect of the book. I was interested in Rasul specifically and wanted to see him finish his book and stabilize emotionally. But that narrative sort of took over, and the romance itself became non essential, it wouldn't have made a difference to me if this was a platonic friendship that was brewing vs an "i'll love you forever" scenario.

I did pick up this book expecting to be moved by a romance between a bookstore owner and a novelist, and not caring about the aspect of the MC's relationship sort of defeats that purpose. Hence why I'm disappointed. I hope others won't feel the same way I did, and I will still be checking out the rest Cooper Point's books and consider this a fluke.

Loved loved loved this book! Usually I don’t have much patience for a ‘story within the story’ device but this one *really* worked because it so perfectly expressed how a writer might experience falling in love.
The imagery was beautiful and I loved getting to see both points of view. These characters were so different from each other, and complex, and the story showed that in the spaces they created and how they treated each other. I loved that their interaction was sort of ‘actions speak louder than words’: not relying on dramatic confrontations to move forward but showing how they both put a lot of focus and intention into the relationship.
I also really appreciate the social media storyline and discussion. In fact I’m just now realizing the literary plot and social media plot are sort of flip sides of the same coin which is so interesting to think about how imaginary worlds can be both wonderful and awful. (and…so meta to be writing a review of this on social media? I kind of hope the author doesn’t read these reviews!)
Anyway this book really carried me away and left me feeling thoughtful and fascinated and happy. I think I’ll go read the whole thing again.

3.5. Lots of interesting stuff about the writing process and its relationship to social media in this m/m romance. Rasul Youseff (half Syrian, half Brazilian ancestryr) is an award-winning fantasy writer who has been avoiding his post-sophomore-effort-writers' block by partying and making bad romantic decisions. His agent is giving him one last chance to get over himself and sit his butt in the chair and write, by arranging for him to adjunct as a visiting professor at a small college in rural Wisconsin. His romantic interest, Jacob, is a white bookseller who fan-worships not Rasul himself, but Rasul's two novels, the first of which served as a respite and talisman for him after the death of his parents in a car accident. Jacob veers between believing Neil Gaiman's advice that meeting your idols is a big mistake and being overwhelmed and blown away by the dynamic Rasul. Growing tired of being known in his friend group (which includes all of the protagonists from Cullinan's previous medical Copper Point series) as the steady, reliable one, Jacob agrees to Rasul's proposal to fake date to ward off a persistent ex and her social media fans. But the lines between fake and real, idol and human being, blur almost from the start. Opposites in personality, but spiritual twins in backstory (both have abandonment issues), Rasul and Jacob make a sweet couple.

Had to cringe when Cullinan talked about receiving fan mail from people who pointed out errors in his books and offered to be his proofreader.

I found the characters and the story and the rhythm of the book to be unique and well-crafted. Very, very pleased with this book.

Fake Relationships are my all-time favorite romance trope, and Found Family is my favorite general trope, so this book stood out as one I wanted to read immediately! I loved the characters and their flaws and idiosyncrasies. I enjoyed the community and look forward to reading other books in this series. The book was a bit predictable at times, but that is hardly uncommon for the genre. In fact in some areas it is a good thing.
Ultimately I enjoyed it but it wasn't un-put-downable or swoon-worthy (listen, you have your criteria, I have mine) so that's the reason for the 4 rather than 5 stars. I will still pick up more from this author in the future.