Bi rep, no homophobia/biphobia, insta love, single father, small town romance, meddling friends, main and background queer characters

Very strong insta love trope, so if you like that, this is probably a great novella for you. Their relationship and feelings move very fast, which does sometimes come with the turf of being a novella but was maybe a bit too much for my aromantic ass. 

Personally, I had a hard time understanding why the MCs liked each other so much, other than them telling me how much they liked each other. I didn’t get a strong sense of who Ezekiel was before he moved to town, but it seems like he changed a lot very quickly. At points, I was confused by how much time they were (or weren’t) spending together off page, and would be surprised when  one of them referenced an off page hang out. Overall, I felt like I just didn’t have a strong grasp on their relationship. 

Ollie struggled with retreating into himself and isolating when he’s stressed/anxious/upset. I totally get that, but here’s what would have given me more faith in Ollie’s character growth:

By the end of the book, he promises Ezekiel that he won’t cut him out during times like this in the future, but after watching him do it (at least) twice during the book, I really would have liked to see an on page example of a situation where Ollie overcomes his instincts and reaches out to Ezekiel instead of isolating during a moment of stress. It would have given me more faith in them as a couple.