"It's a big responsibility, dabbling in other people's relationships."

While the premise/outline of the story was an interesting concept, the writing and characterization fell flat and the pacing was all over the place. Truth be told, had this not been an ARC I probably would have DNF'd, it was that much of a slog to get through.

Let's get the first big note out of the way - this is a contemporary fiction novel, NOT a romance. While filled with deep longing and pining by our MFC, Ellie, there is ZERO romance in this book until about the 85% mark, but even then I'd be hard-pressed to label it as 'romance', as their relationship (Ellie & American Dan's) is wrapped up in a cheating/OW scenario.

My biggest gripe is that Ellie is just not a likeable protagonist. She comes across as whiny and judgemental without any aspect of introspection to her own behaviours. Hers is a life full of deception - she's lying to her family about her current relationship status, she's lying to her coworkers about her personal life and background, she's lying to American Dan (yes, he's always called that...never just 'Dan') about her true feelings and what she does for a living, but most of all she's lying to herself. She spends a lot of time "thinking deep thoughts," but there's too much telling and not enough showing. Even though they're described as 30-somethings (we later find that Ellie is 28), tonally it reads very YA with the jargon, slang, behaviours, reactions, and treatment of one-another. "Ellie made a silly boo-boo face"...seriously, that line is pulled from the book. Ellie's big character arc is to overcome her pride, and had that been developed or given more focus rather than including some other ridiculous and pointless plot-points (seriously, what was the point of including a side-character's dying partner other than for said side-character to blow up at everyone to 'seize the day because you never know when it's your last'), I may have enjoyed it a bit more, but otherwise it's just fluff with no real substance.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.