first and foremost, I absolutely love this author’s storytelling!! her writing is so raw and open, and I about cried after reading her author’s note and knowing the baseline of this story is based on personal experience 🥺🫶🏼

the story is very character forward and surrounding eliot, the youngest in a very large family suffering from PTSD of her brother’s death when they were young as well as chronic OCD. the stereotypical OCD that you see in movies and books is not what’s featured here, and I applaud every sentence written, allowing the readers the privilege of being in eliot’s head ❤️

and as sad, beautiful, and tragic as eliot’s story was, I wished there was more to hold the entire plot together. I wanted more from eliot’s family, I wanted chapters from manuel’s POV, I wanted a deep insight into how the family felt when eliot left them all high and dry… and as much as I loved eliot alone, there needed to be more than just her telling the story…

friends to lovers normally isn’t my favorite, but I absolutely loved how manuel and eliot’s dynamic was perfect for each other 🩷 again, I just wanted more from manuel’s side because from eliot’s POV only, it was hard to tell what occasions were warped due to her own trauma and OCD.

a huge thank you to berkley and berkley romance for the advanced copy of this one in exchange for an honest review!! I’m glad I took my time with this one!

rating: 3.5 stars
wine pairing: niagara-on-the-lake sparkling vidal