4.75⭐️/ 3🌶️

*Check trigger warnings before reading.

Ella Sunbury once lived the perfect life with her family until one day, her big brother, Jonah did something that changed Ella and her family’s lives forever. Fast forward to the present, Ella is now shunned by everyone and bullied due to her brother’s actions that caused an uproar everywhere. For Ella, life wasn’t easy, she just kept her head down, and tried to avoid drawing more attention to herself. Max Manning was once Ella befriended in the first grade, but now as a teenager, Max was reserved, focused on bigger things like taking care of her dad, and apparently distance with Ella. As Max and Ella reconnected their friendship it brought heartfelt moments, memories of their childhood, and a love they shared for each other. Jennifer Hartman wrote a young adult romance with her brand of emotional depth, heartbreaking moments, and a story that will keep you on a rollercoaster of feelings. 

This story wasn’t the happiest of stories, but it did have some equally heartfelt moments shared between Max and Ella. Before Ella’s life changed, she actually befriended Max when they were kids and were the best of friends. Cut to Max and Ella being seventeen/ eighteen years old, and initially it seemed like Max just didn’t acknowledge Ella’s presence. Until, one day Max started to befriend Ella, and from there their friendship slowly, but surely got back to a place they felt comfortable around each other once again. My favorite thing about Max and Ella aside from seeing their friendship come together again was also the way Max was so patient and understood that Ella was hesitant to trust others especially with what she was going through throughout the story. Plus, Max calling Ella, “Sunny” was not only sweet, but a callback to their childhood when Max first called her that, awww. 

The more I read, the more I loved this book. Ella and Max were no strangers to living through difficult times, but as they reignited their friendship, it also gave way to their heartfelt romance. I genuinely loved seeing how Ella and Max transitioned from friends to lovers, it all felt organic, and taking into account Ella’s initial promise to not fall in love or look for any close relationship(s) she inevitably felt a deeper connection to Max than ever before. Max had his own responsibilities at home, but when it came to Ella, he was the one that showed her he truly cared deeply for her, put her feelings first, and gave her the space to be open, vulnerable, and have the opportunity to let out all her feelings that she kept bottled up. There were quite a few quotes that really stood out to me that further made me love both Max and Ella such as, when Ella asked Max what would he want to do if he could do anything in the moment and Max responded, “I’d be kissing you, Ella.” 

Or how Ella told Max, “Your eyes, they make me feel seen.” 

(Sniff) those quotes just hit me right in the feels, and they felt significant in a way that truly encapsulated the affection, trust, and growing love between Max and Ella. (Sigh) really made me happy to see Max and Ella find each other again, but also expand on their already close relationship in a new beautiful way. 

Round of applause for Jennifer Hartman for ONCE AGAIN having me go through an emotional rollercoaster, but also loving the characters and story. Like I mentioned previously, Max and Ella didn’t have the easiest time in their lives, but through their friendship it gave them the support they needed as well as the foundation to build their romance on. Once the friendship between Ella and Max went into the romance portion, I was swooning and aww-ing over the sweet sentiments shared between the two. Max and Ella saw each other in their most vulnerable moments, and it highlighted how much they provided a safe space for one another. I didn’t see the turn of events happening towards the middle portion of the book that had me on edge!!! Like what?! For a second there I thought I lost either Ella or Max?! Nooooo! Thankfully the story didn’t go in the direction I thought it would, phew. Jennifer wrote Ella and Max’s story to perfection and she didn’t hold back on showing all the aspects of young love especially with the circumstances both Ella and Max were faced with. This story was full of emotional depth, sweet, swoon worthy romance, a lovely friendship, and moments that left me borderline wanting to jump into the book to protect Ella and Max. I loved how the story all came together especially on the note it ended on. Jennifer Hartman’s stories always have me loving the characters, and I can attest that I genuinely loved both Ella and Max so much that I stayed up midnight unable to stop reading because, I NEEDED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! Definitely recommend this book if you’re looking for an emotional romance with friends to lovers, raw, vulnerable moments, and lovable characters who also found solace with each other.