Thank you to Kat Summers and Truly Yours PR for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ellie has been an honorary member of the Ryder family for more than half her life since they moved in next door to her, and Lainey Ryder became her best friend. Now, freshly graduated, but with no clue what her next step will be, her usually organized and perfectionist self starts to panic. This is when she gets offered a job working on the next tour with the Ryder Brothers band, who are an established name, as a buffer for her to figure out her next move. This also means that she is forced to work in close proximity with Jack Ryder, the person she's been half in love with for as long as she can remember. 

Ellie has had a crush on Jack Ryder ever since the first day they met. But over the years, she realizes that Jack has no interest in her romantically, so she has moved on from him, or so she thought. When she starts interacting with Jack on the tour, she can't deny the attraction she still feels for him after all this time. But given her past encounters with him, her friendship with Lainey, and her own family dynamics, she doesn't want to go there with Jack.

Ellie was also relatable in the sense that she was overwhelmed by the need to have everything figured out now that she had graduated and she feels the pressure and self-doubt kicking in as she tries to plan where she goes from here in terms of her career.

Jack hasn't given much thought to his little sister's best friend in a while now. But when he meets her on her graduation night, he can't help but feel an attraction towards her. When he learns that she will be joining them on their tour, he feels happy to have a reason to reconnect and spend more time with her, even knowing that she is off limits. As they spend time together, it is clear that there is more going on between them, but he has multiple reasons why he doesn't want to take that step with Ellie.

Jack is also trying to figure out his own life, who he is without being a part of the Ryder Brothers band, and what he is personally passionate about. As he's figuring this out, he is also trying to see where Ellie fits in his life and what their future looks like.

I feel like their relationship evolved at a good pace, where we get the conflicting feelings of wanting each other but also not being sure if they should act on it and if the other person is as invested. As the story progresses, the two navigate these uncertainties and their newly developing relationship while also finding their own footing and identity as individuals. I loved their back and forth, the teasing and banter between them. All the things Jack did for Ellie were swoonworthy and showed how serious he was about them.

I definitely enjoyed the spice, and there was some inspiration taken from one of my favorite books too. I'm always a fan when the woman isn't shy about taking the lead and when she's called a "good girl.".

I really loved the girl gang and how supportive and fun they were. I liked that they were involved in each other's lives even though they were miles away. The Ryder brothers were all amazing and had such different personalities, but when it counted, they were a team. They were always giving each other shit, but they were also protective and would do anything for their siblings and Ellie.

I did have a few issues. There was a bit of miscommunication that kind of built up along the way and became the reason for the third-act conflict, and I feel like there wasn't proper grovelling for all that was said and done. Also, a few pressing questions were left unanswered, and some situations were unexplored. I wanted the confrontation with her dad to happen on the page.