I really enjoy the small town vibes this author creates. This book actually reminded me a little of their novella His Birthday Wish, which I've read twice. There's that little drawn out friction of one knowing the other doesn't know who they are and how is it going to be resolved. 

This sits somewhere between a friends to lovers and second chance romance, and it worked well for me. The widower aspect is another thing that I personally like reading different iterations of, seeing people get another shot at love and romance after their previous big romance ends in tragedy. Charlie is young to be widowed, but the situation is well explained and there is an inevitable echo of that in something that happens with Drew, but I liked how it was handled a lot.

Drew is also dealing with some stuff from his past, and Charlie's experience with grief and loss is useful and it's sweet to see them moving forward together. The MCs from the previous book are present, but don't intrude too much or detract from Drew and Charlie's story, and I enjoy the little digs in every book from the couple that move to Rosedale first, joking that they're tricking all their friends into moving to their small town. It's the tiniest crack in the fourth wall, but felt reassuring to me, somehow.

In my opinion, this series of longer novels is showing the growth in the author's writing and I am looking forward to reading the other two books.

Thanks to GRR for the review copy.