Series: N/A
Traits & Tropes: cinnamon roll hero; former soldier; anxiety rep
Publication Date: 05.17.22
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Upstate New York, USA
Heat Level: 1.5
Rating: 3/5
Narration Rating: 4/5
Imani Lewis works hard at her job as a book publicist. This is her dream job so now she wonders why it doesn’t seem to be making her happy and she definitely needs a break. When her grandmother asks her to come stay for the summer and help her recover from a double knee surgery, Imani agrees. Being back in a small-town has its drawbacks though, the greatest of which is it’s also the home of the beautiful man she ghosted after hooking up with him at her best friend’s wedding.
After his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Zander Matthews knows all too well that tomorrow isn’t guaranteed and seeks to enjoy life to the fullest in the now. Nonetheless, he still hasn’t quite moved on from his sister-in-law’s gorgeous best friend, who ghosted him after an amazing weekend together. He has no desire to be hurt again, but he also wants to explore the connection he knows he and Imani have. He’s there for her when things need to be fixed around her grandmother’s house, but he doesn’t push her for more, leaving their relationship progression totally up to her.
Zander and Imani’s connection is still there, and he makes her smile and laugh like no one else. She can’t seem to resist his charm or the attraction between them, but she’s only there for a short time and Zander isn’t one for commitment. Right?
I have so many mixed feelings about this book. Things may get a bit spoilery, so you risk that if you read too much further. It definitely brought a lot to the table that I really like but it also brought several things I was not a fan of. First off, I loved Zander as a hero. He was just such a genuinely great guy who had done so much for his family, friends, and the community at large. Unfortunately, no one really seemed to notice this, and they all underestimated him as only good for a good time and not someone who could be relying upon. I found that to be super off-putting, mostly because it was an ongoing theme throughout the entire book and the character who was perhaps most guilty of this was Imani herself. I was really hoping Imani would be the one person who saw the real Zander beneath the happy go lucky exterior he presented to the world, and while at times it seemed she did, that wasn’t the case for much of the book and she was just as critical of him as everyone else was. Instead, she was just unnecessarily mean to him when she was the one who ghosted him after their hookup and he was the one left with a bruised heart over it, not the other way around.
At times it felt like there were more details being given about Imani’s deep connection with her best friend, Kate, than with Zander and it made their love feel a bit unreal and a lot one-sided. Just when I was thinking we were finally going to get a real heart to heart conversation between Zander and Imani, they get interrupted. I’m talking multiple interruptions, one of which was a frankly traumatizing birth scene I could’ve gone my whole life without. I’m pretty sure these interruptions were meant to be cute and keep things light given the heaviness of the birthing scene, but it just pulled me totally out of the story and tried my patience. Also, this is oddly specific, but it stuck with me and sort of nailed Imani’s tendency to be self-centered, but there’s a scene where they’re basically at a fair. Zander says he’s not hungry, but she is, and she makes him share all this bad food with her. I know this is not at all a big thing, but Zander had confessed to her previously that as a teen, after the passing of his father, he had struggled with food addiction. He also told her that continued to struggle with it, so this scene just struck me because it made it seem (even more so) that Imani wasn’t really trying to notice these little details about Zander. Meanwhile, he was pulling out all the stops for her, doing these creative things, amazing dates, and orchestrating grand romantic gestures.
I could definitely relate to Imani’s anxiety, painfully so, but I didn’t appreciate the way she blamed Zander when things went wrong or the way she jerked him around. No matter how mean she was to him or how she took advantage of him, he was always there for her, and I started to feel like she really didn’t deserve him. No one gave Zander an ounce of credit for all he’d done for everyone and how reliable he was and her back and forth with him just got old and a bit repetitive after a while. I just really wanted Imani to show that she knew how great of a guy Zander was, rather than that realization only being acknowledged in her own mind, and then with great reluctance and after quite a while. Overall, this was a cute story and setting, but I wanted more from the heroine. I might’ve enjoyed this more if I’d read the first book in the series, but nonetheless, I will be looking for Zander’s brother, Ryker’s book.
I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an audio advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4774467590
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3577910952
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