Review

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I received an eArc of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Ollie has a summer fling, but when a family emergency forces him to move into the town where his summer fling lives, things don’t go as expected. In fact, Will is cold towards him. Ollie can’t figure him out, but as he makes friends he realizes that he doesn’t have to compromise himself and fall in love with the guy. Right?

First off, I want everyone to read this book the moment it comes out. It deserves so much love. I absolutely adored it. I was grinning from ear to ear while reading it, but I was also frowning and honestly I had such an amazing time reading it. I loved it. LOVED. I couldn’t be happier. I think so much was done so well in this book, and I feel as if it was real. That I was actually there. This is absolutely a five star rating. No doubt about it. I can’t wait to go out and buy this book when it publishes.

First Ollie is adorable. I think Ollie is one of those characters that is easy to like. He isn’t annoying, he doesn’t say annoying things, and the choices he makes throughout this book are all reasonable ones! He felt like a teen, like a teen I might have been! I didn’t want to smack him once! (In terms of how sometimes I feel people portray little kids as teens or adults as teens.) In fact, I rooted for him the whole way through. He was a cute and quirky character and I loved that about him.

Will too, is a great character. Like Ollie is he is multifaceted and there is more than one side to him. It made the book more enjoyable to read that way. In fact, most of the characters had more to them than first meets the eye and I really appreciated that. I can’t express enough how much the representation in this book meant. It meant a whole lot. (I’m repetitive, I know. But seriously, my mind melted in a good way when I read this book.)

Ollie is desperately trying not to be consumed by his crush on Will, as Will seems to be a totally different person from the summer. But on top of that Ollie’s family is having some difficulties. And I really felt for Ollie. I honestly cried at one point in the book because it felt so personal. So many parts felt personal to me. And I loved that I connected with this book on so many levels. The plot is a slow paced one, the romance is “slow burn” and very complicated. It takes up much of the book.

The writing is also such a joy and a pleasure to read. I zipped through this book and just couldn’t stop smiling. There are some really fun feel good moments in this book interspersed with some sadder moments. This book was based in family, friendship and love. It covered all three portions of that in a lovely way. I don’t have enough good things to say about this book. In fact, I am running out of words!

Overall, I am super hyped for this book when it comes out. I love a feel good romance, and this checked all the boxes of things I could want!