We Can't Keep Meeting Like This is a total Rom-Com which I absolutely adored. I haven't read a Rom-Com in a good year or so and I completely devoured this novel within two days. It's just that good.

I really liked how sensitive Ms. Solomon was when it came to including Quinn's OCD and general anxiety disorder as well as Tarek's depression. Moreover, I loved Julia (Quinn's best friend). She was so so awkward towards Noelle (her crush) which made her so so relatable. This novel was an absolute delight to read and some of my favourite pieces included the friendships, absolutely stunning descriptions of harps and dessert, and just how real Quinn felt as a character. Tarek was such a treat to read about! I loved how romance-focused he was which reminded me of Logan Echolls (think like the Epic speech).

Some highlights included Jewish and Muslim rep in the two central characters (Quinn and Tarek respectively). I cannot really comment on how accurate the depiction of Muslim representation was.

However, as a Jewish reader, I struggled a lot with how Ms. Solomon added Quinn's Jewishness to the novel. At times it felt like it was only mentioned: "to be mentioned". This made it feel less authentic and real to me. Although Quinn and I sit around the Reform Jewish table (which isn't usually touched on in books about Jewish MCs). I did find this got better as the novel progressed with more subtle mentions that furthered the plot.

Overall, I loved the novel! Completely recommend it if you are interested in Rom-Coms, sassy and cynical characters or good mental illness rep!

Thank you NetGalley for the free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I actually finished this book weeks ago. I wasn't sure what to think of it then, and I literally haven't thought back to it once, so I guess that shows how I feel about it. It was by no means bad, but I felt like the family dynamic was a little unrealistic, as was the relationship at the center.

Quinn Berkowitz has spent a lifetime attending weddings. After all, her parents run one of Seattle's most successful wedding planning businesses, Borrowed and Blue. Quinn acts as an assistant and frequently plays her harp for processionals, but with her anxiety and OCD, she can't quite bring herself to tell her parents that she doesn't want a future in the business, despite her parents' having perfectly mapped out her college career in business to do just that. She's just sick and tired of weddings, and even playing the harp has lost the luster she once had. And now her last summer before college has taken another dip when she finds out that Tarek Mansour is back.

Tarek's parents run a successful catering company that works with Borrowed and Blue for nearly every event, which means that Quinn and Tarek have spent most of their lives attending other people's weddings together. While weddings have lost the appeal for Quinn, Tarek loves them. He's a romantic at heart, and loves big romantic gestures--and why not? His parents got together because of one. Plus, Tarek's dream is to create wedding cakes for celebrating Happily Ever Afters. And he also hasn't spoken to Quinn in nearly a year, ghosting her after she poured her heart out to him in an email about her crush on him.

Yeah. The summer is not looking great for one Quinn Berkowitz. Unless.... Tarek does actually feel the same way? Maybe? One way or another, they can't keep meeting like this....

This is as much of a story about self-love and self-care as it is a romance, as both Quinn and Tarek navigate young adulthood and all that comes with it (such as sex and interpersonal relationships with family, friends, and romantically) but also their mental health and trying to determine where they fit in the world. While initially there was a bit of drama because neither of them were good at talking to each other about how they felt (Tarek leans towards "actions speak louder than words" and Quinn is incredibly uncomfortable with grandiose displays of love), they both have a lot of conversations as they go from awkward ex-friends/coworkers, to friends, to lovers. They've got problems to sort out, yes, and they don't always handle situations well, but they present a very realistic relationship as they talk about problems and feelings and why they do the things they do and how they feel about certain aspects of relationships (again, such as physical intimacy, other expressions of love, and emotional vulnerability). You don't see that a lot in most romance novels, but especially not YA, and I'm happy to see Rachel Lynn Solomon not only break that barrier, but smash it into a gazillion pieces with how realistically she portrays these conversations and emotions!

Quinn is pretty cynical when it comes to all things love and romance - even though her family's business is literally wedding planning. Last summer, Quinn confessed to her long-time friend and frequent catering partner Tarek that she had feelings for him, but then he left for college and gave no response. Now he's back in town and Quinn is sure that they can be friends, but nothing more.

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This was a Very Cute and Very Swoony. My favorite YA reads have a solid romance plot but also bring in a family element and this one was excellent. I think Quinn's struggle of committing to a career path and going against what her family assumed she wanted was incredibly relatable. There was amazing mental health rep in the story, and I appreciated how open the characters were in discussing those issues.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon Teen for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Full review posted on Instagram on 6/3/21 and will be posted on FYA site shortly.

BOOK REPORT for We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Cover Story: Cartoony Cute
BFF Charm: Big Sister
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: School of Sarah Dessen
Bonus Factors: Mental Health, Harps, Tasty Business
Relationship Status: Engaged


Cover Story: Cartoony Cute
The little cartoon people are very cute! The lilac feels appropriate for a book where much of the action happens around weddings.

The Deal:
Quinn is not looking forward to seeing Tarek home from college this summer, not after the regretful email she sent him where she confessed her crush and he never wrote her back. (Eek!) But since their families are both in the wedding business—hers are wedding planners and his own a catering company—and they practically grew up together at weddings, it’s an inevitable truth.
What’s also inevitable? Quinn going to business school so she can come home and join the family business as a full partner. But even though that’s always been the plan, the idea of spending the rest of her life soothing frazzled brides and rounding up vendors makes Quinn light-headed. Is this the summer she can be finally brave enough to be honest with everyone about what she really wants?

BFF Charm: Big Sister
Quinn is hiding so much of herself behind her anxieties and self-doubt that, for right now, she’s a tough person to like because she doesn’t actually like herself. She’s never gotten over the six months her mom and dad were separated when she was twelve; it shattered the illusion that her home was a safe and protected space. Her OCD also makes her anxious, and she while she’s sure she doesn’t want to keep working in the wedding industry, she has no idea what she does want. I sympathized with Quinn, but sometimes I wanted to shake her and tell her to speak her truth! Or, at the very least, send her to a therapist, because her fixation on her continued participation in the family business being the only thing that keeps her parents’ marriage together without ever actually talking to them about it got very worrisome.

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Tarek and Quinn have very opposite ideas of love: he is all about the grand gestures of romance and falls hard and fast, while Quinn thinks happily-ever-after rarely goes right. Both of them have a lot of learning to do, but first they need to get past what happened last summer. I thought Tarek was a sweet guy—and Lord knows I love a man who can cook!—plus I liked how he had his own stuff to sort through before they could make anything work.

Talky Talk: School Of Sarah Dessen
Despite Quinn and Tarek being featured on the front cover in a way that screams “I’m a romance novel!”, this actually isn’t. Sure, the romance is there, but the focus is more on Quinn’s internal struggles, and delves into quite a few heavy topics like mental health, family dynamics, and finding your passion after high school. Really, I should’ve expected nothing less than a well-rounded book from Rachel Lynn Solomon, who follows in the footsteps of other great contemporary writers (like our queen Miss Dessen) who aren’t afraid to make their characters messy and honest. These are the kinds of books I would’ve clung tightly to when I was an actual teen, because they make you feel seen and normal in your (perceived) idiosyncrasies.

Bonus Factor: Mental Health
I don’t want to delve too deeply in spoilers, but I love how Quinn and some other characters are so open about their struggles and getting help.

Bonus Factor: Harps
I can guarantee I’ve never spent much time thinking about the harp as an instrument. Quinn learned how to play from her grandmother, but time and, of course, her parents using her hobby as a business bonus (“we have just the harpist for you!”) have sucked the joy out of it. When she receives a less-than-flattering critique on her musical stylings from a wedding guest, Quinn learns the woman herself is a harpist who has her own workshop where she builds them. Between learning about how harps are made and their unlikely friendship, I really liked this subplot.

Bonus Factor: Tasty Business
I mentioned Tarek’s parents are caterers, right? My ears tend to perk up when there’s discussion of food present, even when that food is wedding food, which often isn’t typically the best (you try making chicken for 90 people!). But since this is fiction and Mansour’s deals only with fresh and organic ingredients, I have no compunctions in picturing it as stellar catering food. (I actually think my own wedding caterer was fantastic and the food was pretty damn tasty compared to others I’ve been to, but I am fully aware I am a biased witness.)

Relationship Status: Engaged
Our relationship has weathered some highs and lows, Book, but you’ve been open and honest with me and I can’t help but admire you for it. I know you come from a solid family and I look forward to seeing what comes next for us, so, what the hell—it’s a yes!

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Simon & Schuster. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is available June 8.

Rachel Lynn Solomon does it again! Quinn and Tarek are both children of people in the wedding industry. Quinn on the planning side and Tarek in catering. Tarek dreams of being able to cook and bake on his own, while Quinn doesn't know what she wants except that wedding planning isn't for her. I always love the way that Solomon incorporates different cultures and sexualities and religions into her books. Quinn and Tarek are amazing main characters and I couldn't put this book down. Their stories around mental health were portrayed so beautifully. The Jewish representation was wonderful, and I love how it highlighted the different ways to practice Judaism. Overall, I'm a huge fan of this one!

Well, she's done it again. Rachel Lynn Solomon has hit another one right out of the park. I am zero percent surprised, frankly. She has such an incredible gift, a way to somehow make me connect with characters from the start that draws me into every single thing she writes. And as you've surmised, We Can't Keep Meeting Like This fits that bill. I will try to break down some of the reasons why, yet again, Rachel Lynn Solomon's book stole my heart.

►As I mentioned, the characters are just all so fabulous. Even when they're messy or making the wrong choices (or perhaps, especially then), they are just so relatable, and so very human that I could not help but love them wholeheartedly.

►The mental health rep was on point. I loved that both the main character and the love interest were dealing with mental illnesses. And even more, that they were able to have open and difficult conversations about it was pretty awesome.

►Speaking of the love interest, I absolutely adored him. And this was the note I wrote to myself while reading: "Love Tarek and the college situation and depression. Like thank you for this, RLS, this book would have made me feel so not alone in college. Hell, it still does now." I loved too that he was able to talk about it and share his feelings, it's so refreshing to see. Plus, he was just a really great fit for Quinn.

►Quinn grew a lot, too. Oh how I related to Quinn! She has no freaking clue what she wants to do with her life, and hard same, my friend! What she does know is that she doesn't want to be tied to her family's wedding business for the next semicentennial. Oh, sure, her parents have her whole college career figured out, but no one thought to... Idk, ask actual Quinn? I had such a similar experience, and again, I'd have felt so much less alone reading both Quinn and Tarek's stories.

►Huge focus on family and friends, too! As always, the author doesn't let family or friends take a back seat to romance! They're all huge parts of the story. My heart broke for Quinn, whose best friend would be moving across the country soon, but also I was so happy that they had each other. As for family, there is a lot to unpack here. Quinn's parents have been so focused on the business that they haven't really taken Quinn into account. Similarly, her sister (who is incredibly awesome) is planning her own wedding, so weddings have sort of taken over Quinn's life. The thing I loved the most though is how the whole family grew together, and the message that even though things can get rough or messy, they still loved each other completely. They were all just humans who needed to try to do better for each other.

►It was just an enjoyable, entertaining story that I never wanted to put down. Full stop, I just loved it.

Bottom Line: Full of heart, plus incredible characters and wonderful growth, it's another slam dunk from Rachel Lynn Solomon that I would recommend to literally everyone.

Quinn is the youngest daughter in a family of wedding planners. Her parents run Borrowed + Blue, and have always expected her to join the family business after college. But Quinn doesn't really believe in Happily Ever After, at least not since her parents almost split a few years ago.

Tarek's family are caterers, and Tarek has recently found his own love of cooking and baking. Tarek is a helpless romantic, and most of his instagram-perfect relationships have started with a grand gesture.

Quinn and Tarek have known each other forever. But now Tarek is back from college and they're face to face for the first time since Quinn declared her feelings for him via email. And Tarek never responded.

This one was a sweet and deep exploration of late adolescence with some of the best representation of OCD and depression I've ever seen. Quinn's OCD manifests primarily in checking behavior, and she often gets stuck in loops. Tarek's depression during his first year of college looked almost identical to my own experience, and I'm a sucker for a story with a positive depiction of therapy.

I loved the cultural references, the humor, and the realism of the weird in between between adolescence and adulthood. At this point, I'll pick up anything Rachel Lynn Solomon writes.

Not as strong as Today Tonight Tomorrow, but Solomon’s depiction of mental illness and the way it affects relationships (which is not sexy, but it’s part of life, y’all) is compelling and resonated with me. Also, love to see an intercultural, interfaith, multiracial couple depicted in a positive light!

I adored Rachel Lynn Solomon's Today Tonight Tomorrow and in comparison We Can't Keep Meeting Like This fell flat. I thought the premise was interesting but I was annoyed with the discussion of mental health--I found it trite and the opposite of nuanced. However, Solomon's best quality has always been her earnest and realistic discussion about intimacy and sex. The characters are honest and relatable in their discussion about sex and, without being overly descriptive, she is able to convey an honest illustration of young teenagers having sex. While it is slightly unfair for my biggest complaint to be that I didn't like this this one as much as I liked her other one, I think it is proof that I am looking for something more. We Can't Keep Meeting Like This was good, don't get me wrong, but it was not the great YA Romance I was expecting.

💜synopsis: Quinn and Tarek have been in the wedding business for quite some time now… all eighteen-some-odd years of their life, in fact; Quinn’s family plans wedding, Tarek’s caters them. And that all would be fine, great even, except that when Quinn confessed her feelings for Tarek he completely ghosted her. So, yeah, you could say Quinn is *not* looking forward to seeing Tarek this upcoming wedding season – not that she was ever was much for weddings and romance before. It doesn’t help that the moment Tarek sees her, he acts as if nothing has happened, and she instantly feels her crush reignite. And it *really* doesn’t help that maybe he’s been crushing on her too…

💜review: Rachel Lynn Solomon has done it again! What I love most about her books is that she isn’t afraid to write characters who are unique and yet wholly relatable. I loved that Quinn was a harpist (can we bring this back??), and I loved that RLS really paid attention to writing her inner struggles with anxiety and her sense of belonging. These are the things that we are afraid to talk about, but all feel!! For me, Quinn’s character development was the shining star of this novel, but it would be remiss not to mention how SWEET the romance is between Tarek and Quinn. Also, their dialogue — hilarious! The writing is meticulous, real, and a step above her previous books. It all sparkles. And the duo of Quinn and Tarek is — dare I say it?? — even better than Rowan and McNightmare, sorry, ahem, Neil. If you love joy, and laughing, and cute romance, and characters that are actually like real people then you MUST read this book. I can’t wait to see what RSL gives us next!!

Quinn just graduated high school and is heading off to college to study business in hopes of taking over the family's wedding planning business someday. Too bad Quinn's plans are driven by her parents, instead of her true passions. Working the wedding circuit since childhood, Quinn feels trapped and really doesn't know how to deal. Couple this with continually working with her childhood crush, Tarek, that ghosted her after her profession of love, and this summer is not going the way she wanted. After rekindling her love of harps, Quinn is caught leading a double life, one where she is the obedient daughter and the other, a budding harpist following her newly found passion.

This book is a gem. It has the best representation and diversity of characters. Not only does this book celebrate the Jewish faith, diverse backgrounds, and LBGTQ+ relationships, it also talks frankly and openly about mental health. The two main characters suffer from OCD/anxiety and depression. The way these topics are covered completely normalizes mental health and seeking treatment. There is no shame in their struggles and Tarek and Quinn help lean on each other when it feels like the world is too much.

Quinn is sassy and spunky. She is struggling with what so many other newly graduated seniors struggle with - she likes everything a decent amount, but nothing screams "I love it" when it comes to college. All she does know is that she doesn't want to take over the family business. She feels forced and has zero excitement about college.

Solomon does a wonderful job with character development. Tarek was such a hopeless romantic and completely obsessed with grand gestures. He had easy chemistry with Quinn and I swooned over their interactions in the kitchen. And his surprise confession halfway through about the boat last summer rocked me (in the best way possible). But my MVP of the book had to be Quinn's best friend, Julia. She was hilarious and so awkward when it came to her crush on Noelle and I was there for every second of it.

The only thing that made me knock the book down just a small amount was how cynical Quinn was about love. I totally understand where she is coming from with the trauma she experienced from her parents' short separation, however, she really yanked Tarek around. He was so wonderful with her and understanding with her reservations about relationships, but there were so many points where I just wanted to shake her! I hated that she kept putting an expiration date on their relationship and wouldn't allow herself to find joy in it, even though it's what she wanted deep down inside.

Overall, I loved the book! Definitely recommend this book, especially if you are Jewish. This is my second Rachel Lynn Soloman book and I think I like this one better than The Ex Talk. I just bought Our Year of Maybe to read this summer!

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

Rachel Lynn Solomon is quickly becoming one of my new favorite authors! This is the third book of hers that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it. Her characters complex yet so easy to relate to and her plots are always super engaging.
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This follows Quinn Berkowitz, a Jewish high school grad & harpist disillusioned with love, who isn’t sure she wants to be part of her family’s wedding planning business but doesn’t know how to them. Tarek Mansour, a Muslim college student, is a hopeless romantic and the son of the wedding caterers Quinn’s family frequently works with. They haven’t talked since last summer, when Quinn confessed via email that she had a crush on Tarek right before he left for college — a confession that went unanswered. Now it’s summer again and they can’t seem to stop running into each other while working weddings. This story has own voices Jewish rep as well as mental illness rep (anxiety, depression and OCD).
This was a super cute read! It was a great friends to lovers relationship mixed with a second chance romance. The representation was so great and I loved that it took a deep look at happiness and family relationships and expectations.
I could definitely relate to the sister relationship discussed throughout the story as Quinn’s older sister, Asher, is seven years older than her. I have a sister who’s seven years younger than me and it’s comforting to see that kind of sibling age gap play out positively in this book.
There was also a special guest appearance from some Today Tonight Tomorrow characters that was such a fun surprise!
This book had all the best things: weddings, desserts, music and corgis. It was the perfect summer read!

We Can't Keep Meeting Like this follows Quinn Berkowitz, whose parents are wedding planners. Quinn is heavily involved in the business, as is Tarek Mansour, whose family operates a catering company. Together they've been to more weddings than they can count, and at the end of last summer, Quinn confesses her crush on him in a rambling email, but he leaves for college without a response. After a year apart, she dreads seeing him and another summer of playing the harp at weddings, but when he returns, they clash immediately. Tarek is a romantic. Lover of grand gestures, while Quinn believes they are all fake. As they are thrown together constantly in the summer wedding bustle, Quinn learns the reason behind his silence, and they begin to rebuild their friendship and maybe something more, and Quinn might realize love is not the enemy after all.
Rachel Lynn Solomon writes an engaging, fast-paced, readable story that is cinematic as she captures the Seattle environment and many summer weddings. Her descriptions of food, venues, and clothing are amazing without feeling info-dumpy. It felt like I was really at each wedding and in Maxine's shop, which was truly magical.
Quinn is on the cusp of adulthood, learning how to manage multiple relationships. Her relationship with her parents was well written and complicated, as was her relationship with her older sister. Both felt realistic, and watching Quinn work to build healthier habits and communicate with them was wonderful. There is a lot of parallel storytelling in this book. We get to see different weddings and couples and their highs and lows, which are all mirrored through things Quinn and other characters are dealing with. Because of this, I felt connected to the story and Quinn on a deeper level.
While her relationships are discussed incredibly, they are not on the page enough, and I felt like they were brought up solely for conflict. The end revelation with her parents came a little too late as I wanted to see the relationship development post-argument. I wish Quinn had more scenes with her parents, best friend Julia, and Asher (her sister). I wanted to be shown instead of told about experiences and relationships.
Quinn's love and reconnection arc with her harp playing was incredible. Her journey of realizing that playing the harp doesn't have to be just a "job" but something she wants to do and branching out of what "classical" harp playing is to find what works for her. As Quinn works with Maxine and begins to reappreciate the harp, Solomon writes amazing symbolism. I heavily related to this story arc as I am a musician myself who has gone through this journey many times.
There are incredible conversations where teens feel their teenage feelings and insecurities and discuss them honestly and compassionately. It might not seem like a lot, but it makes the conversations engaging, readable, and relatable. Solomon asks and answers what it means to be mature through most of this book and how maturity translates to Quinn's relationships and other aspects of her life. The discussions about Quinn's OCD and anxiety were thoughtful and important. I truly enjoyed Quinn as a character, her growth, and her romance.
While I understand why Quinn is cynical of love, there needed to be more progression to alleviating some of that cynicism sooner than 85% of the way through the book. It felt like we were going in circles. Her stubbornness made sense until it slowed the book down and led to developments that occurred at 85%, which should have happened 10% earlier.
The romance was fabulous. Tarek is his own character and has his own trials but is also there to help Quinn grow. The reason why he stops talking to her is handled well. You empathize with Tarek even though you don't know him at that point. In the beginning, you're angry on Quinn's behalf, but that dissipates when you hear his story.
Solomon smartly devotes time, not to the fact he didn't disclose something to Quinn, but to the trust issues and rift in their relationship that result from this year-long silence. Quinn and Tarek have open conversations, and Solomon writes them with humor, honesty, and lots of sweet moments. These issues carry over to the romance and are not forgotten, giving them a realistic feeling. She gives each character time to forgive each other and be sincere. Tarek is a truly swoony hero. He takes care of Quinn even when their relationship is tense and constantly supports her. Solomon crafts a romantic and incredibly healthy relationship between the two teens that hit all the right beats and left me wanting more.
This book is truly sex-positive. Solomon explores many emotional and physical aspects of sex, writing it to feel authentic to Quinn and Tarek. Insecurities, female pleasure, and the shame around it are discussed as awkwardly and clunky as it is in reality, which is refreshing. All these moments are tender and sweet with no shame, just love. I loved that Tarek was gone for Quinn from the start, and the pacing of the romance was perfect. The chemistry and tension between them was well written, and whenever they were on the page, it was sizzling.
The Jewish representation was fabulous. Solomon always masterfully weaves Jewish identity into her books, but this time it's in the form of showcasing the spectrum of Judaism through her characters. Through Asher's arc of becoming more devout to Quinn struggling to feel "Jew enough," there is such a balance in the representation. I LOVED all the Jewish wedding representation as that is something we rarely see. I enjoyed how Tarek and Quinn bonded over their respective identities and their complex feelings about them.
This was an AMAZING read filled with romance, humor, honest conversations, powerful voices, interesting relationships, and a perfect Seattle summer. I CANNOT wait for my own copy to arrive.

CW: OCD, anxiety, divorce/separation, depression

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This as a title didn’t fit with the story. I expected a series of meet cutes, maybe some enemies-to-lovers. Instead it’s about Quinn and Tarek, who have been working on weddings most of their lives with their families (wedding planning and catering, respectively) and have been friends the whole time. They have a weird friend break-up when Tarek goes to college and ignores Quinn’s email of love. A year later and Tarek is back for the summer and he’s trying to get close to Quinn again.

Quinn was so cynical and anti-love while Tarek is a romantic who is all about big gestures and Rom Coms. Quinn’s cynicism feels overblown. It’s all based on an event that occurs in her childhood and her uncertainty and wish to prevent any romantic pain causes her to almost be cruel in her interactions with Tarek. Not to mention how she purposely hides everything from her parents, her sister, and her best friend. Thus, Quinn was a hard character to both connect to or like.

I thought the author did a great job discussing mental health and physical health. OCD, depression, anxiety, and even how eczema’s physical representation can affect you mentally were all well written and mentioned.

WCKMLT was cute and light while still dealing with deep and emotional topics. Tarek was the star with his genuine and realistic approach to love and life. But I have to agree with Quinn and her opinion about Sleepless in Seattle – Meg Ryan is one hundo a stalker.

I SAID IT.

While I know Rachel Lynn Solomon started in YA, my first book of hers was The Ex Talk. Since it was a top read of me for 2020, I was super excited to read We Can't Keep Meeting Like This, and it did not disappoint.

Recently graduated from high school Quinn is dragged into her parents' wedding business for another summer, despite it not being what she wants at all. At first being in close proximity to the caterer's cute son is an additional drawback, given that she professed her crush on him last summer which he most definitely ignored, but soon he seems like he may be the one wanting something more real than Quinn is ready for.

This book is full of lots of great things--Jewish representation, neurodiversity, unique professions, real feelings, and a distinctly abnormal pacing that actually works. Perhaps a minor spoiler, but the main characters first kiss at 45% in, and you think "uh-oh, this can't be good," because seriously we have over half the book left. And while there is the classic The Big HurdleTM, it's done in an interesting way that doesn't feel overused. RSL's writing is undoubtedly excellent and her stack of stellar reads, regardless of whether they're YA or adult, are cementing her as a must-read author for me.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

Overview: Quinn is done with high school along with many other parts of her life. Unfortunately, her obligations to her family's wedding planning company, her crush on the caterers' son who's back from his first year of college, and her complete dissatisfaction with her college plans aren't things she can graduate out of. She spends the summer in search of what actually makes her happy including secret harp lessons, and she grapples with whether love is ever real or if it's just a wedding day illusion. Overall: 5+++

Characters: 5 I absolutely love Quinn, and I'm extremely upset that she can't be my new best friend. Quinn is the younger sister by seven years and has grown up in a family where weddings are literally the family business. The issue? Her parents separated for 6 months when she was little, and she's never had a chance to process that. All the weddings seem fake and like a performance to her. She's always waiting for the unhappiness, the divorce to follow. Quinn can't imagine ever falling in love because she doesn't feel like genuine, lasting love is real. Throughout the book, she grapples with the dissonance created watching her sister get married and also finding someone that she does genuinely cares for.

Quinn also has to face that she's headed towards a future she doesn't want. Her parents have dictated where she'll go to college (so she can live at home), her major, and even her first semester classes all with an eye towards her joining their company B+B full time after college. But Quinn doesn't like working at B+B and she doesn't want to be a business major. The only issue is that she doesn't know exactly what she wants to do instead.

Playing weddings has sucked the joy out of playing the harp, but when Quinn meets a harp builder and acclaimed harpist, she starts to see that an instrument she thought she knew inside and out could have an entirely different dimension. I love how she seriously spends time considering whether she loves playing the harp in a way that would lead to a career or if it's simply something she wants to keep a hobby. So often now, it's assumed if you love something, it should be your job. I think it's so important to express that uncertainty and value using college as a time to find yourself instead of sticking to a premade plan or whatever you decided in high school. I love that she comes to a place of realizing that she doesn't have to have it all figured out to get off the path she doesn't want to be on. Her parents' reaction and the way they work through it is complex, realistic, and so important. It's hard to get out of the box you've always been put in, and I really appreciated Quinn grappling with what it meant for her to always be called "mature" and treated like an adult throughout her childhood.

Another part of Quinn is her OCD. This is one of the best portrayals of OCD I've ever read. Quinn doesn't compulsively clean and she's not really organized at all- like most people with OCD. Most of her OCD symptoms are things people wouldn't recognize as OCD from the pop culture examples. She puts her keys in her bag and then has to check ten more times that they're actually there. She has to remake her cat's water multiple times because she's scared to accidentally poison her. Most of Quinn's OCD revolves around checking. I love how Quinn talks about how disorienting it is to not be able to trust yourself, almost at all, and how disruptive it can be even if it's in a quiet way. She always goes back to the fact that dealing with her OCD centers on accepting that the world is fundamentally uncertain and unknowable.

When Tarek, the love interest, opens up to Quinn about his depression diagnosis, Quinn shares about her OCD, and it's a really great moment. Tarek asks questions about her experience coming from a bit of a misinformed place, but Quinn dispels a lot of the stigma and also educates the audience in the process. This isn't a book about OCD. This is a book about a girl who falls in love who also happens to have OCD, and I love that it's presented in that order. It's never a thing, it's just a part of her story.

Tarek is the caterers' son that Quinn's family often works with at weddings. They've grown up together, and there's always been a bit of an unspoken crush. Well, unspoken until last year when Quinn sent an email to Tarek while he was at college confessing her feelings which he promptly ignored. That really didn't help Quinn's icy outlook on love. Tarek is sweet, understand, and a true romantic at heart. His parents got together through a huge romantic gesture, and he thinks that's necessary for all his future relationship. Quinn hates them. As they go between resisting and giving in on their feelings, they also navigate their past relationship traumas together and learn to understand what you think love is might be totally different for the other person. Mostly, Tarek and Quinn learn to listen to each other, which I think is an incredibly powerful narrative for a YA book. They have more than their fair share of issues, but they truly do model a healthy relationship.

While Tarek and Quinn are at the center of the story, there are a handful of minor characters. Quinn has to navigate her relationship with her parents when her wishes and theirs suddenly diverge, Quinn's best friend, Julia, is navigating a crush on a girl who's headed to a different state than her for college, Quinn's sister is getting ready to get married and they have to deal with a changing sister relationship, and Quinn and Tarek are often joined on adventures by Tarek's cousin and his catering friends. None of these characters are particularly developed on their own, but they fill out the world in a very complete way. I also love Quinn's harpist mentor who gives her a taste of what a life outside of B+B could be.

Plot: 5 I did not want to put this book down- ever. It's a character driven story mostly navigating through tons of interpersonal conflicts, but it's also set to a lively background of wedding mishaps and exciting plot moments that compliment that growth. We intimately get into the world of the characters and experience all of those quiet moments without ever settling in one place for too long. We Can't Keep Meeting Like This is one of those books where you forget you're reading and just start living in their world. While the ups and downs of Quinn and Tarek's relationship could get frustrating, Quinn's genuine fear that love isn't real and all relationships end was so relatable and tangible that you could understand why she backs away from dating. The arc was satisfying, and I think it's a well crafted book all around.

Writing: 5 I love the humor that has been infused in Rachel's last few books. I've always been a huge fan of Rachel's writing (literally from her debut), but I think I somehow love each new book more than the last one. I have to give her another round of applause for the way OCD, depression, anxiety, and medication are discussed in this book, and I think it's so important to talk about mental health openly in books that aren't "issue books". I also appreciated how this book is on the older end of YA. It fits where I'm at in my life as I'm at the same place as Tarek, having just finished my freshman year of college. There are so many specific issues from this point in life that get missed most of the time in the gap between YA and Adult, and I loved being able to work through them on the page here. There are so many wonderful, important themes in this book discussed in a completely honest way that will help so many people. But above everything else, it's a genuinely fun read.

“and sometimes the world is terrible, and love stories... they make it feel less heavy.”

Thanks to Simon and Schuster & NetGalley for the e-advance review copy of WE CAN'T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Expected pub date June 1, 2021.

There is something incredible about the honesty with which RLS writes her characters, making them complex with the intricacies of mental health, family relationships, figuring out one's self, the grappling of Jewish upbringing and how that plays into our identities (whether it's an Orthodox background or a cultural one), and the perfect amount of romance.

WE CAN'T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS is the sweetest, most charming YA love story without being too much. Tarek and Quinn have both grown up in the wedding industry (Quinn's parents are wedding planners and Tarek's are caterers), they have their own histories regarding how their parents have modeled love and marriage, their own mental health struggles, and I adored the way in which they each became better versions of themselves the more honest they were with each other. Plus, if you've read TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by RLS, then you'll love the cameo appearance by Rowan + Neil that made me grin from ear to ear.

This is the third book I've read by Rachel Lynn Solomon and I will forever buy and read anything she writes.

CW: Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Depression

I was blown away by the honest conversations about mental health. As someone with anxiety and obsessive tendencies, like going back to check that my apartment door is locked four times before leaving, I felt seen and heard. I also loved that Quinn was honest about her struggle with OCD, that she had coping mechanisms, and that she had good and bad days. It's been awhile since I've related so much to a story. I also felt like the pressure and expectations Quinn thought her family put on her and had for her were realistic and relatable.

From the sex positivity, to the friendships, to the desserts, and to the journey of following yourself this book has everything. I loved that RLS described that within religions such as Judaism and Islam, it can be more of about bringing you closer to your culture.

I also think grand public gestures feel performative and fake, so I appreciated that this drew attention to the little things that can make relationships special and help you fall in love.

This was romantic, hilarious, emotional, and just beautifully written.

This book is so sweet but I was so triggered by Quinn’s ocd and anxiety I had to stop reading. I hope one day when my own mental illness is under control I can come back and read this again.