This was a sweet escape of a read that really grew on me after a little bit of a rocky start. Maybell struck me as a little bit manic pixie dream girl at first but thankfully the more time we spent with her the more I grew to understand and love her.

I picked this up both because I liked Sarah Hogle's last book and because I am a sucker for the grumpy one loving the sunshine one and it did not disappoint! The slow burn, the forced proximity, the fun writing style, and the wonderful character growth were all done so well.

A few scenes were admittedly a little Much and it could have done with dropping one or two subplots but at the end of the book I felt like I had just gotten a warm hug and really, I can't ask for much more than that.

Maybell is bubbly and bright, but on the surface she comes off as quiet and reserved most of the time preferring to spend her time creating elaborate daydreams. Growing up she moved from place to place with her mother. When she was 19, she and her mother ended up in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee working as maids at a resort. Maybell's mother left, but Maybell remained. After the resort manager's daughter, Gemma admits to catfishing Maybell she's promoted to a Event Coordinator to avoid fallout. The job is a change in title only, and Maybell finds herself constantly fulfilling housekeeping duties.

One day, a woman shows up to inform Maybell her Aunt Violet has passed away and left her manor to Maybell. Overjoyed, Maybell leaves her work property on her desk and quietly exits the resort. Upon her arrival at the manor, she discovers it was a joint bequeathment leaving the manor to both Maybell and her Aunt Violet's groundskeeper, Wesley. Wesley as it turns out is the guy Gemma used photos of to catfish Maybell. Suddenly Maybell isn't so sure her luck has changed.

"Most of the time I feel like I live all the way down inside of myself, deep, deep down, so far away from my voice that I hardly hear it and certainly nobody else ever does. I've been told before that I blend in, difficult to notice, easy to talk over. But ever since I realized Wesley notices me, it's like I've done to the surface of myself and stayed there. I'm not used to having the world at such close range, having an effect on my environment, present in my own life. I'm run ragged by it. I don't have the wherewithal to project a more flattering version of myself, stumbling when I aim to be charming and likable."

Slowly, after much tribulation, Wesley warms up to Maybell and we begin to learn more about both characters. Maybell already knows she's attracted to Wesley but as she finds herself growing fond for him as a person she freaks out. How can they share this property if something were to go wrong?

"I think complimenting him is making it worse. It's so humanizing, to see this giant starchy potato get all pink and flustered simply because I'm bearing witness to his fluffy trees."

This story is so fluffy and sweet – my cold heart was so warm reading it. I loved both characters and I was happy to see a different kind of male love interest introduced. Someone so adverse to socializing and loss of control he contemplated staying in Europe after flying to his brother's wedding to avoid a return flight. Someone who gets so anxious in restaurants he hasn't been able to really date. I so appreciated learning about Wesley and watching him grow.

I really like the way Sarah Hogle wrapped up the story leaving it open-ended but cleaning up all the loose ends. I would recommend this book and plan to look into any other works Sarah has available.

A solid romance about two very unique individuals, that by the end you feel are 100% made for each other. This is a slow build romance with very well developed characters. At first,
I wasn't sure I was going to like anyone, but as the story developed I did. I love how, besides the beginning, the only characters are actually Maybell and Wesley and actually the house. Its a magical story just like Maybell would dream in her head.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored Sarah Hogle's debut You Deserve Each other and I immediately dropped everything when this hit my Kindle.

CW: parental abandonment, domestic abuse (hinted at side character), anxiety, social anxiety, catfishing (past incident)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f enemies to lovers
-close proximity
-grump/sunshine
-only one tent
-virgin cinnamon roll hero
-slooooow burn
-a bit of a forbidden romance
-flirting via artwork and notes
-major swooning
-a house in need of some fixing up

I felt all of the emotions reading this book. Sarah Hogle is so good at writing witty, snappy, voicey characters. Maybel was wonderful. Not happy with her life, she's still so hopeful, living in her own imaginary world where everything is perfect, living vicariously through that. And Wesley. Dear, sweet Wesley. How he immediately takes care of Maybel, he can't not, he's so sweet about it. When he offered her a helmet I would have fallen over if I wasn't already sitting.

This beautiful book was about sharing your inner self with someone, your inner dreams. I adore books that show the MCs falling for each other and just getting each other, but this was so much more, their confessions, their dreams. It was so beautiful and honest. Both Maybel and Wesley dealing with anxiety in different ways, how that presents, how people choose to cope. This book dealt with some serious issues so delicately with humor and honesty.

And sweet Aunt Violet who deserves a mention for bringing all of this together. Her last wishes were genius. The house and all of its secret passages. The close proximity was so well done, the relationship slowly progressing. The hint of forbiddeness since they were living together and it seemed like a bad idea. The coincidences. The entire ending, I had tears in my eyes. This was a HEA so well earned and so beautiful.

Rating: 5
Steam: 2 (closed door)

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a sweetly, awkward romance with a whimsical heroine who leaves it all behind to start over in her aunts abandoned mansion only to find a man already living there. Initially they don't get along but Maybells sunny disposition draws Wellsey from his shell. It's interesting how we learn that Welsely suffers from social anxiety and that causes him to appear aloof but he flourishes under Maybells attention and love blooms naturely. There wasn't much heat in their interactions but they allow themselves to let go of their fears in order to be together. Well written and fantastical.

*3.75

I loved the previous book of the author, so when I got an arc of this I was pretty excited to read it but unfortunately it wasn't as good as I hoped.

It's definitely not a bad book and I appreciated some choices that have been made but overall it wasn't what I was expecting. It's just that "We deserve each other" was funny and different from a lot of other contemporaries I read but this needed some spicing up, you know?
It felt a little bit flat to me!

Some positive points are the writing: it's not excellent but I like that it communicates trough images and I could see perfectly in my head how the author envisioned some scenes. I think this will be very good translated in a movie!
Also I liked Wesley and how he's depicted because he's quite different from the classic hot male character in romances.
It was like we had a change of roles between woman and man and that was actually very fresh and new.

Not the masterpiece of the year but I definitely recommend it if you want something fast to read!

After reading and absolutely LOVING You Deserve Each Other last year I couldn't wait to read more from Sarah Hogle. I honestly was unsure if I would love Twice Shy as much as I love YDEO, but if you could describe a book giving you a big gentle hug - then that is exactly what Twice Shy is.

Maybell Parish is a dreamer and maybe she likes to live in her pretend world more than the real world sometimes. She's not very happy with her current job, even though she did get a promotion. She's pretty sure her friend/co-worker isn't really her friend at all. So when she finds out that her Great-Aunt Violet left her the manor she so fondly remembers from her youth she jumps at the chance to go live there.

Only the manor is now tattered and beat down. Not only is the manor unlivable, but she has to share it with the grouchy groundskeeper Wesley Koehler. He grunts, isn't very talkative and just largely ignores her. Both have entirely different plans for the estate and are often arguing with one another. How will they every learn to live together?

I loved both Wesley and Maybell so much. I could often imagine the scenes playing out as a movie while I was reading them. The dynamic and chemistry between these two was evident right from the beginning. While Twice Shy was told from Maybell's perspective, I still felt like I could always relate to Wesley and what he was going through.

I have so many passages highlighted in this book and I honestly need to go back and re-read it again to savor those moments. Sarah does such an effortless job of conveying how Wesley and Maybell are going through grief and anxiety while also writing such beautiful prose. Twice Shy had the perfect mix of angst, longing, sadness and hope.

This was so dreamy and swoony!! An inheritance! An uninvited, but sexy stranger! Treasure! I loved the AU portions, I loved the discoveries, I loved the vulnerabilities. This was so fun and charming!

Maybell Parrish is perpetually mustering up the courage to speak her mind. Rather than confront her terrible coworkers, Maybell chooses to retreat into her favorite day dreams, but she’s jolted to reality when she learns her beloved yet distant and now deceased Great-Aunt Violet has chosen her to inherit her remote manor in the mountains. Eager for a fresh start, Maybell quickly and quietly leaves her old life behind. When she arrives, she learns she is not the sole inheritor: Wesley Koehler, the stoic grounds keeper, has other plans in mind for the estate. Wesley and Maybell set off sorting through Violet’s hoard of old belongings and fixing up the place and carrying out Violet’s final wishes. As they slowly let their guards down, it becomes clear that both will need to step outside their comfort zone to live the lives they truly want.

I adored Sarah Hogle’s debut You Deserve Each Other. It was smart and hilarious and felt so different from the other rom-coms in my stack. Twice Shy definitely had glimmers of that wit, but I felt like it was buried. Much like Violet’s rooms full junk, this book just felt much too crowded and bogged down with unnecessary plot that deterred from the really lovely characters. Dream cafes and catfishing coincidences made the first half of this book disorienting and unbelievable. I felt like there was enough plot in this story for 2-3 different books. Hopefully Hogle’s next project has a bit more room for the humor and character development that I adored from her debut.

Sarah Hogle goes on my list of authors that I would read anything they write. You Deserve Each Other was one of the most funny and charming romances I've read last year and now Twice Shy climbs the list as one of the most adorable romances I've read this year.

If you need a proper definition of the word SWEET, this is it. It's this book. It's so sweet I can almost taste the sweetness. It's the sweetest, most adorable book I've read in a long time. Let's say it's a kind of book that will put a big and bright smile on your face even on a bad day. That freaking amazing.

These characters are so precious. They made my heart flutter, made me laugh out loud, made me go awwww at least hundred of times. And Wesley. WESLEY NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS!

If you're looking for something as sweet and delicious as chocolate, you can't do better than this book. Only a bite of this sweetness or a page in this case and you'll be hooked. I devoured it in a sitting. It's that good. Read it.

This was adorable. An enemies to lovers/friends to lovers romance all while restoring an old home. I swooned when I first met Wesley & Maybell was such a likable character that you couldn't help but to root for her.
I loved how she had an AU coffee shop where she would daydream a perfect life and we got to see snippets of that.
Overall a super enjoyable romance!

My first reaction to this book was how the writer came up with this premise and tying in Maybell's daydreams, which surely is one of the most creative plotlines I have ever read! The twists and complexities of the story that unfold early on are so unique (and almost comical at times!) that I found myself marveling at how the author pulled it all together. I also appreciated how she tied in characters that experience social anxiety and thought this representation was very well done.

This all being said, this book fell a little short for me. I found the back and forth between reality and the main characters' "dreams" to be a little hard to follow and the overall story to be a little bit too predictable.

I will say that I read this book on the heels of two other reads that were huge favorites for me so my bar is pretty high right now. I do think maybe readers will enjoy this cute and whimsical storyline and very much appreciated having the opportunity to read this second novel by author Sarah Hogle.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

HJ Recommends

In Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle, When Maybell Parrish learns that her Great Aunt Violet has passed away and left her Falling Stars, her family's home in the mountains of Tennessee, it hits her hard. She let years go by without visiting the woman who meant so much during Maybell's troubled childhood. But knowing that she has the chance to watch over Falling Stars and restore it back to its former grandeur is something she will cherish. She's in for a few surprises when she arrives in the Smoky Mountains, though. First of which is the appalling condition of the house and property. Second is learning the groundskeeper, Wesley Koehler, somehow inherited half of the estate as well. And that just doesn't sit well with Maybell.

Sure that her great aunt must have had a good reason for the jumbled inheritance–aside from messing with her just for funsies–Maybell does her best to try to talk Wesley around to her plans for Falling Stars. But he's one stubborn guy. An admittedly gorgeous, broody, guy who gets more and more intriguing with every smidge of information she gleans from him. When they finally find a camaraderie that puts them a bit more at ease with each other, Maybell begins to realize that's the most dangerous thing of all. Because her heart could so easily fall for a wonderful guy like Wesley. And she's pretty sure he's of the same mind. What kind of disaster could that spell for their future, co-owning Falling Stars, if they take a chance and it doesn't work out between them?

An adorable, feel-good novel that made my heart dance, Twice Shy was the perfect sophomore offering by Sarah Hogle that included a memorable cast and a heartwarming romance that was sigh-worthy.

Have you ever read a book and found yourself saying: "These are my people!" when you get to know the main characters? That was exactly what it was like for me when I "met" Maybell and Wesley. I'll try not to give away too many details about their personalities or their situation, but I can say that anyone who deals with anxiety and/or shyness will no doubt embrace this couple and their awkward-filled journey towards a HEA. Because Hogle perfectly captured what it's like to cope with both issues. Right down to how it physically feels as well as how it can affect your relationships with everyone around you.

Hogle's writing was once again on point, just like with her debut novel You Deserve Each Other. There was still that offbeat, almost playful tone to the majority of the scenes, with as many laughs as there were serious moments. And where I felt so drawn to Wesley and Maybell as they were both equally relatable for me, I reveled in every moment they shared–and every step they took to build a relationship out of circumstances that initially put them at odds.

There was a rich backstory in Twice Shy that gets revealed bit by bit as Maybell and Wesley cleaned out the house–which was basically a mansion lovingly called Falling Stars and which had some secrets of its own. I adored what we learned about Maybell's great aunt and uncle, Violet and Victor. Talk about a love story! Swoon… Taking care of Falling Stars, which meant so much to Maybell and her aunt and uncle, gave her and Wesley something to focus on and a way for them to become a team instead of duking out who should have inherited what.

It was oh so cute watching the pair come out of their shells. Wesley was a superb hero–a seemingly grumpy man of few words who had a heart of pure gold, which was evident as we learned more about him. Don't let his standoffishness fool you. Wesley was a standup guy who, yes, did make a few blunders, but he was a great blend of beta & alpha and was perfect for Maybell. She ended up being a sweetheart of a woman who had a really tough childhood. Some readers might not enjoy her penchant for daydreaming or get her quirky sense of humor, but I absolutely adored Maybell. And I get why she found herself living in her head at times instead of in the moments that were dragging her down in real life. Something I think Hogle captured wonderfully.

Twice Shy was a sweet, introspective romance that I know I will be happily reading again in the near future. Sarah Hogle is proving to be an author to watch and I, for one, cannot wait to see what captivating story she gifts her readers with next.

I liked, but didn't love, this book. It was sweet, easy, and fairly predictable with likeable characters and a setting I hadn't seen before in chick lit. I don't have any real criticism of the book, just something didn't quite click for me to make me love it. But it was an enjoyable and quick read.

I am calling this one a DNF at 52%. I am just not connecting with either of the main characters, and the alternate reality universe that Maybell escapes to is weirding me out. I think this one is just not for me. Sorry!

Okay, this was so pure and precious. It was fluffy and two cinnamon rolls just trying to find love and acceptance in a fixer upper. I was here for it. Could there be a more perfect vegetarian anxious shy burly man? No. I don’t think so. And our quirky heroine full of words and daydreams? Loved it. I truly waffled between 4 and 5 stars, but there are a couple scenes that were too saccharine even for me. I did tear up when I got to the end and realized I had to leaving Falling Stars though, so take from that what you will. Hogle mentioned in her Author’s Note that it was her sweet escape in 2020, and I could feel it on every page. Sweet escapism at its finest.

Wow, this 2nd book by Sarah Hogle was sooo different from her debut but just absolutely delightful! I loved the back story of Maybell's aunt and uncle's epic romance and the treasure hunts. Wesley made for an outstanding male lead and Maybell's memories of the manor and how safe she felt there as a child really resonated with me. This is the story of two perfectly imperfect people with nothing to lose but their fears and insecurities. Their love story will stay with me for a very long time! Sarah Hogle just moved WAY up on my list of favorite contemporary romance authors!

Sweet and so cute and just a little weird - I loved Maybell’s crazy imagination and the over the top plans she had for the house. I did struggle in the beginning to deal with how doormat-y she acted; and the whole Gemma angle was horrifying; but the story did a good job filling in the gaps and made her behavior much more understandable. Wesley was utterly adorable and lovable and so perfectly imperfect, and their unconventional romance didn’t feel like any of the usual tropes because of his personality and issues. I really enjoyed this one.

This novel had a dreamy quality to it. Maybe that’s because Maybell, the heroine, often falls into her own dream world since her reality is so depressing. She’s quite shy and allows people to push her around. She receives a surprise inheritance from a great-aunt whom she adored when she was a child but hasn’t bothered to visit in many years.

Unfortunately, the house she inherits is in awful shape and she finds out she has to share the inheritance with the grumpy, but sexy, groundskeeper, Wesley Koehler. It turns out that Wesley is, of course, not at all like he seemed when she first met him.

I found it hard to feel much of a connection with either character for most of the book. The description of this mansion that they inherited gave me the creeps. It is totally dilapidated and full of all the purchases that her aunt had been hoarding for years. The ideas that both people have for fixing it up were just unbelievable.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

"Twice Shy" was a total joy to read! I'm having Sarah Hogle on my podcast in a few weeks and I'm so excited. I'm also so excited to share my experience reading this book with my followers and listeners!

I enjoyed a lot of elements of this book, but the settings were especially fun. I loved the way that Maybell starts in an indoor water park and finds her way to this rundown manor that has a personality all its own. These settings felt like characters in and of themselves, and I would happily read more stories set in either one of them.

The characters were a treat, as well! I like the fact that we meet a male love interest struggling with some insecurities and mental health issues.