Jamie and Peaches are part of the same friend group, and through this book you find that they start to test out being more than that. Both characters sound super hot, not to mention the food. The cover is amazing in my opinion. Also, with Jamie and Peaches I will say that even though they’re friends and have some steam, I’m not sure if they seem like the end game kind of couple. There does seem to be some red flags/miscommunication that is hard to root for them when they both have things they could improve on. I love that this story is one of a queer perspective, but on the same note my heart was not completely rooting for the two. For me it was 2.75 rating as I wasn’t extremely invested in the main couple. I loved the friend group. Thank you so much for the advanced reader copy, and please look out for this story in June 2023!

I’ll start with the positive. Thanks for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I love the cover art, and I love the general story line that is two strong-willed women open to the idea of risking it all for the chance to love each other. However…the dialogue was very forced. The conversations were often realistic. I’d hope for more natural/subtle approach. Hope this helps!

I liked returning to the friendship group from I Can't Resist Her. Sometimes the dialogue got a bit set in concrete - at one point a character says 'Wow, I guess the conversation got good,' when they lose track of time. (Not from where I'm standing, it didn't). The depictions of food were mouthwatering but sometimes too detailed and not always relevant. I'd love to go to Thanksgiving dinner (and to bed with) some of these women, but their chat isn't up to much.

Jamie and Peaches did some things in the middle of the book that made the other one feel rejected. Jamie wasn't always in the right and sometimes used her sexuality manipulatively, but to me it was Peaches who seemed too judgy and into making stuff about her and her hangups from her previous relationship (I find that a massive red flag so it's interesting that the author seems to be on Peaches' side). I liked that Peaches turns out to be quite round as well as short but that isn't clear from the early part of the book, unless I missed something, and I'm not sure why as there's a lot about food and working out etc. when it could have come up.

Also in the first book, Peaches calls Aiko 'playa,' but not the other way round at all, and in this book it's the exact opposite.

This book was hard for me to review. I wavered between a 3 star and a 4 star review. I liked the main storyline and the secondary characters, but there are a couple chapters in the middle of the book where I just really don’t want the two main characters to end up together.

Peaches and Jamie are in the same friend group. They decide to get to know each other better away from the friend group to see if they want to be more than just friends. They seem to click pretty well, but then Jamie did/said some things that I just couldn’t quite get past, which is why I ended up giving it 3 stars.

However, this book is about two strong and confident black women who are surrounded by other strong and confident people who help them navigate their new relationship.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Watch for Can’t Let Her Go to come out June 20, 2023.