This is a good book. The two main characters are Maddie and Todd. They have known each other for all their lives. They both work at the coffee shop. They help each other when they need help. They each have issues it together they work them out and fall in love.

This Grumpy/ sunshine novella wad so good! I adored Maddie and Todd as a couple and their characters. This story was so good. I read this quickly and it was so fulfilling.
I just reviewed Taniwha Creek by Stephanie Ruth. #TaniwhaCreek #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This is a beautiful friends-to-lovers novella set in the equally beautiful New Zealand.

Meet Maddie. She’s a barista who loves the cafe slash diner she works in alongside Todd. Meet Todd. He works with his deceased best friends sister but wow that they’re older, he’s starting to see her a little differently. Will she be able to accept the love she deserves, or will they be unable to cross the friendship barrier that’s defined their relationship since childhood?

I really enjoyed the secondary plot involving Maddie’s mother. It was intricately placed by Ruth and really added to the story, making it something special. I adored Ruth’s ability to create likeable, well-rounded characters, as it takes a true wordsmith to be able to do this with even the side characters. This was my first read from Ruth, but will not be my last!

Thank you to TiKouka publishing and Netgalley for an arc of this beautiful book. All opinions are my own.
A friends to lovers novella set in beautiful New Zealand.
Barrista Maddie loves working in the cafe, diner alongside her deceased brothers best friend Todd. Only now they're grown up their feelings seem to have shifted.
Personally friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes and this one was perfect. A lovely, cosy story about two people too wary of admitting their true feelings and how they get past this.
Romantic, cute and even funny. A perfect story for that feel good factor. It's a novella so a quick read too and part of a series set in the same location.
The characters are well defined and extremely likeable.
I especially liked Maddie and her mother who has an unfortunate hoarding habit. It was handled by the author with empathy and compassion.
I'm new to this author and happy to say, I'll definitely be reading more of Stephanie Ruth.
Kerry Kennedy Author

A lovely short story, easy to read and very likeable character. Read in one evening, I enjoyed it that much. Simply just wanted to get to the conclusion, to see whether the two main characters would make it :)