first off- I loved this book. I laughed, I cried, and cried some more. I stayed up way too late to finish this book and immediately messaged friends demanding they add it to their TBR.

if you’re like me, you might be thinking ‘ew, it’s friends-to-lovers though!!!!’. listen, I hear you!!! I think my issues with the friends-to-loverstrope can be split into two parts:

1) the weirdness of someone secretly pining for years while maintaining a close friendship

2) the wasted time due to not communicating can feel devastating to me

this book handled both of these things really well and I found that I wasn’t thinking about either of these issues while reading! maybe i can get on board with more friends-to-lovers (MAYBE).

I really enjoyed Riss M. Neilson’s writing and really loved the snippets of the past. It was such a nice way to show us the depths of Laniah and Issac’s friendship and their growth. ALSO, I love fake dating every time, and this book does it SO WELL. this book gave me all the feelings I search for in romance books and I loved it all.

Perfectly named! This story just radiates warmth, love, and light. The tension was perfect for friends to lovers/fake dating.

Thank you Berkley Pub for the free book! #BerkleyPartner #Berkley

Oh man, reading the last 30 pages of this in a coffee shop was a MISTAKE. Never have I struggled so hard to hold back my tears before. Though a subplot of the book, I found the message of Laniah’s medical condition really important. I related in that for YEARS I was telling my doctor all that was wrong with me, just to be told “you’re young, you’re fine” when it turns out I was suffering for nearly a decade from GAD and panic disorder to the point of physiological symptoms I couldn’t control. One appointment with a new primary care doctor changed my life, I’m on medication and feel like I’m actually living again. Laniah’s case was different, though anxiety did factor in, but the message of “if you feel like something is wrong, and are being told no, ask someone else” is so important. Listen to your body! You know yourself better than anyone else.
This story was a fake dating story between two childhood friends, and I adored Laniah’s coming to terms that she loves Issac too. He knew all along, but he’s so patient and GOOD that it was all on her terms. He was there for her no matter what. He’s a celebrity of sorts— he has a big social media following and is an artist. So that puts Laniah in the spotlight, which helps her business but also hurts her. Battling that is half the issue. She’s also fighting herself.
I adored this book and all of its messages, and it was a beautiful read! Also the meaning of the title… more tears.

A Love Like the Sun by Riss M Neilson is a wonderfully written life story of Laniah and Issac. Towards the end I felt that there was a little bit too much repetition, but I could not put it down! This is a literary award winning novel. You will journey through love and loss, tender friendship, deep loneliness, soul reaching grief, health and healing with Liniah & Issac. Through their story, dreams will come true and reality crashes down.

Riss M. Neilson’s A Love Like the Sun is a captivating read that shines with emotional depth and lyrical prose. Neilson has a remarkable ability to weave intricate characters into a storyline that feels both intimate and expansive. The book's exploration of love and relationships is profound, often revealing unexpected layers of complexity and tenderness. I adored this book and cannot wait to read more of this author's work.

This is a beautiful childhood-to-lovers story with slow-burn elements and tension that will make you swoon. What I love in a friends-to-lovers story is how the leap is taken to become something more and Neilson does this so well because the yearning, pining, and vulnerability of Issac and Laniah are palpable. There is also a chronic illness rep (chronic kidney disease) that was handled well and discussions of racism in healthcare that were handled tactfully and with intention. This is an emotional read so be prepared to have your heart strings tugged!

This was so beautiful! This was a childhood friends to lovers that I will be thinking about for years to come. The writing was exquisite and I loved the additon of chronic illness representation and racism in healthcare. This was not only touching and pushed boundaries, but it also had fake dating which I LOVE. The communication, hyjinks, and spice was to die for. This is definitely a perfect summer romance book!

Thank you Berkley for the ARC!

“For you, I’d bring down the sun.”

New favorite friends to lovers book🔓

A Love Like the Sun is an angsty yet tender, friends to lovers romance that truly ✨sparkles✨. This story took me apart piece by piece and then put me back together, more complete than before. ❤️‍🩹 Issac and Laniah were perfect. No notes.

It isn’t often that I read a book that transcends the “I love them as a couple” to “100% they are soul mates”. Laniah and Isaac are truly MADE for each other. They have the most special love rooted in years of friendship. They have supported one another through unimaginable loss. Their friendship has stood the test of time through adolescence and early adulthood. There is no world where they don’t end up together. ♾️

A Love Like the Sun is a slow burn. The spice was literally perfect. The friends to lovers aspect of “I have dreamed about this/ I can’t believe I am finally touching you this way/ I respect you so much/ It is a privilege to touch you”. The vulnerability mixed with longtime pining and communication; the intimate scenes were flawless. 10/10 👌

I read this book in June and recently re-read via audio and I can confirm the narration was fantastic. Frankie Corzo brought Laniah to life.

If you couldn’t already tell, I adored this book. I know it will be a favorite I come back to when I’m looking for a comfort read. I hope you give it a try too! I can’t wait to see what Neilson writes next.

THINGS
☀️Childhood best friends to lovers
💕Fake dating
🩺Chronic illness rep- chronic kidney disease
🏥Racism in healthcare
♾️It has always been you

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the free physical copy and e-ARC; all thoughts are my own.

"**A Love Like the Sun**" by Riss M. Neilson is a beautifully evocative romance that captures the warmth and complexity of love with lyrical prose. Neilson’s heartfelt storytelling and well-drawn characters make this novel an unforgettable and emotionally resonant read.

Fake relationship and friends to lovers bother occur in this enjoyable romance with a side touch of realism thrown in.

This is a good book. The two main characters are laniah and Issac. They have known each other for all their lives. Laniah and her mother run a small business. Issac is an internet influencer. Laniah and her mother’s business is not doing good. Their bills are piling up. Issac offers to help them by telling his influencers that Laniah is his girlfriend. Their business starts doing better. He says they need to date through the summer. So they do. They start have feelings and fall in love.

I came into this thinking that this would be a cute, little summer romance and I got that and more. This book was deeper than I expected, despite being a bit of a slow burn. I think the author did a great job of depicting Laniah and Isaac’s close friendship and the growing distance between them, as well as representing the immense love between Laniah’s mom and dad (which is a big part of the book). I do think that there were some repetitive moments in the book (because Laniah needed to get it together lol), but it was a beautifully told story overall.

Here are some of my thoughts (mild spoilers ahead):
- A thumbs down?!?! The way that Darius would NEVER hear from me again!
- Idk about yall, but I think it’s so romantic when a Black couple does their hair together. (I know Laniah is mixed, but her mama’s Black and they have a whole hair care shop lol) Keep writing those scenes because I’m going to go for them every time!
- Girl, if you don’t take Isaac’s help! This is your friend trying to help you out, don’t fight him on this. Let your support system actually support you
- Laniah’s doctor not trusting her, thinking she was being paranoid, and forgetting her symptoms is pissing me off. I hate when doctor’s act like they know more about your body than you do 🙄
- Isaac is not playing about his girl and I love it!! Imma eat up a MMC falling first every time lol
- Darius coming back out of the woodwork seemed a little “out of left field”, if you know what I’m saying
- I thought the “What I Remember” sections were cute and showed the depth and breadth of their relationship, but then the “What I’d Forgotten” section hit
- A Love Like the Sun 🥹🥹 Isaac was playing no games! An actual physical representation of their journey as friends and lovers.
- “What We Add to A Love Like the Sun” is the perfect epilogue!
- I do wish that Laniah’s health and diagnosis was incorporated more throughout the book. For this huge plot twist near the end, it seemed like a background character and I wish this part wasn’t so rushed.
- Oh, and how dope would it be to have Isaac’s POV??

Friends to lovers is always kinda a miss for me BUT this one had fake dating which is my number one trope so I was excited plus I love this cover. Overall it was more of the same with friends to lovers in not wanting to take the next step because it might ruin their friendship. I would definitely try more from this author though.

I really enjoyed this childhood friends to lovers slow burn. Incredibly well-written, tender, sweet.

I was debating giving this 3 stars but I gotta bring it down a smidgen. As a whole I did enjoy it… kind of. I enjoyed it enough to keep going. (And I thought the steamy scenes were well done). But there didn’t feel like a lot of depth in these characters. Issac especially was basically “the perfect partner” with no other personality traits. And I do not care. I DO NOT CARE!! Please have more going on than just “let me take care of you you are my world” etc. I’ve seen some reviewers call the dialogue cringey, which was basically my experience. I felt like so much of what the characters said to each other (including the mom, too) was overly dramatic and emotional but lacking actual depth of feeling. So much talk of people’s “hearts.” Almost an aura of pretentiousness in the way they talk to each other. This is obviously a personal preference and a lot of people won’t be bothered by this. I WAS!!!

What made me REALLY angry was how the medical diagnosis came at the very end and Laniah decides (spoiler alert???) to do the typical “I will lie and say I don’t love him so that he won’t have to suffer a life of pain with me” thing which COME ON!!! IT’S THE YEAR 2024 AND WE’RE STILL DOING THIS?!? NO. WE’RE BETTER THAN THIS. THROW THIS OUT. NEVER VISIT THIS PLOT POINT EVER AGAIN. I also didn’t really like the medical plot line as a whole - it was just barely hovering around the edges, a lot of “I know something’s off but idk,” and then suddenly it’s a big deal at the very end? Like make it a significant part of the story throughout or don’t involve it at all. (Especially as someone with chronic health issues, it’s not fun to have it popping in and out of the story like that. I’d rather it not be in the books I read at all.)

An amazing friends to lovers story that made me invested in the power of the trope once again. I loved the tension and warmth of this book and the support between Isaac and Laniah felt palpable. Laniah at times you just wanted her to get out of her own way and let Isaac in, but when she did, it was magic. The spicy scenes were fire and I will always like a book that tackles issues of chronic illness. This was a slow burning and beautiful summer read that I could not get enough of.

Gosh this book is so beautiful and so good. I fell almost immediately for Leniah and Isaac, childhood best friends who clearly love each other and just have to figure out that it’s romantic love. I love a good childhood besties to lovers, and this book is deeply romantic and beautiful—the character descriptions and the line level prose are just phenomenal—and it captured my whole heart. There’s also some important commentary on health care, and honestly the love story and the discussion of grief and the complexity of love in the face of watching a parent lose a soulmate is just epically, fantastically gorgeous. Love.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Books, and Riss M. Neilson for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

4.5⭐️

First of all, if i had a childhood best friend like Isaac I would’ve been ON MY KNEES for that man. Immediately. 💀😭
But seriously, Books like this don’t come around often and honestly it was a beautiful story. I definitely felt the FMC Laniah just really needed to shutup most times but overall it was a solid story, and the author has excellent writing. i swooned so much 😭

I was really yelling at Laniah 50% of the time. Like fr this girl really shouldn’t have been allowed to make decisions for herself because she was making all the wrong ones!! Like girl you mean to tell me you would pass up the opportunity to be in a certified relationship with your best friend who loves you like his life depends on it, and the best sex of your life just because you don’t want to ruin the friendship!!? SOMEBODY GET THIS GIRL SOME HELP. I-😭

I definitely sympathized with her when she got her diagnosis and definitely understood her fears and reasons for not wanting to be with Isaac after her diagnosis. However, love is about being brave and taking the leap and risking heartbreak 🥹 and that’s exactly what she did (finally). When Isaac said “I’ll be brave enough for the both of us” i was like 😭 THATS MY MAN AND I LOVE HIM.

Honestly a 10/10 ending and it made me so emotional and i wonder what Laniah and Isaac are doing now

A Love Like the Sun is a beautiful story of two life-long best friends who decide to pretend to be lovers for a summer. Issac is internet famous, and Laniah is a homebody who has a natural skin care line that she runs with her mom. When the business is in peril, Issac comes up with the idea to be in a "relationship" and using his influence to help boost sales.

I really adored this story. While the premise appears like it's going to be a light read, it's far from it. The story tackles grief, friendship, found family, romance, and has chronic disease representation. I found the characters to relatable and charming, and there were points I was laughing so hard to the point of tears. A Love Like the Sun is much more than romantic read; it's a portrait of friendship, love, and life.

Thank you, Berkley Publishing, and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Love Like the Sun is Riss M. Neilson’s adult debut. It’s a childhood best friends to lovers romance that also features fake dating. Those are two of my favorite tropes so this book was like catnip for me!

I was immediately captivated by Laniah and Issac. They were so close as children, practically family, but as they’ve grown up, their lives moved in vastly different directions. Issac is now an up and coming artist living in L.A., while Laniah runs a small business with her mom in their hometown. When Laniah and Issac meet up as adults, however, it’s like no time has passed and they are still each other’s biggest supporters. Even before the possibility of romance was introduced, I thought their relationship was just so special.

It is when Issac learns that Laniah’s business is in danger of closing that the fake dating comes into play. Issac thinks that if he and Laniah pretend to date, he can help bring some visibility and hopefully new customers to her shop. My favorite part about fake dating is watching that purely platonic relationship evolve over time as the couple realizes their feelings for one another are not so fake after all. Neilson writes this evolving relationship so well. It’s a delicious, slow burn that has Laniah navigating her new feelings for Issac, trying to figure out if he feels the same way and if so, would this ruin their wonderful friendship.

If you’re a friends to lovers fan, be sure to pick up a copy of A Love Like the Sun.

4 1/2 stars