(Closer to a 2.5)

Truly Livingston, a historical romance author, is, shocker, a romantic at heart. During her brief time on a podcast that gives romantic advice, she meets Colin, a divorce lawyer. These two characters clash immediately - which leads to lots o’ banter, sexual tension, and a fairly sweet love story

So…. I really wanted to love this. I have had pretty good luck with Alexandra Bellefleur’s work in the past. I specifically love her consistent queer representation - which is still prevalent in this book. Truly is bisexual and this book discusses bi-erasure and what it is like to be a queer woman in a heterosexual relationship. There were also a lovely amount of Taylor Swift references which, at least for me, hit EVERY TIME. I did enjoy aspects of the relationship between Truly and Colin - namely their communication and the support they showed each other during tough times.

Despite the authors clear attempt to create sexual tension through flirty banter, so many interactions between the hero and heroine fell flat. I also really struggled with Truly’s physical descriptions of Colin. I know this is a somewhat strange critique, but all of the physical descriptions in this book (in which there were quite a few) were incredibly literal in an awkward way. I don’t need: “his eyes sparked like the sun” but I DID NOT need to know his belly button is an “innie”.

Overall, this had some good sections, and some super awkward ones. I will continue to read this authors new releases, but this was not my favorite of hers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.