This book was really cute. It felt like reading real people with real dialogue. It was a slow fall that felt realistic. I wish we got a little bit more romance, at some points it felt a little forced, or random, like how did it cross from friends to full out love. There wasn’t a ton of romance for me there. The narration was also hard to get used to when the narrator is constantly breaking the fourth wall, which feels a little young adult. But it was a cute read, and as someone who also used Wordle to develop a crush with my boyfriend it was fun to read about that! Again it felt like a real story.

As a word-game obsessed (731 day Wordle streak going strong!) lover of the rom-com genre, who spends half her life in her head, I think this book was written precisely for me and me alone. I may have requested it on NetGalley just for the cover and the title, but this book did not disappoint. I loved watching Emily's evolution as a character even though it was fairly easy to see where this book was going from the beginning (with this rom com genre you KNOW what you are getting, and that you got with this book. If you're looking for a light easy read and you love word games, add this one to your list (although I will say, I think Emily's Wordle strategy needs some work!). Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I’m a huge fan of this overly specific niche of grumpy/sunshine auto shop romance, and I immediately thought of Under Locke (Mariana Zapata, if you haven’t read it, go give yourself a treat right now). This book had all the right pieces to be great, and I think the more this author continues to write, the better her books will continue to be.

Emily is the receptionist at an auto shop and is feeling unfulfilled in life. She has no close friends, wants to be liked, and is drifting without a purpose in a small town, while imagining herself as a “city girl”. John is a mechanic that works at the shop, and she can count on one hand the number of interactions they’ve had while they’ve been working together. The two finally bond when John helps Emily keep her Wordle streak alive.

What I liked: Emily shows huge growth as a character. John had all the potential to be a grumpy hero who is only soft and sweet for her.

Not my favorite: Emily is constantly thinking about Wordle..like maybe too much?? And for someone who spends this much time on it, you’d think she’d be better at it. Also, the romance aspect between these two just didn’t quite hit how I was hoping it would.

Overall a solid, cute romance, especially if you love:
🚘grumpy/sunshine
🔠FMC with huge character growth
🚘adorable side characters
🔠Wordle (duh)
🚘long, charged silences
🔠small town

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Word games and romcom! Yes please!! Sign me up! This was a great book! I loved it! Don’t miss out on this one!

I think this book can really be summed up as the search for significance, letting go, and figuring out that as seasons change, dreams and life have more than one happy beginning/ending. I loved how Emily learned to see the people around her when she let go of her expectations for what she thought her life could/should look like. I found the first 12 chapters a little challenging to get in to, but without them you don’t appreciate the growth in the MC, Emily. This is not a closed door book, but the sex is not graphic nor a main plot point. There is some language. Overall, I really enjoyed the story line and found it to be a satisfying, more than fluff read.

This was a super cute read. My only issue was that the main character got in her head and tended to ramble a lot—it bothered me in the beginning but by the first few chapters, I really loved that style of writing. I think the author could have eased into the inner monologue a little smoother. Overall, loved the message of this book.