Member Review

Sasha is a divorced mom of two, Ethan is a divorced dad of one, both have children who attend the same NYC school. Kaitlin is Sasha's childhood friend from whom Sasha has become estranged, who also has a child at the school. There are three 1st-person POVs, which took some adjusting. Even with them all in the same general physical environment they felt disconnected from one another. Which I imagine is the point because they were all out-of-step with each other. There is an air of tension in the beginning of the book, all have troubled relationships and their own struggles. For me this affected the tone of the book significantly but I definitely appreciated the author's witty writing style. Ethan was kind of jerky to Sasha in the beginning, I guess because he feels awkward. Thankfully that gets toned down as the book progresses, I was having a hard time getting on board with his character. Enemies-to-lovers trope, quasi forced-proximity, and of course it's all complicated. But the complications are what keep this story moving and kept me engaged to the end. This is romance with a hefty dose of self-growth. Ethan grew on me and I genuinely liked Sasha and Ethan together. Well-rounded supporting characters and interesting sub-plots that didn't overshadow the main storyline. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this story, this is my objective review. Publishes 12-3-24.