Loved this, felt this. It was a sweet read completely. Just beautiful and heartfelt. Going through many feelings reading this. Will look for more by Cate Summers for sure!

I thought that this was a cute read about working on coming to terms with losing a loved one. I love that she was able to develop a friendship with Jae and he was understanding with her feelings and helped her with her guilt. He becomes protective over her at the start as she's unsure of getting back into the dating scene and Jae helps her by doing practice dates. It was at this point I knew Jae was already falling for Riley, but he didn't want to pressure her which was really sweet. He knew she needed a friend first and that's exactly what he did until she was ready. Even the portrayal of Riley's guilt was spot on!

Didn’t love, didn’t hate it was just kinda there. Didn’t love the back and forth between the characters and had me skipping chunks of the book to finish it

Thank you NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. I was drawn to this book based off of the blurb and cover. When reading this, I do see the bones of a good story, but there is a lack of connection for me with the characters and I would have appreciated more character development. Maybe with more tweaking to the writing, this book could have been better. I did empathize with Riley and her processing her grief. Her struggle made her more relatable.

This was a quick read , but a slow burn between the characters. Loved how the author portrayed grief.
It was a cute book, but I wouldn't buy it.

*4.5

I was pleasantly surprised by this. The other reviews made it seem like it was really bad and it wasn't. I love how the book showed her going through her grief and learning to move on. Jae was the perfect person for her and he was so sweet.

I received an arc through netgalley.

I'm not a fan of lost loves and moving on, but I was willing to give this one a try. However, the writing fell short for me. The story jumps around a LOT, I struggled to keep up with what was happening half the time, and it seems disjointed.

Working as a painter in the West Village in New York City, Riley is still reeling from the loss of her fiancé, Grant, three years later, until an unexpected rent hike forces her to move out of the apartment she shared with him. She takes it as a chance to start anew, at the encouragement of her therapist. After answering a request for a proposal to paint a mural in The Red Kettle, a new restaurant owned by none other than Jae Cho, the wickedly handsome chef who just moved into her old apartment.

As Riley and Jae work together to get the restaurant ready for opening night, Jae learns of Riley’s well-meaning but ultimately futile attempts to make a dating app profile. Jae can’t stand to watch his new employee flounder in love—or get kidnapped by a serial killer before she finishes painting his mural— and promises to help get her profile in order including a practice date in exchange for her painting the mural for free. Riley questions what it means to “move on” from her late fiancé, and from the place she called home for so long—all while trying to not fall for her new neighbor who can’t seem to help but feed her dumplings and take her on long walks through NYC.

Maybe it isn’t too late for love after all.

Loved it

It was a cute story! The beginning was slow. I enjoyed the ending and the message it shared on grief. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I really tried to get into this book - it started off decently enough with giving enough back story to interest me, and I'll admit I loved the tidbits thrown in about it being her therapist's idea to move - I absolutely love MH rep in books!! But then it just tanked off for me.

The writing was all over the place, descriptive in one area, barely providing any details in another... the dialogue between the characters felt incredibly off and the love aspect was just off as there was no chemistry to build on. The initial pushing and basically forcing into being a part of her life made me reeling back and was the first moment I truly considering DNF'ing. It was altogether just not my cup of tea - it desperately needed some heavy hitting editing, and perhaps a few rewrites to make it flow better.

The entire premise of the landlord was a hard NO, as well - yuck? It could have maybe worked for insta-lust, but not anything further.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a beautiful story! It showcased grief and healing so well, and then the romance was top tier! I can't wait to read more by Cate Summers!

I did not enjoy this book at all. I had to DNF it when I reached 30% of the book. It starts well, but the writing quality, characters, and pacing become inconsistent. Nothing made me want to continue reading, not even out of curiosity.

A beautiful debut -- already can't wait to go into a re-read. A book that can make me cry more than once is always, always so good. I can't wait for more from Cate. <3

Thanks to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Highly recommend for exploration of grief for a loved one and what happens after. When is the right time to move on and such.

All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars rounded down
so sorry did not enjoy this at all
i finished it tho
it’s probably because i’m reading a book about another grant who is well,alive.
anyway jae is nice to an extent but like i did not get the romance aspect at all.
anyway thank you netgalley and the publisher this review is my own (obviously)

I simply think this book was not for me. I tried to get through it but ended up DNFing it at around half way through. Maybe later on I can give it another try, as maybe I wasn't in the right mood.

Riley is a painter who lives in NYC, She is grieving the loss of her fiancé and is unsure whether it's time to move on when she gets a proposal to paint a mural for a new restaurant owned by Jae. Jae also now is the new owner of Riley and her fiancé's house (rent hike caused Riley to have to move out) and now her neighbor.
It's been 3 years since the loss of Riley's fiancé, is she ready for someone and something new?

When I read the synopsis for this I knew I had to read it. The book started a little rough with Riley but I was happy to see her character develop more through out the book. The pacing for the book was a bit off and left something to be desired. The depth of the characters was there but felt off because of the pacing of the story. The emotions portrayed by the characters are so raw that it felt like they were my own at some points. Overall, a good read by Cate Summers.

Firstly thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I feel this review may be a bit harsh but this story has good premise with poor execution. There’s lots about dealing with grief and the FMC has a lot of anxiety to work through but some of the writing just didn’t flow. It felt awkward and sometimes disjointed.
With some good editing this story could improve.

This was a very sweet read which a big emphasis on learning how love after grief. There were a few minor things I didn't resonate with/slight plot holes but I didn't really look to far into it. Overall, I think the way Cate Summers writes about grief is so real and raw.