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.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A widow finds love again in this charming story of loss and friendship and finding yourself along the way.

I love books where one (or both) of the MCs love language is cooking, so I really, really liked how that aspect was thrown in here. It had my mouth watering for Jae to cook something up for myself!
 
Although too fast-paced for me, the romance was sweet and tender, and I rooted for the MCs throughout the whole thing! They clicked perfectly, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing their romance bloom.

What I didn’t like, however, was the dialogue; at times, it could be really cringey and questionable to the point where I often found myself getting the ick.
 
I also believe that if this book were a slow burn, it would have been a great read! It felt very insta-lovey, and I really don’t like that trope.
 
The plot genuinely grabbed my interest, and if executed better, it could’ve been more enjoyable. I hope one day we get a revised edition because this had so much potential!
 
But all this to say, I did like most of this book! Even though it was not the best, it certainly wasn’t horrible in any way. I strongly encourage people to give it a try! It is worth a read.
 
No hate to the author!!! I truly liked the writing at times, and I am really looking forward to more from her.

Tropes/micro tropes:
Friends to lovers
They’re neighbors
He’s her dating coach
He fell first
Insta love

3.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Did not read for not downloading the ARC before the archive date. Which breaks my heart because I was incredibly excited to read this book. Nevertheless, here's a 5 star rating for compensation. I apologise for the inconvenience and best of luck.

This was such a cute read!! The way she wrote the story, and the grief was so beautiful. I really loved Jae and Riley’s story. I think it was super cute. I relate to Riley’s anxiety a lot too which was nice to feel represented in a book. Jae was adorable and so willing to meet her where she was at. And I think that’s something we all hope for. This was a cute quick read while still navigating a heavy topic. I think Cate did an amazing job balancing it. I’m super lucky and thankful I was chosen to read this as an Arc from Netgalley!!

This was a soft DNF at 30% in. I might pick it up again in the future, but right now it is putting me into a reading slump and I have picked it up so many times over the last few days, only to lose interest after a few pages.

What it is about: Riley lost her fiancé Grant 3 years ago and is now forced to move out of their previously shared apartment. The new inhabitant is Jae, who also happens to own a restaurant that hires Riley to paint a mural. Additionally, she asks him for "dating lessons", since she never did the whole dating app thing.

I felt like the grief part was well done. Riley feels shame for being physically attracted to Jae, since she is still mourning Grant. But beyond that, I just could not connect to the characters and I could feel them start to get on my nerves a little bit, which is never a good thing this early on in a book. So, for now I will put it down, but might pick it up again at another time.

Thank God for Stuart’s interference. He “chooses” Jae as the new renter for Riley’s former apartment, and they have a meet-cute on the day that she moves out.

Fate brings them together in closer proximity when Jae hires her to paint a mural for the restaurant which he is opening soon. In exchange for painting, he gives her dating lessons.

Soon, they realise that they are attracted to each other and I loved Jae for allowing her to grief when she needs to, and patiently listens to her when she talks about Grant, her dead fiancé. Similarly, I liked how Riley is so supportive of Jae’s career.

There is a mix of sweet and spicy scenes but overall, this book felt less of a romance and more of a journey for Riley to leave with her grief while still moving forward in life.