I liked this but not as much as I did Big Fan. A few more chapters would’ve been nice. I liked the Maya reference though and I want more of her. Cassidy’s resilience and determination was the best part, and her working to avoid her issues was so relatable. The male love interest was just there. Nothing much to really say about Leon. All his reasons for being a slacker in high school and letting Cassidy down were kind of just stupid. But cute novella!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review! This is my second 831 novella and I have to say it’s fun to start and finish a story in one sitting. Even though this is less than 200 pages, this story explores deep themes. Cassidy is in her late 20s and completely burned out with life. Currently flailing in work and her personal life, she escapes to her hometown of Berkeley, California to reset. Along the way she reconnects with her best friend as well as her high school rival, Leon.

For me, the most interesting aspect of this story was Cassidy’s experience as the ‘Gen Z Monica Lewinsky’. She has a lot of trauma after being publicly shamed, objectified, and bullied for a sexual experience she has with a senator with she was twenty-two. Her grief impacts how she views herself, her relationships, and her potential. As Cassidy says, ‘the inside of my head is so loud’. Wow. This is certainly an applicable topic today with the pervasive bullying and cancel culture online (and the ever present misogyny in this country, but I digress).

While this book does have steamy moments, it’s a lot more than that. It’s ultimately about the characters figuring out young adulthood—a theme,I think, that will resonate with many readers (looking the BookTok population here). My biggest criticism is just personal preference—I think a novella is too short for a true enemies to lovers arc. Cassidy and Leon have chemistry, and they may not have been the friendliest at first, but they were never enemies. Regardless, I enjoyed this quite a lot, even more than I thought I would!

My favorite quote: ‘Grief is a spiral, I keep moving further and further away from it, but I still have to pass the same points on the circle every now and again, and I hate it every time’. ❤️

After a political scandal rocked her early twenties, Cassidy spent the next few years trying to reclaim her life and help other victims of cyber-bullying. But now, she feels stuck.
A break back in her hometown might be just what she needs. A trip down memory lane in her childhood home, reconnecting with her best friend Willa... and maybe hook up with her teenage rival; Leon Park.

This book accomplished so much in such a short number of pages. Alexandra Romanoff has bought these characters to life with limited back story and only sharing the important details that set the story up and move it along at an enjoyable pace. Romanoff has nailed the challenges of adult friendships and how none of us are the same at age 16 or 22.

The issue with short stories is that sometimes they feel unfinished and rushed, but that is not the case with 'Square Waves'. I'll be sure to read more from Alexandra Romanoff and 831 Stories.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

831 stories is consistently delivering everything I want out of a romance novel! High school enemies meet again in (young) adulthood and their disdain for each other creates electricity. I have absolutely no notes.

If you liked Big Fan by Alexandra Romanoff this is her second novel and the two are loosely connected - our protagonist Cassidy, is the “other woman” who had an affair with Maya’s ex-husband at the beginning of (before the start of) Big Fan. The contents of Square Waves takes place 8 years after the affair so it’s removed but the we feel the lasting effects of it. Thanks to 831 Stories for this galley - Square Waves comes out on June 24th.

Thank you NetGalley and 831 stories for this advanced arc copy.

This short story follows Cassidy, burnt out in her late twenties, a bit lost and still dealing with a monica lewinsky-esque scandal that happened 6 years ago. She ends up at bar in her hometown and bumps into her high school nemesis (or crush?) and the story kickss off from there. It's enemies to lovers, but also feels deeper and more real than that.

Rachel Review 5/5 First off - I love that is a bay area based story. As someone that lives in SF - it was nice to read the story through that lens. I like how real the story felt, and so relatable. Knowing what we want to do in life, our passion, what really matters is something that we all deal with but rarely speak about. Like what are we really racing towards? I love that the story between Cassidy and Leon felt so real, it dove into the real reasons they were "enemies" back in high school and what it actually truly was. I also think the friendships were appropriately fleshed out and for a short story, I actually felt satisfied with the completion of this story. I'm usually a hater of short stories, because I feel like when it just gets good -- it ends, but that wasn't that case for this. It felt like it ended in a perfect place for the story. Highly recommend if you want a quick but satisfying read that is also covers some deeper topics.

Square Waves felt like real life. Sure there’s a romance plot line, but really it’s more about learning about yourself, about life. I felt like Cassidy was a teeny bit too mean to Leon for how quickly he was into her/forgiving her, but I won’t hold it against them. I liked the comfortable, casual style of writing and the way you are welcomed into Cassidy’s head. I 100% would recommend and look forward to reading other books by Alexandra Romanoff!

Thank you to #netgalley and 831 Stories for the ARC!

While I didn't love this quite as much as Big Fan (easy 5 star read for me), I was so pleasantly surprised by how Alexandra Romanoff turned Cassidy from a partial-villain of one story to a heroine of another. I like the realism of the trauma, not that I want to see my characters suffer, but it was honest in that even years later a person would still be recovering from the media abuse that Cassidy endured. On the less heavy side it was excellent California porn.

5 stars! No notes!

Okay, maybe some notes since I loved this one so much!

Thank you to NetGalley, 831 Publishing and Alexandra Romanoff for the ARC!

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, Big Fan. It got me out of a bad romance book slump. So when I saw this one, I had high hopes and it did not disappoint. In Big Fan, we followed Maya, who had her life destroyed when her husband cheated with an intern. Maya got her groove back and in the end forgave Cassidy, the intern, and even helped her find a job.

Square Waves picks up a few years later. Cassidy has been working for an anti-bullying foundation in DC, but the spark isn't there. She's been a type A perfectionist for years and has always followed the course she thought she should. Straight As in high school, padding her resume with extracurriculars, college in DC, internship. And then a sex scandal. Her name was everywhere and even now, 6 years later, she can't fully escape the scandal. But of course, the man has escaped unscathed. Cassidy has lost her spark and her boss recommends a break to reconnect with herself. She heads back to her hometown in CA to hopefully find herself.

Enter Leon, Cassidy's high school enemy. He was the typical underachieving stoner in high school who never quite lived up to his potential. They hated each other in high school for reasons neither one can fully articulate. Leon is helping Cassidy's bestie open her studio and the two leads end up working together. They discover that they've never really hated each other and may have more in common than they thought. But will Cassidy's looming deadline to be back in DC cause issues? Will Leon's inability to deliver what he promised?

I absolutely loved this book! The spice was spicing, the chemistry was perfection, the enemies to lovers was chef's kiss! The overall message that it's never too late to find yourself and it's always okay to pivot and change to find your happiness is a great reminder to everyone that life is short and we should do what makes us happy!

I enjoyed this book, especially the enemies-to-lovers trope under the “returning to childhood home” premise. I’d recommend it to others, there’s a lot of character growth from the protagonist. I didn’t connect with the male surfer artist dude as much, but I loved the women and nonbinary characters!

Not me having the time of my life binging another 831 stories production…

Cassidy got her justice and Romanoff DELIVERED once again. The short length of these novels makes each one feel like the best treat, but the depth of the story and characters and chemistry is still always so well done. I loved this one so much, will definitely be buying the physical copy as my trophy and for future rereads. So good.

This was such a good healing from trauma, nemesis to lovers, getting over yourself kind of a romance. I loved this story.

Cassidy is tired. She has past trauma she hasn’t really let herself heal from, or even given herself time to grasp and that’s effecting her work. The girl is tired. She’s been going non stop trying to heal others with her experience and it’s all just piling up. She takes a break from work and heads back to her home town where she re-connects with her high school arch nemesis, Leon.

This story has so much growth in such a short novel. I really quickly became connected to the characters and their healing and how their relationship was just so good for the both of them. They had such good chemistry. The banter was so good. I was really rooting for Cassidy to make the right choices. Say the right things. I was literally giddy for her when things were going well, and just waiting for her to realize what could be there for her. And sweet Leon. You could feel the past pining, and he was not about to miss his chance with her!!! I loved him. She really needed his energy in her life. I loved that they pushed each other.


I also really enjoy Cassidy and Willa’s friendship. Cassidy needed her more than she was admitting to herself and I love the Willa just called her out on missing her and needing her more, and she just came through for her. They were so fun.

Loved.

I absolutely adored this book. I loved getting Cassidy's story after the brief run in with her at the end of Big Fan. I felt that the author really explored hard feelings in this book too. There is so much pressure to do everything right and know exactly what you want to do with your life and I think this novel does a good job acknowledging that. I think the "frenemies" angle was present but not over the top. I also appreciated that Cassidy is in therapy and is doing work that is with the broader community against bullying after what she went through. She made a mistake, but it takes two and so I appreciated that Maya was sympathetic to her when so often in these situations women are put against each other.

I also liked the artistic element and the environment the characters are in. I live in a costal city and so the descriptions of the scenery were very vivid for me. I really enjoy Alexandra Romanoff's writing and I think she does an amazing job bringing her characters and story to life!

Thank you to Net Galley and 831 Stories for providing me with the ARC copy!

I enjoyed this, but not as much as big fan. I think this could have benefitted from a few more chapters. I really liked Cassidy’s journey but didn’t care so much for the male lead. That being said, I always love reading an 831 Stories book after reading something disturbing and for that I am grateful.

I really enjoyed this book! I was excited to read Cassidy's story after seeing a glimpse of her in Big Fan. I felt like I was rooting for her and Leon the whole time and it was fun to watch them evolve and learn who the other was ten years after high school. Definitely recommend!

I loved Big Fan and this spin-off/sequel was equally enjoyable! The compressed timeframe and rich character development pulled me in—I had trouble putting down the book. Cassidy and Leon’s chemistry is great too. I also appreciated the overall theme of humanizing individuals who have been previously dismissed for one reason or another. Strongly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and 831 Stories for this ARC.

These short stories are so enjoyable. They pack a small punch in under 150 pages. Cassidy and Leon were adorable enemies turned lovers. She was a modern day Monica Lewinsky who is dealing with the fall out romantically and professionally and personally. Thank God Leon is there to help her guide her out of her slump!

Can’t wait until the next 831 story!

This was a great read. I felt terribly for Cassidy and was rooting for her and Leon the whole time! Wish it was longer because I didn’t want it to end

Another solid arc from NetGalley! I was excited to read this book because I did enjoy the first book in the series and I was curious to see where this book would go.

I really like this authors works and I look forward to seeing what else she publishes. I’m not really certain why the covers look the way they do and I’m not sure that I like them either.

However, within this bizarre cover is a solid piece of chick lit. I liked reading about Cassidy and I really liked Leon, the male love interest.

Don’t know what else I can say, but this was a good time. I needed for there to be an epilogue, and I felt like the ending was kind of rushed. Hopefully that content will be released when this book comes out.

Thank you to 831 Stories for the eARC!

I read Big Fan and Square Waves back-to-back so I'd have all of the context for Square Waves fresh in my brain. Going into the book, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy a story about the "other woman" from Big Fan, but I also appreciated that Cassidy had a brief scene with Maya in Big Fan that allowed me to see how this story might play out. Cassidy, 6 years after the scandal that nearly ruined her career, is back in her hometown of Berkeley, California for a few weeks while taking a forced sabbatical from her burnt out nonprofit job in DC. Her first night there, she runs into an old high school enemy, Leon - The too-cool-for-school best friend of her high school best friend, who she was often forced to hang around. Cassidy is a vulnerable and relatable FMC and Leon is a lovable and realistic MMC, and this was a cute enemies-to-lovers romance that can easily be devoured in one sitting. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to any romance lovers looking for a fun novella!

831 stories does not disappoint! Usually I find novellas to be rushed but this was great pacing. I loved the continuation of Cassidy’s story from Big Fan. A great, short read!