ARC Review: Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

 

From The New York Times bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script , a romance about a single mother who’s offered a Pretty Woman -type deal that’s too good to refuse.

If they begin by pretending, can they end with something real?

Dolly Brick has never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Not when her mom left when she was twelve, and not at thirty-nine when she moves with her son back to Whitfield, Rhode Island for the summer to keep her dad and brother from losing the family home.

So when she comes across Stewart Whitfield—annoyingly handsome scion of the Whitfield family—with a flat tire and at the wrong end of a very public, very humiliating breakup, it’s in her nature to help. But Stewart’s proposed arrangement ends up being more than either of them bargained for, because as public dinners and high society benefits turn into sunset boat rides and swinging on the porch, Dolly starts to feel something more than helpful. She’s never relied on anyone besides herself, can she really start now?

Title: Dolly All the Time

Author: Annabel Monaghan

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: May 26, 2026

Review:

Thank you to GP Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing Annabel Monaghan could write that I would not read and love. She is an auto-read author for me. Her stories are so relatable and her characters are build out so well you cannot help but falling for them. This story was no exception. I adored everything about this book: the characters, the scenery, the plot. Everything.

Dolly  Brick is a teacher and single mom just trying to keep up with bills and take care of her son. When her childhood home has a fire in the Summer, she moves back home to help her dad. Dolly is the one everyone leans on; the caretaker who never truly takes care of herself. It even includes her assisting one of the town's famous rich son, Stewart Whitefield, change a tire. When she's offered a deal to fake date Stewart to help his image, it's an offer she cannot refuse seeing as her childhood home needs a ton of work she cannot afford. And Stewart is willing to pay her the money she needs and more to get her to agree to the deal. Of course they don't expect to catch feelings for each other. But when things explode in their faces, Dolly needs to re-evaluate what she truly needs and if Stewart is the one to give it to her.

Dolly is such a fabulous character. I totally connected with her on a cellular level. I am a care taker, have been all my life. She was easy to understand for me. She gives easily of herself, to a fault. And while she mostly takes care of herself well enough, it's not at all what she truly needs. She doesn't allow herself to relax. Watching her take care of her family was a bit exhausting with all her jobs and worrying about what will come next for her family. Enter Stewart, a man on a mission to up his image. Stewart is also someone who takes care of things, never truly letting himself relax. Too worried about looking good for his family and others. Too worried about taking over the family company because it's all he believes he can do. When he starts to spend time with Dolly, his views begin to change. She's pretty much his mirror; it's amazing how much they have in common, really. And he slowly begins to relax and realize there are other things in life besides working.

Monaghan builds out such a great world. It was easly to visualize Whitfield Rhode Island. I've never visited that area but all the boat talk and rich mansions were easy to imagine. It reminded me of East Hampton Long Island, where I spent quite a bit of time when I was younger. The divide she creates between the family the town is named for and the "common" people is palpable. But once you meet Stewart's family, you also see they are really no different from anyone else. Did I want to smack them sometimes with their frivilous use of money, sure. But I also loved how they used it for good, as well. 

The side characters in this book had me at every turn. Stewart's sister, Busy, was one of my favorites. I loved how she formed such a sweet friendship with Dolly. And Gus! He was such a great kid who was just trying to find himself, and Dolly was trying to give him that chance. I could go on and on about all the side characters in this book and this review would be pages long. Just know each one lends something fabulous to the story.

The pacing of the story was amazing. I finished it in less than 24 hours. I didn't want to put it down. Monaghan definitely wrapped me in the story and had me invested in where it would go. I laughed in so many places but also felt my heart clench much of the time and shed some tears over it. Monaghan hits so many different emotions in this story. 

My one complaint was the wrap up. Monaghan chose to have half a year go by in a very small number of pages. It felt just a tad rushed. But even with this, I still felt the story deserved all the stars. This is up there with Nora for me as my favorite book by Monaghan. I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Author:

Annabel Monaghan is the New York Times bestselling author of IT'S A LOVE STORY, SUMMER ROMANCE, SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER and NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT. She is also the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit.

ARC Review: Drive Me Crazy by Lizzy Dent

 

“I love, love, love Lizzy Dent.” —Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Sparks fly when an up-and-coming team principle and her new hot-shot driver—and former childhood crush—are forced to work together to save their careers and team in this deliciously winning Formula 1 romance.

Can they navigate the twists and turns of love without crashing and burning?

As one of the first female team principles in Formula 1, Chloe Coleman is determined to prove herself and transform her failing team from underdogs to champions. Nothing can ruin her strategy—except maybe the surprising new addition of a cocky, top-tier driver who’s lost his edge. And he just so happens to be her estranged childhood crush who still sends her heart racing.

Matt Warner needs a comeback. A former champion, he hasn’t won a race since the disastrous crash that landed his best friend and teammate in the hospital. If there’s a silver lining to this scandalous demotion, it’s his fierce and familiar new boss, Chloe. But as the competition heats up, so does an unexpected spark that turns dangerously and passionately hot. With the world watching and pressures of the season mounting, will their chemistry lead them to victory, or spin them out of control?

Title: Drive Me Crazy

Author: Lizzy Dent

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: January 6, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I love sports romance. Make that sports romance that revolves around F1 and you've got me hooked. I've had a hard time finding stories in this world that I truly like. Usually I find there are two things that I have a hard time with. First the romance usually doesn't make sense. Second, the author doesn't portray the sport in a believable fashion. But I always hold out hope when I read a new to me author. Hope that they will get it write. But more times than not I'm disappointed. Unfortunately, this book fell into the disappointing category.

The one plus I felt with this story is the author did some research in the F1 world. Even if how she portrayed it didn't truly make sense, you can see she knew teams, drivers, and a bit about how the world worked. But the accuracy of how she used this information was poor.

Chloe is a young woman who has become a team principal for an F1 team. Matt, a childhood friend turned "enemy", is her new driver. The story follows them as they navigate their new situations and their growing attraction.

I'll start with the background. While the story alludes to the FMC and MMC having grown up together on the karting circuit, and to Choloe's long time crush on Matt, we don't really get much of this background. I would have loved to see the author do some flashbacks or even alternating chapters to show us how the past relationship lead to their distain for each other. But rather than doing that, the author tells us about it. I'm a stickler for being shown things and was disappointed in how this past relationship was portrayed. On top of the lack of background with the FMC and MMC and their relationship, I really didn't see the progression of the FMC to her spot as team principal. There was so much wrong with how it was portrayed. There is no world in which Chloe jumped from F3 to F1 without us knowing how that possibly happened.

Next is the actual chemistry between the two characters. They are "enemies", though I never truly feel this between them. And they quickly go from hating each other to being romantic. But I didn't feel that chemistry grow between them at all. Their entire relationship was super shallow. Not only is their relationship shallow, but I did not believe one bit that a team principal fighting to be taken seriously in a world full of men would allow herself to have a romantic relationship with a driver. It just made zero sense to me.

Put aside the romance and go back to Chloe and her position as principal of the team. The book portrays the own making all the decisions for the team. Nope. I don't care if she's a woman and he doesn't trust her, it's just not how it works. Everything went over her head and she got to make no decisions. Do I understand why the author wanted this in the story? Sure I do. To show how the misogyny abounds within this particular sport. But if they brought  Choloe in to the position, then they had to have some trust in her to make decisions. She would never be in that position if they weren't going to give her some power over the team.

The pacing of this book was scattered. Sometimes it moved fast while other times it drags. What I will say is there was not much plot. This story revolved itself around the non-existent romance/chemistry. If the plot makes no sense and doesn't move along, the pacing will surely be off.

Clearly, this book was not for me. I do see it has many good reviews but for me, as an F1 sports lover and someone who understands how things work, it just did not work for me.  Plus the characters were mot relatable and had zero personality or development. I contemplated DNFing this book at many points but really wanted to give it a chance in case it turned around for me. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Author:

Lizzy Dent (miss)spent her early twenties working in Scotland in hospitality, in a hotel not unlike the one in this novel. She somehow ended up in a glamourous job travelling the world creating content for various TV companies, including MTV, Channel 4, Cartoon Network, the BBC and ITV. But she always knew that writing was the thing she wanted to do, if only she could find the confidence. After publishing three young adult novels, she decided to write a novel that reflected the real women she knew, who don't always know where they're going in life, but who always have fun doing it. The Summer Job is that novel.

ARC Review: And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens

 

She's found the perfect man . . . There's just one big twist.

Stuck in a Production Assistant job and living at home with her parents after a painful breakup, thirty-one-year-old Chloe Fairway isn’t where she wants to be in life. The last thing she needs is to face the people who once voted her "most likely to succeed" at her upcoming ten-year college reunion. And she definitely doesn’t want to see her former best friend, Sean Adler, who is now a hotshot film director living the life Chloe dreamed of. Desperate to make a splash—and to save face in front of the man who might be the one that got away—she turns to a mysterious dating service.

Enter Rob, her handsome, well-read, and charming match, the perfect plus-one to take to her reunion. The more she gets to know him, the more perfect he appears to be. Could it be that this dating service knows her better than she knows herself? And can she overlook the one big catch? As Chloe reconnects with old friends, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted. Maybe, just maybe, revisiting the past is exactly what she needs to move forward.

Title: And Then There Was You

Author: Sophie Cousens

Publisher: Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: November 18, 2025

Review:

Thank you to Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is my first book by this author. I have seen her books around and they always have good reviews so I wanted to give her a try. I really like the idea of exploring AI. Especially considering how it's invading everything in our lives. I also like the second chance vibe the blurb gave.

Chloe's life is not where she thought it would be. She feels a bit lost and like she should be farther along in her career. When her college reunion is looming, she's desperate to make herself look good. Enter Rob, the robot who can be whatever she needs him to be. She thinks he's the perfect way for her to show her classmates she's made something of herself. But she doesn't expect the connection with an old schoolmate to blossom.

I liked Chole enough, She's a bit self-depreciating. Her emotions clearly jump off the page. I could feel her anxiety over not having achieved the success she feels she should have. It's hard to come back to old friends and feel like you haven't made anything of yourself. I can understand her need to employ Rob. He gives her some purpose. He makes her feel special. He lifts her up and supports her. But he's not real. And you definitely feel that throughout the book. John, on the other hand, isn't perfect, but he's at least real. It's an interesting love triangle that's set in motion.

The pacing was ok for this book, not too fast, not too slow. The author imbues a lot of heart into this story. And she takes a risk with the AI plot line. There's a bit of an ethical aspect to it, diving into thoughts about how AI will change our society and what impact it may ultimately have.

There are lots of cute and funny moments infused into the story, as well. 

The chemistry between Chloe and John wasn't really where I would have liked it to be. I know there is a past but I feel like there needed to be more of a build, especially on Chloe's end. She goes from zero to sixty with how she feels about John and it just didn't ring as true to me as I would have liked. I also felt like I needed more about John, It felt like he was inserted into the story but I didn't actually know much about him besides how Sophie saw him.

Overall this was a fun read. I'd like to explore other stories from this author.

Author:

Sophie Cousens has worked in television for twelve years. She attributes surviving this long to always knowing where the Post-it notes are kept, and her ability to carry six coffee cups at once.

ARC Review: Where You're Planted by Melanie Sweeney

 

From the author of the "phenomenal achievement" (Kirkus) Take Me Home, a children’s librarian must temporarily move her public library into a shed in the county botanic gardens, where her archnemesis is the assistant director.

Single mom Tansy Perkins only has room in her life for her daughter and her library. And maybe the next book to add to her collection. But after a catastrophic hurricane severely damages her library, she's forced to temporarily move her branch into the adjacent county botanic gardens, where Jack Reid—the world’s grouchiest gardener who rescued her and her daughter from the flood—happens to be the assistant director.

Jack has always preferred plants over people, having built a strong track record of avoiding relationships ever since his divorce six years ago. So, Tansy and her quirky band of bookish colleagues’ encroachment into his carefully-kept territory is a little more than irksome, especially when it means sharing his already-scarce resources.

When Jack and Tansy are tasked with working together on the spring festival, they have no choice but to call a truce. And soon their newfound professional partnership gives way to a deep intimacy that they've both been silently craving. But Tansy has lost too much to risk her heart, and Jack has sworn off real love. When an opportunity arises for funding that both the library and gardens need, will their loyalties lie with the futures they'd always planned for, or the new spark they've found with each other?

Title: Where You're Planted

Author: Melanie Sweeney

Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: 7/8/25

Review:

Thank you to Penguin Group Putnam/G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I fell in love with Melanie' Sweeney's writing with Take Me Home. I could not put that book down. As soon as I saw she would have another title, I stalked NetGalley to request it. I may or may not have squeaked when I was approved.
Sweeney's writing, her character voices, her build up of chemistry between characters, and her flowing and fluid descriptions keep me engrossed in her writing from the beginning of her stories until the end. 
This particular story is personal to the author (as per the note she wrote at the end). It focuses on loss after a natural disaster and how people deal with that loss. It also shows the devastation attached to such disasters. This story is filled with heart, found family, and healing after trauma. The entire story shows the resilience of those who are forced to recover from such trauma, what they do when they are presented with circumstances beyond their control and how they come together to heal.
Tansy prides herself on being an independent woman. She doesn't want hand outs and she truly does not want anyone to take care of her. These things make her feel beholden to those who present them. She chooses to embrace her struggles, leaning on her own tenacity and determination to persevere despite her circumstances. The hurricane she encounters is not her first bought with struggles in life, but it upends her and her daughter to the point of making them both feel worried and scared.  But her stubbornness often puts her in situations that can be self-sabbotaging.
Enter Jack, a grump if I've ever met one. A man who has faced his own struggles in life and has chosen to be more of an isolationist rather than embrace those around him. His surliness keeps him at arms length from people, despite them trying to nudge their way in. But when he does love, it's fiercely, as you can see with his sister, Amy, and his best friend, Omar. There is nothing he would not do for them. When his life collides with Tansy, he's not sure what to make of her. They butt heads from the get go, making enemies of each other. But that does not preclude them from forming feelings for each other. Try as they might, they just can't seem to stay away.
I absolutely adored all the side characters in this book. Kai, with their freeness. Irma with her want to maintain her youngness despite others worrying for her at her age. Melanie, who has a penchant for saving things, animals in particular.  Briar, Tansy's daughter, who wiggles her way into Jack's heart, despite his rough exterior. Ivan, who is Jack's right hand man and the only one who Jack is willing to share anything with. The entire brood is one big found family with so much love you can feel it coming off the page. The way these people support and uplift their friends is something else.
Sweeney kept me enthralled from the first chapter when the storm looms and Tansy is out rescuing  birds and has her first encounter with Jack. You could see the sparks right then and there. And, while the book is certainly focused on the romance, that is not the only thing that is happening. We learn about libraries and parks and how they are important to communities. We see the struggles such places have to stay open, to have enough funds to ensure those in the communities can take advantage of the programs they have to offer. Sweeney shows their importance in healing communities and bringing people together in times of need.
This book pulled every emotion out of me. There were parts with amazing banter where I was laughing out loud. But there were also parts where my eyes burned with tears I didn't want to shed in public. And then there were the times my chest felt tight because I could feel the characters panic when things were turning bad. 
Sweeney creates characters and a story where all the imperfects become perfect. Where the differences in people become their assets. Where you see how important communities and being open minded are essential to health and growth. Where you realize you can be self-reliant but can also accept help from others because they want to feely give it, not because they want anything in return. It's about taking care of yourself, and others, and finding balance. This story is real and raw, full of humanity and heart. It will stick with me for a long time. I will gladly read anything Sweeney writes. 

Author:

Melanie Sweeney is the author of the USA Today bestseller, Take Me Home, and the forthcoming romance, Where You're Planted (Putnam 2025). She writes romance about ordinary people finding extraordinary love. Melanie lives near Houston with her husband, three kids, and too many cats. When she's not writing, she's ice skating, embroidering, or learning old One Direction songs on her ukulele.

ARC Review: Summer Nights and Meteorites by Hannah Reynolds

From the two-time Sydney Taylor Honor author comes another sweet Nantucket-set summer romance, perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon and K.L. Walther.

Jordan Edelman’s messy dating days are over. After a few too many broken hearts, and a father who worries a bit too much, she’s sworn off boys—at least for the summer. And since she’ll be tagging along on her father’s research trip to Nantucket, she doesn’t think it’ll be too hard to stick to her resolution.

But hooking up with the cute boy on the ferry doesn’t count, right? At least, not until that cute boy turns out to be Ethan Barbanel. As in, her father’s longtime research assistant Ethan Barbanel, the boy Jordan has hated from afar for years. And to make matters worse, Jordan might actually be falling for him.

As if that didn’t complicate her life enough, Jordan’s new summer job with a local astronomer turns up a centuries-old mystery surrounding Gibson’s Comet—and as she dives into her research, what she learns just might put her growing relationship with Ethan in jeopardy.

Title: Summer Nights and Meteorites

Author: Hannah Reynolds

Publisher: G.P Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: May 21, 2024

Review:

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons for providing me with a finished copy and egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

First things first, I did not know this was third in a series. When the publisher contacted me, I read the summary and it sounded like a cute YA romance. I love a cute YA romance so I said yes! I'm not sure if perhaps having read the first two books and being introduced to some of the characters before hand would have made this one better for me or not. This can totally be read as a stand alone. But there are cross over characters and I would be interested to see if knowing them may have changed my opinions.

Jordan Edelman is going to Nantucket to spend the Summer with her cartography researching father. She's hoping to be able to bond with him from this shared experience. She's also sworn off any potential messy romance as they have never gone well for her. She has an encounter with a boy on her boat ride to the island who turns out to be her father's assistant that she's heard about for the past few summers: Ethan Barnabel. She has a streak of jealousy over this boy's relationship with her father that she's determined to overcome. But as she and Ethan are put in more and more situations where they must interact, including her living in his parent's house for the summer, something blossoms. Can she have the romance that's always alluded her? Or will being with Ethan ruin her?

I love the setting of this book. This is not the first book series I've seen set on Nantucket. I love the idea of being at the beach all summer; surrounded by the ocean, sand and sun. There's something about this setting that is very romantic for me and it becomes the perfect back drop for summer love to blossom. It takes me back to the days I used to spend on the shore of Long Island or New Jersey when I was a young girl. This nostalgia really drew me into the book.

The plot was just ok for me. I liked the science behind what was presented: astronomy, cartography. But I did find the plot was slow to move. I really wanted something a little more fast paced for a YA book. The inclusion of history was interesting, though I think a bit overdone. While I enjoyed the journal entries the author included, I thought there were way too many of them. It seemed a little overdone and I didn't feel like they all were related to the story. It actually took me out of the story many times and slowed down my reading pace. I had to push to get through them so I could see what else might happen between the main characters.

My other plot line issue was the Judaism. Its inclusion just seemed so side bar to me. Like it was included because the author wanted to show the characters as Jewish. It didn't seem to truly lend anything to the characters' development. Using Shabbos and talking about the high holidays just seemed to be thrown in to try and give the story Jewish identity. But it didn't do that for me as a Jew. I wish the author would have used that identity more. It felt 

I would have liked to feel more of a connection with the characters. I didn't find Jordan appealing. Ethan was romantic and fun but it was hard to get to truly know him having only seen him from Jordan's point of view. And their romance seemed a bit forced. I didn't feel the chemistry I wanted to feel. I didn't feel like there was anything really connecting them. Sure, they had her father in common, but in the end them being together seemed odd. And them wanting to stay together even more so. There was no real closure to their romance.

Overall this book was just ok for me, nothing special. I can see how it might appeal to the more scholarly teens overall. But for the most part I didn't feel excited to move through it, I just wanted to get to the end.

3 stars

Author:

Hi everyone! I'm Hannah Reynolds, the author of THE SUMMER OF LOST LETTERS, out now, and EIGHT NIGHTS OF FLIRTING, coming fall 2022 from PenguinTeen. You can also find my adult romance titles under my penname Allison Parr 

 

ARC Review: Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan

Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.

Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her...by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?

Title: Summer Romance

Author: Annabel Monaghan
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Expected Publication Date: June 4, 2024

Review:

Thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and G.P Putnam's Sons to providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is my third book by Monaghan and I swear each book I read gets better than the last. A few months ago I picked up Nora Goes Off Script, because all my book buddies in my book groups told me it was fantastic. And guess what? They were right. I loved it and tore through it and ended up picking up Same Time Next Summer and liking just as much if not more. So, given the chance to read this one early, I jumped on it and I'm so glad I did.

Monaghan has a way of taking her stories and infusing tension that pulls you along and makes you feel like you never want to stop. I feel this often with Christina Lauren books. Like something heavy is sitting on my chest waiting to burst and it won't happen until I get to the end of the story. I love a story with this type of tension. It makes me want to keep reading. I really give a lot of props to the author that she can keep this up throughout the entire book. There was not a point that I wanted to put this book down. The pacing was that good for me. I ended up reading it in less than 24 hours!

This is women's fiction at it's finest. Monaghan chooses to write to a certain age group with her adult fiction and it just works. While I'm older than her characters, I still find them immensely relatable. They bring me back to that time in my life and that feeling of nostalgia is so soothing and right.

The book also infuses one of my favorite tropes, which I'm not sure I even knew about going in: best friend's brother. But unlike some books I've read where there is a hard line that cannot be crossed, this one is more blurry. The characters are older than what I usually see for this trope, mid to late thirties.

This book is a closed door romance. I do love my spice but sometimes it's nice to just have the story be the story and not worry about all the sexy scenes. I think this plays well with the single parent vibe Monaghan sets up. And it allows the characters time to get to know each other without worrying about always being naked together.

Ali never had a chance to find true love. Pregnant within a year of dating her boyfriend, they end up married. But after three kids and moving back to the town where she grew up, Ali loses herself in the marriage and becomes complacent with what she has been handed. She loses who she is. And she is still grieving the loss, even after two years, of the one person she had counted on to make her feel grounded, her mother. Add to that an ex who continues to step all over her and always put his own needs first and you have a recipe for someone who loses their self-esteem. Plus, she's now a single parent because her ex doesn't make his kids a priority. Juggling all of this takes it toll on her mentally. When she's presented with a chance at Summer romance, something that is fleeting and will give her just what she needs, she jumps in without hesitation. She craves to feel that feeling of romance and being cared for. I loved the growth this character went through. I love how she was able to find herself again and start to see all the parts of her she had buried deep for someone else. I also love how she can see that even though she was close with her mom, there were things her mom did to keep her complacent in her marriage. 

Ethan, aka "Scooter",  has so many fabulous elements as a MMC. He's a bit younger than Ali, but not by much. But it's his own life experience that has shaped him into a loving and caring human being. I love how Monaghan made him so involved in his community. At the same time, you could see he was running away from trauma he experienced as a teen. He has his own issues with understanding his own self worth and, like Ali, has to work through them. What I think I loved most about him was his compassion and ability to just listen, even if that listening was to silence. He was able to be in the moment and express his own wants and needs easily. He also has the best sense of humor and uses it to break up a lot of tense moments in this book that would otherwise have sent Ali off the rails. Above all, he shows Ali that she is a strong and capable woman who has so much to give the world if she would just be her true authentic self.

I do wish this book would have been dual point of view. On the one hand, I understand Monaghan's choice to really tell Ali's story. I can see she didn't want Ethan's to get in the way. At the same time, I wanted to truly see Ethan in his own element: interacting with his family, interacting with his community, making life decisions. And I didn't get that as much as I would have just seeing him through Ali's eyes. But I also know this is women's fiction and Monaghan for sure wanted to give Ali a true and honest voice without having it overshadowed by anyone else.

My favorite quote in the book: "And now I can never un-know the truest thing - the intensity of the love you feel will match the intensity of it's loss."

Monaghan is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and her books will automatically be added to my TBR before I even know what they are about. As soon as I was done with this one, I wanted to go back and be able to read it again for the first time. She makes me laugh, and cry, and clutch at my heart and then gives me everything I want in the end. I'm looking forward to what she puts on paper next!

Author:

Annabel Monaghan is the bestselling author of SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER and NORA GOES OFF SCRIPT. She is also the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit.