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Ooof.  Grace is a very relatable POV FMC with very relatable anxiety, and that's even before taking into account all the model minority BS she's trying to navigate.  If you can't identify with the burnout that comes from having to sustain peak performance for years, you're probably not going to like this story.

My only complaints:

• The relationship with the friends at the beginning is a little hard to parse, and I admit those friends got on my nerves more often than not.
• Some of the late-story character choices may have made sense for the characters, but took me out of the story for a bit.

Some people may bounce off the more poetic, image-painting prose, but I really enjoyed it.

Rep: biracial Black FMC with anxiety disorder; Japanese-American FMC; side character with borderline.

Sex: <spoiler>Few soft-R-rated sex scenes.</spoiler>

Tags: #AccidentalMarriage #BIPOC #FamilyIssues #FoundFamily #Gayborhood #InversionOfControl #SinglePOV #StructureMeetsWhimsy #Therapy #ThirdPersonPOV #Trauma #VacationTravel.

Ooof.  What a story.

While there is a romance (and a HEA), most of this book is a woman's slow journey to accept her PTSD and past traumas and begin to move past them.  There's not a lot of closure here—things are messy and complicated and unclear.  It's a good story, but it's not fluff or popcorn.

I would have liked to have seen a bit more depth to Regan, as the single-POV in this book really limits why Regan is so taken with Lina.  But that's only a minor thing, IMO.  (But I would also love, love, love if Kat Jackson would do a follow-up book about Regan's obviously complicated history.)

Rep: FMC with PTSD and dissociative episodes

Sex: <spoiler>a few R-rated scenes, but be aware that while there is no SA, the POV FMC is emotionally mistreated with sex as a component, and ends up in cycles of making bad choices due to this.  It's not all happy fun times.</spoiler>

Tags: #AttachmentDisorder #Cheating #Military #Misunderstandings #NuisanceEx #PanicAttacks #PTSD #RehabRecovery #SinglePOV #Therapy #ThirdPersonPOV #Trauma

Similar reads: the Ask, Tell series by E.J. Noyes covers some similar themes around PTSD and recovery, especially the second book, Ask Me Again.  I don't think one book is objectively better than the other—just different perspectives on the subjects.

This story was a mixed bag for me.

I can very much relate to Dale's affect: she's gone through a traumatic event, she's in shock, and she's spent her life defining her identity as someone who doesn't want to need help.  My own tragedy wasn't a tornado, but I had a similar "lose everything" event, and went through the exact arc that Dale did.  I turned down genuine offers of help because I thought other people needed that help more than I did.  I kept my life on Hard Mode because I didn't want to be a burden to those around me.  I pushed all the feelings down inside because I didn't want to bring down the energy of my friends.

So, yeah, I definitely connect with Dale's story.

But I also felt like the romance with Taren was just ... not as well-baked.  It felt more like a montage of a romance, so that I felt like I was missing the connective bits.  It wasn't awful, I just wanted more than was there.

Sex: <spoiler>two PG-13-rated scenes</spoiler>

Tags: #AfraidToReplaceLostLove #BestFriendsSibling #HalfUnavailable #PTSD #RehabRecovery #RivalsToLovers #SinglePOV #SlowBurn #ThirdPersonPOV #Trauma

Things I enjoyed about this book:

• Jo is the boss everyone wishes they had.
• As slimy as the <spoiler>sexual harassment</spoiler> stuff is, it's handled really well.
• I loved Jo's agonized worry about <spoiler>not creating a hostile work environment for Emma</spoiler>.

Things which I didn't love so much:

• While I can appreciate that Emma's reaction to <spoiler>the whole "you didn't tell me" thread</spoiler> is an intentional character choice, I still get cranky with characters (and IRL people) who think that everyone in their life owes them 100% transparency 24/7.  Sometimes, stuff isn't about you and it's none of your business.
• JFC, all of the friends and family need to cut off the teasing when asked.  (Again, yeah, I get that this is an intentional choice.  But ugh.)
• The reminder that we live in a society where <spoiler>it's perfectly legal to take photos of people without their permission and then extort them to keep the photos from release</spoiler>.  Why are we like this?

While that may make it look like the cons outweigh the pros, that's not true!  I enjoyed this book, and am glad I read it.

Rep: American-born Chinese FMC; bi Jewish FMC with asthma

Sex: <spoiler>one R-rated scene</spoiler>

Tags: #AgeGap #BiPansexualMC #Celebrity #ClosetedVsOut #DualPOV #EthicsOfPower #GrumpySunshine #Misunderstandings #PushyFriends #ThirdPersonPOV #Trauma #WorkplaceEthics

I do so love an irreverent narrator.

There's a quote that I always half-forget and end up butchering, but it goes something like "everyone around you is fighting their own secret war, and they are desperate to keep you from seeing how close they are to losing".  This book does a really good job of showing how we can forget that, and what happens when we stop iconifying and villainizing people and start treating even the people who have wronged us with empathy.

IMO, this book can occasionally get a bit preachy, but good points at high volume and in your face are still good points.

My only other gripe about this book is that the 80% conflict <spoiler>was largely irrelevant to the relationship, and yet was very graphic and dramatic, and</spoiler> didn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the story.  Maybe it can be filed under the "life happens and is messy" category, but it still felt a bit much for me.

Beyond those nitpicks, this was a solid story of people processing trauma to connect and see each other.

Sex: <spoiler>three R-rated sex scenes</spoiler>

Tags: #FearfulFearfulPair #FirstPersonPOV #NuisanceEx #ReboundFears #RomCom #SelfLoveIsHealthy #SinglePOV #SlowBurn #TheDogGetsSkritches #Trauma

I admit, I really did not expect to 5⭐️ this book.  There was no way, I thought, that an age-gap casual-consequences best-friend's-mom combo was going to be anything other than popcorn.  Warm, buttery popcorn, maybe, but popcorn nonetheless.

And yet, it's absolutely worth the 5⭐️.

Both women are interesting, and thoughtful, and imperfect, and relatable.  Both women know what they want, or at least, they're pretty sure they know.  I loved how, though they are aware that being public would complicate things, neither feels particularly strong shame about anything.  Neither gets wrapped up in the "oh, but this is bad" for more than fleeting moments at a time before the "no, I'm an adult and can make adult decisions" voice kicks in.  I loved that even the friends kept reinforcing that the relationship wasn't shameful, just complicated.

I also am ridiculously surprised and pleased that Meryl Wilsner was somehow able to seamlessly merge both insta-lust and the slowest and sweetest of slow-burn.  I am usually not a fan of the former, but it was so well done here.

Sex: <spoiler>8.5 R/NC-17-rated scenes (really, y'all, there is a lot of sex in this book, and it pretty much never gets repetitive)</spoiler>

Tags: #AgeGap #BestFriendsParent #CasualConsequences #DismissiveFearfulPair #DualPOV #ExpirationDate #HiddenRelationship #InstaLust #RomCom #SlowBurn #Therapy #ThirdPersonPOV