I gave this standalone contemporary romance a 5/5 stars. It’s written in two points of view, switching between Katrina and Nathan, both in first person present tense. This author duo made me completely fall in love & I wasrooting for them the whole way. The prose were effective, flowing, beautiful & well balanced between moving the story along in the pacing and making me FEEL for real. I definitely liked the second half more than the first half, but it was just so good overall that I read It within 24 hours.
Here’s my live thoughts while reading:
There’s a bit too much info dumping backstory in the first two chapters which could’ve been summed up more efficiently in a scene where it’s shown instead of told but from I’ve gathered Katrina and Nathan used to co-write and became very successful as a duo but haven’t spoken to each other in four years for a reason we don’t know. Nathan’s new book isn’t doing well so his only option is to follow his publishers orders by pairing up with Katrina again, but she’s retired and seems to have anxiety in general that she’s trying to overcome.
The prose feel heavier than the typical contemporary romance and I can’t tell yet if that’s a positive or negative thing. If they’re more weighted it usually means the character has more depth but it feels a bit slower and burdensome than what I usually read in this genre. I’m trying to convince myself to read the next chapter instead of immediately wanting to.
Katrina’s fiancé is also an agent and set her up in a no-win position to meet with her former co-writer. She never wants to write again and has given up her career so the betrayal hits deep. I don’t like this Chris guy right from the get go. I’m wondering, though, if Nathan and Katrina ever had feelings for each other or not.
Their first (non) conversation on page was cringe worthy.
What did she ‘do?’ And which rumors might be true? And why can’t they trade pages. By the way, both of them writing a scene blank and then trading pages sounds like a huge waste of time as a writer myself lol.
At the halfway mark their tension is killing me lol. The writers are doing a great job with this torturous slow burn. But Meredith if you cause a complication, I’m gonna come down there and rip that southern accent right out of your throat.
Chapter 53- well fuck. Now THAT was done to perfection. Also, the going back and forth between 4 years ago and currently was absolutely amazing with the timing
This book was written so expertly with such depth and loving care. I absolutely adored it!
Cassie Swindon 