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Ugh, I seriously love the Winston family so much.

Penny Reid just really kept knocking it out of the park with this series. I LOVE how sex positive this book is.

Simone’s inner monologue voice is so hilarious 😂

I have no feelings about Roscoe because he’s been so scantly mentioned in the books so far, but I like this. I really respect the world building that Penny Reid so diligently does in this series—she could’ve gotten away with much less, but I like that she put in the work. Interesting to see that Billy is engaged to Simone’s sister when we know he’s got two books with Claire coming!

Yes, I stand by my earlier assessment, this continues to be excellent parenting book.

If nothing else, this is a great parenting book.

I’m just not sure I’m super into Gracelyn. I don’t think anything is wrong with her per se, but I think I’ve outgrown JEA’s quirky, “hot mess”, somewhat immature heroines.

I really love Morgan.

Sigh. I can’t say I like much of JEA’s heroines and Gracelyn is annoying me a ton. It’s so immature and childish to not be honest about the fact that she can’t cut hair?! Like......

Nate is the most annoying kind of parent.

Jesus Christ it really took until the 90% mark to hear someone tell Marley that she needs to get over her high school hurts.

The “hot mess girl gets a makeover by putting on makeup and getting a haircut” trope stopped working eons ago 🙄🙄

Again, the book’s overall premise really fails to land when we’re talking about two 38 year olds. I can believe Jake is a playboy at 38 who doesn’t do long term relationships, and I can believe a much younger Jake who doesn’t know how to date, but it’s impossible to believe a 38 year old who needs FIRST DATE tips.

I like Lucy Score’s books a lot but good lord they are fucking long. Every scene, thought, activity needs to be taken to its logical conclusion over the course of many, many chapters. Every conversation needs to be fully had, ever memory and mishap fully recounted. DEAR GOD SELF EDIT BETTER!!!!

Marley is irritating me. She clearly barely did any prep for her job, jeopardized the team’s wellbeing in an attempt to feel like she knows what she’s doing, and then whines about being a hot mess. Like, she is a hot mess? And she’s willfully doing this to herself.

GAH ❤️

I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that a town is still talking about how one girl ruined homecoming TWENTY YEARS ago. Maybe if Marley was 25 and returning to her small town, but not if she’s freaking 38!

Finally! I’ve been waiting for Beau’s book 😭

I am LOVING this book, despite the fact that I thought Cletus would be my least fave.

I am REALLY enjoying that this pairing are not starting off as “fated mates.” Makes the eventual coupling all that much sweeter.

Cant believe it almost took me two Penny Reid books to say this but I hate, hate, hate her use of epigraphs. It’s pretentious and unsophisticated writing.

I like this book a lot more than the first. Another thing I like is how fully-formed all the Winston brothers’ personalities are, and Penny Reid’s ability to weave them in and out of the stories as to not make them overbearingly present—and juuuust enough so they help move the plot along, instead of hindering.

Why is heroine being so needy 😒 Hero doesn’t trust her enough to believe in her agency and all she keeps doing is continuing to defer to him!

Church, taking things slow, wanting heroine to stay put, family calling heroine’s dreams reckless and stupid .... 😒 While this small town romance’s conservative values aren’t OPPRESSIVE, it’s present enough that I know this book could never be a fave.

I’m so bored. On the one hand I made it thru 2.5 books already, but on the other hand, this book is so fracking long and I’m so bored.

I started reading this maybe two years ago and couldn’t get into it. I’m retrying now and am liking it so much more. My only gripe is that all the characters are really old-fashioned or straight up conservative and I’m not used to that.

Lily White is such a good fucking writer. Such a controlled storyteller.

I have a real problem with the way Lucas insists to Yulia that he won’t hurt her, while doing things that absolutely trigger her trauma and not caring when she says no. Sigh.

Using sexual trauma to solicit information from someone the hero is supposedly obsessed with 🤷🏻‍♀️

This already feels zippier and sexier than it’s predecessor.