Amelia Halgren’s Reviews > Beach Read > Status Update

“Gus still thought he was missing something, some special piece other people had, the thing that made people stay— and it broke my heart a little.”

THIS is what it’s like when we assume that others judge us as harshly as we judge ourselves. People who’ve suffered abuse or have abandonment issues tend to negative mind read or get defensive. It’s refreshing to see this dealt with mid-story.

“In my own story I didn’t want to be the heroine who let some silly miscommunication derail somethings obviously good. But in my real life, I felt like I’d rather risk that and keep my dignity...”

This trope is probably one of my biggest annoyances in romance novels. I’m trying to decide if it’s better that the author is at least self aware here, or if it makes it more obnoxious.

“What’s in this?”

“Vodka,” Maggie said airily ticking the ingredients off on her fingers. “Coconut rum, blue curaçao, pineapple juice, a splash of regular rum... do you like it?”

“It’s great!” It smelled like an open 😂😂😂bottle of nail polish remover.

😂😂😂

“It all made sense at once, the hesitancy and deflection, the mistrust of people, the fear of commitment... From the time he was a kid, no one had chosen him and he was embarrassed by that —like it meant something about him. I wanted to tell him it didn’t, that it wasn’t because he was broken but because everyone else was.”