I really enjoyed this book!!! 🥺🥺🥺

Eloise was supposed to be a flawed and kind of unlikeable MC, but honestly I really liked her! I had such a soft spot for this girl, but perhaps that’s because I was a little too similar to her. 😳😅 The author did such a great job portraying Eloise’s depression and social anxiety. Her being too nervous to hang out with people and always thinking the worst in social situations hit a bit too close to home, ngl. I related a lot to Eloise having no friends and always hanging out just by herself.

I was so happy when she started befriending Marianne and Austin (and his friends)! Seeing Eloise come out of her shell, opening up, not being alone all the time, her family noticing that she was actually *happy* when she started befriending Austin… It was all just so - - - !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🥹🥹🥹 It made me soooooooooo happy!!!!! (also when will it be my turn? 🥲).


And Austin was such an amazing LI!!!!! 🥹 First of all, the grumpy x sunshine trope only works on m/f ships if the girl is the grumpy one and the guy is the sunshine, which is exactly what the author gave me, and for that I am thankful. 🙏🏻 I am SICK AND TIRED of mean men in books, so having a super sweet and caring male LI is always appreciated. 🫶🏻

And Austin and Eloise’s dynamic was SO GOOD! I appreciated that Austin wasn’t just a doormat lol. He was the nice one in their friendship, but he often pushed back when Eloise was being moody. And I loved their banter! How they jokingly insulted each other, and pushed each other’s buttons, but never in a pressuring way. Austin was just trying to get Eloise out of her comfort zone, but always gave her an out, which I (someone with a lot of social anxiety, just like Eloise) really appreciated. 👌🏻

I LOVED seeing their friendship develop and, as I mentioned above, seeing Eloise opening up and becoming happier was so amazing! And Austin just cared sooooo much about her!!!! He was always so sweet and caring and lovely and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!! Once again: WHEN’S IT MY TURN?! 😩


I also really liked Marianne! I didn’t expect to care this much about this old woman, but her dynamic with Eloise was also super enjoyable! I loved that they were so similar, but their dynamic ended up being kind of similar to Eloise and Austin’s: they pushed each other’s buttons, but always in a joking, friendly way. I also really liked seeing Marianne, Austin and Eloise hanging out all together.


I really appreciate that the 3rd act conflict in this book ACTUALLY MADE SENSE?!?!?! (It’s a rarity in romance books, ngl).

Eloise self-sabotaging by assuming the worst and pushing people away is really in line with her character. You can see it coming from a mile away. It wasn’t just a stupid random thing the author pulled out of her ass for the sake of having a 3rd act conflict; it actually made sense. And Austin and Marianne had every right to be upset because Eloise’s actions! And I really liked seeing her acknowledge her mistakes and apologize. Just 10/10 for the 3rd act conflict.

I know this book is already on the longer side for a romance, but honestly???? I would’ve gladly read 50 (or maybe 100) more pages of these characters just hanging out! 😅 I just wanted to see more of Eloise and Austin’s friendship, and their relationship once they got together, and them hanging out with Marianne, and Austin’s bandmates, and Eloise and her family…… I just wanted more lol.


Why this isn’t a 5 star:

➤ The fact that Austin was the “sunshine” was stated 1 too many times lol.

➤ Eloise partly choosing what university to go to because of her boyfriend of 5 months was kinda lame, ngl. I wish there’d been more hints throughout the book that she wanted to go to that university, so that the choice didn’t seem to come out of nowhere and be so influenced by the fact that Austin was going to that uni too.

➤ Also, saying “I love you” after knowing each other for 2 months? Too soon.

➤ I would’ve liked to see more of her family. I know it was explained that she didn’t have much in common with her family and didn’t love hanging out with them, but still.

➤ There were a couple of instances of “telling instead of showing”. They were very well implemented, don’t get me wrong! The only reason I’m complaining is bc I kind of wanted to see some of those things played out lol (like them planning their Halloween movie night, Austin meeting Eloise’s family, etc – these things were mentioned, but we didn’t actually *see* them happen). I just liked these characters so much that I wanted more 😅.


But these don’t even matter that much, tbh! I enjoyed this book so much that I now want to read everything the author had written (at least until she does me wrong lol). I REALLY liked this book! 💕💕💕💕💕