Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 (maybe even a 2 – I wanted to love this one – but I put it down repeatedly and would force myself to bring it places when I wanted to bring something else and it took me months to finish it)
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡ (I felt like the tension wasn’t strong in this one – she hates him but fucks him anyway...)
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋 (These scenes were pretty light – way lighter than I was expecting.)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (Maybe even a 2 – they are quite short)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A bit
Perspective: First person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium
When mains are first on page together: immediate for a prologue, and almost immediately in the current story
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue:
Format: bought paperback
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is book 1 of Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes series.

Basic plot:
Emmy moves back home and immediately runs into her childhood friend Grant Malone – but he knows too many of her past secrets she’d rather not face.

Give this a try if you want:
- contemporary romance
- Northern California setting
- skydiving instructor heroine
- police officer hero
- childhood friends to lovers
- some animosity – the heroine isn’t the biggest fan of the hero and pushes him away
- low to mid steam – there’s a few scenes but they are on the lighter/short side

Ages:
- heroine is 28, hero was in the same grade, so I would guess similar age

First line:
My tummy feels icky, and if I look at Emmy, she’ll know I’ve been crying.

My thoughts:
Ugh. This book exhausted me. I was so excited for it...bought it off a recommendation forever ago, got the paperback because I liked it. I started this over the summer and made it my beach read. And it frustrated me so badly.

I was just so disappointed. Emmy isn’t receptive in any way to talking to the hero and pushes him away repeatedly. The hero pursues, which feels rather icky with her past. But she’s just really mean to him a number of times. She has major trauma, so it’s understandable. But instead of opening up to each other, they just start fucking. And I had zero tension or caring about these mains.

And I was SO disappointed in the steam. I was expecting way better but it was quite light. There’s some scenes that had a decent build up and then would just fade to nothing/morning after.

I think there were a few plot things I just wasn’t loving – I never loved either character. I would try another by this author, but unfortunately this one was a flop for me.

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first
Average rating: 3 stars
Favorite book: This one

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- parental illness and death
- parental abuse
- sexual assault of a child (remembered)
- scenes of domestic violence
- remembrance of self harm and suicidal thoughts

Author content warnings? None listed

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:

 
Safe sex: 

  Condoms used 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
Pregnancy/children in story? (Please note this is the best to my memory/note taking. If you see something I missed please feel free to message!) 

  There are some scenes with a child side character (a domestic violence victim the hero has contact with through his job) but no kids or pregnancy for the main couple 

 
Pg 94 of 380 – first kiss
Pg 140 of 380 – 🔥 her on top on the couch
Pg 196 of 380 – a blow job that fades
Pg 225 – kiss
Pg 254 – 🔥 oral/fingering for her
Pg 280 – a scene that fades