welp..... that was disappointing 🫠

Listen: I actually quite liked the start of this book. The setup was good and I was really feeling it! But then I noticed that I was almost 1/3 of the way through the book and Kit and Basie had only had like 4 conversations (all of them very business-y or unpleasant, mind you). And I started wondering “Huh… Is this book too short for this story? We’re already 1/3 in and they’re still practically strangers… How is the author going to properly develop the romance with only 2/3 left? 🤔".

And the answer is: the author DIDN’T develop the romance. This book had ~insta love~ 🫠🫠🫠. It was honestly so frustrating, because people say this is a slow-burn, and sure, it does take them a long time to *actually get together*. HOWEVER they literally catch feelings immediately!!! Basie was very quickly interested in Kit, and Kit literally says “his heart had set loose on Basie Yeats the moment he saw him".... 😒😒😒 God fucking DAMNIT!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooo tired of insta-love!!!!!!!! Authors, pleeeease stop doing this! It's so bad and it RUINS your romance books! 😭💔

Aff. Anyways. Not only did they fall in love really quickly, but also their relationship was barely developed, in my opinion. I could barely feel their friendship, let alone their romance! And it was soooo weird to see them talk about each other as if they were old friends, and as if they knew all of the other's personality traits, quirks and habits, when like...... they hadn't even known each other for that long????? They'd say stuff like "When dealing with Kit Elliot, it was more lethal to give up the truth than come up with a lie" and "He knew if he asked Kit to expand on the truth, Kit wouldn't have lied.", and I was just sitting there wondering like "HOW do you know this?? Y'all are practically strangers!! 🤔".

In addition to the poorly developed romance, I also feel like the characters sometimes acted weirdly, especially for people as old as they were. Like, why the fuck does Basie, a 77 year old man, think it’s better to BREAK INTO SOMEONE'S HOUSE to give something back instead of…. idk.... just leaving it in their mailbox or waiting for them to come back home? 🤨 And he also answers someone else's phone because "[someone] kept calling and your ringtone was making my ears bleed."..... And then instead of telling that person he had taken Kit's phone by accident, he let them mistakenly believe he was hanging out / hooking up with Kit instead of just.... explaining things?? 🤨 A grown ass man. Please act your age, I swear to god......

On the other hand we have Kit (

who is 103 years old, btw

), who somehow isn't freaked out that Basie (aka the previous owner of the house he just purchased) not only didn't give Kit all of the keys to the house, but he also lied about saving extra the keys for himself. And not only that, but Basie literally proved that he was very willing to just.... break into Kit's house using the keys Basie lied about having.... And if that wasn't enough!!!!!!!!! Turns out Basie ALSO lied about having keys to the shed – apparently not even Kit has a copy of those keys, only Basie, which means there's a part of Kit's house only the previous owner can access. And when Kit finds out about this, Basie REFUSES to give Kit the key!!!! 🤨🤨🤨 WHAT THE FUCK???????? I'm sorry, but if the previous owner of MY house REFUSED to give me keys to a part of my house, I'd break down the door and change the lock, straight up. And if I found out that motherfucker not only LIED about having more keys to MY house, but he also USED THEM TO BREAK INTO MY FUCKING HOUSE?????????????? I'D BE CALLING THE POLICE!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?????? This whole situation was soooooo creepy and off-putting! 😰😰😰 And EVEN IF we ignore how terrifying this situation actually is! Like.... How do you expect me to root for Basie (both as an individual character and as a romantic partner to Kit) when he keeps lying to Kit, breaking into his house and invading his privacy? And the fact that Kit was completely okay with this? There was no justification. It's literally just because he "fell in love" the moment he saw Basie, or whatever... Absolutely absurd.

Anyways. I know I've only said negative things about this book, but there were things I actually enjoyed. I liked the setting and how sweet and tender the romantic moments were (although they overall made me feel NOTHING, since the romance wasn't developed... 😐). If you don't mind insta-love and can look past stupid character moments, perhaps this'll be a fun, cozy read for you.