“I wish I knew how to quit you.” I use that line from Brokeback Mountain somewhat facetiously but also as a WTAF draws me back to this book because I will 100% read it again, probably in less than 6 months.
Is this the best book ever written? No. Is this book even that great from a plot or romance genre perspective? Meh. Does it, however, scratch some unknown itch that I still don’t know what is causing it or where it is? ABSOLUTELY.
I have now read this book FOUR TIMES—I kid you not: check out my first review(s because I read it twice) from 2020 or check out my review from 2023 where I went back and re-read it AGAIN and this is number four. That puts it in front of all of Jane Austen’s works (for now), which are immensely superior, and ahead of all of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series and Ngozi Ukazu’s Check, Please!, which I just can’t at how adorable both of these series are; and honestly, this pales in comparison to all of those.
However, there are a few things that draw me back to this one over and over again which I’ve talked about before. Fitch’s naivete, Benedict’s Darcy-esque behavior, the settings, the made-for-tv clean-ish romance with the barest of innuendos, that they’re both dog lovers, and that I genuinely can read this in one sitting and have done so. My first response in 2020 goes into all of this in more depth than I’ll go into here, but I reread it and it stands; as does my second response where I talk more about the somewhat-stilted dialogue and the time jumps.
This fourth time reading it I just lived in the moment. I needed a book to pull me out of my slump of two MM Romance novels taking nearly 12 weeks to read and my post-degree lack of reading desire; and this did it, if only momentarily so I have to thank it for that. Is this for everyone? Absolutely not, you can go see everyone complaining about the chaste-ness of the novel on Goodreads, and I’ve highlighted some of the bigger issues across three reviews now. Does it make me incredibly happy and giddy to read this? Absolutely.
Recommendation: This book isn’t for everyone and you may absolutely hate it. But for me it’s the Hallmark/Lifetime holiday movie wrapped up in a nice digestible and somewhat read-in-one sitting package that I periodically need to revisit. So if you can suspend some disbelief and deal with a little bit of stilted dialogue and time jumps, and pretend you’re watching a mid-range made-for-tv holiday movie then you can embrace this book. I am 100% not lying that I will probably re-read this in the next six months. [Full disclosure I am back-posting this review almost 4 months later in late Feb.2025 and will most likely read this on my upcoming vacation if the other two books I’m taking go by quickly.]
Opening Line: “Finch turned into oncoming traffic, veered sharply back into the left lane, and waved an apology to the alarmed elderly couple in their little touring car.”
Closing Line: “Then he wanted to sneak them off to the conservatory and not return.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)
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