I have been highly anticipating Ruben and Jules' romance, and was intrigued reading the blurb, but this book is full of tropes that I don't like. A second chance romance was the biggest one that I hate, and again it was not my favorite in this book. We do get to see some of the previous time when they were together, and I understood the reasons why Jules had made the decision she did 12 years ago, but I think the emotional development was lacking in this book. I didn't feel like there was enough tension/ angst, it felt more like I was being told that the characters have been pining after each other for years? I want to see the emotional development on page and understand why these two would make a good couple together, and this book used both the second chance romance/ previous relationship Trope, fated mate Trope, and "I've been in love this whole time" trope that all stood in place of actually seeing on-page why these two would be the perfect couple. The actual plot I felt somewhat distanced from, it was okay but it didn't really wow me. There were a lot of new characters being introduced, but I didn't really care that much about what Jules and Ruben were trying to accomplish? The climax and drama of the book felt like it could have been cranked up by more tension? It came across as a bit cheesy or almost like a B-Movie level of drama. In some ways Ruben was not as powerful or impactful as I wanted, especially in comparison to the previous Grim character. Overall this book just did not land well with me, I wasn't as hooked, mostly due to the main tropes of this book being ones that I don't typically care for: road trip, Second Chance romance, "I've been in love with you the whole time". I will say I do enjoy when the main male character is more invested than the female main character, and you do get that with Ruben. I do understand also why their relationship was basically 'right person, wrong time' 12 years ago, and I did feel like it was finally time for them to get back together now, but I didn't feel necessarily that their respective character arcs came together in a way that was satisfying in this book. Also, some reviewers point out that Jules had attempted to move on from Ruben after they broke up and she had one or two relationships that did not work out. And then in the current timeline he basically is slut-shaming her for having chosen to sleep with another man, which is completely not acceptable. Also someone points out that he never apologized for his behaviors 12 years ago, which I don't really remember but sounds right.