- this was a cute novella, basically the blurb covers most of the plot - I liked that Hayley was going after the love she wanted, I thought it was interesting to see her on a date at the start of the book with someone who was not the main male character. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting love for yourself and wanting to find a super special person. If there is somebody who is basically perfectly designed by Fate to fit you could be out there, and you try to move to a location where that would be more likely to potentially happen, that seems practical! - I found Jake's awkwardness and nerdiness to be overall cute, but he is kind of a weirdo. I felt that they had good banter between them and cute interactions, there were a few moments that I felt were cringey but of course Hayley was into it and their humor meshed well - I would have liked more emotional development, but for a novella using the fated mates trope, we get to see multiple wacky dates and maybe this was enough. I also felt that the mild miscommunication aspect felt natural and was believable, especially as it was their first date and the situation was relatively high stakes for Jake. There was decent steaminess throughout. - most reviewers agree that this is cute, silly, charming, quirky and the main male character really defined what it means to be longing for somebody. I do agree that the main characters weren't as weird as they could have been, but they were goofy and I think it's good to have that representation in romance. I do agree with a comment that I saw that the characters felt younger than their listed ages. I also agreed that I would have liked more world building, but thankfully there are multiple other books in this collection/setting

This was so cute. Just a couple of weirdos who embrace each other's weird. Bonus points for no third act breakup