I love how the recurring theme for the Heartstrings series so far seems to be, "all of Baltimore falls in love with the female lead and goes fandom feral about shipping".

It felt so good to be back in this universe. If First-Time Caller was a constant stream of mini fireworks in my veins that left me desperate for more, And Now, Back To You was thick, fuzzy blanket fresh out of the dryer that felt like coming back home. While it didn't give me the same rush that the first book did, Jackson and Delilah was still an absolute delight to fall in love with.

Jackson Clark, the man that you are... Borison can't keep getting away with all these perfect fictional men, I swear. Wdym he started raising his two twin sisters when he was just 20, is incredibly nerd-smart about the weather, can admit when they're wrong, and have slutty little glasses? Unreal. Also, if there's one thing I love about fictional men, it's when they're honest and in-tune with their feelings with themselves. Witnessing Jackson's thoughts change (or rather, stop defaulting to Annoyed) the more he spent time with Delilah was so much fun. You could absolutely tell he has always been enamored by her, but his rigidity in his routines and rules against Delilah's pure whimsical chaos, on top of the lack of connection with each other, just made it impossible for him to really sit down with his feelings long enough to see it for what it was. It was a delight to see his one-sided rivalry turn into absolute adoration.

Delilah Stewart, I hope you know how much I love you. Ngl, the one thing I didn't like in their story was how much she got pushed around and bullied and she just takes it. I mean, I get it! That's how she is! And I don't blame her for that! But god, was it frustrating and I just wanted to go up to Keith, hide her behind me and be like, "she said she wants to do the weather report!" while I jam my nail into his chest. I love that Borison intentionally based Delilah on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl type, but made her sooooooo much better. The skeleton of bubbly, eccentric, whimsical and all the fun things that come with it, but she's also her own person with her own struggles, strengths, insecurities, and boundaries. Her reservations about their relationship and what it means for that when they get off the mountain was so real and frustratingly valid. I had to remind myself I can't be mad because I 100% would be the same.

I loved the unraveling and progressing of Delilah and Jackson's relationship. I especially loved that we didn't really have to deal with a third act breakup though, honestly, I can't tell you when their relationship actually fr started. I'm going to say committed, actual relationship right before they got busy at work and leave it there.

The Heartstrings series continue to be my favourite out of all the ones Borison has put out, and I can't wait for more. See you again in Long Time Listener, Baltimore!