This book will forever live in the pantheon of absolutely bananas romance plots.

The first thing I would say to readers is take the author at their trigger warnings because when she says this is a "red flag romance," that is an honest label she's offering. None of this would fly for me on a regular basis, but it was entertaining for the most part. However, there were some pretty aggressive lines that were crossed for me, even with the warnings; I'm not going to yuck anyone's yum because I was fairly warned, and this is just not my kink.

That said, the writing quality wasn't at a level where I was comfy overlooking these red flags in the relationship. And to me, that's the skill of a dark romance writer that didn't land for me. The plot jumped around and scenes sometimes felt like they skipped. I didn't feel like there was enough justification for the characters' choices outside of their insta-obsession with one another.

I highly recommend the audiobook for this. While the writing is heartfelt and approachable for all ages, the narrator for the audio does captivating voices and does so much to amp up the emotional impact of this story.

I listened to this slowly as I commuted to work, and I was unprepared for how many times I teared up. It's one of those special books that transcends age and is one I'll be recommending to folks regardless of where they're at in their reading journey.

Would recommend if you like a spicy age gap romance with insta-lust/love.

Would not recommend if you're looking for strong character development or plot.