DNF 39% - Cozy mystery is not one of the genres I'm most well versed in, but the story sounded fun and the tropes right up my alley. Alas, I had to quit because I was having a bad time. For a book about a woman who had been subjected to scrutiny and criticism her whole life, she sure turned out to be just as judgmental back, and that was true for the hero as well. I couldn't take another moment of the casual meanness of their thoughts. It really took the cozy out of the experience.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advance reader copy.

A very sweet novel about a thirtysomething woman with her life not together as she deals with the deep grief from losing her beloved grandmother and eventually finds love with her grandmother's co-writer, a somewhat asocial but kind former cover model.

I had a really great time with this story for about ninety percent of it. I really liked Philippa, an extremely normal (complimentary!) woman who is smart but not genius, pretty but not stunning, nice but not particularly charismatic, whose existence takes a turn when she enters a life crisis and decides to drop her tenured job and hole up in the dilapidated old house her grandmother left her. There, she meets Dylan, the man who starred on the covers of her grandmother's romance novels and who later became her assistant and co-writer. Philippa and Dylan's cohabitation starts rocky to later devolve into a multilayered partnership full of classic rom-com beats, some of which were so cinematic they took my breath away (the moment of Dylan coming back from a run in the rain will be seared in my brain for a long time!).

This story leans more women's fiction than romance novel, despite the romance taking a relatively forefront position. We accompany Philippa as she navigates these new, rough waters of uncertainness, of being at an age when one's supposed to have it all together (and so many of us don't), just like her beloved, chaotic siblings seem to; of her trying and failing and trying again to ask for and receive support from her caffeinated know-it-all parents, who love her but don't understand her. Her relationship with Dylan grows into something full of kindness and compassion and awareness, and lacking in judgment, exactly what they both need, and though I thought Dylan remained a bit opaque (we only have Philippa's POV), he was exactly the kind of romantic hero I'm drawn to, and their relationship the kind I most want to root for.

The last ten percent lost me a little, partly due to my own personal preferences, and partly because of what I thought was a bit of a too quick resolution of the various threads. Still, overall a very enjoyable read that made me think a lot about my grandmothers, whom I miss both intensely.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this advance reader copy.