michelle kenney has done it again! i found this soo entertaining. it did take me a little bit to get into it but when i did, i could not put it down. once she was accidentally going on a bit of a trip, i was locked in.

i was truly disappointed with this one!! i'm not the biggest fan of second-chance romance (i recently have been starting to like it more though!), but this had workplace romance to fall back on, and none of the tropes helped the book... i cannot give this book a higher rating simply because i am not rooting for this couple. Like at all, i genuinely don't want them together. celeste was unable to move past the fact that gemma moved on from her with a man for so long. keep in mind, the only reason gemma had to move on in the first place is because celeste ghosted her out of nowhere. respectfully, the expectation of gemma waiting for her return is insane. she never once texted anything implying that she would return. a simple "i needed to come home for something, i'll be back soon" could have sufficed!!

the povs were really throwing me off. i don't care what kind of pov books are written in, but it was weird having both first and third person povs in one book, it felt very unnecessary considering the majority of the book was gemma's pov anyways (thankfully it was her pov and narrator that i enjoyed more). also, some of the side comments kind of rubbed me wrong..

thank you hachette audio and netgalley for the alc! :)

i liked her perspective and portrayal of classism. i don't necessarily think there were new things added to the conversation, but they were still good things nonetheless. somehow, in the 400+ pages, it felt like a lot happened, but also nothing happened at all. i did like ellory and hudson's banter, but i wasn't entirely sold on them when they actually got together idk idk good but there was something missing.

thank you poisoned pen press and netgalley for the arc! (:

i always love to see a woman in a male-dominated career, but this unfortunately missed the mark for me. i would've loved to see her with a wee bit more grit and backbone. i feel like with the way her career is set up, she has no choice but to be tough. but then immediately folds like where were those boundaries you set?? keep them! i liked reading about the actual racing parts but didn't really care about their actual relationship oops..

thank you putnam and netgalley for the arc.

this was so cutesy and fun. as much as i enjoyed the romance, i think i focused more on riley's relationship growth with her dad.

ok so they obviously started off on the wrong foot, and i am so glad that it wasn't fixed instantly. they both had to make some changes to the way that they perceived & treated each other. i just wish there was a little more between them getting along and them getting together. it was both sudden and not sudden at the same time??? idk how to explain it. but, i will say the last like 25% of the book had me locked in, and i'd say it was my favorite portion of the book!

thank you 831 stories and netgalley for the arc! (:

i am FREE from the hands of mortimer beaufort. he was honestly given a better ending than i would have given him. he deserves nothing but the worst that could happen to a person. ruby and james are finally done with that horrible man and can live the rest of their lives together. i'm also so happy for all of the other side characters getting their happy endings (ESPECIALLY ember).

(also thank you berkeley and netgalley for the english arcs)!