An easy read, but....very cringey in its inner monologue style. A self help book in the form of a fiction novel. How many sentences were there where Phoebe would observe an object or thing, and then domino into some deep dramatic artsy statement that reminded me of like...emo Zanga/Livejournal. SO CHEESY, it should've been stitched on a pillow and sold in a home goods store. Examples: "“Take a breath,” Phoebe says. The pool is so cold, the shock of it hasn’t worn off yet. But Phoebe likes the shock—likes how it reminds her she’s alive." "“Oh my God!” she shouts to no one, to herself, to Gary and Juice. She is balanced. Steady. But then she falls into the water. It’s been so long since she has fallen like that—she has never, she thinks, ever fallen like that. Totally and completely" Anyway, despite this, I chuckled at a lot of the conversations, and I found Lila / Gary / Phoebe / Juice relationship developments to be pretty charming. Questionable and convenient that everyone was in love with a different person and thus not THAT hurt, but fun nonetheless. But minus stars for the cheesiness - show me, don't tell me...

Ugh. This definitely felt like a mainland china drama. Like of "Qing shen shen yu meng meng" melancholy. It starts out strong and gets increasingly depressing. I finished the book and thought 'what's the point'. what did these characters gain? Or did they just coast and survive. ALSO, the dude barely even tried to fight for Manzhen. LOSER!

Dammit my review didn't save. This was a lovely story. funny! Low on smut, (and -.5 on enjoyment because the quality of the kissing scenes didn't match the quality of the buildup). This was a great read because the ROMANCE WAS FREAKING THERE, and it made me laugh. That perfect tension between leads, driven by each characters' unique reason that they wouldn't believe in happily ever after - it kept the strings of the story pulled taut, with FREQUENT VIBRATIONS! Of course, our heroine's back story really stings the heart, and makes some of the plot points so tender. The relationship development was steady and believable. The chemistry! The creative scenes that played on classic tropes! That tear down! The third act! Also, I'm always impressed when romance authors have a heroine start out infatuated with the hero, and then somehow turns the story onto its head, into an enemies to lovers. It's masterful and takes the most skill! No disappointments.

enemies” to friends to lovers type of arc. Made me chuckle. Ari the heroine is funny and messy. You grit your teeth as she overcomes her avoidance attachment style. The hero gets a little clingy at times haha. The romance is mostly slow burning, and pretty satisfying when they join up. Nothing here made me swoon, since this mixes regular fiction drama with romance somewhat. Still worth a read!

This was a cute read! It even gave me some delightful chest pains /heart break which I LOVE. The heroine is all business, a little macho, and has a lot of walls up. It’s cute to see her walls come down, all because of some swoonworthy hollywood actor hottie. The suspension of disbelief is intense here, since it would actually really suck to fall in love with a celebrity at the end of the day, and they would NOT be this down to earth. But it’s ok, this is romance!