ลทฑฆำ้ภึ

หห‹ยฐโ€�*โ€โžทใƒปโฅใƒปโ€œ๐“˜๐“� ๐“ฒ๐“ฝ ๐“ผ๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ต๐”‚ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ฝ ๐“˜ ๐“ญ๐“ฒ๐“ญ๐“ท'๐“ฝ ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ฒ๐”ƒ๐“ฎ ๐“˜ ๐”€๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“ญ๐“ป๐“ธ๐”€๐“ท๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“พ๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ต ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ๐“ต๐“ญ ๐“ถ๐“ฎ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐”€๐“ธ๐“ท'๐“ฝ ๐“ต๐“ฎ๐“ฝ ๐“ฒ๐“ฝ ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“น๐“น๐“ฎ๐“ท?โ€ใƒปโฅใƒปหห‹ยฐโ€�*โ€โž�

โคฟ๐ŸŒ�24/02/25
3.5 stars, spoiler-free review ๐Ÿ’ซ
release date: 4th March, 2025

*sighs* I think I only jinxed myself by saying this would be a 5-star read before I even started reading the book. ๐Ÿฅฒ I should have never done that, or at least should have kept my expectations low (but I never listen to myself). I liked reading it, but I didn't love it sadly. Anyone who loved this book and rated it 5 starsโ€”just know I feel betrayed.๐Ÿ˜ญโœ‹๐Ÿ� Before going into my rant review, let's get into what tropes this book has ๐Ÿ˜Œ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป

what to expect ๐Ÿ’Œ:
๐Ÿงก Dealing with loss & grief
๐Ÿงก Strangers-to-Friends-to-Lovers
๐Ÿงก Slow Burn
๐Ÿงก Grumpy x Sunshine
๐Ÿงก Healing Journey
๐Ÿงก Cinnamon-roll MMC
๐Ÿงก Loss of a best friend

Now that we saw the tropes, let's get back to my rant. Before starting this book I knew damn well that this book was going to hit hard because of all the grief. But somehow, I didn't feel that moved? I was expecting you know, to connect with the characters, but I couldn't.

โ€œHome is where the heart is. My heart died in a cancer ward six months ago.โ€�

Lenny Bellamy babysits children for small gigs. We meet her in the present after she lost her childhood best friend Lou to cancer six months ago. She's lonely and she's barely living herself consumed by all the grief she is experiencing. She cannot bring herself to go to the apartment that once she shared with Lou.

โ€œIf you need to cross things off your list to survive, I'll do that. I can carry someone on my back if I have to.โ€�

Miles Honey is the misunderstood MMC. Everyone thinks he is broody (well he kinda is) and is unsociable or unapproachable because of his past. But he is entirely the opposite, he might look tough on the outside, but inside he is a soft-hearted and the sweetest person ever. He wants to get closer to his only family, his niece Ainsley and his sister Reese. So he strikes a deal with Lenny who happens to babysits Ains, to teach him how to get closer to them, and instead he will help her to live again.

Although the author portrays the grief that Lenny had to deal with, I felt it a bit shallow. It made me sad to see Miles's grief brushed aside.๐Ÿ˜’ Yes, he is there, a stranger suddenly up-ending Lenny's life, taking care of her, making sure she stays safe, and helping her come out of the depression stage. We see his sweet side. But what about his grief? what about his past? what about him losing his mom & cousin in an accident? We don't even get to explore his side, his grief, his sadness.๐Ÿฅบ I didn't feel this book was as GREAT as everyone claimed it, because I was actually expecting that we would get some background on Miles, him opening up to her about his past in detail you know, open the dams and let me feel his pain too. But I couldn't connect with him. ๐Ÿ’๐Ÿปโ€โ™€๏ธ�

Overall, I would say it was a good sweet book. I do wish we had so much more character depth on Miles, and not brush his grief aside by only mentioning it on fewer pages. I really wanted to love this book, but I simply couldn't ๐Ÿ˜” If you loved this book, I'm happy for you. But don't come at me. The reason why I'm saying the grief showcased here felt a bit shallow is because I have felt the grief indirectly through my dad, who lost his childhood best friend in an accident years ago in front of his eyes when he was in his early 20s, that is before I was even born. So I somehow know how deep the grief can be. So on a personal level, this book fell short for me.

thank you to the Author, the Publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!๐Ÿ’•

Lastly, thankyou to my vee love, for buddy reading this with me, ily ๐Ÿ’Œ๐Ÿ’˜

หห‹ยฐโ€�*โถฤโžทใƒปโฅใƒป๐“Ÿ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐ิ�ใƒปโฅใƒปหห‹ยฐโถฤ�*โถฤโž�

โคฟ๐ŸŒ�24/02/25
3 to 3.5 stars? rtc. I really did jinx myself saying it would be a 5 star read, didn't I? *sighs*๐Ÿ˜ž I got a lot to say, but it's currently way past 1 a.m. and I really need to go sleep. Will come back tomorrow to rant with my review ofc!!๐Ÿ˜Œ

โคฟ๐ŸŒ�22/02/25
got the arc months ago, and I just know deep down this is going to be a 5 โญ�!๐Ÿ˜ (obv everyone who read this made my expectations high) first br of the year with my vee bby ๐Ÿคญ๐Ÿ’“