4 Ginger Massage Oil Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level:🌶️🌶️.5/5

So this was much better than It Happened One Summer because Hannah isn't a vapid, self-absorbed princess like her sister and Fox is just an adorable simp...

Note: While this could essentially be read as a standalone, I wish that were possible because I did not enjoy It Happened One Summer. BUT that does give a lot of backstory into who Hannah and Fox are and what their friendship means and how their friendship started... and THIS BOOK MIGHT not be as impactful without that foundation.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
Hannah Bellinger moved back to LA to continue as a production assistant for her director Sergei (and crush). For the months she has been in LA, she and Fox Thornton have been secretly testing as friends. But when Sergei needs a remote historical location, Hannah recommends Westport. However, she cannot stay with her sister as Brendan's parents are visiting so she is forced to room with Fox and they are of course, "just friends". To make Sergei jealous she and Fox devise a plan to pretend to be "casually dating" but the more time she spends with Fox, and the more she learns about the man underneath the cocky smile the more the lines between friends start to get blurry... and the more Fox's feelings start becoming more real too...

𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:
Okay, I used to think that I hated Tessa Bailey because as mentioned I did not "gel well" with "It Happened One Summer" and for me it was absolutely awful. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE... When you give an author another chance and every book following that have made my heart smile and sing. I adored this SO MUCH!

Hannah, while being the younger sister felt miles and miles more mature than her sister. I think because she didn't come off as spoilt, wanting to work for herself and not use her name and clout to push her forward. She is tenacious and wants to achieve it on her own.

Fox was a broken little cinnamon roll. He's spent his whole life being told he is nothing but a player and good time, so it takes a long time to learn that he can be loved and appreciated and be accepted for who he is and not what he looks like.

Their relationship was beautiful, their chemistry was not as blatant and in your face as Piper and Brendan, but I think that's what I loved about it more, because of the SLOW BURN between these two. That chemistry blossomed into such a deep and meaningful connection! I do not always like Friends to Lovers romances, but this was cute and sweet and adorable, and the pining these two have for each other, and the longing, the banter, the adorable text relationship they have, and how they make each other better people was so heartwarming and gooey, and I ate it up.

I listened to this in Audio and Lauren Sweet did such an amazing job of portraying the emotion, character and story. I think this might also be why I have changed my mind a little about Tessa Bailey's books, because I liked her narration more than her sister's book...

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Small Town Romance
▶ Forced Proximity
▶ Friends to Lovers
▶ Slow Burn
▶ Sister's Boyfriend's Best Friend
▶ Third Act Breakup
▶ Nicknames

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Soup
▷ Undertable Touching
▷ Texting

I think there might be more but since I listened to this in Audio I probably missed a few obvious tropes

Overall a cute adorable heartwarming story that I think anyone who loves Friends to Lovers should read! 

me = no.1 best-friends-to-lovers-defender.

I feel like Hannah and Fox were developed more than Piper and Brendan, and I really enjoyed how they communicated what they wanted, rather than the typical rom-com miscommunication trope. The smut was still pretty smutty and a bit cringey at times lol but in a fun(ny) way. 

Lauren Sweet did a good job narrating the audiobook. 

 This was cute but I did roll my eyes quite a bit. Everything just ended up perfectly which was a bit nauseating, to be honest. And parts were just over the top. The narrator was great and it was fun and plenty steamy! I don't really care for slow burn though. 

i loved this!!!! this was cute and explored toxic masculinity and how easy it is for most people to encourage it without thinking twice. it also explored how trauma can impact a relationship, whether that is with family, friends, or a romantic partner. i loved seeing unwavering determination and strength from hannah to help fox, whether that be for the benefit of their relationship or just for him as a person. i liked this a little more than It Happened One Summer but loved expanding on this group of characters that i’ve grown to love. also that epilogue!!!!

if it’s possible, i loved this book even more than the first one. the characters are two whom we have already met, and getting to see their story on the page is so great. they have great rapport with one another, and are very obviously in love. they see one another in ways that no one else sees them, and honestly they were just such a heartwarming couple to read. the side characters were great and entertaining, and i was so so happy with the ending.