Oh, this book captured my heart and attention from the beginning and kept them until the end. This reminding me of how I felt reading Carley Fortune, so automatically, this has become a favorite. 

I loved Jo’s character. I’m so happy to have read about a FMC who has everything going on for her, empathetic to her core despite having a difficult relationship with her estranged mom. This book is another example of how having emotionally immature parents affect the adult relationships of their child(ren). 

I also loved Mal. What’s not to love. A handsome romance writer with a heart of gold who loves the FMC unconditionally?! Yes, please! His banter with Jo was top tier and I even loved his relationship with his friends, Kieran and Kelechi. 

Now to Ezra and Renata. I immediately pictured Renata from Big Little Lies, aka Laura Dern, but with an accent. I do appreciate the relationship both mother and son had with Jo, but also understood the complexity of their relationship because of Ezra’s attempted suicide and what came across as a bit of a savior complex after understanding Jo’s traumatic past. It’s really tough to call because I do think they both loved her, but in their own way because of their own difficult relationship with Paul/husband/father, they didn’t go about expressing it in the best of ways, but showed it through their money and access to a more luxurious life for Jo. 

I want more of this book and these characters. I feel like there is more story there and while they had a happy ending, it did feel rather abrupt. 

I still highly recommend this book!