The Friends to Not-Quite Lovers to Strangers to Friends again to Lovers Situationship of Adam and June – It’s Different This Time

Information

• Goodreads: 4.35 out of 1,172 Ratings
• Age Range: New Adult, Adult
• Category: Romance, Contemporary
• Series: None

Summary

June Wood’s life is just going down hill and has been for a small while. She’s on a tv show that doesn’t really spark her interest and that just got canceled so now she has…exactly nothing going for her other than trying to figure out how she’s going to pay her half of the rent. Luckily for her, she gets a weird email. Subject – 74 Perry Street. Mind you, she hasn’t lived in this place in years. And now, here she is. Being asked to come back to New York to look into some paperwork because, somehow, this place that she hasn’t been back to in 5 (maybe 6??) years is now hers. Unfortunately, it also is the name of a certain someone June never thought she’d have to face again. The two of them decide to stay in the home, once again, sparking old memories and old feelings.

It’s really cute. I gave it four stars and actually really debated 5 for a while. It’s not perfect, but I’m learning to read and rate books for what they are. A five star romance is not typically going to be the same as a five star fantasy or horror. There are some flaws that I’ll talk about more in the review section, such as how the characters feel younger than they are, but this is just a really cute book. It’s giggly and tow-curly, while also having some emotions tied to it (looking at you, June’s commitment issues and avoidant attachment style). I read it fast and had a blast. So let’s chat about it.

Review

I’m going to start with the plot, as there are some great things and some not so great things. June is an actress whose tv show just got canceled. She has no idea what she’s going to do, but get an email right in the nick of time – she is the owner of her old home that she was renting about 5-6 years ago. The agent couldn’t discuss anything over the phone and demanded she come to New York from LA to discuss it. Her agent is extremely excited; she’s been trying to convince June to get back into Theatre anyway. June was incredibly successful until she dropped it all on what seems like a whim and ran off to LA. When June gets there, she finds out that her old roommate, Adam, is also listed as an owner. They have a week to decide what they want to do with the house and June decides she may as well stay at the house instead of paying for somewhere to stay. Sounds like a smart and sound decision. But, Adam decides to stay, too. And, boy, do they have a lot to talk about.

I liked the plot. But let’s be real – that shit could’ve been discussed over the phone. She absolutely did not have to go all the way to New York, not in today’s grand age of 2025. However, I can respect a need to get her to New York for something. It played its part. I just have a hard time with suspension of disbelief when I’m reading contemporary romance specifically. It’s split into 2 different timelines – one in the past when June and Adam meet, become roommates, and develop a ‘friendship.’ The other is in the present following as June comes back after 5 or 6 years. The second timeline does jump around a bit. There’s time skips of a year, a few years in order to cover their beginning, developing the ‘friendship’ and how + why it ended. But the pacing never feels too fast or too slow in either timeline that’s followed. It feels just right for each. It’s kind of a slow burn romance, kind of not. I, personally, think the book is too short to be fully slow-burn, but I’m not the greatest judge as I love slow burns that take about 85% of the book before the characters even kiss for the first time. But it isn’t vista-love, either, and I’m sure other readers will disagree with me on what is and isn’t slow burn. That’s okay.

Onto my favorite topics of the book, characters, emotions, and thoughts. I’m tying all of these together because I find it nearly impossible to talk about one without mentioning the other. Starting with the few complaints – the main characters are basically the same person in different fonts. I had to remind myself which of June’s friends lived in LA vs. New York. Genuinely, the only differences between the two is one lives in New York with a wife and kid and the other lives in LA and is dating. Their personality is the same – bland. I know, I know. I’m going to sound picky when I say this, but I have to have other people who are also interesting in my romances. The couple isn’t enough for me. I want to see their other relationships and how those relationships impact them. I love getting scenes with siblings, friends, parents. Anything and everything to show that these people are whole people, not just who each other are through the lens of the person who loves them.

That being said, I love June and Adam. June has a shit mother who does not care about her even a little bit. Adam had picturesque parents and is working through the impact of loss. June has an avoidant attachment style, something a lot of people develop when they grew up as she did. It’s a protective coping skill that a lot of people don’t even realize they’re doing. And when they do realize it, it’s still hard to work through and work against. It’s so fun and interesting each time an author adds in something like that. It feels realistic and gets my little counselor brain excited. Adam is relatively healthy. I would say he tends to go further towards an anxious attachment style, especially when considering how he kind of just bulldozes past June’s (albeit shitty) boundaries and moves into the house, despite having his own home, just to be close to her and try to talk to her. The entire story is essentially June realizing what she’s been doing, coming to terms with her fear of abandonment, and making changes to be able to live happily ever after with the love of her life. I do wish we got to see Adam realize a lot of his mistakes as well. He does acknowledge some, but him pushing her boundaries isn’t ever really talked about. They do also read a lot younger. They’re supposed to be early thirties, but reading this felt like talking to some of my younger cousins and friends who are just starting out – mind you, I’m 25. I know people can and do start over. It’s not necessarily what they’re going through, just the way they act and the mindsets they have that make them seem so much younger. I can’t give too many examples because I don’t want to spoil the book. Just be prepared – you’re going to love them. But they will feel like they are in their early 20’s instead of late 20’s-early 30’s. It doesn’t seem like it, but there is a big difference between the ages mentally.

All in all, I had a fantastic time with this book. I read it very quickly. It had me hooked, even with the few complaints I had. I love June and Adam and I love them together. I don’t even usually enjoy romance books with 2 different timelines. I typically find one timeline more interesting than the other and prefer for that timeline to just be the whole story. But for this one, I just had a great time. I loved getting to see them meet and fall for one another and completely mess it up. I also loved getting to see them adjust and grow and fall for one another again (as if they ever fell out of love with one another). It’s cute, it’s giggly, and it’s (occasionally and vaguely) emotional. And I loved it.

— I’ve been gone a while. I didn’t quite know what I was doing here and lost my excitement for talking about books. But I’m back, baby. And there should be another review coming this week (maybe a couple).