Information:

• Goodreads: 4.13 out of 496 Ratings
• Age Category: Adult
• Series: None
• Genre: Romance

Summary:

You know those guys on TikTok that go on and on about how to please a woman and talk to women about red flags in other guys? Have you ever wondered if they always live up to their own ideals? Eva Kitt knows that Rylie Cooper doesn’t. Not only did he show all the red flags he goes over in his videos, he also ghosted her after having below average sex. Years later, Eva still harbors negative feelings about it. She’s miserable on her Sausage Talk show, where she blandly interviews celebrities in desperate need for clout while stuffing her face with hotdogs because, you know, male gaze and whatnot. She’s miserable and happens across one of Rylie’s videos and, naturally, decides to stitch and air out their years old dirty laundry. Rylie sees and cons her into some date that they can use as content to prove to her that he is a better person now.

Review:

Okay, it’s cute. I liked it. Eva is bitchy. She’s not nice. She’s not easy. She hates what she does because she wants to be a journalist, not interviewing people just as desperate as she is. Rylie is sweet. So sickly sweet, in fact, that it’s kind of hard to tell he’s supposed to be the same person Eva has such bad history with. Granted, that history is at least (or around) six years old. Of course he’s changed. And I love this dynamic. It’s grumpy x sunshine, but the guy is the sunshine and I ate that shit up. He tries to go big on their first date – too big. It’s a terrible date. But there’s something about him (and their contract) that makes him difficult to not be around. I loved their dates and their banter. I loved seeing Eva talk about how falling for someone so emotionally unavailable can stunt your own emotional availability. I wish we could’ve seen more dates because they were the highlight.

Eva doesn’t forgive super quick, but it also feels like she does. I’m pretty sure they’re supposed to do 6 dates and we only 3 before they’re officially a couple. They are awesome dates. There isn’t much of the book in which the two are apart. But I still wish we could’ve seen more of a slow burn. I wanted Mariana Zapata length books with this specific premise. Show me the time, the effort, the angst. I wanted to be kicking my feet and giggling the first time they held hands. I was giggling. But not kicking my feet.

But let’s talk about that therapy scene. That was it. That made the book worth it. Realistic? No. But emotional and then paired with a kiss in the rain and angst? Absolutely, yes, give me fourteen of em right now. I loved seeing Eva be called out for her own emotional unavailability and her habit of downplaying how much Rylie actually hurt her. Because let’s be honest – he did. She keeps saying it wasn’t a big deal, but it’s very clear it is if his face is still enough to piss her off 6 years later. If she still hasn’t been able to tell any partner that she loves them since then, it absolutely had an impact and she keeps denying that. And it’s unfair to be holding this grudge while refusing to acknowledge its a grudge at the same time that the person is trying to make up for it. And I loved her finally saying that it hurt.

But, Rylie is also weird. Sir. 6 years have passed. Yes, you’re a better person now. But, he’s claiming what he did to her makes him feel guilty and he’s always thought about it and always wished he could fix it. So, why not reach out? Why wait until Eva makes a video outing you before trying to reconcile? But, it’s a romance. In my opinion, it doesn’t have to make sense, it just has to be cute.

This book is super cute. Super fun. I do wish it could’ve been longer so that I could have more fun with it. But I love it as is, too.