I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Stephanie and Jamie meet at an art retreat, there’s an instant connection. There’s one problem though - the both of them are in committed relationships. The pair decide to meet up once a year to continue their friendship/romance but how long can their relationship last without destroying everything else they care about?

Where do I start with this one? The good bits first of course! The writing in this book is really good, Roxie Cooper definitely has the ability to plot a really good story and pace it well. I definitely appreciated the writing skill.

Another good thing in this book is that one of the main characters Stephanie goes to therapy for a long time in this book to help with her mental health and continue a normal life and this was always seen as a good, healthy thing to do which I appreciate. Good mental health awareness/care!

Now, I am surprised I haven’t seen more people be turned off from this book considering its main plot is infidelity. I’ve seen lots of people hate books because of cheating and I have never had major problems with it before but this one for some reason rubbed me up the wrong way.

Stephanie and Jamie are both great characters in their own right, and they are also great together. I just really hated they continued emotionally, and sometimes, physically cheating on their partners. For years. Even after children came into the equation. I think there’s a point in such relationships where a selfishness takes control and this definitely happened here. The characters (particularly Jamie) were just cowardly and did not act in the right way. I also think the author made it a bit too easy by having the other halves act a bit difficult (or just a downright ass in Matt’s case) but in real life that’s not always the case. I just can’t help but think how smashed my heart would be if someone I was married to had such a relationship for years and wasted my life in a marriage I thought was for life.

I also do think some of the technology in this book could have been a bit off? There was a point when Stephanie and Jamie were texting each other YouTube videos to watch and I really felt like those years may have been before the time of YouTube links been text to people and being watched on phones.

Also MASSIVE cliche ending that I actually couldn’t believe (even though it did still make me cry a bit, have to be honest. I was mad and sad at the same time). I saw what was coming, I really hoped it wouldn’t happen because COME ON. But nope, it happened.

One for fans of One Day by David Nicholls.