Thank you so much to the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Canary Street Press for an advance copy of this!

This book will be out on March 4th, 2025.

I became a fan of Alexandra Kiley after her debut Kilt Trip and could see the potential in her future. As much as I had enjoyed Kilt Trip, I did struggle while reading it. But this one, I was sucked in from the moment it started. I absolutely LOVE this book!

This one to me felt like a romance and it wasn't that the prior wasn't a romance, I felt it was more centered about the FMC's grief than her romantic love interest. Whereas this one, this former couple was forced to work together and be together on a multi day hike and the tension was brewing.

Also I love the use of the past timeline where we got to see how Brooke and Jack first met and then how their relationship became complicated when he became a teacher's assistant. There was something that caused the break up and altered the course of Brooke's life and the whole book we are leading up to finding out the moment.

Jack is *chef's kiss* a beautiful book boyfriend! He is flawed but also the most caring person. He was and still is head over heels for Brooke. He knows he had messed up in the past and wants to try to fix things. Brooke. Our beautiful Brooke. She is so strong and has so much resentment towards Jack about what had happened in the past. She wants to complete her hike and get the memoir she is ghostwriting for completed so she can start her next job. She does not want any complications with Jack but spending so much time together has reminded her what she loved about him. Even when Brooke was not so nice to Jack, they still had complimented each other so well! And Jack remember things about her just made him so incredibly swoooony aka the thunderstorm scene. "I've got you" - Gah!

I love how each of them (in the past & present) pushed one another to be a better version of themself and to go after what they truly want. And this book is a reminder to never settle and if you are unhappy, change what's making you unhappy. Also not to always play it safe! Brooke was playing it safe for too long and not truly living the life that she wanted to live because of the fear of failing due to incidents in her past.

There is also this beautiful subplot that I won't give away too much but it centers around Brooke's relationship with Jack's aunt, Mhairi her old writing professor who asked her to ghostwrite her memoir. I love hearing both of them tell stories about Mhairi and also Mhairi would provide life advice for Brooke especially towards the end of the book when Brooke didn't know which career path she wanted to go towards. And I'm pretty sure Mhairi purposely planted the seed to have them both go on this hike together to communicate their difference and possible rekindle their relationship.

I just couldn't stop reading. I wanted to know more about this couple and the journey and to find out what happened between them. I just loved Brooke and Jack so much!!!

This is a stand alone centered in the same universe as Kilt Trip. But I do not think you necessarily need to read Kilt Trip in order to understand the characters in this.

I recommend this if you are looking for a forced proximity, nature, Scotland setting and a second chance romance!