Ah this was exactly what I needed right now! This is seriously such a cute romance, and a perfect summer read. It also made me really miss going to renaissance fairs!

I've been recommended this book so many times by so many different friends that it's actually ridiculous it took me this long to read it. I ended up waiting for the audiobook from the library, and I'm really glad I did though! The audiobook is really well done and I loved the narrator and the life she brought to the story, and I loved how she portrayed Emily. It just added another layer to the story and I was totally swept up in it.

Most of the story kinda hinges on miscommunication/misunderstandings stemming from the anxieties and fears of Emily and Simon, but it's done in such a way that it's not frustrating like usual. Instead it served to make both of them feel a lot more real, more three-dimensional. Emily's been used before and is coming out of a pretty bad breakup, and the fears she has going into new relationships (romantic or otherwise) line up with those experiences. The same goes for Simon, he never truly left his home town and therefore was unable to leave his brother's shadow and who he was in high school. These two were just so soft and broken and I loved seeing them heal and find love in each other, and learn to accept themselves and that they deserve love. It was just so wholesome and it made me so happy.

I'm super excited to see what happens in the next book, because I really enjoyed this!