parts of two wrongs make a right were so glowingly beautiful, and then i felt like i wanted to pitch this one across the room in annoyance. whyyyy are these adults so juvenile, especially Bea and her sisters?? ugh. i'm usually such a heroine romance reader but bea just made me grit my teeth into dust too many times.

as for jamie (james), he's definitely in the "too good to be true" kornacki khacki snacki pediatrician competency p*rn romance grouping where his character was great but almost too great, but then what bea did to him in the last 5% of the story my gosh WHY. no point to that end conflict at all, and he should not have groveled. I'm just saying. Also, the male narrator for me felt all wrong for this character. A very deep overly sexy voice that just made me, uncomfy? i wish the other narrator did all of it tbh, even if her voice made me a bit twitchy too. I believe that narrator did Tessa Bailey's Bellinger Sister's duology and just overall a big meh.

i dunno, i'm starting to think as a storyteller Liese and I don't suit; she writes some sparkly sentences and breath-takingingly romantic moments but then ruins it all with too much physical humor/hijinks (both accidental and purposeful, i'm sorry grownups tossing food around even as a joke is really annoying) and other childish behavior. why is a pediatrician, grown man living with a shitty roommate?

okay. i know a LOT of readers will find resonance in the rep of this story, bea is pansexual & autistic; jamie is straight & has severe social anxiety. all of that was well done, as is Liese's usual (based on this and the other story i read). i hated how their friends treated them, how they tricked them and kept throwing them together. it just read so...college for a group of supposed adults.

ALSO miss me with the thin characters getting a pass for having their junk food/'crappy food' eating as a big part of their personality.

also as far as i could ascertain everyone in this story is white, which in an otherwise large city with casually diverse characters, is disappointing and worth noting.

content warning: drinking, depression, social anxiety (on page), autistic overload (on-page and discussed), toxic & gaslighting ex (Bea), off page; emotionally abusive and socially isolating secondary character who is dating bea's sister; fist fight between two secondary characters leading to one's hospital visit for stitches/checkup (off page but described, due to misplaced jealousy), food aversions

reader's advisory review of audio coming for Library Journal; thank you to PRH Audio for the ALC.