I think this suffered from my own high expectations after reading and loving The Bookshop of Second Chances earlier this month. This one feels like a bit of recycled plot from Fraser’s first with the added component that the main character is dealing with much darker trauma and has a complex about being irrevocably ruined and incapable of being loved. Her exact circumstances are not revealed until the end and the tension of it kept me worried about just what kind of book this was - was the Bad Ex going to come for her? Is the friend who’s coming on too strong going to cross a line? It’s another slow burn for the main love interests (although not as slow as Bookshop!) and a closed door romance. I also missed having the full cast of quirky characters as there was much less of that here. See - it’s that I LOVED Bookshop so much that I’m feeling so critical of Beginning. Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.