First DNF of the year! An interesting premise. I gave it my standard fair shake by holding on until the 30% mark, but unfortunately, there was nothing to grab me beyond the quirky back cover copy. Why this didn't work for me is a tale as old as time: Hallie, our FMC, spends a lot of time explaining to the reader how physically attractive she finds Hayden aaaaaand . . . that's it. No emoting. No yearning. I'm becoming a lot pickier about contemporary romance, and unfortunately these days I just need a bit more than "boy who is hot and nicer than my ex" to keep my interest. An attempt was made to include some banter but it was mostly Hayden: here is a fact about a cryptid, Hallie: lol bigfoot isn't real.

Something that really hampered Hayden's character development IMO was that Hallie kept saying she "didn't understand Hayden." That's . . . fine. And part of many normal human interactions with new acquaintances. But when it was written in only Hallie's first person POV - it's also hard as the reader to understand Hayden. And to understand why Hallie feels such intense emotions about someone she admittedly doesn't know and doesn't understand.