Thank you so much to St Martin's Press/St Martins Romance for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!.

Sigh. This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and I am not sure if this one was for me. I am the exception as a lot of my reader friends absolutely adored this one so please don't take in consideration this review.  And perhaps I just wasn't in the right headspace to read this as it was heavy in topics and I was hoping for more of a fun, spicy rom com.

Quick Recap: Indira walks in on her boyfriend in bed with another woman which prompts her to stay with her brother Colin, his fiancee Jeremy and Colin's childhood friend Jude. Jude and Indira were frenemies growing up and just never grew out of their "hate" towards each other. It's already enough that Indira and Jude have to share space but Colin & Jeremy's wedding is approaching quickly and she is forced to be around her ex as he is a groomsmen. Indira and Jude decide to fake date to help make Chris jealous and just so that they each have a friend through these events.

"How am I supposed to live with myself when my shortcomings could be the reason people no longer exist?"

I think for me what I wish was addressed was Jude's mental illness right away. Yes, it was talked about but we as the reader to to infer what exactly it was. It wasn't until about half way through where it was really discussed and even further when it was labeled. I didn't want to have to guess I knew what was on and make assumptions about the character. With that being said, once the item was addressed and Jude discussed with Indira his feelings and what has been going on with him, it all was beautiful. I thought Mazey brought Jude's pain to life and made it really believable. It also tackles a career that we do not normally see depicted in books and even in movies. 

"Memories of you are inevitable."

One thing I really liked that is different than other fake dating tropes I have read was that they told people that this was a plan and why. Fake dating was one of my favorite tropes because we always know what ends up happening and the build up is always so good. I really liked how Indira stuck by Jude through his difficult days and inner thoughts. I think her being a therapist helped her without being *too* therapisty. 

One thing that I have noticed thinking back is that I feel like the male main character stood out more than the female main character which is not often the case especially in a series that it switches like that. 

I love that we got to catch up with other characters that we have grown to love over the course of this series. And I will miss them especially my girl Lizzie and Australian hunk Rake.  

I am a massive Mazey fan as an author and just as a person and this will absolutely not deter me from reading her future work as I do love her writing style. I am looking forward to her YA debut later this year.