*3.5 stars

i really actually liked this story! i liked the characters, their relationships to each other, the development of saorise's past and how that affects her views of her present and not getting into committed relationships.

[POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD]
i think my only issue with the story, and honestly it's a me issue, is the resentment saorise holds towards her father for putting their mother in a long term care facility instead of keeping her at home. this is honestly a valid thing to be upset at; the common belief that we must be the ones to take care of our family when they get sick, but we mustn't be resentful at those who decide that they cannot provide the best care for said family member.

her father tried, and they for a while did have her mother at home, but it isn't uncommon that after a scare where a dementia patient hurts themselves and starts wandering, that doctors recommend they go into a safer environment for their condition. i'm coming for a stance as someone who is going into their last year of their social work degree and has workplace experience working in a long-term care facility, it is merely a place where the family member can be safe and also properly get the treatment they need, comfortably and without risk.

i understand saorise's anger and frustration, thinking that her mother would be better off at home with them, and how that ties into her anger that her father is remarrying, but even at the end of the story, she plays home that her father was wrong and cowardly for the decision she made; implying that he didn't love her mother enough for his decision, and that just didn't sit right with me.

besides all of that, i truly enjoyed the romance and ruby was a literal gem, as well as oliver. all in all, a great rom-com love story that the gays truly deserved!