"In order to weaken Grey Emerson, Jaya had to get him to be vulnerable with her. And what made boys more vulnerable than love?"

I've been looking forward to this book for quite some time (plus the cover is SUPER cute) and I'm really pleased to say that it was a delight to read! It's good to read something lighthearted and funny in these stressful times, and I've already got another contemporary romance lined up because I'm in the mood for them now! This is my first Sandhya Menon book and I will definitely be picking up the next one in this series :)

I am ALWAYS here for a fairytale retelling. This was a bit looser retelling of Beauty & the Beast but it was fun to see the little hints that were there, like the rose pendant and the West Wing tower. I was SUPER thrilled to hear that the sequel was based on the Princess and the Frog, which is one of my underrated favorites! The plot moved pretty quickly, and the twist at the end was suuuuper predictable from early on, but that wasn't a huge deal for me.

I liked both Jaya and Grey (though Jaya sometimes annoyed me with how oblivious and uncommunicative she was) and their relationship was cute. Jaya's stubbornness was also a bit grating at times, and I always hate when plot problems could easily be solved by communication and honesty and then are not. Still, this book was a lot of fun! Definitely cheesy sometimes but overall a very adorable read.

The side characters were kind of hit or miss for me. I liked Isha and the sister relationship was really heartwarming. Daphe Elizabeth annoyed me too much to really like her, and her plot was just a nuisance to me, since it was obvious that she was making all the wrong choices. My favorite side character actually ended up being Catherine (shocker, I know) and I absolutely LOVED how her storyline played out! I'm HYPED that the sequel will be focused on her because I thought she was a lovely character, and I hope to see her friendship with Jaya grow in the next book as well!