Thanks to Avon (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

OMG this was the SLOWEST OF SLOW BURNS!!!!!!!

Spoiler

They don't even kiss until 90%!!!!!

I'm not normally a fan of super slow-burn romances, but in this case, it definitely made sense with the plot and the characters themselves. Although, honestly I still would have preferred a little more action. Especially considering the other two books in this series.

I really liked the chemistry between Jia and Dev (but also, do guys like Dev actually exist??? If so, where...........?), and this book has some of my favorite tropes: fake dating, there's only one bed(room), idiots to lovers (:D). I definitely could have gone for more pining because I feel like everything wrapped up in the end REALLY quickly, and there wasn't that huge third act conflict that romance readers have come to know and love (or hate? at least expect). There was a very minor conflict at the end that was resolved with a two-second conversation, so I feel like this book didn't have as much tension as I would have liked. It definitely seemed more low-stakes than the other two in the series.

That said, it was a lot of fun, and I sped through it. Also it seemed like there were some heavy hints for an f/f romance for Lakshmi??? So let's hope she gets her own book to shine because I really like her and want to see her character developed.