4.5/5 Stars. I absolutely loved “In the Event of Love” and was so excited when Courtney announced book 2 about Ben and Adam, even though I prefer sapphic romance. But after meeting Ben and Adam in the first Fern Falls book and seeing the chemistry between them I really wanted to see them get their HEA. This book only starts and ends in Fern Falls and is predominately set in Maywell Bay, CA.

The story is told from Ben’s point of view so we get a lot more of Ben’s story than we do of Adam’s, but we do learn more about his back story, too. This book was lighthearted and fun at times and emotionally intense at other times. There is a lot of mental health rep in this book and I loved how Courtney handled those parts. Ben has a history of family trauma, parental abandonment, emotional abuse/manipulation, and more. And while he still has a long way to go, I love how Courtney highlights his progress and the fact that healing is a journey. And that triggers happen. I’m nearly 10 years out of an emotionally abusive relationship with a partner and I can tell you…healing takes time and is anything but linear. And when you’ve been through something like that, it’s hard to feel worthy of love. To accept love. To let people in.

There were a lot of plot lines running through this book and at times it felt a bit like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” for poor Ben. But in my opinion, all those various plot lines added to the power of the mental health arc in his story and helped paint a picture of why Ben is the way he is.

It was definitely intense at times and I LOATHED Ben’s deadbeat dad, who just kept popping up and infuriating me more and more every time. But it’s interspersed with cheeky humor, bun puns, romance, and a very quirky, eccentric grandma (aka G-Ma) who I absolutely loved (but would also kind of hate to have as a grandma…