3.5 stars

As always, I’m going to be completely honest with you: I picked this book up pretty much solely because the MC’s name was Gideon. I have an unhealthy attachment to another character called Gideon (in TID) so it’s just accidentally become one of my ultimate name crushes. I just cannot help picking up books that have Gideons in them! Oops..? Anyway, this book 100% delivered what it promised. It was a light-hearted and incredibly cute romance with an easy-to-read, addictive writing style and a sickly sweet happy ending. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I did. It was completely entertaining and it made me smile. But with that being said, it is also one of those books that I could sit down and write a few pages of minor complaints about. Weird combination, I know, but anyway, here’s my random, jumbled thoughts - the good and the bad:

My major complaint about this book is, without a doubt, how short it was. I know a lot of people say this when they loved a book so much that they wanted more but 240 pages were honestly not nearly enough time to build this story to the depth it deserved. Certain scenes were rushed and the character development just couldn’t go as far it needed to because there was no time. I would rather a book took its time building the characters and plotline than rushing through it to get to the HEA faster.

This was particularly an issue for this book because it tried to tackle a range of issues and couldn’t do any of them justice because of the book’s length. I think the author definitely has the voice and style for handling these topics in a modern and relatable way but there was just so much going on in this story that we didn’t get to give each ‘issue’ the attention that they deserved. We glossed over some really controversial topics that would have been interesting to explore and certain aspects of the story - Ezra’s career, Ruby’s financial situation, Gideon’s religion and how it affected his queer identity - was almost completely omitted. I think this book had to be so much longer and in-depth if these were all given the attention they deserved. If the author didn’t want that - and wanted a light-hearted fluffy contemporary instead - then I honestly think that some of the topics should have been completely cut out.

In particular, I needed more time exploring Kyle’s dyslexia. It was a little bit unbelievable, the way it was handled. It really is very rare for males to be undiagnosed for so long and I don’t think that this topic - especially with its relation to the school system - was given the time and development it needed throughout the story. It was pushed behind the more immediate plotlines and while that’s completely fine, I wish the book had been longer so we could have explored the topic, and Kyle’s reaction to it, in more detail.

I think that shortness of the book also made the romance of this book a bit of a letdown. I mean it was absolutely adorable... like really, really adorable. I was all smiles and soft awws for the most part. I guess I was just a little bit confused by the story’s timeline. Gideon’s sudden “coming out” and crush on Kyle at the beginning of the story was so immediate that it felt kind of forced. It also just felt way too rushed. It actually almost felt like instalove to be honest… and we all know how well instalove romances turn out. *cough, cough*

With that being said, I thought that the characters were done very well. Gideon and Kyle as MCs were pretty darn terrific. They had fantastic chemistry and made me laugh. Their voices were distinctive and realistic. I loved how nerdy they were when they were together and their sense of humour was slightly quirky but definitely made me laugh. I also really enjoyed the development of Ruby. She was heading in a dangerous direction for a little while but I liked how her character arc was tackled. I definitely would like to see more from her - and Ezra! - in a spin-off of some sort.

I thought that the parentals situation was refreshing. In fact, I liked that there were so many supportive and kind secondary characters in general. We are certainly in the sort of era that this sort of reaction will become more of the normal to coming outs and such discussions about sexuality/gender but I guess I don't think its realistic that there were no more reactive or awkward - or downright negative - reactions to the characters' coming outs. I know that some people do have smooth coming out experiences but Gideon's family was religious and it was never talked about. As hard as it is to believe some people are homophobic and ignorant af. There are definitely people out there like that and it kind of surprised me that there weren't even any awkward questions or anything. I have mixed feelings about it all.

But to end on a positive note, like I said before, the writing style was short and sweet. It complemented the story perfectly and was easy to fly through. The chapters flowed wonderfully and I managed to speed through it in a single afternoon without any troubles.

Overall?

This book was a light-hearted romance that provided the delighted smiles and cuteness it promised us. If you go into this book expecting much more, it is probably going to leave you unsatisfied. It’s best left for one of those sunshiny summer afternoons where all you feel like doing is relaxing in your lawn chair and sipping lemonade.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.