I’ve been a fan of Jenna Evans Welch since Love & Gelato, so I was so excited to see what she could accomplish outside of that series—especially with a touch of magic added in.
This is a story of first love, sure, but it’s really a story of family, as are the rest of Welch’s books. Told in dual POVs, it addresses foster care and found family, as well as healing in a fractured, distanced family.
I love Jenna Evans Welch’s writing. Her characters have distinct voices. The narration is easy to fall into, while still giving a distinct and unique sense of self and character for both Willow and Mason. She dives into the complexities of families, and it is an emotional, even heartbreaking experience at times, but the book still manages to be a fun, heartwarming, and relatively light read.
I think the book does give a little bit of a glamorized view of the foster care system. It mentions issues in the vaguest of senses, but there’s no exploration of it, leading to a bit of an underdeveloped narrative for Mason and his background. Generally, I think Mason’s development is a bit less than it could be, especially when compared to Willow, but that didn’t stop me from connecting with him and caring about him.
I actually read this right after a reread of Love and Gelato (while I was in Italy!), and it was fun to see how much Welch’s craft has improved. Though I loved Love and Gelato more, personally, this is definitely a stronger book on the technical level. I can’t wait to see what comes next!