I loved this. I loved everything about it. The writing is slow and evocative and beautiful in present tense third person (which always has ethereal undertones to me). There's so many lines from this that I loved, just for how beautifully the emotions were captured and expressed. I loved Charlie and Reid, and how their bonding over their divorce and Charlie helping Reid with his pitching and board games. That Charlie realizes he's queer and where so many books would make this a big plot line, Charlie barely blinks.

I also really appreciate the good portrayal of therapy in this book. That it's not portrayed as the end all solution for Reid, but that his therapist is just someone help Reid talk through things and point him in a helpful direction when he needs it. Reid's sobriety is depicted as something he is constantly working for, as opposed to something he can just check off a list.

Also a point of note: there are several women characters who are well drawn out and have good substance to them. It's something that frustrates me in MLM romances, and I just really appreciate that here there are a couple women characters that have depth and are well written here. Charlie and Chris are friendly despite getting a divorce. We don't see too much of Stephanie, but she has the feel of a character who is well drawn out.

Really, this is a fantastic follow-up to Unwritten Rules and I can't wait for the next book. (I have a speculation on who it's going to be about, but I guess we will see.)

CWs: alcoholism and addiction, anxiety, brief references to sexual assault, references to biphobia and homophobia, racism, sexism, antisemitism. Thanks KD Casey for putting a great CW list in the front of your book. Can we normalize this please?

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.