This was another recent NetGalley request, chosen because it sounded cute, I love a m/m romance (and a bi one to boot!), and I was prepping for some veryyyyyyy long plane travel. It turned out to be a great choice! 

 

Once Upon You and Me is cutesy AF, in all the best ways. This fairy tale resort setting is absolutely not somewhere I would want to visit IRL, but I really enjoyed my time there in these pages. It's complemented with some very subtle contemporary life nods to fairy tale storylines that are light and sweet, and never felt overbearing or saccharine. Similarly, the romantic touches, like the voice memos reading fairy tales out loud to each other is honestly the sweetest thing I could ever have imagined; what a touch! And finishing with the "fairy tale" of their very own story - my heart melted. I teared up; I couldn't help it. 

 

This was actually balanced in a really nice way with an incredibly steamy - right from the start - and later quite spicy relationship between Ethan and Tyler. It made what could have felt like a cloying story into something that felt much more adult. They were also a great opposites-attract situation, fitting each other perfectly. Plus, I personally love some steam and some spice in my romances. Of note, I thought the spicy scenes were really well-written, no cringe, lots of tenderness and communication, and, of course, hot.  

 

The side characters, Like Ethan's ex/Tyler's boss, Ethan's daughter, and Tyler's sister, were woven in well. They weren't super deeply developed, but they also didn't feel too flat, and they added to the overall world/story in a way that worked for me. I will say, the writing felt a bit uneven/unpolished. There was nothing super wrong, and it sure as heck wasn't enough to stop me from speeding through the book (the story was so good!), but it just wasn't as finished/smooth as maybe it could have been. Perhaps the final edits will help that, since I did read it as an ARC.  

 

Y'all, I *love* to see a late-in-life-discovery-of-bisexuality character, and a bisexual guy too (not a lot of that represented in the lit/romances I've read), so I was all the way here for that. And really, just, oh my heart: such a tender romance. Definitely recommend this for anyone looking for a cozy, but still heated, romance. 

 

“Love is an infinite resource. It constantly renews and replenishes.” 

 

“To me, peace isn’t a mural. It’s a mosaic. Things have to break before they can be rebuilt into something beautiful and serene again.” 

 

“Happy doesn’t need to be the default. Happier could be nice for a change.” 

 

“Their connection, regardless of distance, revives itself in the digital sphere, becoming resplendent and near constant.” 

 

“…he’s okay that ever after isn’t guaranteed because everything that happens next, every moment with Tyler, will be a moment captured happily.”