I absolutely adore Nancy Ann Healy’s writing. Yes, there is a whole lot of introspection, and yes the characters discuss the same topics multiple times, but it all feels necessary and organic. The characters are working through things, and each time they have a conversation it moves them forward. I love being so thoroughly immersed in the thoughts and feelings of the characters. By the end of the book I really feel like I know them.

I love a toaster oven romance where the character worked out they were probably gay years ago and then repressed that for years (so it truly is a toaster oven romance, not a coming out story) (see also Always Alex by Robin Alexander).

The Sick Dad trope in sapphic romance is prolific, and this one hit me hard.

When the dad died I burst into tears and said to my wife “Her dad just died!” My wife, who didn’t realise I was listening to an audiobook on my AirPods at the time, thought I’d said that my dad just died, and I was crying so hard it wasn’t difficult to believe. I then went to work and proceeded to burst into tears again while making coffee—this time happy tears during the wedding ceremony. Expect to cry a lot in this book!