Reviewed by Sam@WLABB on
Many of the things, which made me love Thorne's previous book, The Hating Game, were present in this book. Great chemistry, snappy banter, some serious heat - it was all there, but what I really adored was the history the couple shared.
Darcy and Tom were childhood friends. I mean, Tom was practically her family's third child, and he remained close to Darcy's parents and her twin brother, who was considered Tom's best friend. It was love at first sight for Darcy, but she always felt that Tom belonged to her brother, and he was only about 1% her's. When Tom finally became a possibility, Darcy fled. She led this vagabond life, never letting herself love someone, because that "someone" would never be Tom. And THEN, fate intervened. Once again, Tom was a possibility, and this time, Darcy was determined to make him 99% her's, and I know I was rooting for her to make it happen.
I think my heart physically hurt, when I learned Darcy's thoughts regarding her unrequited love for Tom. Her feelings of longing and loss, when it came to him, were palpable. Imagine having to maintain contact with the one you will forever long for, the one you think you could never have. It was heartbreaking, and because of that and the fact that I grew to love both Darcy and Tom, I NEEDED them to finally act upon their feelings for one another.
I won't lie. It wasn't insta-love for me when it came to Darcy. She was quite hard and brash, and I was sort of buying into the picture her family painted of her. However, as the story played out, I learned a lot about her and started to understand why she was the way she was. She was sort of wild with many, many quirks, but, I will admit, her impulsiveness and lack of filter created some of the most hilarious moments in the book.
Now, Tom I loved from page one. Remember, I was seeing him through the eyes of a women, who has adored him for decades, so he definitely came across as a unicorn-man via Darcy. But, his actions backed up what Darcy was seeing, and let me tell you, he was all sorts of wonderful.
Why 4 instead of 5 stars? Once again, I would have loved to have the hero's point of view. I did feel like there was a lot of honest discussions between the two, so we weren't totally in the dark about how Tom felt, but his POV would have help present a clearer picture, when it came to certain things. I also felt like some of the side drama was detracting from the central focus, which was the push-and-pull romance between Darcy and Tom. However, I had the opportunity to share enough really special moments with those two, that more than made up for any wee thing that bothered me.
And, the ENDING! I was crying and smiling and I loved it so much. In fact, I have a huge grin on my face and some tears in my eyes, right now, as I relate this to you (see picture above). It was a good ending, and it has me wondering if maybe we will revisit this world. It seemed like there could be a story brewing for Darcy's brother, Jamie. Pssst, Sally Thorne, I would love to read that story.
Overall: Another solid romance from Thorne, which made me laugh, cry, swoon, and smile.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 1 January, 2019: Finished reading
- 1 January, 2019: Reviewed