'I Think I Love You' by Auriane Desombre is a YA contemporary rom-com that centers around a pair of girls who start out as something closer to adversaries and just may end up falling for each other along the way.
Emma is an incessant romantic who wholeheartedly believes in love, even if she doesn't believe she'll find it for herself. When she gets an email inviting students to participate in a high school film festival, she just knows it's going to help her make her dream career a reality.
Badgering her friends -- Kate, Tom, Myrah, and Matt.. into working on the student film project with her, she has the perfect idea. A gay rom-com with a happy ending.. and a chance to see herself represented onscreen.
When her rival, Tom's best friend Sophia, returns from Paris unexpectedly.. she thrusts herself into the middle of the project and starts contradicting everything Emma hopes to do. From that point on, the competitiveness just spirals out of control.. and that's really where the story begins.
Set in New York City, there are lots of great visuals and Desombre does a fantastic job of allowing the reader to really see the locations through her descriptions. Honestly, throughout the years it's been such a popular place to film rom-coms, that it kicks off the story with just the right feeling.
Kate is an absolute darling and you kind of just want to keep her safe, but I did really enjoy Emma for the most part as well. Sophia is incredibly annoying at first, which means the author was completely successful in her attempt to alienate and distance the character from the pack. When we meet her, she just seems rude, pretentious, and over-confident in regards to pretty much all of her opinions.
Don't get me wrong, Emma is set in her ways too. She's gotten used to not having to compete for what she wants with Sophia gone and she doesn't take kindly to her opinions being challenged. Honestly, I can relate. I probably wouldn't have responded maturely either.. but these two take it to a new level, driving wedges into the comfortable group dynamics.
Of course, in an effort to 'help' each other, there are some interesting dramatic situations that occur because meddling often makes a mess of things. The underlying theme though is love. Ultimately, these people care about each other. They want to see their friends happy and they're willing to do what they think it takes to make that happen.
Some of the themes are a little cliche and there are moments where pivotal points within the story seem just a tad forced, but overall it's a cute tale, with some amusing dialogue. I genuinely enjoyed it and if you're looking for an easy read.. that's a predominantly heartwarming story to brighten your day, this would be a good choice.
(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)