This was a quirky read with small-town charm, and a lot of potential with the underlying storyline. The story itself was, overall, pretty good. So I wanted to love this, as I’ve enjoyed the other companion novels from the same author and Jennifer Peel. But there were a couple of things that really ruined that for me.
Part of the problem for me was Jenna herself. I had a hard time connecting to her. She was a smart woman, but it felt like it took her entirely too long to realize that she needed to stop wasting time on toxic men.
But worse, at least for me, had a high cringe factor that brought an otherwise good story down for me. The chapter titles are a tongue-in-cheek reference to a fictional guide created by Jenna, all based on her lack of success in romance, on dating emotional unavailable men. Her bits of “advice” felt so cringey, encouraging women to stay in relationships that are anything but healthy. The snippets were meant to be funny, but they just fell flat for me. Instead, they literally encouraged women to stay in relationships that were emotionally draining, even abusive. It sent the message that it is better for women to be disappointed and miserable and in a relationship, to have the onus of the relationship on them, rather than be single. It was… weird.