This is a friends-to-lovers story, and it takes a while to get going. There’s no initial tension between Meadow and Christian, the best I can say is it’s all very nice. They’ve been friends for over 20 years and know each other very well. All the reader gets are a few hints that both of them may have thought about being more than friends when they were younger.
The sub-plots play a large part in the story and I felt they had too much time. I wanted more focus on Meadow’s and Christian’s relationship.
When they finally get to the crux of the story, the dates were nice and romantic. I wanted more of that budding romance, more of the pair together. On each date, one of the guys Meadow’s mum tried to set her up with conveniently turns up just so we can compare them to Christian. (Cue eye rolling.) Then her ex-husband is suddenly on the scene, too.
When they do start to have sex it’s nice, I’d say middling steam levels. How many times can I say nice in this review.? Once more apparently. This book is nice, but every aspect left me wanting more. I wanted more scenes with them together alone, more tension between them, more spice and heat, and more originality in the plot. I know it’s romance and there are certain things we expect, but this just felt dull.
I also wanted less focus on her family (not all of it was essential to the plot) and less time describing minute details like exactly how she cleaned her floor.
The way it was structured was also a bit strange. 90% of it is from Meadow’s POV, then we get one chapter from Christian’s POV. All I wanted was his perspective on what had just happened, instead, it was a load of exposition about events from 20 years ago, most of which the reader already knew. After we reached the climax, it was an abrupt halt in the progress of the narrative that left me frustrated.
I felt this story was more about Meadow’s relationship with her mother than her relationship with Christian. So, I’d label this as women’s fiction rather than romance.
My review of this book reflects my personal preferences, because in general the characters were likeable, and the plot flowed nicely. There were a couple writing issues that interrupted the flow a little, but nothing to make me want to stop reading. I just prefer the books I read to focus more on the relationship between the couple.
You may enjoy this if you like fiction with a strong focus on family dynamics, particularly mother-daughter relationships with a romantic relationship running alongside. This is definitely for you if you love your stories heavy on medical details, plus hot doctors.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️
