For example, with this one, by paragraph 8, I am already yelling at our protagonist, you did what!? Their cooking lessons, reading Romance books together, saving puppies, giving each other what they needed... Lord have mercy, every time I thought it couldn’t get any better they proved me wrong over and over again. Their relationship flowed so beautifully and naturally and I loved every single second of their banter and every single moment that got them closer together. My heart was fluttering and felt so gooey with so many romantic gestures and moments when they were simply there for one another. Little moments that might’ve seemed simple but meant the world. I couldn’t put the book down, it was wholesome, romantic and holy hotness, all the steam coming out of my kindle. My friends, sexy times in this book are off the freaking charts (yep, handcuffs and a uniform may or may not be involved). A plot that was a mix of emotional, healing, suspenseful and gasp worthy at the same time that made this powerful story absolutely epic! After surviving a suicide attempt, Phoenix Bridges has been given a second chance at life-one she isn't sure what to do with. When she's released from a psychiatric treatment center, she moves into her family's old shore house in New Jersey, to figure out how to start over. She expects the town to be desolate in the winter months. Finn has moved away from his cottage with Layla to a new home in Simonsbridge. After a long grieving period, Finn moved on to other relationships before falling for Ellen, whom he has just gotten engaged to. But Ellen isn’t just any woman, she’s Layla’s older sister. Ignoring the gossip from those who remember the story of Layla’s disappearance, Finn and Ellen have created a wonderful, happy life together.

With her main characters especially, I feel like they are my friends doing stupid things and making stupid mistakes and I just want to shake them. I'll admit, I do scold them frequently; out loud.

The token is innocuous to all but Ellen and Finn. You see, there is only one person outside of themselves who could possibly know the meaning of this token…Layla. But how can that be? Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review. To B.A. Paris, thank you so much for writing. HOWEVER, this book wasn’t written properly. I feel like it had too much potential, but it fell flat. The characters were… they had no proper characterization. Every time the topic of mental health or struggles came up, it read like a self-help book. The dialogues, both in and out of such scenes, were dramatic, cringy, and just awkward. Also, this moved way too damn fast for what should be the appropriate pace for a book like this one; tell me why at like 10% she’s insinuating personal things to practical strangers??? It felt very incredibly unrealistic to me.

What sealed the nail for me, however, was when the FMC informed the MMC of her suicide attempt and he flipped out on her and blamed her for her depression. He belittled her, called her weak and selfish. He told her she hadn’t tried hard enough, and that he can’t “be with someone like her.”

Customer reviews

A mediocre apology and we, like our main girl, just have to forget every single thing he said and move on. What I have noticed about B.A Paris' writing style is something I'm not too fond of. I feel like every character has a "paranoia" style. I'm not even sure how to describe it... It's constantly "what if this" or Omg what if this..." This gets on my nerves... a lot.