This is a super cute anthology that takes place at the height of social distancing and the pandemic lock-down in 2020. I wish I had read this one earlier, but it made me strangely nostalgic for the pandemic. Not for the part where everyone was sick and dying, but the part where everyone stayed home and tried new things.

The anthology includes 9 stories, the majority of which feature diverse stories. Here are my quick takes on each of the stories.

Love, Delivered by Erin A. Craig~ I wanted more with this one, I really felt like it was just getting started and we barely got to know the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I read, I just felt like it stopped too soon. She was new to town and just moved in, both of her parents work in the medical field, so she’s pretty much on her own. He’s the delivery driver bringing her meals for the first couple of days until their grocery order can be delivered.

The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade by Bill Konigsberg~ This was was super cute and fun. Two boys meet while walking their dogs and grow closer as they spend socially distanced time together with their dogs. Both have strained relationships with at least one parent since coming out.

One Day by Sajni Patel~ Her Asian family is driving her crazy and her apartment feels tiny, the constant noise drives her out to the balcony where her peace is disrupted by his guitar. Their meet-cute involves her chucking one of her favorite shoes at him in frustration.

The Rules of Comedy by Auriane Desombre~ Desperate to gain the attention of her crush (who just came out on social media), our MC recruits her older sister to help her seem funny and cool to catch their attention. The girls finally end up texting and Facetiming each other.

The New Boy Next Door by Natasha Preston~ This one has a super cute neighborhood that went from house parties to socially distanced street parties and chalkboard messages in every yard.. She has lived in the neighborhood forever, he just moved in next door and they hang out in the tree between their houses.

Love With a Side of Fortune by Jennifer Yen~ She works at her family’s Chinese restaurant with her very traditional parents. He comes in for takeout every night while his parents are working at the hospital.

The Green Thumb War by Brittney Morris~ She loves her cat and is annoyed by his barking dog, which plays a huge role in their meet-cute and ends up with his arm in a cast. But they have both committed to their window box herb gardens and enjoy challenging each other across the gap between their buildings. (This story features Black MCs).

Stuck with Her by Rachael Lippincott~ This pair is college-aged, so a little older than the rest of the group, but they are roommates who have almost nothing in common and drive each other crazy. One is neat, focused and responsible, always eating her own groceries. The other is outgoing, loud, and constantly eats her roommate’s snacks. A series of late night confrontations, a panic attack, and a confession gives them a different perspective on their relationship.

Masked by Erin Hahn~ The final story has the characters meeting over a neighborhood app, where she shares that she’s making masks and he needs some for his uncle’s delivery service. Online flirting leads to in person flirting while delivering masks. There’s also an “Idol-ish” type show that plays a significant part in the story.

I enjoyed all of these stories and had a lot of fun with this anthology. And while the lockdown is over and we have moved on, I think this is still a great read for anyone who loves YA romance.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for review consideration though NetGalley, on behalf of the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was okay- first story was the best and the rest were fine but not my favorite. Interesting to read stories set during covid lock down. Good concept but not for me.

📖My Thoughts📖

I’ve only read a handful of anthologies, and despite the fact that this one is all short stories involving the pandemic, it has to be one of my favorites. It was super cute and while each and every story brought out the emotions the majority of people were feeling when it first hit, they all offered a positive spin on the whole situation. To write a story taking place during the nitty gritty of the pandemic and having it be fun, lighthearted and make you smile, that seems hard in itself, but to have nine people be able to pull it off is just amazing. I also liked that it was so diverse. I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and kind of wish there had actually been a few more. It was nice to read something that you know was rough for so many, but have it still bring a smile to your face.
Thank you Netgalley, Random House Children’s and the authors for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cute romantic short stories that were fun to read and be a part of. The stories where great the characters where great and this was a perfect quick read

Thank you so much to net galley, the publisher, and the authors involved. This was an excellent collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This anthology of short stories was released amid the pandemic during the period where most of the world was under quarantine. This lovely group of YA authors came together to write stories or romance and hope. I have to say that reading these stories brought me right back into the way that period of time felt. Unique, scary, isolated. Yet with these stories, and many stories in real life during that time, there was hope. As all selections in collections there are some that I enjoyed better than others. I think my absolute favorite was still the first one "Delivered" in which a girl moves to a new home in a new town while her parents work non-stop at the hospital. She is in relatively isolated area and has limited access to delivery options. She finds a pizza place and begins a socially distanced relationship with the delivery driver. It was so cute and engaging that when it ended I was left wanting more. That actually was how I felt about many of these stories. And its probably the biggest reason I have to complain about this collection. Due to the nature of short stories, and these are really short, we don't get enough time to learn about these characters in a deep way. With that understanding though, I think readers can find a lot to enjoy here. I want to call out a few other stories I thought were standouts: "Love With A Side of Fortune" really needs to be expanded into a novel. It was an adorable story of a girl who works at her parents Chinese restaurant. They are working through the pandemic and she starts a friendship with a young man who is also alone often due to his parent's jobs as he begins to frequent the restaurant for his pick up orders. The girl's mother is highly superstitious and has learned from her fortune teller that a certain man will lead to disaster in her daughter's life. She decides this young man is that disaster and works to end the blossoming friendship. So many intriguing ideas here that were just limited due to the short format. I also enjoyed "The Green Thumb War" about two neighbors who have a bit of banter and conflict from their facing balconies. It was definitely fun and light hearted. I also want to especially call out how great it was to see queer romance stories mixed in with this group.

"That's the thing about a mask. It allows you to be realer than real because you don't have to be you. The you that everyone else knows, carefully cultivated over years of trial and error."

Even though I know I'm not usually going to love every piece in anthologies, I find myself drawn to them time and time again. This anthology is all about finding love in those early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when we were all quarantining at home for "a few weeks". If I'm being honest, I was a little (ok, a lot) nervous to pick up this book as I felt it might be triggering for me. My mental health was horrible in those first six months of the pandemic and I was really worried reading this anthology would set me back in my mental health progress. I promised myself I could quit reading at any point and it would be ok.

Y'all, this collection of stories is so so cute. Never once did I feel triggered by Covid. Covid is more of a backdrop as the characters are spending time isolated in their homes and wondering when life will get back to normal. In one story a character makes masks for her community, in another some parents work in the hospital system but no details are shared, and in all of the stories, we find teenagers just trying to make it through this strange new reality. Going in, you know that every single story is going to have a happy ending, and honestly, that's what I needed from this collection. It's a collection of meet cutes, flirting, and friendly banter as characters social distance, mask up, and avoid any physical contact with their new love interest. What I especially love about this collection is the romantic interests are not limited to heterosexual couples. There are m/m and f/f sparks flying as well which is exactly the type of collection today's teenagers need.

I really enjoyed this anthology (probably because all of the stories had a happily ever after that warmed my cold heart) and I appreciate that many different types of relationships were represented in this collection. And, since it's set during lockdown, there are no steamy scenes I need to worry about my students reading when I add this book to my classroom library collection. :) If you're looking for an anthology of happily ever afters and can handle reading stories all set in those first weeks of the pandemic, then you're sure to enjoy this collection.

TW: Covid-19 (quarantine days), homophobia, self harm, mental health, panic attack, grief, abandonment/disownment

**Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Delacorte Press for the advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This collection was a super cute read. I was extremely impressed with the different and diverse relationships and how each story was so different but had the collective backdrop of current events.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

This anthology was the perfect quarantine fix for a book hangover. In a time when the news shows so many awful things about the pandemic are spread on the news, "Together, Apart" was a breath of fresh air. I went into the collection thinking the stories would be a little gimmicky or silly. Instead, it shed light on a nicer aspect of staying home and presented a hopeful portrait of future life. While no story gave a definitive happy ending, they each ended in a way that gave hope for future relationships, as readers could hope for a better future. It was a lovely short read and I would absolutely read it again.

Im sure others like anthologies a lot and tbh booksandlala got me to try them but this just isnt for me.

Very timely, and romantic. Because of the nature of this anthology, some of the stories did feel very formulaic, but it was interesting to see how various communities weathered those early days of isolation, and the stories that broke the mold definitely stood out.

A great short story collection by a variety of authors! I really enjoy when a collection is by multiple people rather than just one writer - you get to taste a sample of each author’s style. Anthologies will always be one of my favorite styles to read. Anyway, this collection is great! Of course, some stories are better than others, but that’s how it is for any collection. I think they’re all short enough to justify reading them, though, just to see if you like them. Several stories left me wanting more! Highly recommend this.

This was a delightful short story collection from some of my fave YA authors. It was a little bizarre to read this in July 2021 but also it really helped me remember that time when we did not know what was going on.

I've only recently started reading short story compilations so I was very excited to read one full of YA stories!

Generally any sort of compilation tends to be a mixed bag -- you love some, you hate some. This one was not like that! While I had my favorites, I liked pretty much all the stories for different reasons.

I loved the diversity and different cultures included and the depiction of how the pandemic has impacted different families in different way. But most of all, I loved to focus on human connection even at a time when we are physically distanced.

1- “Love, Delivered” by Erin A. Craig 5
2- “The Socially Distant Dog-Walking Brigade” by Bill Konigsberg 5
3- "One Day” by Sajni Patel 5
4- “The Rules of Comedy” by Auriane Desombre 5
5- “The New Boy Next Door” by Natasha Preston 5
6- “Love with a Side of Fortune” by Jennifer Yen 5
7- “The Green Thumb War” by Brittney Morris 5
8- “Stuck with Her” by Rachael Lippincott 5
9- “Masked” by Erin Hahn 5



all of these stories were so cute and i couldn't NOT give them all high rating!!
I really felt what they felt the past year (minus the romance lol)
I went through all the authors other books and I'm definitely getting them all<3

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It a super cute anthology. I always average my ratings of each story to get my overall rating for an anthology.

Cute YA story collection/short stories about living through a global pandemic. Like any other short story collection, some are better than others, but overall they capture what it was/is like for many teens living through Covid-19.

Such fun, relevant short stories for the quarantine/pandemic times.

*Love Delivered: So cute- Millie moved due to the pandemic and is stuck in the new house by herself while her parents start new jobs. The only saving grace is Levi, the pizza delivery guy, they could be friends, maybe more, eventually? I'd read more of this one! 4 stars

*The Socially Distant Dog Walking Brigade: One awkward queer boy finds another queer boy in the people who walk dogs together in Phoenix. Just okay. 2.5 stars

*One Day: Apartment living=too noisy with all the screen time until a boy across the way plays his guitar from the window, quieting/calming the whole neighborhood who stop everything to listen. So cute. 4 stars

*The Rules of Comedy: Tik Tok videos! Coming out, anxiety issues, and comedy. 3.5 stars

*The New Boy Next Door: This neighborhood sounds like a lot--they have "home street parties" in place of the usual block parties they used to have. The new family may of may not be able to adjust. 4 stars

*Love with a Side of Fortune: Superstitious mother interferes in a possible romance. The family owns a restaurant. Funny. 4 stars

*The Green Thumb War: Two apartment dwellers across the alley from each other have a contest to see who can use the herbs they are growing in their window boxes the best. Cute. 3.5 stars

*Stuck with Her: There's a very fine line line between hate and love--roommate style. 3.5 stars

*Masked: My favorite of the whole set, no surprise, I love Erin Hahn. Mask making, singing competition, secret identity. Love it. 5 stars

This is a cute collection of stories. Several left me wanting more - curious to see where things would go - and several left me uninspired. It is a fairly quick read.