I really loved this author’s other book, Today Tonight Tomorrow, so I had higher hopes for this one. But I found this one so boring. Nothing exciting happened and it would hold my attention. I found myself almost avoiding this book because of how uninterested I was in it. I had also heard the discourse surrounding the Muslim character and the author’s depiction of them and I just wasn’t interested in continuing with the story unfortunately. Some people have enjoyed this book. Sadly I am not one of them.

Rachel Lynn Solomon is one of my favourite authors and this YA contemporary romance was such a joy to read. Solomon's writing style is so fun and easy to relate to . She writes so delicately but also page turning. Also, great representation! (OCD, Jewish) Highly recommend.

I found that this book was a super cute read for summer time. What better topic to read about then weddings, in the summer. Such a great read, finished it in one day. Couldn’t put it down

i think this is the first book i’ve read that has ocd representation & i really appreciate the discussions surrounding mental health & learning about quinn & tarek's experiences & their journeys to getting help. i think rachel lynn solomon did an amazing job of making quinn’s situation of not wanting to disappoint her parents & finding herself relatable. she has an intense amount of pressure to join the family business as a wedding planner & her parents are very set in stone about it which leaves quinn little to no opportunity to discover what she truly wants to do with her life. everything has been set out by her parents & she’s really struggling to break free from that.

here’s the thing about quinn’s character, i don’t get a sense of who she is at all i feel like she is mostly presented through everything she’s going through & it’s a bit overbearing. i don’t see who she truly is & her personality. all i know is that she likes mug cakes, but everything else is a blur because she’s going through so much with her mental health & finding her own path & pushing tarek away. & here's the thing idk if i truly like quinn's character or not. she consistently pushed tarek away, but she was the one that reached out to him in the first place to confess her feelings in the summer of last year? also when they had a conversation where everything blew up she was shocked that she lost control of the situation & went too far even though she was purposely pushing tarek away. i am glad that there was a lot of communication between them though, the were definitely able to communicate more effectively closer to the end, but idk how to feel about it, same goes for tarek's character.

my favourite part is when rowan & neil from rachel lynn solomon's other book today, tonight, tomorrow are at one of the weddings quinn’s family planned. i love that rachel lynn solomon brought them into this book, & i love how they’re still going strong even through college. i also love the honest conversation quinn & tareq had after at this wedding, it really sparked their connection.

the story didn’t truly begin for me until 50% of the way through which is when rowan & neil popped up, everything was really slow up until that point. also the way this story started made me look at quinn & asher's dynamic a bit differently than what it was explained as. the way it started made me believe that they were pretty close, but then the opposite was described later on.

overall, it was really unique to read about wedding planers & their business & seeing how quinn navigates through her mental health. the romance was just okay for me, but i do respect the development they shared in learning how to communicate with each other more effectively. i found that there were definitely an equal amount of pros & cons in this story, which kind of left me on the fence about it & feeling a bit uncertain.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.This was cute but nothing major. I couldn't bring myself to care for the characters. I think this is more of a me problem than a reflection of the writing. I think a lot of people will enjoy this

I am sad to say this wasn’t my favourite Rachel Lynn Solomon book. I’ve read a few of her books, and this is probably my least favourite thus far. This isn’t to say it isn’t a good book, because I don’t think the author can write a bad book. It just wasn’t for me.
The character, are unique and fun. The story is fast paced and energetic. And while I cannot comment on the representation, others have and have had nothing less then praises!

OCD and anxiety rep, and a Jewish main character.

Sorry for the late review, I received this book while moving and have had a hectic few months. I really enjoyed this book, Rachel Lynn Solomon is quickly becoming a favourite author of mine!

WE CAN'T KEEP MEETING LIKE THIS by Rachel Lynn Solomon was a cute summer YA read. I liked the wedding setting, the combo of grumpy and sunshine found in Quinn and Tarek, and the overall character growth. But there was something about this read that didn't quite do it for me. I found Quinn to be an unlikeable main character and because of that, I just found it hard to root for her. (But that's more about me than the book!) Overall, a 3 star read from me and my house.

I really enjoyed this! A YA romance between two older teens/young adults whose parents own wedding-related businesses, and who are often attending weddings together. I thought that the romance between the two main characters was fun, and did keep me engaged, however it was probably the aspect of the story that interested me the least. I loved the parts about Quinn thinking about what she wanted to do with her life, and how that related to her family relationships. I also loved the themes about how relationships don't have to be perfect and conflict free to be successful, and how that was depicted through Quinn struggling with her parent's relationship. I loved her friend Julia's relationship with Noelle, and I want to read a whole book about them! What didn't really work for me was the main relationship between Quinn and Tarek. I liked their friendship, but for the whole book I didn't really understand why Quinn was so hesitant to be in a relationship with him (or at all). It seemed like this wasn't really well demonstrated in the text, and was just forced in to create conflict in the relationship.

Quinn and Tarek have know each other for YEARS through their families businesses. Her family run wedding planners and his family run catering business.

Quinn has a tainted view on love, caused by her parents early relationship problems, while Tarek is the product of a world wide known love story. She is all about realistic exceptions and he is the master of the grand gestures.

Quinn has always felt something for Tarek and it doesn’t stop even though her previous declaration goes terribly wrong. This isn’t just a story of a boy and a girl finding their way to each other. It is a story of them finding themselves, expressing themselves and being true to themselves.

CW: Marital problems, depression

Average book. It was cute but I wasn't too invested in the love story. Especially didn't like the cliche "one person is romantic and the other doesn't believe in love" mostly because I feel like the experience that the main character had years ago when her parents separated didn't need to be as pent-up as it was, and I felt the main character was really mean to the love interest at times. I didn't really understand their connection.

And I have another top read of the year. This bloody book ya'll. Romantic af, and hella entertaining - but also packed one hell of a punch. Some of the best OCD rep I have read to date. I knew going into it that I was gonna relate strongly to Quinn's character, as we have the same brand of OCD 🤘 but the connection I felt to Tarek and his story, took me fully by surprise. Full review to come asap.

Full review will be updated on my Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4235418334?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Quinn Berkowitz’s family has a wedding planning company. They often work with Tarek Mansour’s family’s catering company. At the end of last summer, before Tarek went to college, Quinn sent him an email telling him that she liked him. But they haven’t spoken since. Now, he’s returned for the summer, which is Quinn’s last summer before she starts college. She’s nervous about seeing Tarek again after sending her email. Quinn has trouble believing in love when she’s seen her parents struggle in their marriage and seeing marriages fall apart after the weddings. She doesn’t want to follow her parents’ dream for her to work at the family business, but she’s scared to admit that to them. Since her family is also busy planning her sister’s wedding, Quinn gets more involved in weddings, which also pushes her to spend more time with Tarek. Being so surrounded by love and romance, Quinn has to figure out if she’s finally falling in love.

I loved Quinn’s character development throughout the story. She had a valid reason for being suspicious about love. She had experienced the marriage problems her parents had when she was a kid, and she knew that not all of the weddings they planned ended in forever marriages. Quinn also had to figure out what she wanted to do in life. She knew she didn’t want to do the same work as her family, but she didn’t know what would make her happy. This is a relatable theme for an older young adult book.

One aspect of this story I really appreciated was the discussions about mental health. Quinn had OCD and anxiety, and Tarek had clinical depression. Their mental health was discussed openly and honestly, but it wasn’t a big deal. They both sought treatment in therapy and medication, but it was just a small aspect of their characters. I liked that this was a casual part of the story. Quinn and Tarek didn’t make a big deal about their mental health because it didn’t take over their lives. I appreciate this kind of representation because it shows that you can struggle with your mental health, but with proper treatment, it can be properly managed.

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is a fun summer young adult romance!

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cute, quick read. I'm a sucker for a book involving the wedding planning business as I worked in it for years and it just brings back a lot of nostalgia. There were quite a few things that I liked about this book originally—the Jewish representation and how the main character had OCD being two of the main points that come to mind as I haven't read too many —but as the book went on, I started finding things that made me not enjoy the books as much which is there the docked stars come in. First off, the pacing was slightly off at some times, it made it so it was hard to push through some parts.

My biggest issue though was the questionable Muslim representation. (I preface this by saying I am NOT Muslim, therefore I can’t say what is and isn’t good representation, however I also know the author is not Muslim, which is why I will be critiquing this). While I enjoyed the sex-positive aspect of this book, it felt strange that the Muslim love interest is depicted as having sex, with two separate people as well. He engaged in a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement with the main character. While I’m not Muslim myself, this stood out to me, and as I read some online reviews, I saw this as an issue for other readers as well.

All in all, I did end up enjoying the book, I just had a few, issues so to speak.

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This - Rachel Lynn Solomon

This was such a cute book with lots of different representation! Our main character, Quinn, is Jewish, and has OCD and anxiety. The love interest, Tarek, is Muslim, his parents are Egyptian, and he had depression and anxiety. Quinn’s best friend Julia develops a relationship with a girl Noelle, who has social anxiety.

It’s the summer after Quinn’s senior year. Her family owns a wedding planning company, and Tarek’s family owns a catering business, so they often work together. Quinn’s parents expect her to study business and eventually join the family business, but Quinn doesn’t want that. The problem is that she doesn’t know what she wants to do, and is afraid to be left out if she leaves the family business. She also doesn’t believe in romance but starts developing feelings for Tarek, and doesn’t know what to do with that. I really enjoyed all the different layers to this book. We have Quinn who’s trying to discover what she wants to do, and learning to stand up for herself to her parents. We also watch her and Tarek open up to each other about their struggles. I really appreciated the positive portrayal of medication and therapy, especially to see that in a young adult novel. This book was just super sweet as well, and I was rooting hard for Quinn. I can’t wait to read more of this author’s books!

I read Today, Tonight, Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon recently and I adored it, so I was very excited to read this book! And it did not disappoint! I adored this one too, started it early in the week, life happened, and then I stayed up way too late to finish it because I could not put it down.

This is a story about Quinn and Tarek, two friends who have worked together through their family businesses since they were very young. Quinn’s parents are wedding planners and Tarek’s are caterers, so they’ve been surrounded by love their entire lives. Quinn is on track to becoming just like her older sister, entwined in their parent’s business but she doesn’t want this life for herself. In fact, she isn’t quite sure what she wants at all, and is very cynical about love. Tarek on the other hand, knows what he wants for his life, is a hopeless romantic, and is all about flashy displays and gestures.

I won’t give too much away, but I absolutely enjoyed it. It was sex positive, light while dealing with some heavier topics, and full of joy. The only negatives for me were Quinn, she created a lot of her own problems and drama which is completely forgiven as I was equally as dramatic when I was younger, I pushed a lot of people away in the same way which could have added to me getting annoyed with her a few times. Like, I’ve been there, kid, and this is not the way!; and the other was the Muslim representation. I feel that it could have went deeper than simply making Tarek a non-practicing Muslim.

Overall, it was fluffy and enjoyable and I liked it a lot.. Especially the cameo/throwback to Today, Tonight, Tomorrow!

› We Can't Keep Meeting Like This takes place in Seattle. It's told from the perspective of seventeen-year-old Quinn. Quinn is sarcastic, cynical, has OCD, and doesn't believe in true love or romantic gestures - which is ironic because her family runs a wedding planning business called Borrowed + Blue, and she's expected to study business and join the business full-time. Her older sister, Asher, has already joined Borrowed + Blue full-time and LOVES it. She's engaged to Gage and busy planning her wedding, so their parents assume Quinn will jump in and take over the tasks Asher usually takes care of. Quinn feels extremely frustrated that her family always assume she wants to be involved in the family business. She doesn't want to study business and is waiting for "the perfect time" to tell her parents how she really feels.

Borrowed + Blue often have Tarek's family catering business handle the food at their weddings. Eighteen-year-old Tarek is Egyptian-French-American Muslim. He's a hopeless romantic with eczema, depression, and some serious cake-baking skills. Last summer, Quinn confessed all her feelings for him in an email - but he didn't even respond. Now he's back, and she's trying her best to act normal. Quinn and Tarek are both trying to figure out what they want to do after the summer, skirting around their friendship and possible feelings for each other. Quinn also finds a harp mentour who helps her learn more about lever harps, taking her harp playing skills to the next level.

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 8
I love how Quinn talks about her mental health and medication like it's no big deal. Solomon knows how to write authentic teen characters. I would have liked to know more about Tarek's family background. It is mentioned that he is Muslim and Egyptian-American, but it doesn't go into much detail. Quinn's best friend Julia is adorable. She develops a cute relationship with Noelle. I wanted more of them, and more of Maxine, Quinn's harp mentour.

› Atmosphere: 10
I laughed out loud numerous times and I swooned over Tarek's romantic words. The descriptions, settings, mood, are perfect.

› Writing Style: 9
I enjoyed the writing style. Authentic dialogue, excellent readability.

› Plot: 9
It felt a little muddy in the middle.

› Intrigue: 10
I couldn't put it down!

› Logic: 8
The front of the book says it's for kids 12+, however, as a mom of a twelve-year-old, I'd have to say this is more appropriate for 14+ due to some of the sexy scenes and alcohol use. I wish we could have seen more of the Muslim and Jewish faith. I'm not Muslim or Jewish, but I feel like multiple perspectives would have achieved a more thorough representation of Muslim and Jewish religions.

› Enjoyment: 9

Average 9

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• We Can't Keep Meeting Like This is a funny, charming, contemporary romance about young adults trying to figure out what they want to do with their future and discovering love for the first time. Solomon has perfected the art of creating stories featuring big themes like mental health that will still allow you to laugh out loud and and escape the worries in your day. Fall into a Rom-Com this summer and check out We Can't Keep Meeting Like This.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

5 Stars (I received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

My first full Rachel Lynn Solomon book and it was amazing!!! Quinn is a beautifully flawed human being who has become jaded towards love from working for her family’s wedding planning business. As well as going through the daily hurdles of obsessive compulsive disorder and towards future plans that she has no interest in. Then there is her long time friend Tarek who is a hopeless romantic and loves grand gestures, which Quinn finds awful. His family’s catering business works closely with her family’s wedding business and are reconnecting after year of not communicating after the fallout of an argument the two had. Everything is changing her best friend is going to college soon, her own sister is getting married and she finds a passion through surprising circumstances. There is some queer representation in some of the side characters including a male/male wedding. Quinn is struggling to find out who she is outside of the family business and finding her own dreams & desires. I was sobbing near the end, so many emotions and a realistic romance story. As well this cover is such a lovely one, one of my favourite colour schemes and Jewish REPRESENTATION for the win!!!

This is such a fabulous YA romance book! Absolutely adorable!! I cannot wait to read more from this author!

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon is the wedding planning rom-com I have been waiting for. Following a harpist and a caterer, this one contains the perfect amount of awkwardness and two complex main characters. The book also normalizes casual mental health representation, and I enjoyed the open conversations the characters have about it. This is the perfect summer contemporary, balancing fluff with thoughtful discussions.

Working for her family’s wedding planning business over the summer, the last person Quinn expects to find working alongside her is the boy who ghosted her after she poured her heart out to him via email. Quinn is prepared for an awkward summer, but she and Tarek slowly realize that there is still a spark between them. However, the two of them have different outlooks on romance. What follows is an earnest friends to lovers story that I’m sure many will identify with.

❀ REALISTIC CHARACTERS

Rachel Lynn Solomon always writes such realistic characters, and I loved Quinn’s voice. She’s a little cynical when it comes to love because of her parents’ separation, and working as a harpist in the wedding business she wants no part of creates some tension. Throughout the book, Quinn learns to trust again, while figuring out who she is. Tarek, the caterer, is also well-written, and he provides an interesting contrast to Quinn since he is a hopeless romantic who loves grand gestures. There is great communication between the two characters, and I admired their maturity.

❀ MENTAL ILLNESS PORTRAYED REALISTICALLY

Another aspect I enjoyed is the way mental illness and insecurities are portrayed. Quinn has OCD and Tarek has depression, and both characters openly discuss it. Tarek’s depression is an especially important element since mental illness in men isn’t as common in YA. As well, mental illness isn’t presented as a big deal or even a major part of the plot, which I enjoyed, but these struggles also don’t disappear because of love. I loved this casual representation, and I hope to see more books follow suit.

❀ A ROM-COM WITH HEAVY TOPICS

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a story of self-discovery and second chances. I loved the wedding backdrop, and the main characters are realistic. The casual mental health representation makes the book even more dynamic. Those looking for a rom-com that also touches on heavier topics will enjoy this one.