This book and these characters are sweetness overload in the best way. Their route to their HEA is just so pure. While it could be boring, their personal backstories and trauma that they carry gives it enough weight to keep it from being total fluff.
Single POV can be difficult to pull off but the author gives you just enough clues to Wesley's feelings without making them so obvious you think Maybell is an idiot for not seeing it. Both the descriptions of his *SPOILER* anxiety and her fantasy AU daydreams *END SPOILER* felt real enough even if I haven't had those experiences.
I think my one gripe was some of the leaps on the fix up of the house after 20 years of neglect. I've done too many remodels to believe the timeline or that so many of the items in the house (including clothing) weren't all trashed. It didn't totally take me out of the story, but I was side-eyeing some of it.

3.5/5 stars

This was a sweet slow burn romance that was about two strangers, Maybell and Wesley who each inherited half of a dilapidated house and are forced to work together to fix it up.

The story started out a bit slow for me. We don’t really get any full on conversations between the MC’s until about 30% in.

Once Wesley starts to open up to Maybell their interactions become really sweet and funny. However since the story is told from Maybell’s POV and Wesley wasn’t really much of a talker as it is, I felt like I still wanted to know more about him.

I don’t usually love the slow burn trope but I don’t mind it too much as long as it doesn’t end up being closed door. However...Twice Shy is both a slow burn and a closed door romance and while there are some really sweet moments, I wanted a little more to the story before it ended.

It was still an enjoyable read and I encourage you to give it a try when it releases on April 6th.

I received an ARC of this book from Putnam Books and NetGalley.

Ok. Everyone knows that I REALLY loved You Deserve Each Other. And everyone also knows the worry that comes with loving an author’s debut so much: will they be able to keep up that momentum? Will they end up being a one hit wonder? How can they possibly do it twice? Well. Sarah did it. Sarah wrote another hilarious, heartwarming, happy, swoony, super romantic, feel-good book that tackles deeper situations. Another amazing couple has jumped from her mind to my heart. I can’t pick which of her books I love more. I’m a fangirl. Take my money, Sarah. Just take it all. Give me all the books. I have put off writing this review as long as I possibly could because I have too many feelings! My head is in the clouds! What even is a book review? What are words? How do I do this again? As always, my main points are bolded.

1. Maybell is precious and anxious and visits a special cafe that exists only in her mind because it’s where she feels safe in stressful times. She’s so pure and sweet, and she has the biggest dreams. I loved her quirky personality so much. Her desire to take on the world made me smile so much.

2. Wesley is the grumpiest teddy bear and I want to cuddle up with him on the couch and watch a movie together. And it’s not even necessarily for romantic reasons (although. I’d love a romance with Wes, thank you), it’s because I see so much in him that reminds me of myself. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t elaborate on this but Wesley’s character will make so many people feel seen and understood in this world. Oh my goodness, he’s just. I can’t even explain him. He’s a sweet little cinnamon roll with so many layers and a story and is so sweet I can’t even handle it. He is definitely one of my favorite characters ever.

3. I loved the setting: a charming, fixer-upper mansion that Wesley and Maybell both inherited. There’s bickering on who gets their way on what becomes of this house, which is so fun. I love bickering. But the house and the surrounding grounds are perfect and so whimsical sounding. And magical.

4. There is mental health representation in this story and it is done SO WELL.

5. SO. Many. Feelings. I have so many and I don’t know what to do.

6. Sarah’s sense of humor is my sense of humor’s soulmate. And her writing is a balm for the soul.

7. Maybell and Wesley are so good for each other. The romance just made my heart soar. The way they see each other and speak to one another and help accommodate each other’s needs was perfect. I love them so much together that I don’t want to steal Wesley for myself. And that’s saying something. We can just be friends, Wesley. Best friends.

8. Loch Ness. Nessie. One of my favorite subjects ever. Sarah clearly wrote me my own book. Thank you, Sarah. I guess we can let others read it as well.

So… this review proves that I can clearly come up with words when I don’t have any. But… what do all these words mean? I know I’m being vague about so much, but it’s because you need to read it to fully appreciate anything else I could possibly say! Bottom line, read this. This is just the book we need right now while the world is on fire. Allow yourself to escape to the Smoky Mountains and float around in the pure sweetness of this story and the lives of these two characters. I’ll just be over here basking in the sunlight of it all and eagerly waiting for Sarah’s next book.

Twice Shy by Sarah Hogle was a sweet, slow burn with lots of heart.

Maybell Parish and Wesley Kohler are each left half of a manor in the smokies when her Great Aunt passes, much to both of their surprise. Maybell quickly leaves her dead-end job when she receives the news and is greeted with Violet's long time groundskeeper Wesley. He's as prickly and as quiet as you would expect him to be. I'm always a fan of forced proximity, so this was a particularly enjoyable read for me! I enjoyed watching them sort things out together and the ways they were slowly drawn to each other. I highly recommend Twice Shy!

Twice Shy was full of sweetness, humor, and a slow-burn delightfulness.

Maybell and Wesley’s romance was worth the wait. It was full of banter and pining. Wesley was a cinnamon roll and I loved getting to know that he was dealing with social anxiety and panic attacks. Maybell, sweet sweet Maybell, deserved so much more then she had at the beginning of this book. Watching Maybell and Wesley grow together and as time goes on they become more vulnerable with each other. It felt like a very real love and I could feel the connection between them.

I appreciated that Sarah Hogle delved into what it's like to live with anxiety and handled it with care. I think especially since I have anxiety as does my partner, I enjoyed watching a romance unfold with two people that I could relate to.

I definitely recommend reading this slow-burn rom-com.

A woman that has lost everything(of a lot of pretty much nothing)and a man that has never had much to lose find each other. Simplistic I know, but I would categorize this as enemies to lovers so the premise isn’t overly simple. Different as night and day, the two end up being exactly what each other needs making for a delightful read.

Maybell works as an event coordinator for a lodge waterpark in the Smokey Mountains but is still treated as the former maid she had always been for a decade. Promoted in name only, she yearns for something else. Anything else. When she learns that her beloved great aunt has died and she has inherited a huge house on acres and acres of land, she walks out of work and immediately goes to the land. There she finds the house she loved as a child is now a wreck and the interior is even worse due to her aunt’s hording in her later years. She also finds Wesley, the groundskeeper whom her aunt has given an equal share of the inheritance. Neither were told of this beforehand and the news is scary to Maybell and has equally upset Wesley. There’s no money to speak of, but the two have big plans of what to do with the house. Two very different dreams with nary a compromise to be had. The question here was, will they learn to work together and agree on what to do? Or better still, will Wesley even talk to her at all?

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these two main characters. Maybell finally has the chance to fulfill a dream and make something of herself. She also gets lost in a rich fantasy world in her mind whenever something bothers her. Wesley has a problem with major social anxiety. Instead of dealing with Maybell, he seeks to be rid of her and tries to ignore her. Of course Maybell is having none of that and pretty much drives him crazy talking to him constantly as they start clearing out the house. The thing is that Wesley is the most handsome man she has ever seen in her life. She is smitten, but realizes that Wesley wants nothing to do with her. However, having said that, you start to realize that her aunt left the house to both of them for a bigger reason-matchmaking?-at least I thought so.

Set in Tennessee and Loch Ness, Scotland, this book was kept interesting with long treasure hunts left behind by her aunt and uncle, arguments about what to do with the house and finally the slow burn romance. There’s a few other characters but not many. One, a woman she worked with at the lodge, I would consider the villain of the book and that’s a whole other story. I have a feeling that Wesley is going to end up being on a lot of book boyfriend lists. He is just the best when he is able to be himself. His extreme social anxiety was heartbreaking at times though.

So yes, this was a delightful read and I do recommend it to adult romance readers. My thanks to Net Galley for the copy of the book in return for an honest review.
It will post on DelightedReader.com on or near release date.

I am a huge fan of Sarah Hogle and You Deserve Each Other, and was super excited for Twice Shy! This is a great second book and you can really see Hogle's style cement itself in her writing. In this story, Maybell thinks her luck is finally changing when she inherits her great-aunt's mansion. Except when she arrives, it's dilapidated and full of junk AND it turns out she only inherited half the house--the other half went to her great-aunt's groundskeeper, Wesley.

I loved the overall plot trajectory of this book, and appreciated the representation of a character with social anxiety in Wes. Hogle has a way of incorporating humor and charm into her books that feels effortless, like words tumbling onto the page. Maybell, our heroine, spends much of her time daydreaming, and oftentimes it became difficult for me to discern between what was "real" and what was a dream. Her daydreams are a plot point for the book, and an understandable part of the story, but I wish there had been a way to make them less confusing. I kept having to flip back pages to make sure I understood we were talking about a dream or vice versa, and I was completely lost the whole first chapter. I spoke with a friend about the book, and we disagreed on this point, and it may ultimately just come down to my lack of relatability with Maybell's daydreams. But if that's your thing, maybe you'll love it!

In the end, I really enjoyed the story and there were so many adorable touches (the mural! the treasure hunt! the date!) that it gave me all the swoony feels. Sarah Hogle will be a must-read author for me.

Thank you to Putnam for my review copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Somewhere between four and five stars and probably an 8/10--really torn on this one.

It physically pains me to say this because You Deserve Each Other was one of my top three (out of 150+!!!) books read last year but I didn't love this book. Sarah's writing was - once again! - so outstanding, but I couldn't get past Maybell's daydreaming enough to really feel tied to the story. It just wasn't connecting for me. I love a good forced living situation trope and a shy, grumpy guy, but I just wasn't feeling this one, sadly. It's on my TBR shelf to give another try later, so I'll save a star rating until then!

Goodness, if you are looking for a warm, swoony read, Twice Shy will definitely fulfill that need!

Maybell is used to being a dreamer and kind of taking things from people that she doesn’t deserve because while she can come up with elaborate fantasies of being bold and confident, the reality is she’s more apt to take the slights heaped on her. Part of this comes from growing up with a mom who couldn’t be there for her, and so she’s gotten used to just accepting scraps of affection. When her Aunt Violet suddenly (to her) passes away and leaves her the old house she remembers so fondly from one summer, Maybell is full of dreams of what it’s going to be like living in her dream house. What she isn’t prepared for is having to share the inheritance with Wesley, a shy, socially anxious landscaper who communicates with stony silence and notes down the dumb waiter.

I came into Twice Shy expecting the same kind of humor and feel as You Deserve Each Other, Hogle’s debut novel, but I’m amazed at just how vastly different they are - but how wonderful Hogle’s books are as well! This book did start a little slow and took a little while for me to get into, but it was absolutely worth the wait. Wesley comes across very gruff and grumpy, but he’s actually a gooey marshmallow and he says the sweetest things. But really one of my absolute favorite things in this book was the emphasis on who they are being enough for both Maybell and Wesley, showing how loving someone is loving them as they are, good and bad and put-together and messy, and not trying to make them someone different or “better.” There were so many little lines that made me legitimately clutch my chest and swoon because it was so wonderfully sweet and caring. And there’s no love fixing or curing Wesley’s anxiety, but we do see how love makes him feel able to do things that scare him because he knows Maybell loves him.

I just adored this book so much and even though it has a very different vibe from You Deserve Each Other, it still has some of the same humor that made Hogle’s debut so wonderful. I’ll definitely be reading more from her, and I hope so many others fall in love with Maybell and Wesley and Falling Stars too!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. Both of her books are slow burns and I mean SLOW burns. Like 88% through the book until any action happened. I appreciate the detail and having a character with panic attacks and anxiety.

Twice Shy is another stellar book by Sarah Hogle and surpassed You Deserve Each Other. I really loved the slow burn and build up for the relationship between the two main characters. The way we were able to see them going from strangers to lovers was a treat. The writing was also great. I enjoyed the fine details of this book and how quirky it was at times. This book reminded me a lot of Lauren Laynes work which is a compliment to Sarah Hogle!

Quirky cute book, 3 stars

I read you deserve each other before this book and the writing feels very different in both books.

Things I loved: both characters, so endearing and both had very cute personalities and it was nice seeing them both open up to each other. The slow build up was fun. You could really feel this chemistry building. I like the fantasy cafe and can see myself doing the same thing. Their adventure to find the gold was adorable, I could’ve used more “only one bed haha” moments thought during it. Close proximity enemies to lovers tropes are always fun! And grimly guy with of course a heart of gold I’m here for.

Thing I could do without:
The Gemma cat fish story was just too outlandish for me, and Gemma is a horrible person, it’s hard to see anyone in history of time even being nice to her afterwards. Didn’t really move along storyline.

The characters speaking sometimes got middles with the personal thought process also. I got a little lost in her language sometimes, a little too poetic and missed the Mark a bit.

I think a dual POV would’ve been fun in this one to hear what he was thinking during everything also, and to see how he was fighting his feelings.

I didn’t care for the side mother daughter tidbits, again didn’t really move story along.

Overall a cute romcom, kinda missed the Mark for me but still gives you happy feelings throughout. Thank you sending me an ARc in exchange for honest review

Twice Shy is a book that took me a while to get into, but once I was, I was hooked. What started off as a book about Maybell and how quirky, charming, and vulnerable she is, turned into my fan club membership for Wesley. He's gruff, a little grumpy, and with a heart of gold. As soon as Wesley entered the picture, I began to get into Twice Shy even more than before. Maybell is a person who lives in her dreams and can get caught in her hopes. While these passages were sometimes difficult to initially sort out from the story, I loved seeing this side of Maybell.

Twice Shy is like opposites attracting and recognizing these core passions and values in each other. The way compassion, empathy, and care translate to each other. Their vulnerability, childhood memories, and dreams. Until about 2/3 of the way, I was having trouble pinning down what lay at the 'core' of Maybell. I could see her dreams, her fancies, and her quirks but wasn't sure of the essence of Maybell. In her interactions with Wesley, I began to see these pieces of Maybell. Her yearning, smothered ambitions, and struggling passions.

I so appreciate the author's representation of main characters who struggle from anxiety. Maybelle suffers panic attacks, and Wesley, the male lead, has social anxiety that has him isolating himself from most people. When they first meet each other, there's instant dislike. But as they're thrown together, they learn they share this common, important thing, and it grows into like, full acceptance, until finally love.

Don't you just love when you go into a book with no set expectations, only for that book to embed itself into your heart? Whew, Twice Shy is one of those books for me.

Maybell much prefers to escape into her daydreams rather than deal with the disappointment she feels with her real life. When she learns that her great aunt has passed away, leaving Maybell a beautiful old manor house on 70 acres nestled in the Smoky Mountains, Maybell jumps at the chance to start her life anew. One roadblock? Wesley, the groundskeeper of the estate to whom Great Aunt Violet has also left the estate. Wesley is closed off and grumpy, and has his own plans for what to do with the estate they've both inherited. Forced to spend time together to get the estate into working order again, Maybell discovers more and more about Wesley, setting the stage for what ends up being quite the swoon-worthy love story.

What struck me most about this book is Hogle's prose, which is gorgeous and unique. The writing felt truly transporting and also made me laugh aloud. In the hands of a less capable writer, this story and these characters could easily come across as saccharine, but Hogle deftly strikes a perfect balance between sweet and realistic. At first I found Maybell to be a bit jarring, but as soon as I got used to her unique voice, I loved her immensely. And where do I even start with Wesley? The ultimate cinnamon roll - truly, the novel says it best: "World's Biggest Cinnamon Roll: Recommended by the chef! Crispy outer layer conceals a soft, delicious center." It's very rare that a romance with only one POV (in this case, Maybell's) works for me, but Hogle did such an incredible job of depicting Wesley, and it was so rewarding to peel back his layers and learn more about him along with Maybell. And my goodness, the swoon factor here cannot be overstated. While this is very much a closed-door romance, I did not mind it in the least because of the way this book still brought the heat. This, coupled with some just lovely romantic moments, made me just completely melt into a gooey mess. Also, the setting of this book, Violet's manor and estate called Falling Stars, is the most magical setting for this story, depicted so vividly by Hogle that I am desperate to go there myself.

Thank you SO much to Putnam Books and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this beautiful book.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House International and NetGalley for the free eARC!

This was the cutest, most heartwarming story ever and my heart just feels so full right now, it might actually burst 😭

This book started with Maybell getting a chance at a new start in life after her Aunt Violent passes away and leaves her the mansion she loved during her childhood but the catch is that she has to share it with broody groundskeeper, Wesley 👀

Their story starts off with an enemies to lovers vibes as they negotiated on how to share the mansion given their conflicting wants and plans for the future of the estate. At the same time, they have to begrudgingly work together to fulfill Violet’s final wishes.

I had the best time reading the first half or so of this book and seeing more of the differences in their personalities. I love how Hoggle lets her characters get to know each other by opening up in ways like sharing embarrasing moments or letting them see a part of themselves nobody has seen or know. It makes their chemistry much more natural. Hoggle has a way of making the slow burn progress of the couple’s relationship so captivating that even though the romance doesn’t kick start until around 60-70% of the book, I’m still hooked enough to read on.

Maybell is a character I just want to cheer on all throughout. She hasn’t had the best childhood and life in general. Given that she’s in her 30s already, she gives me hope and assurance to not rush things in life. One of the things I absolutely loved about her was how much of a dreamer she was to the point that she has this go-to comfort place in her imagination which just screams me and alongside that, the fact that she was catfished by her best friend with this dream guy and ended up falling for that made up person was terrifyingly relatable. Like I’m not even kidding. I literally went through that and I felt as if Hoggle wrote this story for me 🤣 but I just loved how she got through all those shit as a better, much happier person who’s not afraid to voice out what she wants in life and pushes through to make that dream of hers a reality.

As for Wesley.. oh my Wesley. Where have you been my whole life? 🥺 I just wanna hug and protect this cinnamon roll of a man from the whole world 🥺 I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how anxiety was protrayed through his character as someone who has anxiety myself. He’s so real and relatable in all the best ways and I cried more than once seeing myself in him, his mannerisms, thoughts and fears. I felt represented all the while falling in love with his character.

Overall, this was such an amazing read!!! I felt like I was reading two love stories as Maybell and Wesley discovers more about the estate and how as if Viktor and Violet’s love is embedded into its very walls. I felt so represented in this book as a dreamer and as someone who has anxiety. Hoggle has a talent for writing the most raw stories told in such a swoon-worthy and relatable way. I’m in awe by how amazing her two books and at this point, she’s a auto-read author for me! I’m excited for what else she has in store for the future!!

This book was charming and I really loved the depiction of social anxiety, virgin hero and grumpy/sunshine.

Sarah will be a guest in the show and I can't wait to chat with her about this book and You Deserve Each Other.

I loved EVERYTHING about this book and more! Sarah Hogle swept me off my feet with her debut novel last year and she is continuing that tradition here with Twice Shy! This is an absolutely delight and a total must read! I recommend it to EVEYRONE!

I adored Sarah Hogle's first book so I was really looking forward to this one but it just fell short of expectations. For one thing, Maybell's imagination/daydreaming got old really fast and it was to an extent that just seemed hard to believe. Wesley was supposed to be horribly shy but his behavior toward Maybell just rubbed me the wrong way from the start. He acted like a jerk for the first half of the novel. Most of their interactions just seemed silly and childish to the point where this read more like a YA novel. Also, I'm really tired of first person narratives in contemporary romances. I'm sure there are a lot of people who will love this and I'm probably in the minority so there are patrons I would recommend this to. But for me personally, this book was a disappointment. Still looking forward to more from this author, though.

Ok, this book was unbelievably sweet.

Maybell’s had a difficult life. For one thing, her mother always moved her around with whatever boyfriend she had at the time, and for another, Maybell’s quite the pushover. She’s stuck at a job she hates until one day she receives notice that her aunt has died and left Maybell her “manor”. Maybell believes this is the break she needs to start fresh. Little does she know the house she just inherited is not only decrepit and unlivable, but she also has to share it! Maybell and Wesley (the groundskeeper) are co-inheriters of this house and have to work together to restore it. Wesley is handsome but grumpy. Maybell is determined to make this work and pushes through. Will she and Wesley be able to make this work? Or will they kill each other in the process?

Let me start with the “bad” first. I got this as an arc so I want to be honest. I don’t like the name. For the past 3 days, I’ve had the song Last Christmas by Wham! stuck in my head and thought going into it that this was a Christmas book (Once bitten and twice shy, I kept my distance but you still catch my eye). I also thought some parts of the book were a little too unbelievable; I won’t get into the details because of spoilers but if you’ve read it… I mean, come on, really? No way!

What I love about the book is that it was a slow burn. I’m a fan of enemies to lovers stories and while this wasn’t quite that, it’s entertaining watching two people who don’t really like each other (or think they don’t) fall in love. I love Maybell and I love Wesley. I think they are adorable and the whole concept of their love story was darling. I’ve not read anything else by Sarah Hogle but I will definitely be keeping my eye on her books going forward.

5 stars despite my minor nitpick.