I love childhood friends to lovers, however in the case of this book, we do not get to see much of why Jack is enamored with Sora in the present. With that being said, I felt like the chemistry between the two was lacking.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

The blurb for this book sounded adorable. I'm pretty much always a sucker for an MC that's a baker. And while that aspect was nice, the rest of the book...not so much.
This story has some issues. It seems the reader is supposed to celebrate that MC Sora is curvy (or at least bigger than her sister who is apparently a size 00), but also be happy that MC Jack grew up and got muscular and was no longer "the chubby kid". Also, Sora liking bacon is about 95% of her personality in this book, and that's just lazy writing. She's also absolute shit about sex and relationships. At the start of the story she has just ended a relationship with a man who is married, and decides to take one month to be on her own. THEN SHE CAN 'T EVEN DO THAT. FFS. It is ridiculous. On top of that Jack's apparently terrible ex-fiancee is named Mal. All *I could think about was Disney's Descendants, and once again, it just seemed a bit too on the nose with the naming.
The icing on the cake was that the sex scenes were closed door/ fade to black. I think some sexy baker banging scenes could have gotten this book another star, but here we are. Overall annoying and disappointing.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC! This is my first book by this author and will be looking forward to more by her.
What a fun, witty and heart warming story. Loved all the characters. Highly recommend

In a take on the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Sora writes a scathing piece on Valentine's Day and why she's #GoingSolo this year. Her editor decides to turn it into a series about Sora's experience going solo for February. So, of course, that's the exact time she reconnects with a school friend who grew up to be hot and kind and she's immediately regretting going solo.

While this one has a leg up on How to Lose a Guy in the fact there is no deception and Jack knows from the beginning about Sora's solo plans, the stakes are fully contrived by the character and she does very little critical thinking throughout the whole book about how to make the fact she's falling in love with the guy mesh with the going solo plan. While on some levels I found Sora very relatable (hating everything about her apartment but not wanting to put on real pants to go somewhere else), I mostly just wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being dumb. This one will not find it's way onto my reread list but it was still a quick, low-stakes story about a woman who just needed to get out of her own way.

The Second You're Single is such a fun, sweet, romcom. I loved this book and the characters. There was a little miscommunication but overall this book was so good and it still lives rent free in my head months after I read it :)

This had a wonderful rpemise and beachy reads are typically a hit. This book just didn't hit the mark. Unfortunately it was very hard to read and find relateable.

This was a fun read overall but it wasn’t without some things that drove me bonkers.

Sora is single yet again and decides to write a blog series during the month of February called Go Solo…focusing on self-care and swearing off dating for the month. This decision was driven by her hatred for Valentine’s Day and the commercial love machine that the holiday is. Naturally just after starting the month, she runs into an old friend and sparks fly…but she’s supposed to be taking a break from dating.

The storyline was predictable but fun nonetheless. However, as much as I love bacon and frown on making women feel bad for their size - the writer has the MC focus so much on her love of bacon that the word is over used in the book and the MC is so frazzled about being single that she is depicted as gaining a bunch of weight in the 1 month the book covers.

I did like the dialogue about self-care and that it isn’t just pedicures, but includes things like taking the reins of your own life, not finding your worth in other’s opinions, and parenting yourself essentially.

The messaging in this book is just too toxic. From fat shaming to a toxic mother, to body positivity that isn't really positive at all. I was hoping for better.

Great romcom with characters to love. I really liked the journey of Sora and Jack, rooting for them the whole way. The characters have great chemistry and banter. So cute!

Thanks NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

Cute, quick beach read. Some “yikes” parts but overall enjoyable. Thanks for the arc in exchange for an honest review. (Sorry it’s a bit late, I fell behind)

The premise of this book sounded very cute but just found that I can’t get into it. I’ve tried a few times to continue reading it and ultimately I had to put the book down without finishing. I was not fond of the comments related to body size. It could also be that I just didn’t connect to the writing style.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for providing an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

When freelance writer, Sora, is trying to come up with something to write about for the month of February, her most disliked month of the year, she decides to stay single. That should be easy, being as she doesn't have a boyfriend. Just when her #GoSolo inspires many of her readers to join in the challenge, she encounters an old classmate from elementary school. Can she keep up the pledge to stay single when she is starting to fall for Jack? This is a fun story with great characters.

OMG this was such a cute book! I listened to the Audiobook and I really liked Michael Braun and Cindy Kay. Their narration of this book made it fun to listen too. I think the two childhood friends end up running into each other and how the story built from there. I don't want to give spoilers so I don't want to say more. This is a cute Rom-Com and I would recommend this book.


Thanks NetGalley and RB Media for allowing me to listen to this in advanced.

What a fun quick read. Love the body positivity. Just when you stop looking for love you run smack into it, in the grocery store. He fell first, long time love. Love a story like this with a HEA.

This felt like home. As an Asian-American (Japanese-Mexican-American) growing up before the 2000s with the diet stigmas, the fitting in stigmas of and for immigrants and immigrant children, and just the dating and living stigmas of the now times this book was both bullet points of my life and familiar vignettes of being a cis lady wanting happiness in the world.
I loved the Asian representation from both main characters, their family dynamics (especially Allie and all her glitter glory), and just the way Sora works through everything. I found myself nodding or saving passages of wisdom.

Over all this one made me happy. It is a comfortable rom-com filled with bacon, annoying exes, and misunderstandings. Just feel goods all around.

This was so well written. I was engrossed from the first page and it ticked all the boxes of my expectations. The character development was excellent. I would definitely recommend to others, a must read!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Second You're Single by Cara Tanamachi. Ultimately, I found this book to be exhausting and difficult to recommend.

Soro Reid is done with l-o-v-e. She’s tired of dating men with no substance who inevitably disappoint her … like her cheating ex-husband. So, for Valentine’s Day, Soro is all about #GoSolo February. In fact, she’s a landed a freelance opportunity to write about her experiences daily for a well-known publication. Her goals are to spend time focusing on her own wellbeing and hopefully inspire others to join her journey. 🧘‍♀️
Unfortunately, the moment she says she doesn’t need a valentine and vows to stay single the entire month of February, she crosses paths with a now very attractive, elementary school classmate, Jack. Now that’s she’s reunited with an old friend, will Soro keep her promise and stay single? Or will the attraction she feels for Jack change everything?
To be honest, this book is really good! It’s a lighthearted, quirky romcom with an HEA, Asian representations, childhood friends to lovers and body positivity. What I normally don’t like is when the romance borders on instalove. However, I was so enamored with the plot and focused on what Sora would do that it truly didn’t bother me. It’s a well written story, and it’s a fantastic romcom whether or not it’s February. I highly recommend this book to romance readers 💗
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the arc.

Things I love:

Asian representations
Childhood friend romance
The guy falls first
Body positivity

I tried to get into this book multiple times, but I just found I couldn’t. I think this is a case of, it’s not for me, type of book. I know others loved it, so I recommend checking their thoughts on it!