I love seeing midsize rep but this book did not make me, a midsize person, feel comfortable. There were too many offhand comments made by SORA let alone every other fricken character in this book besides maybe Jack. She was constantly concerned about people’s eating habits, weights, and bodies—making broad generalizations and weird comments.

She was also obsessed with bacon which was just plain weird. Sure, make the midsize character obsessed with food to the point of a gimmick. Other characters would call out the way she talked about bacon, and it was even used as a way to shame her since she didn’t fit into a bridesmaid dress due to her overconsumption.

Jack was “chubby” as a kid but “lost a bunch of weight and went on a diet” and “looks great” now. Not a message I necessarily needed to read about. He did say he didn’t want people to always mention how he lost weight, but everyone around him including Sora gave that vibe. Sora initially said he had a slight beer belly but not “gross big.” Again, not a comment I like to see. Then when she sees him naked, he’s not “too skinny or too fat.” Again again, le sigh.

✨

Women were constantly villainized as plot points and given pretty poor arcs. Mal’s character was tiresome, but I do think it brought up good points of men also being the victim of stalking and invasive behaviors. I just think it could’ve been handled in less of a cookie-cutter tropey way of “crazy ex girlfriend.”

I also did not like Jack’s POV sections. He used the phrase “AF” right away and I got the ick. He generally did not sound like a real person, especially his beginning parts. His part in the third act breakup was tiresome and wholly expected. I also did not like how Jack was so cagey about admitting he slept with Mal the week before he saw Sora at the grocery store. He was hiding it and making her feel weird about being slightly concerned.

✨

Overall, the vibe of this book was weird and off-putting. The concept seems cool but the “no sex and dating” February thing was just a poor way to make the relationship forbidden, since they literally had sex before 50%. It just really made no sense why they couldn’t wait the two weeks.

Jack was weird about it when he literally knew she was holding off on dating because of her job. Then Sora reveals it all in a wishy washy article, naturally gets hate, “explains herself” in another wishy washy article, and everything is fine again.

⭐️.25/5 🌶.5*/5


*Sex was talked about, but there wasn’t any explicit language or scenes. It was closed door and tile jump to next morning. One of my biggest pet peeves is closed door shutting us out of sex, but then CONSTANTLY bringing up just how crazy and bananas the sex was and how good it was. All. The. Time.

** Also in one of Sora’s articles she was like “scientific evidence shows single people are happier than married people” but cites no sources. I’m sorry but that’s a lazy article right there are we sure she’s a professional? No I’m absolutely not sure. If you’re gonna include articles and stuff that the MC writes, make sure they actually sound like they’d gain the traction of 400,000 likes.


CWs: body shaming, weight shaming, cancer, miscarriage, pandemic mentions, cheating (not between MCs)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this Read Now eARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

Sora is in her mid-twenties and stuck. She has a home and a job she doesn't love. Burned too many times by romance gone wrong, she blogs about boycotting men during the month of February, gains a following on social media, impresses her boss, and has a meet-cute with a drop-dead handsome man. Who, it turns out, has been in love with Sora Reid since elementary school. Now the trick is for Sora and Jack to navigate a budding romance in the face of all the pressures: her disappointed mother, her bridezilla sister, her vapid boss, Jack's stalker-level ex. A good romance and the ending made me cry happy tears.

Freelance writer Sora pledges to remain single but falls for Jack, a baker. Can she keep her resolve to remain single or will she allow herself to fall in love?

Love both characters and I love how they grow together. Jack is a prize and so is Sora. :) I wish that they see that about themselves earlier. The humor and romance in the book are outstanding. I love the subtle inclusion of a multi-cultural world in the book because that's the reality in our world! A totally charming rom-com.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Sora is a freelance magazine writer who has been burned so many times by shady men that she decides to stay single for the month of February and she takes her readers along for the ride. This immediately takes off and becomes a whole movement of women who join her and choose to date themselves. Sora’s career is finally gaining traction and she is learning to take care of herself when a chance encounter with a childhood friend puts her in a sticky situation where she has to choose between the perfect man and staying true to her readers.

The beginning of this book had me smiling from ear to ear because it was just so cute. I am sure many people will add Jack to their list of book boyfriends. He’s very handsome and exceptionally kind and HE CAN BAKE! What more could you ask for?

I think Sora’s self-care journey was important for her character development. Growing up with parents who push you to be quiet and not make trouble can make it hard to learn to prioritize your needs and to speak up for yourself, so I really enjoyed watching her break out of her shell.

Overall, this was a cute love story with some added depth. I enjoyed the dual POV and the childhood friends to lovers trope and it had some absolutely hilarious moments. I also thought the epilogue was so heartwarming. I would recommend this to anyone who loves romance, rescue dogs, and especially bacon!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I appreciated the representation of Asian culture and LGBTQIA+ in this book. It was a quick, easy read, just don’t know that it’s a story that will stick with me.

This book kind of just…exists? The two leads didn’t have any intense chemistry, and while they liked each other, I wasn’t convinced that they were ever in love. The main conflict of the solo February preventing them from dating was bland and a bit irritating, because all they had to do was wait for March. My biggest issue with this book is the weird weight stuff. The heroine constantly talks about her love of bacon, and how she’s a size 14, but she’s better than all the skinny girls because she can actually eat. She is also constantly eating or thinking about food, and seeing as she’s the only somewhat fat character, that portrayal made me really uncomfortable. The love interest was fat as a child, but is now buff. However, other characters and his own self monologue continually bring up that he was fat, even going so far as to call him “piggy Jack”, his grade school nickname. I can’t tell if this is just a weird character thing the author threw in, or if this is supposed to be the one flaw of the perfect love interest

Wow. Absolute 5/5 stars! Cannot wait to buy this when it becomes available! So happy i was able to read this. This was my first ARC read and definitely won’t be my last! I am obsessed with the writing style, none of it was dragged out, i was sucked in from page one, the quirkiness and the wit was hysterical (literally laughed out loud multiple times) and was perfectly adorable. I’m obsessed. 5/5 easy!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review. (Trigger warnings at the bottom.)

Summary of plot:

Sora is a freelance writer and decides to write multiples articles about going solo all February aka no dating men at all. Soon after she declares her ban on dating, she bumps into Jack, her elementary school friend who is now super attractive. Lovey eyes ensue and the two get together eventually.

Pros about the book:
✔️ representation (BIPOC and LBGTQ+)!
✔️ Asian culture sprinkled in there (though I could have used more)!
✔️ feminist messaging (that women shouldn’t just accept men who don’t have value because men say they have to)!
✔️ very short and easy to read!

Cons about the book:
❌ often times, Sora has very long internal monologues
❌ not a lot of angst between Sora and Jack because they get together so soon
❌ feels slightly insta-lovey
❌ kind of tropey (hot attractive hero has blonde hair blue eyes model girlfriend while heroine is someone who never eats vegetables)

Potential triggers:
🟡 mention of miscarriage
🟡 cheating partners
🟡 death of a loved one

Would I recommend this book? Meh