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