As a whole, I enjoyed Crossing the Line by Heather Garvin. It was a super fast paced read. It features dual points of views, forced proximity, and a second chance romance.

The two main characters, Aiden and Claire are super flawed and at times outright infuriating. I had to remind myself that this is a YA romance and thus makes allowances for immaturity and growth.

While I loved the fact that this book could easily be consumed in one sitting, I wish Garvin would have spent more time expounding on Aiden and Claire’s high school experience. It would have provided the reader more time with the characters since the book takes place over a long weekend.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Tuskan Publishing LLC for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had never heard of this author before seeing this book on Netgalley, so I completely judged it by the beautiful cover and synopsis, and I was not disappointed at all.

Aiden and Claire had so much chemistry, and the story was packed with both heartwarming and funny moments, and was so fast paced that I never found myself bored.

I will definitely pick up another book by Heather Garvin. I am very excited to see what they bring out next.

This book was enjoyable and definitely kept my attention, overall I am giving it 3/5 stars.

What I liked:
- Chemistry between the two main characters
- Slow burn trope
- Quick pace and short chapters
- Dual POV
- Secondary characters were fun

What I didn't like:
- Aiden was very hot headed. The author did a good job with his character development and I really felt for what he had been through in his life, but he was a dick, plain and simple. The way he spoke to and treated Claire sometimes (and that she allowed it) drove me crazy. And while I understand it was his character and helped with the plot, I didn't like it and kept waiting for Claire to tell him to go to hell. This was a huge point of contention for me in the book. And as much as the dual POV allowed the reader to see his thought process through it, it still bugged me quite a bit. Did he have some redeeming qualities? Sure. But personally I saw more red flags than anything.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was a fast read with complex relationships, but don't let that deter you from this book. The author does a good job of moving the story line without adding to much. The short chapters in the book make it for a easy slow burn romance. I found both Claire and Aiden relatable, right place at the right time to see someone you were so wrong about millions of years ago.

Claire never thought her longtime boyfriend would cheat on her but here she is. She storms into a bar in her hometown and finds Aiden which she never thought she see him again. They both shared something with each other back in high school they never shared with anyone. Claire decides she needs to get away and tells Aiden at the bar she is taking the bus to Florida, well try as he might he feels the need to come with her. What is suppose to only be a bus ride then go their separate ways turns into meeting his friends, complicated past relationships, and feelings that don't make since. But who said love was easy??

If you want a fun quick slow burn romance this is your book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tuskan Publishing LLC for copy of this book for my honest review.

This was an absolute pleasure to read. I read it in a day. I loved the dual POV it really helped the story flow. So much about this book was adorable. I'd recommend it to any romance fan.

Tropes: Grumpy x sunshine, second chance romance
Spice: Open door romance
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️

What I liked:
I love the grumpy x sunshine and the second chance romance tropes. I really liked Aiden and Claire's connection. It was very obvious that the main characters had a lot of chemistry with each other. I liked how much Aiden couldn’t resist Claire and how much he cared about her. I liked the adventure of Aiden and Claire going to Florida. I liked that the author explained why Aiden was so grumpy and guarded. I liked the plot development of the book. This book was fast-paced and easy to read. The characters also had significant character development. Aiden learned to trust people and take his guard down. Claire learned how to stop running from her problems and how to stick up for herself. I liked that the characters grew emotionally. I also loved the short chapters. The chapters were easy to digest and quick to read. This book had a little bit of steam in it, and the little bit that was in there was well-written.

What I didn't like:
I didn’t mind the third-act breakup. I like a little hurt/comfort. But I didn’t like the cheating. I hate the cheating trope. Also, I hated how Aiden talked to Claire during their fight, and I’m mad she forgave him so easily. She stuck up for herself with her ex Garet, but she didn’t stand up for herself with Aiden.

Overall, this was a really good book. The characters were interesting, and the plot was fast-faced. This book was almost five stars, but I couldn’t get past the cheating and how Aiden treated Claire during their fight. If you like grumpy x sunshine and second chance romance, this was a good book, and I’d recommend it even with the problems this book had.

I really loved this story and really wasn't able to put it down. I loved the dual povs a lot. They were a way for the reader to get to know the characters who knew each other from high school. I highly recommend this book to everybody. It's a fun read even though the discussed topics can be heavy.

Going into this book, I'm looking for something new. I think I was already at my peak of reading the usual tropes I love like enemies-to-lovers and was just at a point I still want to read romance but different trope. And this book was spot on.

Claire and Aiden knew each other from high school. One night they met again in a bar. Claire having the worst day of her life while it was a typical night for Aiden. Though caught by surprise seeing each other after a long time, the pull is there to know how life has been for both of them. Claire wants to be spontaneous; she wants to leave the city and go somewhere sunny - like Florida. By train. Alone. Meanwhile Florida is the last place Aiden wants to go, ever. But he cannot let Claire travel alone. The next thing he knew, he is on a train with Claire going to Florida.

While reading the book, I remember the movie Before Sunrise. It has the same vibe, just two people talking about anything under the sun the whole trip. I like the characters - the contrast and similarity of them. Both characters have difficulty trusting people, letting people in, but I guess the connection between them lies on the experience they both had with their parents.

I like the sexual/love tension build up. It's kind of slow burn as Aiden wants to be sure Claire is ready for a relationship before he gives in on the attraction he has for Claire. My heart is happy on the romance department.

I think what could have been better was the conflict. Maybe Claire's conflict is a bit flat for me, maybe I want more drama. Aiden's backstory is better.

Over-all, I totally enjoyed the book. It has romance, good conversations, great writing. If you're like me who loves to read romance but somehow wants to take a break from the usual tropes, I recommend this book.

Crossing the Line by Heather Garvin was a first for me from this author. First thing I noticed while reading this book was that the chapters were very short and… I didn’t hate it. This is a book you will read in one sitting. I think I liked the side characters more than the main characters, so… please write that for me. I would appreciate it. Overall, it was a decent read. It was okay at best. I think some people will enjoy it more than I did. Some parts fell flat for me but, I still finished it because the ending made up for most of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3/5

This book starts off quickly and does not give us a change to know the characters until a little later. The whole story only happens over a week or so with some flashback memories. They both have a similar background with hard childhoods. Although they knew each other when they were younger, the disconnected only to find each other again in a random bar years later.

Bad Communication was the major antagonist of the later part of the story, which is typical ro a lot of romcoms.

Throughout the book, each chapter changed perspective between Claire and Aiden but these chapters are always super short. This caused the story to simultaneously feel short and long.

I think some people would enjoy it more than I do. For me, this book was just ok.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 stars ⭐

Tropes: second chance
grumpy x sunshine
open door romance (one steamy scene🌶)

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting!
There was so much attraction between Claire and Aiden what made it easy to read.
The close friendgroup was a fun addition and I would love to read more about the side charachters in another book.

I didn't like the thirth act breakup but the ending made it better.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Aiden and Claire have such an amazing chemistry, with some unresolved business.

Suddenly they meet again by chance.

Aiden is a grumpy 21 year old with a soft spot. He is a sincere person, just like Claire.

But Claire has no trouble showing her openly personality.

They both have trauma from their childhood and a hard relationship with their parents.

That was the reason that they bonded when they were younger.

But that changes a few years after high school, on a random night at a local bar.

Where they go on a trip together.

This is a good girl bad boy / grumpy and sunshine trope with short chapters.

Oh my gosh what a cute story.

I found this little beauty on NetGalley and knew I just had to request a copy, it sounded like my favourite kind of read and it was, it really was. I loved it.

Claire and Aiden’s story was a great one to read.

After finding her boyfriend cheating on her Claire enters a bar and stumbles upon a guy that she used to know, a guy that cause her pain when she was younger. After talking to said guy she decided she need to do something so set about a plan to go to Florida.

Aiden doesn’t like not being busy so in his spare times he’s at the bar with his friend or sleeping with his random hookups. After getting stood up by his friend he’s at a bar alone until someone from his past stumbles into the bar. After talking for a while and hearing her plans he couldn’t possibly let a drunken woman he used to know go alone even if she caused him pain in the past so he decided to go to the one place he hates the most, Florida.

The ride there and their time there is interesting. They’re getting to know each other, finding out things they didn’t know, becoming closer and realising what the other person is all about.

But not everything goes perfectly, when a few texts get mistaken harsh words are spoken and it’s has them both running.

It’s been captivating seeing how their story would play out. I have to admit my heart simply hurt for each of them, I was rooting for them, hoping for them.

All in all it’s been great reading this book and now I just want more. I’m hoping this author has more from the other characters coming because that would be fabulous.

well, it was fun and entertaining, but not enough for me to love it. I will try more of this author but this one was just okay.

I really enjoyed this book, it was interesting to see the character development of Aiden.
I’m glad that Claire never went back to her ex as I was afraid that would be the plot twist. I’d definitely read another book by this author in the future as I really enjoyed Heather’s writing style.

While I did finish this book way after the publishing date, I want to thank NetGallery for the chance to read this ARC!

It was super cute and I enjoyed reading Claire and Aiden’s story. You all should check this out.

This book honestly took me a long time to really get into. I picked up this book and put it down constantly from the beginning and I didn't really get engrossed until they finally reached Florida. Even then, I didn't feel any pull towards the two characters. Although the "chapters" are very short, I felt like that made me stop even more frequently than normal. Crossing the Line was an okay read for me, but nothing special that made it stand out.

I didn’t like Aiden at first. I didn’t like how he talked about girls especially Jennifer. The girl he casually with. Put her down so much and it annoyed me. As the story progressed I couldn’t get enough. I love how Claire and Aiden were together. I loved their love story. The conflict had me rolling my eyes because it was dumb and needed a conversation and all that conflict could have been avoided. I’m just glad they got their happy ending. The Florida fiends were awesome also

2.5 stars.

The way "Crossing the Line" by Heather Garvin is written makes this book fly by. I loved the use of short chapters here. I found myself more engaged by these quick bursts told in a dual POV by Claire and Aiden at the beginning of the book. The story starts off quick but strong.... and I do mean quick! The two main characters meet in a bar after not seeing each other since high school (and also...not even really knowing each other during high school so......what???), and then, BAM!, they are traveling down the entire coast of the country together in the blink of an eye. Despite its haste, the first half is engaging. I felt the chemistry brewing between Claire and Aiden, and I found myself rooting for them to get together after Claire was cheated on by her ex.

Unfortunately, the longer the book goes on, I found myself getting more and more annoyed with the story. The will-they-won't-they is slow...almost *too* slow. Once the pair gets to Florida, miscommunications, petty jealousies, childish demeanors, and a crapload of petulance on Aiden's part make the back half of the book almost entirely unenjoyable. I'm all for the grumpy/sunshine trope, in fact, I almost always love it, but Aiden is such an unresponsive, standoffish jerk that it turned me off completely. I couldn't connect with him once he was back in Florida. Around 3/4ths of the way into it, I found myself not caring whether Claire and Aiden ended up together because they are clearly both too immature to enter into an adult relationship. And also, the cheating! UGH! The quickest way to kill my book-reading mojo. There is also some rampant misogyny going on here. Aiden and his friends are total douche-bros who debase women, berate workers for doing their job, call each other "sissy" despite being "friends," and screw anything with a pulse, but not before criticizing all the other women in their general vicinity. Isn't this sooo tired in 2022? Also, the Natty House made me cringe internally and externally. Skip this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Heather Garvin, and Tuskan Publishing LLC for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.

This was cute, but I feel like there’s some problematics that this book will make you think is normal: going back to your ex when your mad, forcing her to look at him so that he can explain. Apart from that, there is some really cute interaction between them.