Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was entertained. Brother’s best friend is one of my favorite tropes and this one delivered. This book was originally published on Wattpad and it did show a bit. Wattpad stories seem to follow the same equation and are a little over dramatized. But I will say I at that drama up.

I wanted to love this. The concept was really interesting, and the first chapter about the accident I thought was done really well.
But then it really went off the tracks for me.
On a positive note: I think the romantic scenes between the leads was really excellent: hot and heavy but not over the top. I also like the dual POV and the opposing viewpoints on the impact of grief on people and their families.
But I felt like the author was doing everything possible to keep the leads apart...even when it did not work. The action that drove plot points was muddy and didn't quite make sense with the pacing, and I thought the sub-arc about the stalker really did not fit well into the overall plot points. The big 'twist' and some of the red herrings were boring and, while in my opinion not predictable, didn't drive forward the story much or really give a plausible reason to get the leads to be together in the end. I knew that happy ending was coming, but how we got there just felt really jumbled. I found myself flipping to the romantic scenes and really ignoring the rest.

This isn't awful, and its a simplistic read, but I would not pick it up again or suggest it to someone.

Wow! The journey between Hayles and Jace is amazing. I love their friendship.



Slight spoilers ahead:



1 thing I loved about this book is there are no secrets between Hayley and Amelia. Hayley has always told her bestie about her feelings towards Jace and when Jace and Hayles finally get together, they are upfront about it.

I also LOVED that Jace was not portrayed as a manwhore. In most best friends brother trope books the relationship is secretive and the man is usually slutting it up around campus before he gets with the FMC. It was such a nice change of pace that Jace isn't that guy.

I won't spoil the big plots and twists but I enjoyed my read and could see reading it again!

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC. I’m leaving my honest feedback. Spoilers ahead



The back and forth between Jace and Hayley was a lot. I love tension, and I understand why it was done this way, but it was still a bit too much for me. I wasn’t completely shocked by Levi’s identity either. But it was interesting to see how grief affected these two people that lost loved ones. Overall, I liked this book. Solid 3.5 stars