"What I need from you is understanding;
How can we communicate; if you don't hear what I say.." - Xscape

Justice and Terrence are separated, and haven't seen each other in months.. seven to be exact. Trucked into attending a single's retreat by her best friend, Justice runs into the one person who she least expects to see, Terrence, her husband.

The story takes us on a journey of loss, grief, self-doubt, insecurity, jealousy, anger, and most importantly, love.

The story pacing is good and the character development provide insight into the characters' lives. There are times when you don't know whether to hug them or shake them, but ultimately the story successfully takes you through their Seven Month Itch journey.

Now whether that 'itch' was scratched by each other or others, well you will have to read about that for yourselves.

Enjoy!

PS: ARC

Generally I enjoyed this book but it did have a few things which didn’t sit well with me or that I didn’t love.

So we follow Justice (Jay) and her best friend Emma on a singles’ retreat where she runs into her husband, Terrance (who she’s in the middle of divorcing) and his best friend, Miles. During the book we discover what caused the fall out between the couple and explore their relationship going forward. It’s a second chance romance. The premise of them meeting at a singles’ retreat sounded like it would be fun, but from time to time felt a bit exhausting. The book also follows Justice and Terrance after the retreat.

For me, Justice just wasn’t very likeable. I understand that she has some understandably unresolved feelings due to the losses they suffered but otherwise her fixation or blaming or accusing Terrance of cheating at the smallest thing despite him never really giving her a reason to suspect him. She goes into full blow up mode immediately. I’d understand a bit more if he actually had cheated during their marriage or before but he never has, as far as we’re aware. I also think she comes across as self centred. Emma and Miles, drop everything to help her out constantly and support her, whilst Justice does not reciprocate. For example Emma tries to open up from time to time (e.g. during the retreat), only to be ignored by Justice who brings the conversation back to her and Terrance.

Whilst the storyline was generally quite interesting I find that the author explains things to us a little too much. Particularly where we don’t need to know that much information or where it’s not of great relevance. Maybe it’s to set up the background for the next books, but at this stage it feels too much. For example, we get to know more about Terrance’s friends (and business partners) towards the end, what they studied, where they live, their dating track record, only to really hear about them in passing in the epilogue.

Overall it was a good read but dragged from time to time for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Okay so, this was quite an honest take on the intricacies of an estranged and soon-to-be divorced couple. Their major issue and the pain they endured in their own ways was portrayed well through the book.

What I loved about the characters was that they knew their love for each other. What I maybe did not like as much is the fact that as long as they have been together, they came across as somewhat clueless about the other. Quite obviously their traumas created a wedge between them but even then I felt like Jay's continued insecurities were a bit much. Thankfully, Terrance was shown to be enough level-headed for both of them so as to avert disaster.

All in all though, I definitely enjoyed the evolution of the plot through the book. Thank you NetGalley for my advance copy.

I am SO thrilled this is the first book I'm reviewing. A special thank you for the ARC opportunity and my honest review. I was glad to snag a copy after seeing it here and there on social media. First off, I can't believe this is a debut. The writing, world-building, and characters were all so *chef's kiss.*

This is a departure from the traditional second chance romance. We don't have to wait 10 years or a long period for two people, who are obviously still in love, to have another chance at love. Terrence is the ultimate cinnamon roll. He's so kind, loving, patient, and dedicated to getting his wife back.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that Justice is not my favorite FMC by any means (lol). She put the stuh in stubborn! One thing you can't take away from her is the raw emotion she felt. The trigger warning notes pregnancy loss (off page), and I won't dare judge a person (fictitious or otherwise) on how they navigate life and their heart broken by the person she loved. Stubbornness aside, it was actually refreshing to read a leading lady who doesn't have it altogether and struggles with her confidence. How many of us have been there?

Another interesting thing about this book is that you got to settle in the happily ever after, and then some. I won't spoil anything but loved the fact that this story started at a singles retreat but certainly didn't end there. The secondary characters were also wonderful. I love how they weren't an afterthought and the tease there might be spin-off books in the future!!

I will definitely be reading more from this author and enjoyed the wit, banter, and pop culture reference throughout. This is a pretty fast read with *tons* of spice about the power of redemption and never giving up on love.

There are on again, off again romances and then there is this book! Surprise, after row, after misunderstanding made this quite an exhausting read. The book is unusual but flits from issue to issue to crisis too quickly for me and doesn’t really resolve things before butting against the next problem.

Thank you Frenchy Press and Netgalley for the ARC for my honest review.

The premise of this book was fun, an estranged couple wind up on the same singles vacation. But, this book didn't do it for me. The writing felt choppy and I did not get a sense of chemistry from the two leads. I just couldnt get into/enjoy this.

Thankyou for the ARC,

Unfortunately this book was just terrible for the following reasons;

- Wasn’t believable (15yrs of marriage & the characters were acting like strangers/teenagers)

- To many time jumps, 3mths, 7 weeks, 2 years

- To much miscommunication, would of liked to see another trope in the mix, not the same one used every 4 chapters

This was my first read from this author and I enjoyed it. We meet the characters seven months after their separation. Both at a Singles Retreat with their respective best friends.

I struggled a bit with the amount of miscommunication and running away the heroine did. It didn’t feel like it fit with the successful woman she was. I just wanted them to have a genuine, adult conversation.

I did love the best friends and you also get a dash of OW & OM drama in this one to keep things interesting.

I’ll definitely be looking for more stories from this author.

The Seven Month Itch
By Tanvier Peart
Pub Date: January 22, 2024

Justice is moving on whether her heart is ready or not. She didn’t want her marriage to end but Terrance wasn’t giving her a choice. His actions flat out said, he didn’t have or want to make time for her.
She took matters into her own hands and moved out, filed for a divorce and tried to figure out the next chapter of her life. Then out of the blue her BFF who lives in LA arranged for them to go to a singles retreat in Colorado – without asking her. Justice would never in a million years go to one of these things. She wasn’t in the mood to start dating let alone speed dating. That’s why Em didn’t give her a choice, you could say she kinda kidnapped her. Yes, there was plenty of eye candy, but that’s what made her nervous, she wasn’t into flings.
Scanning the room, she could not believe her eyes, it was Terrence. Of course, he was at a singles retreat! What did she do in her past life to deserve this! The days and nights that follow at the retreat with these two soon-to-be exes has them both rethinking the divorce. Could she trust him? He wasn’t there for her when she needed him most. What has changed?
My thoughts: This book is spicy! All the characters in the book are beautiful, they have money, degrees, and careers, but no one seems truly happy. Everyone is missing and craving the human connection only a loving relationship can bring. I love the twists turns Justice and Terrance make in trying to give their marriage a second chance. I have to say adding Reina to the picture kept me up all night reading. Like Justice I needed to know more about this woman!! All the bumps in the road made this book hard to put down and I can’t wait to read more of Tanvier’s books!!

Thank you NetGalley and FrenchyPress for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a 3-4 stars read for me because there were things I enjoyed and things I didn't like.

What I liked:
I'm a huge fan of second chance romance and the storyline of this one was very interesting. I haven't read anything like it before. Both main characters were flawed but relatable and had a nice development throughout the story. The book touches on miscarriages (off-page, in the past). However, it was written in a way that raised awareness without feeling too heavy. I also liked the post-holiday vibes and Hallmark references as well as Justice's sarcastic tone 😂 My favourite thing was the chemistry and tension between the couple 🔥They were both so hungry I loved it🌶️🌶️🌶️😂

What I didn't like:
The last 30% of the book felt like a long/extended epilogue that (in my opinion) slowed down the story. I would've liked more insight into how both characters actively changed their behaviour, communicated and found back to each other (e.g. a couple's therapy scene).

Overall, it's still a good and enjoyable story that I'd recommend to people looking for a second chance/marriage in trouble romance. I'll definitely keep an eye on the author's future publications.

Thank you Frenchy Press and Netgalley for the ARC for my honest review.

The premise of this book was fun, an estranged couple wind up on the same singles vacation. But, alas, this book didn't do it for me. The writing felt choppy and I did not get a sense of chemistry from the two leads.

ok wow that was so good. it was really well done with showing the emotions that follow a breakup and the recovery process. these two have such a great relationship & watching it flourish was a blessing

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book! As someone who has struggled with two miscarriages of my own, this book really spoke to me. The characters were very well-developed and hilarious, they all had their own distinctive voices and it was nice to read from a dual point-of-view. The spicy scenes were also amazing, I love a good slowburn! Second chance love stories are typically what I read, but I'm so glad I gave this one a chance. Thank you to the author for a beautiful love story between two people who truly care for each other. It was so evident throughout the novel that these two were meant to be together, I was so glad when the main characters came back together and were able to carry a healthy pregnancy to term. It gave me a lot of hope for my own future. I also really enjoyed the side character's plotlines, I can't wait to read about them in the future!

I picked up this book because of the blurb. A marriage second chance is not usually well written by many authors and I wanted to give this one a chance. This, I really wanted to like this book but alas it just wasn’t for me. I could not finish the book. The premise of the book is good, but the story did not flow well for me from the beginning and could not grab my interest. I felt myself checking out too often. I also found it strange that both best friends of the main characters were described in identical terms and seems mirror images. It seemed hackneyed to me. I know a lot of people liked this book so I am sure it might be an issue of reader-style incompatibility. Given that it’s an DNF, I do not want to post this review to public social media accounts since the book hasn’t been released yet.

3⭐️ 4🌶️

~I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity~

This “second chance” multi-narrative romance follows Justice and Terrance, a separated couple on the verge of signing divorce papers who find themselves at the same singles retreat trying to “move on.” Unresolved feelings demand to be resolved as they have to watch each other speed-date and take part in other various singles retreat activities.

Okay, here's the opinion scoop. The connection between our two main characters is real, raw and doesn't mimic the fluffy storybook romance you typically get with romance novels. Our characters have some pretty big character flaws, and it makes them all the more relatable. I yelled and rolled my eyes in a love-to-hate and hate-to-love way more times than I can count and I loved every minute of it.

Truthfully, I absolutely loved this book, but... there was a point of this novel where it should have ended and it did not. Instead, it continued and ultimately took away from the "high" I, as the reader, felt for the characters when the plot came to a head. I would have loved to have seen some of the smaller, unresolved story plots tied together in the epilogue, rather than have had to feel the impact of the closure wear off while these things were addressed. To its credit, the character building and writing style of this novel was amazing… a very easy read. With all this being said, if you like melodrama and quick-wit soap operas, this book is definitely for you.