Cute for what it was. The writing style was a little weird for me… and I found both main characters annoying at times. It had some adorable moments though.

3.5 stars rounded to a 4

Callum and Emma are exes from 12 years ago who are in denial about how much they are still hung up on each other (they remind themselves of this a lot). They end up getting stuck together on a road trip around Italy back to their homes in London. Through this journey, they are reminded of their previous relationship and try to fight the feelings that are still there for each other.

Tropes:
second chance romances
Dual POV
The one that got away
Friends with benefits

This is a short and sweet, closed door romance. I really liked the characters. I thought Emma was very quirky and Callum was a good person who had the best intentions even though I thought his actions might not have come off that way. Along the way, they enter this FWB/holiday fling relationship, and I was face palming at Emma's false hope/optimism for more while Callum had been clear on his intentions from (kind of) the start but also was still giving mixed signals. The only thing I didn't like was the reasoning behind how the relationship had ended and the one hindering them from restarting their relationship now. In the end, I was like "oookay..." when this reasoning somehow gets resolved after a small realization by one of the characters. Emma tries to get "closure" on her relationship with Callum like a million times in this book for some reason, but honestly, I kind of get it because I was kind of confused myself (LOL).

I really liked Jo Lovett's writing. It was humorous with tons of laugh out loud moments (namely, Emma's driving and her beloved van, Miranda), and I also teared up at times because the emotions were written very well. I am a sucker for second chance romances and angst.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.