YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!

I've never heard of Rachel or read anything by her before this story. To be honest, the only reason I picked this up from NetGalley (Thanks to them and St. Martin's Press for letting me read this early), is because Tarah DeWitt shared it on IG. The minute I saw the cover and read the details, I was hooked.

This story does not disappoint one bit. The characters are so multi-dimensional in a way that makes them feel like they could be your friend IRL. Each page is layered with detail, which makes this such an amazing story.

First off we have Yael, our FMC. She's a librarian who secretly runs a podcast under the name Elle. After some mental health struggles, she decides she needs help with the editing. After asking a friend for recommendations, she winds up hiring Kevin.

Kevin, our MMC, is only "Kevin" in his business life. IRL he goes by his middle name, Ravi. When he gets the offer to help with an obscure, niche podcast he agrees simply because he enjoys the content. He doesn't expect to develop feelings for the host.

On top of this fun meeting, we have a disaster meet cute in the beginning of the novel, and then an enemies-to-lovers (lite version) between Yael and Ravi IRL.

If you've ever read another review by me, you might notice I love any trope with letters, emails, texts, etc. It's damn near impossible to make me hate a book if this is involved. What Rachel does in this book is SO MUCH MORE. The emails and texts really pull you through the emotions of the characters. You get glimpses of their layers with every exchange.

And - holy crap - when the spice hit, it HIT. I love a man who eats. <spoiler> And so does Yael. Cause, woooooooooooow. </spoiler> No further details there.

☺️ Mistaken Identity
☺️ Epistolary trope
☺️ Multicultural identities
☺️ QUEER AF (and not just for a gimmick!)
☺️ Found family
☺️ Grief
☺️ Mental health struggles/depictions
☺️ SPICE
☺️ Third person POV

I will absolutely be buying a copy of this as soon as it's live. And if I find out Rachel is in my area, I'm going to a signing. She's got a brand new fan with this story.

If anything I said above resonates with you, please, please, PLEASE grab this title. It needs all the hype.

**Thank you again to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Rachel Runya Katz, for the chance to read an eARC of this title early.

This was the first Queer romance I’ve ever read, and I also loved that it was simultaneously a BIPOC romance, and I’m completely here for this! 🥰🏳️‍🌈🫶🏻

Yael/Elle & Ravi/Kevin’s romance was truly beautiful.

Whilst it covered some difficult topics such as mental health issues and abandonment, I loved that it had a diverse range of characters that were both flawed and loveable.

Whilst a little dark at times, isn’t life itself at certain moments? And the cozy hygge moments of the book had me wanting to hibernate under my covers to read this with cocoa. Whilst that wasn’t possible, I binge read this in less than 15 hours on a busy day where we also had other plans.

As a Mama of young kiddos, it’s always lovely when littles show up in romance novels for me as secondary or tertiary characters, and Ravi’s interactions with his niece were both utterly adorable and representative of the love of a guardian wanting to protect their loved one from trauma.

The only reason I didn’t give this book a 5 was because I had a brother who was also Bipolar like Yael, whom I lost to suicide. As a result her depressive episodes hit a little to close to home for me on an open emotional wound. But this was a solid 4.75 stars. ❤️

And concurrently I could also see how important all love stories are, especially ones that are as real as they can be for fiction, and reflect real life, no matter how uncomfortable that can feel for the reader. And that getting us out of our comfort zones can be a good thing for growth. Otherwise, I absolutely loved this book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. 🥰

This is my favorite RRK book to date, and I really loved the previous two. The dual secret identities/dual POV was fantastic and the stakes made me so emotional. Going to be thinking about this one for a while.

Another one that gave all the butterflies with a great message. Spicy and sweet and I loved the mental health rep.

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release!

At first, I found it a little hard to get into—though that might’ve just been the setting I was reading in. But around the 20% mark, something shifted for me. I started to really connect with the characters in such fascinating and emotional ways, and by the end, I was crying through so many parts of the book.

What truly made me fall in love with this story was the writing style. I’m a huge fan of novels that include epistolary elements or textual inserts—like emails, texts, and journal entries—because they add so much depth and variety to the reading experience. The way those moments were woven into the narrative brought the scenes to life and gave such a clear sense of who the characters were. It was so well done.

I also really appreciated the representation in this story. There’s such a beautiful balance between exploring identity and simply celebrating love. Yael, the main character, understands that not everyone gets the chance to love freely—and wants to create a safe space for others to do so—but the book doesn’t dwell only in hiding or struggle. It also makes space for joy, softness, and the freedom to love without explanation. That kind of quiet, tender representation really moved me. It’s hard to put into words, but the way the author portrayed both the need for safety and the celebration of love was just so beautifully done.

I cried a lot during this book, but I absolutely adored this book and can’t wait for more people to read it. It made me feel seen and heard in the quiet, magical way that only books can.

Thank you again, NetGalley, for letting me experience this book early—I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

Clare Gilmore told me to read this book (and when Clare talks, I listen). Here's the deal: I adored this book. It's the first I've read by this author and it was balanced in being all the wonderful things I love about this genre: sweet, honest, spicy, funny. The chemistry?? Kicked my feet adorable and made my heart ache in equal measure. And on top of all that good stuff, this book has accurate representations of mental health conditions, queer youth, book club (!!), and some kick ass + soul affirming adult friendships. Chef's kiss to the whole lot of it.

This was such a cute and refreshing read!! There's likeable characters, funny literature references, queer representation, and more. It was perfect in my eyes. I found the email sequences fun and an interesting touch to the overall story. I enjoyed the writing a lot. This is my first read by this author, and I can't wait to dive into her other books.

oh this was so dang good. i am bad at words right now so reviewing is hard but this book is just filled with SO much. so much queerness, figuring yourself out, familial relationships (and how those look different for everyone), love in many different forms, cuteness!! i could go on but i will stop because i think people should discover it for themselves. definitely recommend this one, and i'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

REP: bisexual mixed Black and Ashkenazi Jewish main character with bipolar disorder; bisexual Indian main character from Trinidad; many queer and trans side characters [Black Jewish queer author]

I absolutely loved this one! Yael and Ravi’s tension, banter, and chemistry was on fire and had me squealing and giggling! I also loved the addition of the queer book club and how invested they were with the main characters’ relationship. The hidden identity aspect was such a fun twist on the story as well. Overall I would say give it a try if you like the synopsis and vibes!

This was such a cute and fun read. I giggled and kicked my feet the entire way through, I think that's just the Hallmark of a good rom-com.

the greenest flag was flown when he joined her book club as a mentor for queer youth.

✰ 5 stars, well deserved

thank you to St. Martin's Press for the ebook in exchange for an honest review. you are always good to me.

platform: netgalley ebook arc

Between Jewish, bipolar, and queer rep plus an identity reveal(my favorite trope) I was having the time of my life with this book. Also love their queer book club picks at the end of the story.