I am a big fan of this author and was very excited to read her newest novel. I thought Prue and Milo were wonderful and their friends with benefits arrangement was guaranteed to be a disaster. The small town aspect of the story was very sweet too. I would just like to know what’s with all the romance books having an Alzheimer’s/Dementia subplot!?

This was my very first Hannah Bonam-Young book and while I did enjoy it, I think it maybe wasn't the best one to get an idea of her writing style. While I very much enjoyed Prudence as a character and I will always appreciate a "he fell first" trope. My biggest hang-up is about Milo's character and his sexual history. It's very hard to believe he would be satisfied with Prudence's lack of experience, regardless of how gone he is for her emotionally and how attracted he is to her. 200+ people is A LOT to compete with for a virgin! It also felt like it was reinforcing a stereotype about bisexual men being overly active sexually which left a sour taste in my mouth. I will say however that I thoroughly appreciated the cast of side characters in both their families. I do feel like the romance aspect of the book almost took second place to all the family stuff happening, especially on Prue's side.

This was my first Hannah Bonam-Young read, after months of hearing great things. This is about Prue, who is living in her hometown and caring for her mother, who has Early Onset Alzheimer's, and Milo, who ends up in the same small town to help his brother with his new business. Milo and his siblings are still recovering from their childhood with abusive parents. Part of this book is definitely about these characters helping each other through their trauma, which was written about well, and showed just how much Milo and Prue cared for each other. However, this book is mostly about sex. The synopsis mentions sex lessons but doesn't tell us that Milo is an iconic slutty bisexual, and that Prue is a virgin. Honestly, I loved that Milo was bi but not that Prue is a virgin. It's an overdone trope and is rarely done well. This isn't awful, but sometimes Milo's internal monologue about Prue's virginity was way too much. Like, why is virginity so sexy? It borderlines infantilization, which Prue deals with from most of the characters in this. Don't get me started on her dad. Still, this does have broad appeal, the sex scenes aren't all cringey, and these characters work well together. I think a lot of romance readers will be drawn to this, and the cozy, small town, fall vibes are perfect for the upcoming season.

I LOVED this one! Hannah Bonam-Young has quickly become a favorite author of mine.

The yearning and tension was so good in this! And it also touched on some very serious topics with such grace.

Absolute perfection!

I’m convinced anything Hannah Bonn-Young writes I’ll rate five stars. I loved this book. My heart ached for Prue and for Milo. It was so heart warming seeing them together despite the stressors going on in their lives. I couldn’t put this down until the end. Who doesn’t love sex lessons

A perfect and emotional slow burn while still maintaining Bonam-Young’s charm. I didn’t expect this book to be so sad though, but perhaps it hits a little closer to home for me.

This book is really lovely. I really enjoy the casted of characters and the almost small town vibes. My only qualm is that there felt like there was this depth that was being set up between the two main characters and their relationship that wasn't explored to it's fullest potential. i would have liked to get more quiet moments where we really got to see more of their relationship outside of the chemistry and their sexual connection.

I was not expecting People Watching to be this sad. I really wanted to like this book, but it just kept getting sadder and sadder the more I read. It just wasn’t for me and I really hate that. 🫣

I was given an advanced copy of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

This was such a beautiful story. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would part way through. All of the characters (main and side) were easy to fall in love with. The backstories were heartbreakingly perfect and I really hope we get more stories about this family. I loved the level of "adultness" and communication at the end. There wasn't really a third act break up per say it just took some talking out, which is what should always happen in a REAL romance. Also LOVE LOVE LOVE how the title came into play in the story. Sweetly enchanting. Can't wait to see more from Bonam-Young.

Read This Book If…”Invisible String” is one of your favorite Taylor Swift songs!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young

Genre: romance
Spice Level: 4/5🌶, 3-4 explicit scenes
Setting: small vacation town in Ontario
POV: dual, 1st person, present tense
Tropes: bad first impression, sex lessons, virgin, “good girl”

My Thoughts:
This one is definitely a tearjerker! Between the mom with Alzheimer’s, his family history, and the overall tenderness, you can expect to shed a few tears.

However, there were plenty of fun and steamy moments to balance it out! I loved having a more experienced MMC giving lessons to the FMC (although we did lean pretty hard into the slutty bisexual stereotype at the beginning). These two had insane chemistry, in both their banter and in the bedroom.

I tend to prefer romances with more external conflict, and this one was definitely internal. Even by small town standards, these two were very much in their family-only bubble. I loved all of the side characters, but would have loved to see a bit more of the town. I’m hoping we get that in the second book in the series!!

Memorable Quote: “So yes, Milo and I are in love. And, no, we’ll probably never admit it to each other. But how wonderful and tragic and lucky is that?”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!

People Watching is easily a 5 star read. It was romantic, emotional, and funny. I loved seeing how Hannah developed these characters and had them tackle real-life barriers.

2.75!

I have read only two Hannah Bonham books if we exclude this one and both of them were so good and so well delivered that I went in expecting this to be executed in the same Hannah Bonham fashion but I was soo disappointed when I was reading this, maybe I am being a bit generous with the rating but everything about this book felt so perfect before I picked it up like the cover alone is worth five full bright shinning stars. The writing felt a bit foreign I could not connect to it, like HBY's writing is so easy to follow, and it's so gripping because I was imagining everything so vividly in Out of the woods earlier this year and reading this felt like someone else wrote it because the disconnection was insane. I did enjoy the topic of Alzheimer's and how it was tackled, like this is how you do it, and yes, this is a dig at *cough* Say You'll Remember Me *cough*, I liked the way it was integrated into the story.

Prue and Milo were our characters, but both of them felt very lackluster, alone and together. For me, the side characters were the ones who stole the show. Milo's brother and his wife were amazing, and Nadia and Aleks(?) I would love to read more about them because they were so interesting. Milo's story with the siblings and his issues were more intriguing, and honestly, without the romance, it would've been better?? Prue's story with her dad and mom was much better than the romance, and it was what provided the little enjoyment I got. Milo's role in that was also sweet. Although if we are to talk about Prue and Milo as separate characters, that's a different story. Prue was so shallow and one-dimensional, and I was so bored reading her perspective and Milo- while at first he was charming, that quickly died down because both the characters were so fucking horny, and not to mention the manwhore that Milo was, cuz how the fuck are you sleeping with 200+ women smh.

The romance was so bland. Like i felt nothing towards them and it pissed me off so much, there was no development towards their romantic arc and it was so insta lusty not to mention how fucking horny these two hoes were so horny for each other like omg you just met her can you stop thinking about how you would like to have sex with her or bang her body (disgusting) vice versa for the female character as well but it as so frustrating to read this, and I hate insta lust when they dont even try to be subtle about it. Now I won't lie, the romance did get better near the end, and there were some very cute moments, but the chemistry was no there, the smut scenes were a lot but they did nothing cuz their was no chemistry or tension between them Milo and Bertha (his car) had more tension than than him and Prudence.

Overall, a mediocre novel.

This book is perfect for the reader who craves slow-burn, emotionally intimate romance that explores personal growth through caretaking responsibilities and the tension between safety and adventure.

People Watching hooked me from the start! It’s a small town romance which I absolutely love and it was dual POV. I’m usually not a fan of insta love but the way Hannah Bonam-young wrote it was so good. I couldn’t put the book down and binge read the last 50%! Highly recommend.

This book isn’t for me. It is really well written but the characters were so firmly rooted in the Gen Alpha-ness that I struggled to relate to them (elder millennial).

Also, I stopped caring by 50% in about their romance. Specifically, I didn’t think Milo’s transition from fuck boy to obsessed with Prue really made sense. And Prue felt emotionally distant to me as a reader. I do think this is probably a me thing.

Still 4 stars for the quality of the writing!

OKAY SERIOUSLY Hannah outdid herself with Milo and Prue!!!!
I had the best time meeting Milo and Prue and their imperfect families, which just made for this story to be so heartfelt and touching. I think Hannah did an amazing job at telling a story of how a family that has gone through hardships, can move forward, and it may be imperfect. And at the same time, a family that has a different definition of what problems they are facing, are, it doesn't change form the fact that it is a challenge anyway.
As someone who has personally gone through so many family issues, and has been able to grow from them, this story just gives a little confirmation that not every family is perfect, and that love truly does define the meaning of what family is to you.
This story is so so special, and truly adore the message that Hannah created.
Also, Milo and Prue, and this chemistry??? OFF THE CHARTS!!!
I am usually not a fan of the trope that this book has, but wow, the friends and lovers aspect to this relationship that Prudence and Milo have,, makes the story incredible, and I fell like these 2 families merging was just beautiful, and this book is so special for fans of not only romance, but love.

4.25 stars!! this is probably my second favorite HBY book. i was sooo excited to get a dual POV book from HBY and Milo’s yearning and obsession with Prue did not disappoint!!

Thank you to Ballantine for an early review copy.

Hannah Bonam-Young's latest romance novel focuses on Milo and Prudence. Milo, a free-spirited 28-year-old who's constantly been on the run and never developed any romantic attachments, has recently been called to the small town of Bayville to help his brother open a brewery. While there, he meets Prue, the town's golden girl, who has never dreamed of leaving her small town. Milo is tasked by Prue's father to convince her to leave the nest, while fighting his first urges to stay in one place.

This book is a quick read, but I found myself wishing it were longer to develop the romantic relationship more and focus on the family aspects. This book plants the seeds for more novels set in Bayville, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this cast of characters.

This was such a beautiful story and there were so many scenes where I cried , if a book makes you feel you know it’s good! Prue and Milo were so unique I love both those kids. I have never read a story where it incorporated a disease and the hardship that it comes with taking care of a loved one with such. I want to thank @NetGalley for allowing me to have read this beautiful story in advance.

Thanks to Netgalley & Ballantine for the E-ARC! Loved so much! Cute characters & loved the setting. Fast-paced too. Another beautiful book by this author!