What starts as a “no strings, just vibes” arrangement turns into Milo worshiping the ground Prue walks on. She keeps trying to convince herself that she can keep it light. Meanwhile, this man is out here rearranging his entire life and building a shrine to her in his heart.

This book is funny, emotional, and sneakily wise. It has some of the most loveable supporting characters, a town I want to vacation in (despite its gossipy tendencies), and steam that somehow feels both filthy and deeply respectful. I giggled. I blushed. I highlighted 47 quotes.

People Watching is a lesson in hot guys with slutty facial hair, emotionally intelligent banter, and the kind of chemistry that could light a gas station on fire.

4.75 rounded up! I fell for this story , head over heels. I haven’t had much luck with this author before , but i needed this injected into my veins. and i am now converted instalove enjoyer, if they can all be written like this. The banter was witty, the pet name was niche. I adored Milo & his family. Unfortunately, the third act break up made the rating fall for me. I felt her anger was a tiny bit misplaced, and that their relationship was so built on communication that they should have just communicated! But it resolved quickly. The rest of this book was perfectly crafted for me & this is coming from someone who has not previously enjoyed this authors books. I will be locked in for the next one. PLEASE BE ALEKS & NADIAS!!

some of my notes while reading:

VIRGIN x EXPERIENCED GUY TROPE???
Towns darling x semi bad boy
ARTSY GUY WITH TATTOOS??
TEACH ME TROPE???
he falls first and harder

HBY CANNOT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS? I feel like a broken record, but HOW does she perfectly toe the line between heartfelt and angst? She is an actual witch, creating the perfect potions aka her novels. Anyway, if you like strangers to lovers, spicy lessons, small towns, and a healthy dose of family issues this one is for you!

This book touch heavy topics in the perfect way. Kept my attention the whole time and had me reflecting on my own childhood.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dell romance for the ARC !

This was my 3rd HBY and I’m not disappointed! I love the way she writes characters. She always knows how to do the perfect banter. The spicy scenes in this book were out of this world, probably the best I’ve read.

I really loved our two MCs, but I thought their relationship was a bit insta-lovey. I don’t mind a « spicy teacher » plot but if they’re going to fall in love I need to be totally convinced and sadly I wasn’t.

I was also really intrigued to dive into a plot where the parent has Alzheimer’s. To my disappointment, that side plot took a backseat pretty quickly.

Again, this was still a really solid book, great smut and loveable characters so I think anyone interested should definitely read it.

Hannah Bonam-Young, does it again.
I am a huge HBY fan so of course I ran to read this, and let me say I am not disappointed.

This story was beautiful. So romantic and hopeful but also had some heavy topics and beautiful healing throughout. Literally why was I laughing one page and crying the next one.

The characters were so REAL! Like so flawed and perfectly balanced. I LOVED IT. And really connected with Milo’s story. If you have came from tough family households and still carry trauma , please read trigger warnings. Now if you’re on your healing journey you will FEEL so deeply seen!!! This book is for us fight or flight babes.

The SPICE…. Girl the spice. I Wasn’t expecting it and loved every single second!!

Ugh I loved this and as always will be recommending to my customers and stocking this in my shop.

There was so much potential for me to absolutely adore this book, but I fear it fell slightly short.

HBY is still a delicious writer and will continue to be an auto-buy author.

For me, we skipped the chemistry development and went straight from strangers to in love. We needed 100 more pages for it to get to the place it wanted to be.

Please don’t get it twisted, I definitely enjoyed this book but I was hoping to GOBBLE it.

I wanted to kee kee with this book, I wanted to he he ha ha. Where was the yearning?

I already know People Pleasing is going to eat with my black cat woman and down bad man.

(Thank you NetGalley for the e-Arc)

I finished this one a bit ago, and as always, Hannah Bonam-Young has delivered a book that I loved. This book dives into caring for a parent with early onset Alzheimer's and also touches on childhood abuse. I am usually not a fan of the virgin FMC trope, but I think this book handled it well. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and Hannah Bonham-Young for providing me with and early copy in exchange for my honest review.

Hannah has quickly become an instant read author for me and every single time I start a new book from her it feels so comforting to sink into it. Her works have begun feeling like meeting up with an old friend and getting to hear all the new stories and adventures they have to share.

This book had me smiling, giddy, crying, and laughing, quite possibly within the same chapter. The depth of these characters really felt like you knew them. They had back stories that were fleshed out in a way that made sense for them and it was so nice to see them heal together and find each other in the sweetest perfect way.

Milo’s family went through it as children, and all three of them are still healing and working through the trauma that they had as kids. Nik and Sef are such a sweet couple and I love how warm and inviting they are as people and as a family. There love for each other was a great way to give a glimpse of what is possible for the two younger siblings, even if they don’t believe it for themselves yet. Milo‘s growth in the story felt so rewarding not only for the character for us to read through how much he has grown and how much he can see that he deserves happiness and deserve someone to love him.

I’m not always thrilled with a story where of the woman is a virgin looking to lose it for the first time, however, with Pru and her story, it made sense. Within the first 10% of this book, I was already crying watching Pru’s mom think that it was her wedding day and see the toll that it took on her family was heartbreaking. You learn that Pru has given up a lot in her life to take care of her mom and to make sure that her dad is supported while their mother battles early onset Alzheimer’s. Pru would never see it as giving up her dream, but this is a constant issue her dad brings up and wants Pru to take back her life and achieve the dreams she has as a child.

The story had a lot of heavy elements to it so watching Milo and Pru fall in love and have this agreement between the two of them for Milo to help Pru check off a list of things she wants to try and to learn what she likes helped bring some levity and happiness into the story. Not only that, it’s so sweet to see the connection they build and to have them both trust someone that deeply for the first time was so sweet to witness.

This town felt fully flushed out. I felt like I knew where everything was and everybody there made sense. We know that there’s going to be a second book in this town and after reading the story, you can get a good sense of who with this book will be about, and I cannot wait!

I highly recommend this book!

Came for the absolutely adorable cover, stayed for the sweetest characters. Hannah Bonam-Young writes such earnest and genuine characters - the whole cast is a delight and I especially can’t wait for Nadia’s story (which I’m assuming is coming…). The complexity of the back stories and current challenges the characters face is handled with care, while the main story of insta-love and lust is drawn out in the most delicious way. This was a fun summer read and a joy to experience.

He's a wanderer, running towards adventure and away from his past. She's rooted, but has adventure in her heart and in the words of her poetry. When Prue & Milo meet it is kismet. I can just see the slow motion, wind in her curls, life altering moment Milo sets eyes on the one that's going to put his feet flat on the ground. I've never cheered more for two people to find home in one another like I did in this book. Milo is one of the best written MMCs I've read in such a real, honest way. This story is heavy, it does have early onset Alzheimer's, cancer, childhood trauma, off page abuse mentioned. However, Hannah takes these two burdened characters and allows them to discover comfort, experiences (physically and emotionally), and a future together in a way neither of them would have thought. This story is full of happenstance and possibility with steam, so much "teach me" spice. You'll be smiling wickedly during the spice and crying with a broken heart during the hard family moments, completely invested in a way only a writer of this caliber can evoke This book was written for those Mary Oliver reading, sitting in your room wondering if you're making the right choices readers who are loyal to a fault but still yearn for the world and all it has to offer. It's never too late.

2.5 ⭐️

At first I was very excited for this book, the premise was interesting and I LOVE Hannah Bonam-Young’s writing style and tone of voice, but unfortunately it fell very flat for me.

Starting off, I feel like a big point of the book was the small town that it was set in, but I felt like it was underdeveloped and kinda read lackluster.

Also, I think Milo’s family dynamic was a little underdeveloped. I would have liked to learn more about what happened, with a better resolution to the conflict with his siblings.

But most significantly, Milo has slept with WAY too many people. Prue seriously should have ran when she found that. 200+ if you’re curious lmfao
Furthermore, their relationship developed from 0 to 100 so fast, with him never wanting to be in a relationship/ stay in one place to instantly wanting to settle down with her.

I really really wanted to love this book, but just had a lot of issues and wasn’t the book for me. Will forever continue to read HBY books though.

Thank you net galley for the advanced copy!

This is a tricky review for me. I LOVE Hannah's book and her first three books are some of my favourite books of all time.

First I'll go over what I loved:
- Milo is such a funny, Golden Retriever MMC. I loved his flirting and charm.
- The relationship between Milo and his siblings (and Aleks).
- The depiction of what life can be like as a caretaker for a sick parent.
- The small town vibes.
- How gentle Prue and Milo were with each other. The caretaking scenes were perfection.
- Prue's relationship with her parents is truly special.

What I wish there was more of:
- Character development. Prue and Milo were great characters, but I wanted MORE of their stories, and more of them growing.
- Relationship development outside of the sex lessons. While there were moments where the characters did get vulnerable and support each other, I wish there was more of them sharing other parts of themselves. Like their hobbies, their lives. I just think there was potential there for them to get to know each other on a deeper level. I also think this was a bit too 'insta love' for me. Milo, due to his deep-seated trauma, is a commitment-phobe and is very against relationships and staying in one place. Yet, he falls for Prue instantly, and in less than a month, he's decided to be with her and stay. While I think this is valid, in a way, I just wish there was more in terms of his healing. Curing mental health by falling in love never sits well with me.
- I also wish Milo spent more time with his family, who clearly needs him. He comes to town to help with his brother's business, but he doesn't do much of that. He also spends very little time with his family, opting instead to spend most of his time with Prue's. Again, that's fine, and he got a lot out of that, but I would have loved to see more of a resolution there, or steps towards a resolution.
- Insight into the town. I always love books where the setting acts almost as another character. I think there was so much potential to see more of the town and have it play more of a part in the love story.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, and I found it very hard to put down, but it left me feeling not much at all.

Hannah Bonam-Young is such an incredible author, and People Watching is no exception. I really loved Milo and Prudence's relationship, and how much they grew together within their own personal journeys. I especially loved their banter together, and thought it was so charming. One of my favourite parts of this book were the side characters. I especially loved Nik and Sef, and I would eat up a prequel novella or short story or anything about the two of them. People Watching feels much similar in vibe to Next of Kin/Next to You, as opposed to Out on a Limb/Out of the Woods. (All of which are fantastic.) I highly recommend People Watching, and I am SO excited to read People Pleasing!!

My first Hannah Bonam-Young read. Writing itself and description was great. Totally could picture this little town, Sef and Nik's bustling house, and the brewery.

For me personally though, there just wasn't enough plot. I feel like nothing really happened except for the complete 180 Milo has about only doing casual relationships and never staying in one place. Of which there was no build-up, it all happens on one page and you can guess the next 200 pages. I can sometimes be okay with insta-love, but this just didn't have enough substance around it.

Thank you so much for this ARC. I’m a HUGE fan of Hannah’s work and was so excited to receive this. Like all of Hannah’s work, this book is written very well and flows nicely. I ranked this book slightly lower really at a 3.5 due to personal preference - while the book covers some heavy topics which I think she did a great job, this particular love story wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. The general plot was solid but when compared to the timeline it felt a bit fast and sped through which didn’t come off quite as genuine to me. Talks the miscommunication trope at the end as sort of a third act breakup felt random since it was like three chapters before the end of the book. Again, a lot of this is just personal preference. Hannah always brings her characters to life and she does the spicy scenes well. I really loved her exploring life as a caretaker and the toll it takes on a family.

I wanted to love this one, but I honestly could not get into it. The small town romance piece was cute, but I never fully felt connected to either main character. I usually really appreciate a Bonam-Young novel, but this one was not my cup of tea. Maybe it was the insta-lust or the bucket list portions, but either way I was not sucked in like usual. Maybe I am the outlier here though!

first of all, this cover?! to die for. most importantly, the content of this book is so funny and lighthearted yet deep and individualistic. hannah bo am young is able to create characters that are so real and magnetic.

Tender, sexy, and quietly shattering, People Watching is a slow-burn small-town romance that explores what it means to stay—for yourself, for love, and for the life you never thought you’d choose.

Prue is the kind of heroine you root for with your whole chest—introverted, poetic, and navigating the ache of caregiving for a mother with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Enter Milo, a bumper-stickered free spirit who should be a bad idea... and yet becomes exactly the chaos she needs. What starts as casual sex-ed with a side of heartbreak quickly becomes something deeper—something worth fighting for.

With emotionally rich prose, Hannah Bonam-Young delivers a romance full of messy growth, deep grief, and wild, electric connection. It’s about loving people where they are—and learning how to do the same for yourself.

Fans of Before We Were Strangers and The Simple Wild—you’ll want this one on your shelf.

Solid 4.5 stars. I think this book was really enjoyable overall, it's not my favorite by HBY, but it's still a great read. I think my experience with the book is slightly skewed with how many books I've read this year that deal with a parent with dementia. It's really hard to read and see the relationship blossom around the circumstances. I think the heavy topics will make this book difficult for some, but I also think that's the point.

I think this book specifically was difficult because of the decisions made with Pru and her father. No spoilers, but damn what a hard situation I could not possibly fathom in real life. I think Milo signs up for a lot, and it keeps him grounded, but in reality, I think it's hard to find and carve out a place for a budding relationship with all the circumstances. It was hard to suspend my disbelief in this book because there is so much going on for this poor family, and although it still is an HEA, it's still a very heavy read because of the topics it deals with.

I'm still going to stock in my store and recommend, but with the heavy recommendation on reading the triggers and that it's a heavy read. Thank you for the opportunity to review.