Pretty cute summer story.
I liked all the characters, which is surprising. They each had their own things going on and I would love to be friends with them all. Ian was adorable and I love his Boston accent. He was smart and kind and go with the flow. Sadie was honest and okay with herself and always positive. Maybe the two of them would be cute together. Gabe, sigh. He's a good guy and I really felt bad for him in the first book. I'm glad he was able to figure out who he wants to be and be happy. Molly is the most complicated, but it makes her real. She makes mistakes, sometimes more than once. She tries to be a different version of herself and fake it until you make it, but that's not a realistic way to live. She did grow up and definitely deserved to be happy and loved. I'm glad everything turned out happy in the end! ( )

“It occurs to me that maybe this is what friendship is sometimes: saying your piece, then crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.”

We are finally getting into contemporary season and I couldn’t be happier and what better way to kick it off than a fun summery “roadtrip romance” sequel to 99 Days with Katie Cotugno’s 9 Days and 9 Nights. We follow Molly as she and her new boyfriend are on vacation in Europe and they run into Gabe, who’s also traveling Europe with his new girlfriend. Gabe brings a lot of secrets and baggage that Molly would rather stay hidden as she’s trying to move on with her life and become a different person. But she starts to wonder if you can ever truly be yourself when you’re wearing a mask.

Thing I Liked
I actually really liked all the different relationships and romances we see in the story. Obviously Molly and Gabe have chemistry and a long history, but I thought that Molly and Ian, her new boyfriend, were super cute too. I was rooting for each couple at different times, and I liked the progression we saw. Honestly, to me it didn’t even feel love triangle-y, which was nice. And I loved seeing Imogen and Molly's friendship highlighted as such an important part of each woman's life.

I thought the pacing of the story was great. I loved that it was broken up into 9 days and we get to really see everything build and grow. I felt like I was a part of the journey and nothing felt too slow, or rushed.

Like with Katie Cotugno’s other books I found 9 Days and 9 Nights to just be real and honest with genuine human moments filled with flaws, mistakes, regrets, and all. I might not agree with every characters action, but I can clearly see why they are acting a certain way and how they got to that moment. It helps me stay invested even if I don’t necessarily connect with a character immediately.

Things I Didn’t Like
Similarly to Katie’s other books as well, this one definitely ventured into emotional cheating territory and I’m obviously not the biggest fan of that. It wasn’t as bad as I expected and I greatly appreciated the openness and honest of the different parties involved so that was nice too.

9 Days and 9 Nights was an incredibly quick read that begs to be read in Spring or Summer. It’s filled with personal growth, travel, and romance- and honestly, what more would you want for a Spring read?

I received a copy of the book from Balzer Bray via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review ( )