I know a lot of people are not a fan of this book but this was a solid 4 for me.

There are so many times in life we have to fake it to make it and this book lives that out loud. Being a strong female worker in a male dominated place, Emmie has to do what it takes to get to the position she is aiming for. Tate is an annoying character. Even when his “cuteness” comes into play, he isn’t that strong for me - until he starts opening up and showing himself. I think there are a lot of people who can connect with an anxiety issue and being an introvert. My pros, Emmie isn’t a character I would remember and I had to look her name up in the book for this review and Tate stood out simply because I deal with a few of the same issues. ( )

Started out promising but quickly went downhill. Only thing I liked about the main character was her take no sexist bs attitude that she has at work. Other than that she was blah. Also the guy who is her main love interest doesn't come off as sexy or romantic just a possessive jerkface. I guess I don't really like the whole concept of "boy likes girl so he pulls on her pigtails" thing. It just comes off as immature and a way to excuse the guy's behavior. ( )

This book sent me. There is just so much to unpack. Was this a poorly written book? Yes. Did it seem like someone just fed an AI a bunch of romance novels and had it write one? Yes. None of that matters though. The only thing that matters is the twist.

The twist! Censored if you feel like finding out 80% into the book is that Tate The Love Interest has a fetish for Asian women! And the only woman he has ever loved (before Emmie The Protagonist of course) just totally coincidentally happens to look actually identical to Emmie. And then Sarah Smith The Author trying to walk that back by claiming this is a coincidence and not a fetish. Sorry but you can’t show me a character who very clearly has a racial fetish and then try to tell me he doesn’t. That’s not how writing works.

Many people have noted the weird way Smith treats race throughout the book so that doesn’t need to be rehashed but it makes the twist (and its racial aspect) so much weirder and discomfiting.

But going beyond the twist, the book is not at all romantic – Tate The Love Interest is possessive and jealous and a little bit stalky (but it’s ok because Emmie The Protagonist is crushing on him).

All of this is the longest way of saying I loved this book. It was so confusing and surreal and racially charged. Arguably very bad but so much fun to read. Quarantine is getting to me. ( )

I really liked it, but I didn't love it.

To start out, this book could have been a lot shorter, and with a lot less drama(especially in the end). Also, I was expecting a book that explored the construction thing, because of the helmet in the cover, but I was kinda disappointed.

Other than that, this book was exactly what I wanted, a rom-com with lots of hurt-comfort. The book was incredibly cliche, but that was what I wanted, so no comment on that. The characters were really likable, but Tate (why are you named Tate, I find Tate to be such a weird name) could have been a lot better at expressing himself, and Emmie could have been a bit more open in the beginning, though without her close-mindedness, we wouldn't have had as much drama, and I wouldn't have enjoyed the book as much as I did.

I've been wanting to read this one for a while, and I had had pretty high expectations, which was not a good thing. I also found that it felt a bit incomplete to me? What happened to Jamie in the end? What happens when she finally meets the parents? Do they actually go on that vacation, and iif they do, could we not have had a sneakpeek in the epilogue??? I wanted the happy ending to be complete!??!?!?

Also, that drama with ....(what was the ex-girlfriend's name???).....her could have been done better. In my opinion, we needed that insight into the ex well before the character was introduced, and the twinness could have been a surprise. I would have liked to know more about Tate, and have met some of Emmie's family members.

All in all, a good read. I recommend it to anyone who likes romance, the haters-to-lovers trope, the hurt/comfort, and, in general, a rom-com. ( )

1.5 stars ( )