This was a re-read (via audio book) and I think I originally read it around the release. I remember it being one of my favorites in the series, but I definitely had some issues this time.
This is friends-to-lovers and a second chance romance. Those are two tropes I like-especially second chance. I enjoyed reading about Theo and James'' romance and how they came to love each other. It was a pleasure to read them as a young couple and learning what it means to be a couple. But the reuniting aspect of the story wasn’t quite as developed as I would’ve liked. They just came back together too quickly. It was like, “let’s have sex-everything is better now.” I still really enjoy them as a couple and would’ve loved more.
I also really liked how Ms. James used the Ugly Duckling story. Theo is really just different. She doesn’t have some sort of magical glow-up that solved all her problems. She grows confidence and others feed off that. And James always cared about her and loved her-he didn’t suddenly “discover” her because she got '“pretty”. I was very happy with those narrative choices.
Thanks for reading!
Holly