Berkley Publishing – Review: 5 Stars

Thanks so much to the author, Edelweiss+, and Berkley for the complimentary advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own. { partner } All of my full reviews can be found on Instagram @Tackling_TBR and on my blog at tacklingtbr.home.blog.

TW: Alzheimers in a parent, dysfunctional family, caretaking of a parent.

Most people who follow me on Instagram or are aware of my blog could tell you that I absolutely LOVED Waiting for Tom Hanks! I am a huge sucker for all things romantic comedy (I start watching Hallmark Christmas movies earlier and earlier every year, my poor husband). And just like I love reading books about people who love reading books, I loved getting to read a story about someone as rom-com obsessed as I am! And so I was already sure I was going to love this book – I am very pleased to announce that I was not at all disappointed. While I loved reading Annie’s story last year, and relating to how much she loved being in her own romantic comedy, it was almost even more fun to get to read Chloe’s story – watching her the whole time trying to deny that she was in one too!

As far as the characters go, all of the key players in this story that I had already had a chance to fall in love with in the first book, so it was nice that this story just jumped right in and gave further information and back story – without feeling like it was trying to give a full introduction all over again, you know? One of my favorite things in rom-coms (both on the page and on the screen) is the sassy and witty banter that can exist between characters, especially when it is present before any sort of relationship is being explored. And that is definitely what you get with Nick and Chloe in this story! It made the dialogue so quick and enjoyable to read, as well. Their chemistry wasn’t entirely un-predictable, but the banter was so quick and the feelings so sweet and relatable that I didn’t really mind that I saw where it was going.

I also really loved the side plot love/hate triangle between Chloe, Annie, and Annie’s movie based off of Chloe. While that obviously isn’t exactly the most relatable situation to be in (sadly not all of us have best friends who get famous and write movies about our lives), all of the emotions driving their discussions and interactions in those scenes felt like they could have been my own best friend and I. One of my favorite parts of this book was those conversations, because in a way you got to see both sides and see why both women were right and wrong at the same time. I found myself really connecting with the emotions driving this bit of the plot, and I would have read an entire book just about the two of them going through these friendship speed bumps, even without all of the other parts where I got to swoon over Nick.

But believe me, there was plenty of swooning. There were definitely a few scenes that were a bit steamier than others, but if you are someone that doesn’t love a typically steamy romance novel, I don’t think those scenes in this book would be too much for you. I would say it was a nice, middle-ground steam level. Maybe even a gateway to something steamier!

Overall I would highly recommend this book to my friends! In fact, I already have once or twice. Maybe three times. I would say that I think you will get more out of this book if you have read Waiting for Tom Hanks first, but that you don’t necessarily have to have read the first one if you only want to dip your toes in to Chloe’s story. While these are characters from the first one, there weren’t too many references to the first book, and the times that there were there was generally enough information given about it to give the reader enough context on it’s own. That being said, again, just read them both. They’re so fun, I don’t think you’ll regret it. In fact, binge both of them over a weekend and maybe throw in a quick viewing of You’ve Got Mail! Make it a full rom-com marathon. But make sure to let me know when, and I’ll bring the popcorn and a bottle of wine!