Rating: ★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 353 pages
Author: Julie Olivia
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 28th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This isn’t her idea of home, but she’s quickly becoming mine.

I’m Never Harbor’s neighborhood best friend. Along with being the middle child in a loud family of seven, I’m accustomed to being everything to everyone. But after moving into my new townhouse by the sea, my world has suddenly grown too quiet.

But then she moves back to town.

Marina Starkey is my landlord’s daughter with nowhere to go. She needs a place to stay for the summer, and thankfully I’m just the kind of guy to offer.

Hello there, new roommate.

She’s gorgeous and cheeky with a stubbornness that matches my own. (Don’t get me started on the shared bed situation.) Summer days pass in soft touches and afternoon swims, and my heart sinks deeper with every stroke.

I’m not a temporary fling kind of guy, and Marina has no intention of staying past the summer.

She doesn’t want to fall in love with her hometown, and I’m basically Mr. Never Harbor himself.

But my home is quickly becoming wherever I’m with her.

THIS AIN’T IT.

After really enjoying the first book in this series I have no idea why this one fell completely off the rails??? I wanted to love it and there were definitely some good and charming scenes but the extreme lack of character and plot consistency ruined this for me.

Cassidy is an absolute sweetheart and made me smile throughout the book. I liked his optimistic nature and the way that he took little notes on the people he loves to remember their favorite things. It was kind and heartfelt.

Marina on the other hand couldn’t decide what she wanted to be. She hid unnecessary information, ran away instead of having one conversation and seemed clueless at times when her education would have led me to believe otherwise.

And then the whole relationship was very physically focused. It kind of became the only thing about them. Add in a plot that never made sense and this one lost me.

I’m hoping book three is better???

Overall audience notes:

• Contemporary Romance
• Language: strong
• Romance: 4+ open door
• Violence: low

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