Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Upper YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 416 pages
Author: Lynn Painter
Publisher: Simon Teen
Release Date: September 29th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, comes a rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.

Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighbor—who just happens to be a secret multi-millionaire—leaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.

It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesn’t fit in at her new school; worse, she’s failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Julia’s family. Damion doesn’t buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And he’s determined to prove it.

To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Julia’s trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemy—and the enemy is falling for him.

As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?

Thank you Simon Teen for the gifted ARC.

GOT ME IN THE FEELS.

And this really shouldn’t surprise anyone because I love Lynn Painter’s books.

DAMION. That guy falls SO HARD. Good heavens I loved the way he was written. It’s snarky and bad boy prep school vibes that clash with Julia’s small town Nebraska-ness that sent me over the edge. The way they sniped at each other while also chipping away at who they first thought was before them was everythinggggg. Damion’s inner dialogue and chapters were 100% some of my favorite ever. I highlighted multiple things because I could not get enough.

I knew exactly where this was heading with the Remi plot line and it still made me misty eyed. I loved that journey too (trying to stay vague) and the themes and conversations that came from it were impactful too. It brought such a sense of love and gratitude for those in our corner.

DID YOU KNOW THERE’S A BALL? Because I won’t shut up about those scenes for at least the next 100 business days. I’m telling y’all there were MANY moments that I could not get enough of. I loved the pacing and interactions and side characters and the setting and just all the things.

I would like to note that unfortunately there is a LOT of language for a young adult book and that was a bummer.

Overall audience notes:

• YA Contemporary Romance
• Language: very high
• Romance: make-outs
• Violence: mild
• Content warnings: loss of a loved one, physical altercation

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