✨ Review ✨ 

✍🏻 Samantha Markum

☑️ Contemporary Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 | 4.5

🫑 

“𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙩. 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙝.”

This was SO GOOD!!!

Overview: 

•College Romance (YA)

•Academic Rivals to Lovers

•Hidden Identity

•Slow Burn 

•Plus Sized FMC

•Journalism

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿, 𝗪𝘆𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲.

This story was giving You’ve Got Mail mixed with Never Have I Ever, with a journalistic twist - and I genuinely loved it!! 

Between the fighting-as-flirting and the electric banter, I was immediately obsessed with Wyn and Three, who each have their own struggles and convictions. And their steamy tension was off the charts!! This showcases why I love rivals-to-lovers stories so much! 

(Side note: I admit I did have to get over the nickname Three because it was a little strange to read at first).

“𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚.”

“𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚,” 𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨.

Wyn’s sharp humor, creeping insecurities, and her hard time adjusting to college life all felt incredibly relatable. I respected how Markum portrayed Wyn’s plus-sized body and how it affected so many aspects of her life, subconsciously and intentionally. 

“𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙤𝙘𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙄 𝙜𝙚𝙩...𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩.”

And THREE. Oh I love him so. He’s not our white knight hero, as he’s clearly working through some family trauma, but my goodness, he’s got such a pure heart. His integrity and protectiveness made me adore him immensely. 

“𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.”

“𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩?”

“𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪! 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

And this doesn’t even touch on all the other small facets that bring so much depth to this story: the dark underbelly of the college, the cutthroat newsroom setting, the complex parental relationships, the discomfort and loneliness in that first year at college, and the impactful value of friends. 

Overall, I definitely recommend this book to all romance lovers!!

✨ read via Libby ✨