Sussman cleverly shows how news cycles and the glare of the spotlight amplified their experiences ... [Kathleen's] willingness to mire in self-pity may test the patience of some readers. However, Kathleen and Cal’s evolution as a couple is refreshingly complex.
The novel drags out the mysterious past events between Kathleen and Cal and focuses far more on musical theater, boy-band references, and Jewish summer camp nostalgia than the romance.
Sussman skillfully toggles between flashbacks and the present, teasing out her characters’ fraught backstories. Her leads are complex, appealing, and multilayered, and the perfectly paced plot offers real insight into celebrity culture and media slut-shaming.
The chemistry between Kathleen and Cal is smoldering, and the stakes feel high—Kathleen doesn’t want a dramatic romance to take attention away from her best friend’s writing or to fall back into the same mistakes she made when she was younger ... A winning second-chance romance that’s fun, steamy, and full of crackling chemistry.
