What a sweet book!
I love books with plays on words, so this title was great for me. The cover is also adorable. I love the pink sm. The fact the Sebastian was a bisexual man made this book for me. It's so uncommon to see that rep in MF contemporary romances and those bi babies need love too! Bee and
Sebastian had great chemistry and had a good give and take in their relationship. They both had times where they needed the other person and were able to be there for them.

I’m a little disappointed, i had such high hopes for this book.

this book is about bee & sebastian who have been broken up five years before while bree left to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. Then one day she comes back and things happen so they buy a house together.

i was so excited for this book because it was forced proximity and second chance so i was just waiting to eat up all the angst and pinning… but there wasn’t any of that. I kinda wanted them to break up, then maybe we’d get a little angst.

i’m a lover of all things smut, i love a good smutty book and i also love a good closes door book. The smut in this tho made me so uncomfortable and i just didn’t care for any of it, i would either skim the scene or just skip it all together.

it took so much of my willpower to get through this book and not dnf it

* Initial reactions: This was my first time reading work by this author, and I really enjoyed it. The characters were funny, sweet, and relatable in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I also really loved the intentionality of LGBTQ + representation across the characters— it was refreshing. While I found the characters enjoyable overall, the MFC was a tad bit aloof in a way that almost made me want to stop reading. However, the growth in her character due to the MMC helped to push the plot along and keep it interesting. The book was all about the internal struggles and character development of the two main characters rather than a focus mainly on a plot which I found lovely. It made me empathize with the characters to be able to relate my experiences to what they were dealing with throughout the story. Because of the focus on their growth, it started out a little slow paced, but once the story peaked, things got hot and heavy and stayed that way until the end. The shift of pace was almost too abrupt actually.
* What I liked: I particularly enjoyed the in-depth walk through the MMC’s perspective and how his character was just as developed as the MFC.
* What I didn’t like: There was a lot of vagueness with descriptions which made the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the presented characters very obvious.
* What I loved: I can’t highlight enough how beautiful it was to read a story with so much queer representation. Especially the inclusion of a bi MMC and blatant mention of a non-binary character who’s also married.
* What I hated: I didn’t hate anything about this book.
* This is definitely an adults only book because there are some really hot, not youth appropriate scenes. For those who like a little spice with their romance, I would definitely recommend. If there’s a sequel, I’ll for sure be picking it up to read!

This was my first officially ARC so I’m super bummed I felt this way about this book. With that being said, thanks for NetGalley, the publisher and author for allowing us to review.

This book was a lot and not in a good way. It also read so slow! As someone who can devour a book I found myself trying to finish it for days. It wasn’t a long book at all and I struggled.

Some of the things said (like slang things) weren’t quite right and often times if felt like parts of the story were jumbled or just cut off only to have the next chapter be about something else. I found myself getting lost or confused who’s part of the story we were in. It was duel POV but often I’d have to backtrack because it felt like the person had changed.il I hated being so confused. I also kept waiting for the crazy mix up part but it never came so that stressed me out.

But as a whole I didn’t hate Bee and Sebastian. Bee is a ghost writer who accidentally (or persuaded by a “friend”) sent her own book to her editor and is now FREAKING out (she already deals with some mental illness and woof). Hence why she moved home and just so happened to buy a home with Sebastian. Was Bee a little dramatic…I’ll let you decide. Sebastian is Bee’s brothers best friend who she’s casually been in love with since they were kids (mainly her since he’s 8 years older). Sebastian messed around in his twenty’s just not settling down only to be in his late 30’s really regretting that. They buy a house together which is Sebastian’s dream and just kind of find a groove. I almost think I kind of like Sebastian more? But I love Sebastian calling her Angel 👌🏽 love a cute nickname.

As a whole, it was a bit cringy. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. It had potential but it feels like it needs a rewrite…kind of like Bee’s book in the story. Ironically

I don't think it has taken me over a week to read a book since it was a required reading for college, but this was a slog. I really wanted to like it, and there were some positives, but ultimately this book fell into many traps that I see in romance today.

Let's go through some of these, shall we?

1) Brother's best friend without any exploration of the friendship OR the family dynamic. Bee talks on and on about how Aiden acted like a pseudo-parent, but we never actually see any of it. Sebastian talks for ages about how Aiden is like his person, but beyond a few running scenes, we don't see any interaction. How did Aiden and Sebastian even meet? Did I just miss that?
2) "Deep" topics without depth. I liked the arc of Bee learning how to break up with a childhood friend, but Morgan clearly has something deeper going on that was just...never discussed. It is certainly not Bee's job to save Morgan, but the disdain Bee showed Morgan left a bad taste in my mouth. The discussion of sobriety was much stronger with Sebastian and his dad.
3) Insecure but practically perfect FMC. I understand feeling insecure, but Bee's narration was talking in circles. How many times can we possibly read about how little confidence she has? I definitely started tuning out Bee's chapters, especially when she would all of the sudden have this random skill that she was "amazing at" (see: pole dancing, skydiving, etc.) . I probably would have rated this book higher if it was just from Sebastian's point of view.
4) High amounts of insta-lust. Like the insecurity thing, there was just too much talking in circles about how attracted they were to each other. 80% of it could have been cut and the book would have felt fine. At least the spice was fresh enough, but the attraction grew stale quickly.
5) Epilogue where people turn out famous. For a book about domesticity and comfort, it physically pained me to see yet another book where the main character became the Best Writer In The World. Yikes on bikes.

The best thing here was the spice. Read for the spice, not the characters or the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I would call this a 2.5, but Dani is indie, so I'm bumping it up to 3.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷“𝓜𝓸𝓻𝓽𝓰𝓪𝓰𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓘𝓷𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓿𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮”ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

Thankyou NetGalley, the Publisher, and the Author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. The full review has been posted in Goodreads @fadheela ♡

➸ 1.5 stars

I'm being very generous with the rating here just know that😌✋🏻 I will try my very best to be civil here, since I was the one who applied for the ARC in the first place seeing that cute cover, but don't let the cover fool you

what to really expect from this book:
🎯 brother's best friend trope
🎯 Dual POV (first time I wished to not have to know every thoughts)
🎯 forced proximity
🎯 a load of uncomfortable smut (wish I really had amnesia)
🎯 fmc has high insecurities (I've lost count the no.of times it's mentioned)

Bee Montgomery & Sebastian Wolfe- Honestly both were horny, they would literally jump at each other if given a chance, the torture I had to go through reading their individual monologues were too much to take *smiles in pain, crawls in pain* I wish I could undo all the details of this book from my brain💀

Reading this felt like I wasn't reading some 390 pgs book, but some 1500 pgs book😭😭 I never thought I would ever say this someday but, reading my study texts felt like a better option then💀 It really felt like I was reading both of their dairy entries, talking the same things over again and again👀

Will I ever recommend this? an easy NO😍
Will I ever reread this? maybe, keynote, "maybe" when the edited book comes out, I'll check it out, if I ever get to it, to see if there is any difference🙃

For the first time ever, I'm not quoting my fav quotes here, because I don't have any😍💘

Thank you for letting me have an early copy to review.
We follow the story of bee and Sebastian.
Sebastian wants to settle down in his own home, until the bank says he may need someone to co-sign the mortgage.
Bee has moved back to finish a book and stop running to prove herself.
Together Bee and Sebastian grow together.
I very much enjoy this wonderful story of believing in yourself that you are on the right track of life

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for this eARC.

I found this to be a quick read that I easily lost time in. I gravitate towards the tropes found in this story. Brothers best friend. Age gap romance. Forced proximity. But this story was more of finding yourself and being able to stand up for who you have become. No longer hiding in isolation or being scared to show your true colors. Learning to let go and move on. I was happy for the HEA and no second act breakup. Overall I really enjoyed this book and will recommend it to my friends once it’s published.

⭐️3.3-3.4

If you like ⬇️
⚜️Dual POV
⚜️Brothers best friend
⚜️No third act break up

The beginning of the book was pretty good, fast paced and straight to the point of the story. It really drew me in and I was liking it quite well,however it got quite boring and weird too at times too. I feel like it was half good because there were things I didn't like.I didn’t feel much of the tension that these tropes usually bring up and thought Bee was being over dramatic at times. Sebastian while having faults of his own was a pleasure to read about.

While this wasn’t my favorite read, I did enjoy aspects of it and could see why others may love it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Read this book if you like:
Dual POV
Brothers best friend
No third act break up

While this wasn’t my favorite read, I did enjoy aspects of it. I loved Sebastian’s character, I always appreciate an emotional available MMC. He was funny, thoughtful, and genuine and I feel like the author did a good job at portraying his character.
I love how the author, while briefly, touched on female friendships and the importance of knowing when you grow apart, but I wish she had done more with that subplot.
While I liked the two main characters, I didn’t necessarily believe their relationship. I didn’t feel the tension between the two of them. They ultimately end up working, it just took awhile to get there.
The writing style wasn’t for me most of the time, it felt rushed in places, but then unnecessary things seemed to be dragged out.

Read if you like:
- Brother’s Best Friend
- Spicy Romance
- Dual POV

This book had a lot of potential and includes some of my favourite tropes. I loved the idea of the twist on marriage of convenience and I’ve always been a fan of the brother’s best friend trope, but I didn’t feel any of the tension that these tropes usually bring. Bee felt very over dramatic throughout and I didn’t understand the reasons for the decisions she made. I felt like a lot of things came out of nowhere with little to no explanation and it felt like the characters were lacking any depth. Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Set the Mood Publishing and Dani McLean for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you #NetGalley, the publisher and author for this ARC. This was a great story with no third act beak up. I ate this up! Enjoyed it very much. This is my first book by this author and I will read more. Seb and Bee are relationship goals. The way they communicated and were so thoughtful of one another just melted my heart. It your looking for a great feel good book this is it. 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

First I would like to say thank you to net galley and the publisher of this book for giving me this arc however I sadly had to dnf this book. This book did not work for me but i would still encourage you to give it a chance because you might love it. It has brothers best friend, slow burn, and inner monologue. I really wish I could have enjoyed it more.

"You're allowed to take up space, Bee. I want you to. You don't have to hide from me."

A 2.5-STAR READ edit
im a goner for brother's bestfriend trope so we all know yeah i picked it up. tbh the characters are mature, and exactly you would expect for reading about someone in their 30s. this started out extremely strong like i literally couldn't wait to finish it but then ehh.

bee is a homebody, i love that she is comfortable with her being herself and is truly accepting of her introvert nature, especially how she's so shy to utter things out loud. i think i could thoroughly understand her so much and empathize with her. she's also a very creative, tries to learn new things, go for what she wants, a pro relatable procrastinator and lastly what matters us girls the most hygienic(yeah so what she stress cleans that's a quality everyone would like to have).

sebastian, he has the biggest heart of all of them and seriously so 👏mature 👏 no im not being sarcastic(im surprised too)a man who is confident in his sexuality? a man who respects his mother? a man who listens to you? a man who is positive? a man who is actually good to his bestfriend? a man who can cook? a man who will literally worship you? he's the DEAL. wow

also i'd like to just aiden & sebastian - i love their friendship my honor. i will defend them every single time.

bee and sebastian - [i just dont love the smut like the kinks are so creepy i am obviously judging them for it sorry not sorry (hide spoiler)]

guys hate me if you want to i know bee couldn't be herself with morgan and that she wasn't being a good person with her. but you can't break a friendship this way i mean if you have friends for years i mean dont you think that friendship is being with the person in their shitty times, we could see how morgan was going through smth in her work area. im not making excuses for her but its just you get it right???

Thank you, NetGalley & the publisher, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

Bee and Sebastian have been separated for five years when she left to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer and one day she returns home, she sees that Sebastian can't pay for her house, so she decided to live with him.

It didn't convince me at all and I feel like it was boring at the same time, but I feel like it was passable. I feel like it was half good because there were things I didn't like.

I feel like I'm missing and I leave a lot to be desired for the synopsis

The beginning of this book, very quickly drew me in. It was fast paced and got right to the premise of their mortgage of convince, which as so charming! The dynamic between the two main characters was so real and believable. I was instantly rooting for them to move in and be forced to bump into each other time and time again in their little house. Once they were forced to interact more, I loved seeing their dynamic continue to blossom. By the time they became intimate, I was 100% ready for that progression! And boy oh boy were those spicy scenes written well!

While I loved the dynamic between the main characters and thought their spice was well done, which is one of my favorite parts. The other parts of the story felt a bit disjointed to me. There were many layers that I felt were not needed as well as quotes that are popular, but did not seem to fit the couple and their time and place.

i am unfortunately dnf-ing this one. i just have no interest in picking it up and the reviews i’ve seen so far have just solidified that fact. i can’t get into the writing style and the plot so far is not my cup of tea.

3.7:
This was definitely a cute read! I loved Sebastian’s character- great bi rep and sex work positive storyline which I appreciate.
I also am a fan of the brother’s best friend trope - especially when the brother doesn’t make it a big deal!
However, there were a lot of subplots - Bee’s relationship with her brother, her confidence being built, writing her book, outgrowing a friendship, building new friendships, etc - that at times it took away time from the main plot of the relationship with Sebastian, which was my favorite part.
Overall I enjoyed the book and am thankful for the arc!

Obsessed might be a word I would use to describe this book! This was such a cute story that had my heart melting at Bee and Sebastian’s story. The story was consistent and I also liked the fact there was a realistic push and pull as the characters figured out their relationship. It wasn’t too much, there wasn’t “insta love.” It was right in the middle, no huge blow up and insane miscommunication trope either, which made it feel more realistic. The world building was solid, and the character development was fantastic. At the end of the book, I felt like the I knew the characters, why they were the way they were, and the paths that brought them together.. they dealt with HARD things, together, navigating friendships ending (Morgan girl, what even was that…? Iykyk), taking control of your fear and trauma, and finding comfort in another person. It was so well thought out and the hard things well articulated. Highly recommend!

I’m buying this for my shelf!

Unfortunately I've decided to DNF this one. I was really looking forward to this one, since it sounded very promising to me.

Everything happened so fast. It felt like I was thrown into the story without any background information or knowledge about the characters. The characters liked each other immediately and I didn't feel any chemistry between them

So I quickly found out I was not enjoying it at all. This book was not meant for me, but I definitely think other readers will like it. Especially if you like dual pov and forced proximity.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.