Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC copy!!

Real Rating: 4.25/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book! This is the first book of the year that I can honestly say that I loved and would recommend. I thought the characters were great, I loved the setting, the romance, all of it. I liked that the characters were older (41 and 46) but were still trying to figure out their lives and their relationship. Willa is a 46-year-old widow who is a ghostwriter for a cookbook trying to keep herself afloat after the loss of her husband. Hudson is a 41-year-old single father who is the island's handyman, with dreams of restoring and fixing homes (and a passion for clockmaking).

The critique I have with this book is that I felt like the romance and the ending went way too fast. They didn't know each other very long before they realized they were in love with each other, which is something I'm normally not very fond of. The ending felt too abrupt too, and I would have liked seeing them together a bit more after their "conflict".

In all honestly, I really loved this one and it definitely brought me out of my book slump (hallelujah!). It was a quick read with easy pacing and a solid romance. I might have to check out more from this author!

Small town, single dad, middle aged mcs. This book was really cute. I am a sucker for drama so I wished there were more but overall it was a good book.

The definition of a cozy romance. I kept waiting for tropes and fights to populate, to flatten the book into yet another formulaic rom"com," but it never happens. Just two people falling in love and doing their best for each other.

She’s a widow and he’s a single dad. They’re both firmly in their 40’s and his children are adults. She’s a few years older. I’m not sure how medically accurate the stuff with Willa’s deceased husband is, and truly he didn’t sound like he was a very good husband to her anyway. I didn’t feel like she was really all that sad over him dying, more like dealing with the fallout of having spent 20 years with a selfish man. I liked that Willa and Hudson were supportive of each other and encouraged each other to pursue what they wanted, but I didn’t really like the way the last 15% of the book was handled. They didn’t get together for quite a while, and they never really spent any time on the page together as a couple officially. This is my second Cathy Yardley book, and I will continue to support her work, because I don’t see enough books with characters past 35 (unless it’s a big age gap with a very rich man) that still have a little spice.

ARC REVIEW (thanks NETGALLEY)

Yeah, I’m gonna dnf at 19% oh hey guess what? Apparently I have a trigger after all- it’s poor depictions of type 1 diabetes. Maybe if she had explained it better, that something happened to her husband but the way she depicts Willa’s husband as basically having a death sentence being diabetic was just ridiculous to me. Maybe I’m being naive since my son is Type 1 and has been since he’s 3 years old it wouldn’t bother me so much but Yardley makes it seem like he defective and on borrowed time. She called his body immunocompromised which is a falacy. An auto immune disease does not equate to being immunocompromised. And Willa being a martyr for marrying him, stop. I could be totally wrong in my summary and maybe some other health issues arose for Stephen to have him pass away but I just Can’t read any further, totally bummed too since I love This author and later in life romances.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book! It was lovely to read for once characters that are not in their 20s, and their chemistry was fantastic.

However, I couldn't help but feel that something was missing: the story seemed to progress beautifully, without it being too slow or fast, but then by the end of the book something happens (no spoilers) and you realize that they didn't spend that much time together for their story to abruptly change course.

Anyway, it was a lovely read with fantastic characters, Hudson especially!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

cathy yardleys books never fail to be so adorable! I love that her characters are often older and struggling, it's nice to see romances in that perspective! willa was adorable and I loved that hudson helped her open up but didn't want to change her in the process. hudson was also such a sweet and charming male lead. i love that they both found love in each other. it brought me so much joy to read. thank you to netgalley and montlake for the arc.

Willa and Hudson meet one dark and stormy night. While she is shy and new to the area he offers to help her get her house back in order and introduce her to new people, including his family. Soon, their friendly relationship turns into more. This story was super sweet, and I loved that the main characters were older and the woman was older than the man! There was some spice, not a lot but the story goes from friends to lovers to the characters really stepping up for each other, helping each other to discover what they want in life. Will definitely recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley, Cathy Yardley and Montlake for allowing me to review this ARC!

I HAD SUCH A FUN TIME READING THIS BOOK OMYGOD😭Hudson was such a good character!! I completely fell in love with him and so did i with our heroine. I laughed out loud many times during this book. Reading it felt like being wrapped around in a warm blanket. The story, the character, the romance, had me hooked right off the bat. Can't wait to read other books by this author in the future!!