What a fantastic plot idea, but the execution was just odd. Here's my impressions as I was skimming, before I finally gave up. It was so slow to get to the roadtrip. Pandora and Ozzy were just cardboard characters and the job scenario was odd. It was barely any STEM other than Pandora just being a workaholic who gets walked over by her colleagues.

12%: A bizarre opening chapter that made no sense. Ozzy comes out of the water and randomly kisses Pandora who was under the pier playing a video game set in space?

22%: I feel like these chapters are from mixed up drafts or something. The characters come off as stick figures. Pandora is just rude and mean disguised as a loner curmudgeon. Ozzy is just dumb as planks who is allergic to shoes (BLERGH). What is with the 'panda' nickname. Why does he even bother with her when she is outright rude.

Yet I should feel sorry for her because she’s also a doormat to her shitty colleagues. What is with the wall climbing? Does it get any better? When are we getting to the road trip?

26%: What is with Pandora’s immature pranks? Isn’t she on this huge deadline? Why is her salivating over Ozzy creepy AF?

30%: Does this get any better? I keep skimming bc characterisation is all over the place with Pandora.

40%: *after much skimming because being in Pandora's head is exhausting* FINALLY we get to the roadtrip.

60%: Wait, how is Ozzy even qualified to be in the contention for Pandora's job? Is he a coder? Why was he talking about code earlier but now he's just all 'oh well I want your job becaue they've offered it'. This book is utterly bonkers. Its taken nearly halfway to finally get to the road trip. The vibe is allover the place. Was this book even edited? Okay that's it i'm done.

Thanks to Afterglow Books/Harlequin and NetGalley for the ARC.

I’m afraid this was a DNF for me. The blurb sounded like it would be something I’d enjoy, but the writing style made it arduous. The author has written this book to be around 70% the main character’s thoughts, with only the remaining 30% as dialogue, and as they’re both happening simultaneously, it’s very hard to follow the story as it, supposedly, progresses

I think this is a me problem, but I really didn't love this as much as I had hoped. I really struggled to connect with the characters and storyline.

I loved the premise of this for a fun summer read but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. I found Ozzy didn't have as much depth to him as I would have expected and often found myself skimming dialogue as it didn't have the punch or compatibility I was looking for.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an independent review.

Sorry but this was not my cup of tea. I gave up after 25% of the book because I was so irritated by the writing style and the characters.
The blurb sounded interesting but the execution was awful.

The prose is impenetrable- long, run on sentences which made no sense. So much time spent in the heroine’s head that I felt dizzy. She is unbelievably unpleasant and I could never understand why. Oozy is so underwritten that he’s barely a shadow on the page. I wanted to know much more about him but I was too bored to bother.

. I gave up - but I’m sure other readers might enjoy it. Sorry but none of this worked for me. I’m clearly not the target audience.

I loved this book. It was totally cute and romantic and had just the right amount of angst, and sass and kindness. Pandora and Ozzy are adorable and their quirks make them endearing to me as a reader, and I willed on their happiness. Pandora and Ozzy are polar opposites and openly state that they want and need different things to get through their days and nights, and yet there seems to be something there that nurtured may give rise to more. Family dynamics are explored and found wanting although the good friends come through and make a great cast - along with Bertha the camping car, who is almost a character in her own right. A fun, easy and cute read.