Thea has finally decided to make a move on the cute lifeguard she's been trying to flirt with by sending him a sexy selfie. Fortunately he responds positively leading to a texting relationship. Unfortunately, the person that's been responding is not the cute lifeguard.

Labelled as a bully romance I was expecting this to get kind of dark but it was pretty tame to be honest. Add to that the heroine, Thea, is a ray of sunshine. Like so much so, that that's what Connor calls her. And he's right.

I really loved Thea. She wasn't loud or outspoken or brutal - she just radiated positivity, quiet confidence and a sense of self. She was insecure, particularly in the beginning, but she works hard to rise above and own who she is and it was perfection. I particularly loved that while she may struggle to know her own worth she never once let anyone else put her down. She stands up to Connor and to her mother and it was just glorious. I loved that she wouldn't take any crap and was willing to demand respect. It was admirable. It was one of my favourite things about this book - Thea just determinedly taking a stand even when it's hard and she doubts and she's anxious.

Connor was adorable. He was this broody angry nerd who doesn't really know what to do with his feelings and so tends to break out in destructive ways. Even while trying to be bad he was more wounded puppy than fierce scary bully.

The romance between them was fantastic. It was sweet and sexy and just all round feel good. Both of them work hard to communicate with one another and strive to be better for each other. And their chemistry was burning hot. They were flirty and awkward and funny and I was rating it.

And the friendships were awesome. Everyone was so supportive and positive with one another. Connor and his friendship with Devlin and later Blair was hilarious. And Thea and Maisy were #bestiegoals.

The plot was largely romance but also tackled issues of blackmail, online predators, stalkers and digital safety awareness. There were some decent points brought up about digital safety and the long memory of the internet. The online predator/stalking plot was fairly stock standard and mostly used for a bit of suspense - but then this isn't crime fiction so it was fine for what it was. I liked that Thea's first decision once she'd kind of confronted that she was a victim of Mr Coleman's was to look up therapists to help her deal with her feelings.

Paraphrasing some of the funniest words from this book, a bully adjacent romance with elements of danger, supportive friendships and a swoonworthy main couple. 4 stars. ( )

cute concept; i liked thea a lot and their whole texting dynamic but it was a lot of plot holes/ inconsistencies and almost too much going on to really appreciate anything. honestly, devlinblair stole every scene they were even remotely mentioned in & we love that for them ( )