Reading When We Blinked by Stephanie Mack gave me all the emotions. The excellent writing tugged at my heart strings and I felt the sting of betrayal, the satisfaction of a job well-done, the struggles of parenting, and the insecurity of an uncertain future. I cheered for Seraphina throughout the novel.

From the beginning of When We Blinked, I had an immediate interest in the characters, but my reading progress slowed as the story dealt with heavy topics including divorce, porn addiction, alcoholism, infertility, and parenting a highly sensitive child. Humor balanced out the serious issues in the book. Still, I think it is fair to offer a trigger warning about the referenced topics as they are portrayed with authenticity and the author does not shy away from the destructiveness of porn, alcoholism, and divorce. I was especially pleased with the story’s embracing of mental health therapy and medical treatment. In the end, the author brought it all home. I absolutely loved the ending.

I recommend When We Blinked for mature readers due to topics in the book and two edgy scenes that went slightly beyond what I consider “clean” romance. While I wish the moments had been less detailed, the scenes were brief and did not overshadow the story.

When We Blinked stands as Stephanie Mack’s debut novel and I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I was provided a copy of this book by the author or publisher. All opinions in this review are my own. ( )