Didn’t hit the mark for me
3 stars

Who doesn’t love an insta-love type story that’s light on pages but heavy on heat? You know pretty much what you’re getting with this type of book and that’s exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, this book really didn’t give me what I want from this type of story.

Our heroine, Grace, is a librarian in the small town of Snowflake Falls and is a failed matchmaker - if you can even call it that. She obnoxiously attempts to throw people together and genuinely, it gave me second-hand embarrassment. Then that aspect of her character never gets mentioned again which I was both grateful for and left me wondering why it was ever broached to begin with.

Apollo left to join the army the day after prom and now he’s back in the small town he grew up in. He’s got some family drama about whether his Dad thinks his top-secret role in the army is worthwhile but that’s quickly sorted due to a video game. Again, it felt like something that really didn’t need mentioned. Apollo’s a a decent enough guy but there’s not much substance to him.

If I’m honest, the chemistry between Grace and Apollo was virtually non-existent. With the anger that Grace has for Apollo, I at least expected that they had a teenage hookup. But nope. They went to prom as part of a group, they had never even kissed and Apollo hadn’t even realised Grace was into him. Red flag, Apollo, red flag. They sleep together - both virgins - and then he has to leave for, you know, top secret stuff and can’t even tell Grace a lie to appease her of his leaving. So she’s mad again and gives him an ultimatum about third chances, blah, blah, blah. Lock up your bunnies around this woman.

I know not to expect a great level of characterisation, back-story or detail with a short insta-love story but this one just didn’t give me enough of anything to really enjoy it. There were lots of elements loosely taped together, and detail of things that didn’t need detailing where we could have had detail in things that actually mattered - like a deeper understanding of Grace and Apollo.

The only reason that I gave this story 3 stars instead of something lower was because I do like Jessa Joy’s writing style and she does write in an engaging and likeable way. It’s certainly no chore to read one of her books and pick it up to read just a bit more - even if the story itself doesn’t capture my interest like in this case. A little bit of honing in this story could have made it so much more than it was, but it’s just 3 stars from me. ( )