Roni Loren

Hollyn Tate has garnered a pretty successful following as Miz Poppy, the snappy, vibrant entertainment journalist who has her pulse on the best things to see, do, and eat in New Orleans. Hollyn loves the anonymity of her job, but when her boss unveils plans for Hollyn's column to add a video component to her blog, her social anxiety threatens to upend everything she's worked so hard to achieve.

Jasper Deares has just returned to New Orleans from LA where he left a failed relationship and a show more stalled acting career. He's anxious to begin performing with his improv group again, that is, if they can forgive him for up and leaving them. But he's confident in this group, that's also why he's determined they make more of themselves than doing gigs once a week in a local bar. But for right now, he's stuck pouring coffee to supplement his income.

Then Jasper meets Hollyn and finds out about her secret identity. A review from Miz Poppy could set his group up for the future. When Jassper offers to help Hollyn with her fears in exchange for putting in a good word for his group, she hesitantly accepts. And as Hollyn begins to fall for Jasper she begins to find her own confidence.

I think this is the first book I've read that features the main character (plus a secondary character) with Tourette's. I can't speak to how well the representation is, seeing as how it's the first book I've read, but for me, I really liked that we get to see Hollyn as so much more than what people typically perceive about her based on her ticks. They don't diminish who she is, yes they fuel many of her insecurities and vulnerabilities, but it's not the whole of who she is. I loved that Jasper immediately sees beyond this and that what he does (improv) can be utilized as a tool to help people with insecurities and anxiety.

For Jasper, he's still dealing with some deep seated emotions on being in the foster care system as a young child because his parents were unable to provide the care for him that he needed due to their various addictions. He still deals with feelings of being left behind and unwanted. Of not being good enough. This has transitioned into his adult life. He loves improv. He credits it with saving his own life, and giving him a sense of purpose when he was younger and didn't really have a path yet. So to see him turn that around over the course of the story as something that can help others, I thought was wonderful.

I liked the perspective. You think of actors and you almost automatically think of the ideal Hollywood superstardom that is the goal of many who go into the profession. But in reality, there are those, like Jasper, who use it as a way to get over their fears and a way to form connections and expressions, and who want to pass this along to others to help. I kind of liked getting the perspective that not everyone is looking for fame and fortune, like Hollyn with Miz Poppy. She's happy within the niche she's created.

I liked the sweetness of Jasper and Hollyn's romance which is a slight departure from Roni Loren's previous series. Seeing them kind of fall into one another when they weren't really looking for anything and going with what they find within each other was nice and easy feeling. It's more of the outside forces that bring the pressure and the conflict and make them take a look at what's really truly important.

If you're looking for a sweet romance with a good neurodiversity rep, I think that Yes & I Love You is perfect. show less

Survivors of a high school massacre reunite twelve years later for a documentary at the school. Not only does this drag up memories, it also rekindles past relationships, both friendly and romantic.
Finn is a hero who feels he failed the girl he loved and who is still trying to set things right by playing the unlikely hero. Olivia, a badass on the surface yet vulnerable inside, has done everything in her life on the safe side since that fateful day. After unearthing a letter she wrote as a show more senior, she is finally ready to throw off her shackles and take a chance on allowing herself to feel, and on being brave enough to live a life that scares her. These two come together to sort out their emotional baggage and find peace and forgiveness with themselves and each other. It's not easy, but a whole lot of messy, which is also the reality of a situation such as this.
The way the shooting was dealt with, including the perpetrators, victims and survivors was classy and detailed, focusing a lot on the survivors and what they've done with their lives. Nicely done.
Author's voice is unique and witty, her writing use of figurative language is creative but not strained or forced. Her words flow nicely, which lends to the interest of the plot itself.
This is a love story, of all kinds, which touched me deeply. As a balance, Loren infused enough levity and creativity to make a well rounded novel that was uplifting when it could have gone the other way.
*I received an arc from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review show less

Holy PTSD, Batman.

These characters are all a decade and some change away from surviving a school shooting. Some of them were shot and some were spared but no one escaped without trauma.

This story follows Finn and Liv were macking on each other in a janitor's college during prom when the shooting started. Finn leapt out and saved an old friend and ended up leading the shooters right to her. I don't think they ever spoke again until a documentary shows up to talk to the survivors.

I really show more appreciated that the lady survivors banded together despite not really being friends in the before to have drinks and open their time capsule. None of them accomplished the things their 18 year old selves envisioned and that just happens - horrific disaster or not.

Liv and Finn are both a mess but I thought their relationship made sense. show less

4.5

Years ago, Andi experienced a horrific relationship and was lucky to get out of it, but she still suffers from extreme anxiety when certain situations present themselves. She's been able to channel some of her anxiety into her podcast where she talks about lessons-learned from popular horror movies, plus she also write her own horror novels under a penname. While on a deadline for her new book, Andi discovers her new neighbor's stomping around at all hours of the night does not help her show more get her work done.

Two years ago while on a call, former firefighter Hill Dawson was injured and that resulted in the loss of his leg and his career. While Hill is now on the mend physically, mentally he's not doing so great. But his new neighbor is not the type to let him be alone and brood.

Andi and Hill meet each other at just the right time. They're both still healing from past trauma and both on the precipice of moving forward, that is, if they can both just believe in themselves enough to take that step.

Andi was a standout character for me from the first book [book:Yes & I Love You|53439441]. I was happy that she got her own book. It's a little bit of serendipity that I was concurrently reading this book - which deals with a character that kind of uses horror movies to help deal with their real-world anxiety - while also reading a book that deals with the "Final Girl" survivors that are immortalized in those horror movies. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

That being said, I liked how Roni Loren tackles both Andi and Hill's traumas. Seeing how they each handle their situations in their own way and the bad and good parts of that. Of course Andi's occurred quite a number of years before Hill's and while that doesn't mean that she should be further along in her recovery, it does mean that she's had more time to find the tools that work good for her in coping. Hill's is more recent and still raw. Not only did he lose a career he loved, and suffered a bodily injury that changes the rest of his life, but his fiancé also left him shortly afterwards, which also changes the trajectory he saw his life heading towards. Hill is still going through the why's and how's, doubting himself and it's made him very depressed.

Seeing both Hill and Andi help one another out of their almost self-imposed exile from the world was just sweet. Seeing their connection and their belief in the other was just written so seamlessly and could have not been done any other way.

I've so far really enjoyed this series and I'm hoping we'll get more books. I think Roni Loren has a deft hand at taking these various issues and circumstances that people deal with and making them seen and heard. Giving a different idea and perspective that I haven't experienced in the romance genre before. Taking some of the bad times and showing that, that is not all there is. There can be healing. show less