“When you spend a lifetime chasing after people who were always running away from you, having someone to sit still with can be really fucking attractive.”

Hi. Hello. We need to discuss Booker and Poppy because I’m bursting at the seams right now. I just read, hands down, the best book Amy Daws has ever written. This book was extraordinary. The flow of the story was absolutely perfect. The characters fit together seamlessly. Amy Daws has mastered friends to lovers. I was obsessed when I read Blindsided, another friends to lovers romance, but nothing could have prepared me for this book. Booker is the Harris baby boy, the youngest of the brothers and, up to this point, I’d say the most broken. (I haven’t read Gareth’s book yet so I can say that with certainty). He struggles with the idea of love on such a large scale that he’s physically holding himself back from living his life. We’ve met Booker in previous stories, but never got a clear picture of him. This book rips him open and shows us every nook and cranny. This book explores so much in such a finite amount of time. It’s heartbreaking (I have literal tears coming out of my eyes right now) and so so magical.

Now when I say magical, I mean pure magic. Poppy is like a mystical fairy. She’s spunky and cute and clumsy and everything adorable wrapped into one human. She and Booker were best friends growing up. They did everything together as children, but as time went on, they grew apart a little bit. Poppy fell in love with him while Booker disappeared inside of himself more and more. Booker has severe abandonment issues. SEVERE. So much so that I would say he probably needs therapy. Anywhooo, Poppy leaves him and moves to Germany for school when they are eighteen. He’s devastated. He doesn’t know why she decided to leave or when she’s ever planning on coming back. Fast forward to six years later and here we are at the beginning of our book. Poppy is moving back to London and Booker convinces her to move in with him so she doesn’t have to commute to her new job from her parent’s place. And thus our romance begins.  Talk about a game of cat and mouse! These two have insane chemistry from the first moment they lay eyes on each other again. As quickly as their tumultuous romance begins, it ends even faster. Booker still isn’t able to overcome his fear of losing Poppy, and therefore he can’t let her past the friend-zone. What he doesn’t realize is she’s always been more than just his friend. It takes him a lot of self reflection and wallowing before he realizes what he’s missing out on. 

This story is perfection. I will say it again: ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. Amy Daws has won my heart and soul and I cannot wait to start the next book in this series. I’m definitely going to be purchasing all of these in paperback as soon as possible. For now, I’ll leave you with a sunny 5 star review and the advice to have tissues ready because that story is a tearjerker. Much to love the fabulous Amy Daws! Bravo!

“Poppy, you are everything I want as a man and everything I took for granted as a boy.”