Meet Cute by Jennifer L. Armentrout and Friends Book Review

About

Author(s): Jennifer L. Armentrout, Dhonielle Clyaton, Katie Cotugno, Joecelyn Davies, Huntley Fitzpatrick, Nina Lacour, Emery Lord, Katharine McGee, Kass Morgan, Julie Murphy, Merediht Russo, Sara Shepard, Nicolen Yoon, Ibi Zoboi

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance

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Synopsis

Whether or not you believe in fate, or luck, or love at first sight, every romance has to start somewhere. Meet Cute is an anthology of original short stories featuring tales of “how they first met” from some of today’s most popular YA authors.
 
Readers will experience Nina LaCour’s beautifully written piece about two Bay Area girls meeting via a cranky customer service Tweet, Sara Shepard’s glossy tale about a magazine intern and a young rock star, Nicola Yoon’s imaginative take on break-ups and make-ups, Katie Cotugno’s story of two teens hiding out from the police at a house party, and Huntley Fitzpatrick’s charming love story that begins over iced teas at a diner. There’s futuristic flirting from Kass Morgan and Katharine McGee, a riveting transgender heroine from Meredith Russo, a subway missed connection moment from Jocelyn Davies, and a girl determined to get out of her small town from Ibi Zoboi. Jennifer Armentrout writes a sweet story about finding love from a missing library book, Emery Lord has a heartwarming and funny tale of two girls stuck in an airport, Dhonielle Clayton takes a thoughtful, speculate approach to pre-destined love, and Julie Murphy dreams up a fun twist on reality dating show contestants.
 
This incredibly talented group of authors brings us a collection of stories that are at turns romantic and witty, epic and everyday, heartbreaking and real.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the meet cuters,

Meet Cute: The way two people meet.

It’s in the name. They meet and it’s cute. And it makes them, for the most part, fall in love. It’s literally the origin story of love.

As a romance fanatic—a hopeless romantic if you will—and a fan of all these authors, I had to pick up Meet Cute.

Actually, I read this a couple of years ago, and I remember feeling like it was eh because if I felt more than eh, I would have been like, “This was a super duper amazing book!” So I remembered it as eh.

So in the spirit of love, or just because I love love, I read it again, thinking I would give it another chance. I reread Summer Days and Summer Nights, which was also a collection of summer romances by various authors last year, and I actually found a new love for all the novellas. So that was what inspired me to give this one a go.

And I did find a renewed love for all the novellas in this book. Some sounded familiar, so that must have meant I remembered them from when I last read Meet Cute, and other novellas in this book felt like I was reading it for the first time and falling in love all over again. And that’s the best feeling. I mean, to read a book you didn’t have high elation for and to find love for it.

Books truly are a timeless love.

So let’s start with our first meet cute 😊

Siege Etiquette by Katie Cotugno

“Maybe it doesn’t mater Maybe, for as long as you’re in here, you can both be whoever you want.”

(pg 15)

I haven’t ready many Katie Cotugno books, but I’ve heard nothing but marvelous things about her, so I see me picking up more books by her in the future. I will admit, I was kind of confused at first because the book is from second person and not a lot of books address the you in a story. So I thought that was very interesting because it puts you in as the character who meets Wolf in the bathroom of this random party.

I mean, what an interesting name. Wolf. Sounds cool. Gives me Booboo Stewart level of cool 😆. And he’s pretty darn cool.

What I liked about Siege Etiquette was how we all know a Wolf. We all know that one person that we see around, we know their name, we know what they do, who their family is, but we don’t really know them. I have many Wolf’s in my life, and for those people I know who they are and they have this sort of reputation and we make judgements about who they are and their lifestyle based on what they know. Even in this story, the girl (I’m assuming) the one who is “you” is known as the queen bee—-the popular one. So she too has this reputation of liking control and having the best boyfriend and all the friends. Yet here she was in the bathroom, sharing an intimate space and moment with this guy she barely knew. And I liked how they had such an honest conversation with each other and how they could be whoever they wanted to be with each other.

That’s something I understand well—-when you meet someone new, or are with someone who doesn’t know you well, you feel like you can reinvent yourself and be something better than what others know you as. And I feel like that’s what the main character was doing. I also liked how she remembered all these little details of Wolf that she had seen in passing because it goes along with how observant she is. I’m an observer too.

But I thought it was simple, yet relatable story of really talking to someone that you think you know, but knowing there is always more than meets the eye.

Print Shop by Nina LaCour

“When I wasn’t sure of myself , those writers were sure of me.”

(pg. 27)

Print Shop was a cute novella too, and I liked how it kept with the flow of being in second person. The perspective is told from Evie’s eyes, and she recently started working at a print shop—obviously 😆. She wanted to work there because she wanted to have a job that didn’t involve technology, but you know, you don’t get what you wish for sometimes. Because she was younger, she was hired to revamp the company and help them with the technological aspect, and that meant social media. Evie starts a Twitter for the Print Shop, and instantly she is met with the complaints of the one customer—-Jessica—-who needs her poster done by tonight because the print shop printed the work word and hadn’t yet confirmed that her poster would be ready.

So it was this huge blow up to Jessica, which I understand. If a company makes a mistake, they should own it and they put that as their priority to fix because they have a responsibility to their job and helping that customer. So I thought all the wishy-washiness on the Print Shops side was kind of inconsiderate of the customer’s needs. But again, I knew they were trying their best and they were a small business so they were busy.

But I liked how Evie stepped up and took control of the situation and how she even went to Alexander’s studio to tell him off. Like you go girl! 👏🏼 Tell that man that he needs to get his priorities straight.

I liked the romance in this novella, but not as much because I just didn’t feel it as much compared to the other novellas I’m going to talk about. But I did think it was a cute scenario if a person found someone based on a printing mix-up. I also liked how the novella ended with an air of possibility of what the future could hold for both of them after the whole banner thing. Would have liked to see them click (pun intended).

Hourglass by Ibi Zoboi

“I’ve never dared to look through those dresses for something in my size. None of them are like a slinky or a tube or have a split up the side. None of them hit above the knee or drop down low at the neckline. Non of them ooze “hot” or “sexy.” none of them are anything I would wear while standing remotely close to Stacy, who is shaped like an actual mannequin, a straight-up Barbie.”

(pg 46)

Stacy is actually the name of a Barbie doll and I would know because I grew up watching Barbie TV shows 😂. So it doesn’t surprise me. Them Stacy’s.

But golly, it just breaks my heart how Cherish felt like she wasn’t good enough compared to her friend, or how she didn’t feel good enough to wear certain clothes because they weren’t for “people like her.” We live in such a toxic society where we create only pretty or the most beautiful or the most sexist clothes for skinny people because we think if you’re skinny you’re beautiful, or you have to be skinny to wear those clothes and then you will be beautiful. And not to be insensitive to those who are skinny, because being so is perfectly fine and you are beautiful, but the point is that every BODY is beautiful and we should create clothes that are beautiful and sexy and fierce no matter what. Because gosh only knows, when I felt like Cherish, I remember I would shop for bigger dresses at Macy’s and those dresses were not as nearly as pretty as the dresses made for people who were skinnier. And that’s not fair.

Everyone should—-wait—-deserves to feel beautiful, sexy, and confident in what they wear and a size should not change that.

A size is just a size. It’s what we chose when we pick clothes that fit best on us. We should no longer pick clothes because the size dictates our life, but because the size it what makes us feel like us. I remember I used to always want to fit a size small. I was obsessed with the idea of it. Because for some reason in my mind, I always thought it I was a medium or large, I was too big and people would think so too. But being a size medium or large or xxxxx large or whatever your size is, is perfectly fine. You are not your size. A size is a size and it doesn’t matter because you are more than that.

And I just wanted to hug Cherish because she deserved a better friend and a better situation where stores made banging dresses for girls like her. I mean, she was going to the dance, of course, she wants to look banging. Heck, she was getting out of that town, she wants to end in a BANG! 😂

So she went back to that dress shop and the store lady said:

“Sexy is a state of mind.”

(pg 62)

which, yes, sexy is a state of mind. But it’s hard to feel sexy in clothes that don’t make you feel that way because of the basic dresses people create for those who are curvier.

So I loved it when Cherish went to the African tailor store with exotic prints and fabrics because my girl was about to stand out and she was about to show everyone up! 👏🏼

When Cheris was getting measures, she was nervous at first because a very cute boy was measuring her, and obviously any person would feel uncomfortable getting measured by someone, let alone a CUTE guy. But then, she held her head up and stood up straight, and I LOVED that. She might have not always felt the most confident in her body, but in that moment she had such strength to be like, “You know what? This is my body and I love who I am. And if he measures me and judges me for it, then that’s on him, not on me.” She didn’t say that, but that’s the vibe I got. And I like that because at the end of the day, we can’t control how others feel about us or what they think about us. And if they treat us poorly because of something as ridiculous as a size, then that says more about them than it does about us.

But he seems like a good guy. I mean, he offered to make her a dress the day before her dance. No guy would would willingly go out of his way to create a dress from scratch for a girl he didn’t like. So she was getting her banging revenge on her lying best friend, and she might be getting a date to the dance?

I mean he is cute 🤪.

Click by Katharine McGee

“She didn’t fully understand why she was so upset, except that she’d believed that she and Raden belonged together, the way she’d believed in magic when she was a child; with a blind, unquestioning faith. They’d ordered the same drink at Starbucks, had the same favorite song! She’d thought that was proof of their compatibility, of Click’s genius at work—but it was just a coincidence, just random noise in that endless sea of data.”

(pg 86)

I just want to say, I read this book on December 12, 2020, but this blog post is going up in February 2021, so it completely shook me how this novella took place in 2020 😂. I mean, what is dating in 2020?! It’s definitely not Click 😂. More like Tinder or Hinge still, because gosh knows it’s been a year. Or maybe Zoom? Is that the dating app? 😂

I was also shook with how Alexa pulled out her iPhone 12!!! 🤪 I mean, Katharine McGee, are you a physic? But then I realized, she could have just counted the number of years plus the iPhone at the year the book was published (2018), so naturally the iPhone would be the iPhone 12. But man, she was onto something with that accuracy. . . it’s the accuracy for me.

But we love a good online dating app into the future. If I’m being honest, Click sounds like a legit decent dating app. A dating app that Clicks you with someone who is most compatible with you? Sounds good to me.

I also had to appreciate how Katharine McGeen used the name Alexa 😂. We love that for her! But I thought the concept was very cute and on brand with how online dating is the thing to do these days, especially these days. This was the novella I kind of remembered the most because I knew that Raden wasn’t the guy she was compatible with, but she thought she was, so they went on this whole adventure to look for her phone, which had the program she created to bring her sister back to life in a very realistic Sim. I mean, no guy would go out of his way to join a girl on a wild goose chase of her phone if he wasn’t the slightest bit interested. It kind of makes me wonder though, who his 99% compatible match was?

When looking for the phone, I liked how they opened up to each other with him about his photographer and her about her sister and the program she created on her phone. I think it was easier for Alexa to be vulnerable with Raden because she thought he was her match, but I think when we think we are meant to be with someone, it makes us feel comfortable to be our most authentic self because we already have that certainty of knowing they are meant for us. And that eliminates all the awkwardness of what if we have nothing to talk about, or what if we are completely dissimilar. But at the end of the day, sometimes it’s all in our head about who we believe we are meant to be with, and it’s a good reminder to know that we are literally compatible with anyone we set our mind to and it’s okay to be vulnerable with people even if we are not.

I also liked the sentiment of how two people did not need an application with its numerics to know that they clicked. Because as much as we want an app to tell us who the love of our life is or who we are most compatible with, sometimes it gets it wrong. Sometimes we meet a random person, who we would not usually click with, and those people are often the purest and best people to click with. There is beauty and love in the uncertainty and there is assurance that the right person will come along.

So yes, go out on you Hinge or your Click dates, but know it’s not always going to lead you to the love of your life at first, but it could lead you in the right direction . . . and maybe Jersey’s finest Tacos. 😄

The Intern by Sara Shepard

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s really okay. It’s like what Dan said. Someday, you’ll be yourself again. But you know what? That doesn’t have to be today.”

(pg 105)

I really liked what was said about not being okay today or tomorrow because sometimes we are not okay and that within itself okay.

Because as we read later in the book:

Time heals 😂

But there was something beautiful about this story in how Clara had a deep, introspective aura around her where you could tell she was healing from something. Her perspective was interesting because it always felt like no matter the life around her, she was the observer of the world and that’s something I can relate to well.

Clara works at her dad’s company and for the day she showed this pop star, Phineas around. First, she took him on a psychic reading, which was interesting in how the psychic told her she would be okay and that she would be herself again one day. I liked how Sara Shepard clued us in like this and how Clara was dealing with something in her life.

On this day, she also took Phineas to the park because she was told to do whatever he wanted and to make him happy, and gosh be darned she was going to do her job right. Phineas didn’t strike me as a stuck-up pop star and I appreciated that and I liked how he asked her a lot of questions about herself to really know her. I liked the scene at the park where they try to figure out people like the kids who was addicted to candy crush or a person who can’t remember birthdays. I know I tend to the same thing when I people watch. You know, not to judge them, but to try to think like I know them. Do you do that too?

I think I would be the one who always has a book. Or the one who always wears a sweater in 100 degree heat 😂.

There was a moment after this where they were talking about Clara’s mother and Clara was like “That is her trait,” to bring her mom back to life. And I loved that because sometimes we talk in the past tense about people that have passed away, but to us it feels like they are very much alive in our hearts. So bringing them back to life with words is a touching sentiment. I also liked how Phineas went out of his way to have a concert in the park to cheer Clara up.

That was sweet ♥️.

No man has ever put on a concert in the park for me 😅.

Lucky gal.

What was sweeter was when Clara ran off in the middle of his performance and how Phineas went after her, not caring if he ditched his own concert. He wanted to check on her! I mean, get you a man!

Phineas started to talk about Pele, a Hawaiian goddess, and I just want to say, as someone who grew up learning Hawaiian culture, I am always hyper aware of what people say about Hawaiian culture. Because you know you want to make sure people represent Hawaiian culture right if it is a culture that is near and dear to you. And Sara Shepard said nothing inaccurate as far as I know (I’m not an expert on Hawaiian culture, I probably know a good amount though). But I thought it was interesting that Clara was compared to Pele. I think both are strong woman, but is Clara a goddess. . . I didn’t get the vibe from her. She seems like a good woman who is healing and I know her mother would be proud of what she has accomplished and what she will accomplish.

But either way, I liked seeing some Hawaiian culture! 👏🏼

Somewhere That’s Green by Meredith Russo

“No, of course not. Your theoretical problem is much more important than my real, current problem.”

(pg. 125)

I really appreciate the diversity and inclusivity with this novella anthology. It’s interesting because this book came out in 2018 and I feel like two years ago transgender issues such as which bathroom they should use was very prominent. I am not sure that is the most prominent issue today regarding transgender rights and issues, but I will say I think there has been small progress, but not huge steps. If that makes sense?

I still think bathrooms are still an issue people debate about, and inclusion and acceptance of those who are transgender or who identify differently is still something that needs acceptance from the overall society.

I am all here in support for anyone just being who they want to be and living their truth because I think it is unfair to assume that everyone is just one thing or another or that they can’t be something else. I think it’s unfair to say a girl has to just be a girl or a boy has to just be a boy. And I do not think it’s fair to say that a girl has to like a boy or a boy has to like a girl. Everything’s on a spectrum and some people are set with who they are on their end of the spectrum, and some are in the middle, in between the middle and one thing, or on a different spectrum. And you know what? That is perfectly okay. Perfectly okay. Because there are soooo many things people can be and so many things we can feel, so it makes sense why everything is not just either or. And I would just hope people would find it in the kindness of their heart to understand that people can love who they want and be who they want and that does not change the essence of who they are. It just makes them even more of who they are because they found who they are. And at the end of the day we all just want to be happy people. We all just want to find love. We all just want to be accepted.

And for one second, I want you to ask yourself how would you feel if you were not accepted by the world because you felt in your heart you were a different/other gender/no gender or if you loved the same gender or no gender?

How would you feel?

Then imagine what people who do feel that go through each and every day in a world that has tried to tear them down thousands of time and has done nothing but push against them for YEARS.

It sucks.

It’s devastating.

And it’s sad.

They are people. And as much as some people do not understand, they do not need to understand the sentiment of being compassionate enough to know love is love and people are people. There is nothing to it than that.

So it hurt me that Lexie was really down on Nia about identifying as a girl because Lexie thought she wasn’t a real girl. She is a real girl.

And I understand where Lexie was coming from because if one “boy” goes into the girls bathroom, all the boys will. Honestly, all the boys won’t if the school puts in the right and safe protocol for Nia to feel safe to go to the bathroom she feels comfortable in. There really needs to be more protocol and rules in schools about this because inclusivity and security of the LGBTQIA+ community is something that will always be around. So we need to ask our schools, how are they going to create a safe environment for that community? For our kids?

If I’m being quite honest, besides the very current LGBTQIA+ issues discussed in this novella, I did not really feel the love between Lexie and Nia, nor was I a big fan of it. I was kind of confused because in the beginning it said the person on the TV against the issue was some girl named Carlita Fernandez, and then it started talking about this girl named Lexie, so I was thrown off because was it this Carlita person who was on TV or was it Lexie? I’m not sure.

So I wasn’t really for the romance/meet cute with this one, but I did appreciate how Lexie spoke her truth because of how wrong she knew she was of turning against someone who knew what it felt like to be different. And it goes with the popular saying I always say here: “Hurt people, hurt people.” Or in this case Lexie was so against Nia going to the girl’s bathroom because here Nia was living her truth and Lexie was sort of angry about that and her anger translated as protesting against Nia because if Lexie couldn’t live her truth, she did not want Nia to. And I understood where Lexie was coming from, but it wasn’t right. But I’m glad she had a change of heart to understand why this affected Nia a lot. The quote I chose from this book stood out to me because we create all these hypothetical situations sometimes or theoretical situations of what the issues could be, that we fail to see how it does not relate ot the actual issue and what we are going to do about it. Lexie kept saying, “What if guys start going to the girl’s restroom,” or “What if yada yada yada” *Cue Meg Thee Stallion singing* 😂 but truthfully we can create all these hypotheticals and it does not matter as much because it hadn’t happened yet and what has happened is Nia feels uncomfortable going to the men’s restroom, and she wants to be treated as Nia. That was the reality, that was the truth. And that’s what needed to be focused on.

It kind of goes along with the saying, focus on the now rather than on the future because if we keep thinking about the future and all the what ifs, we lose track of what matters and what is happening now.

But yes, I liked Lexie came out and how she did it online. It takes a big person to admit they were wrong, but it takes an even stronger person to say they were wrong out of fear. I respect Lexie for it. Do I see a future for her and Nia? Maybe, maybe not, but that’s why books like these make you wonder and hope for the best 😊.

The Way We Love Here by Dhonielle Clayton

“The thought of having to lose myself in another, shape myself around the form of someone else makes my heart beat to fast, and not the good, excited way. We love so early here. And it feels like there isn’t enough time to do all the things I want to do before I have to do things I’m supposed to do.”

(pg 135)

It’s the last part of that quote for me with school 😂. Am I right?

Anyway, when I read this novella, I got major beginning of Wonder Woman vibes (the one with Gal Gadot). Did anyone else feel that too? I mean, the girl finds a boy washed up on the beach and they go backwards and forwards in time and they fall in love? And how they were on a secluded island and Viola kept wondering if there was more out there. Major Wonder Woman vibes.

Given that, I thought this was such an interesting and cute concept of a meet cute! I liked the idea of how they had these coils or love strings on their fingers and when they got to the last coil, they met their soul mate. But before then, it was uncouth to touch another because then it would ruin the magic of the coils. It kind of reminds me of how when I was in elementary school, people would always say that if the lines in the palm of your fingers made an M shape, you were getting married, and if you didn’t you weren’t. I don’t know how true that is 😅.

One day, Viola meets this hobbled, pale, frail boy named Sebastian on the beach behind the hotel her parents own. He was drowning himself because there was this story that you could see who your soul mate was if you drowned yourself, kind of sketchy if you ask me 😅. But Viola has five coils on her finger and so did Sebastian, and if two people had the same amount of coils, it was even likelier they could be soul mates. I’m curious to how the coils fade. Do they fade with each heartbreak or each time that person falls in love and figures out that person wasn’t for them? Or does it just go naturally? Or how many coils does a person start off with?

There was this interesting idea that came up with the coils in how Viola’s parents were two people who were not meant for each other. And that made me wonder what the accuracy of these coils were and how it brought two people together? Has anyone ever been with someone who wasn’t their coil/soul mate? That would be interesting. Because you know sometimes when people tell you who to be with, it’s not always the person you’re meant to be with.

I liked the bond Sebastian and Viola had ♥️. I also liked how we saw Viola go to the future and she was in New York and she was a successful artist and Ethan was there. She wasn’t married to Sebastian but it hinted that they were still friends in the future, and that’s always good—to know that the people you meet in life are going to be your lifelong friends. I also liked how Viola was thriving because it was her dream to be a successful artist. Then the next scene they see is Sebastian in a care home facility. In this future, Viola and him were married and had kids, and it warmed my heart that a future was possible for them. It was just such an intimate and despondent scene to feel because it’s crazy how they just met and yet they have such a unique and personal bond.

Then they go back to the present and Viola is more sad and worried than how Sebastian feels. She is more concerned about how in each future, Sebastian is still sick, and even though she just met him, she does not want to lose him. But Sebastian is just happy that she does something with her life—that she becomes a successful artist, a mother, and a wife. And he was just happy that he had that long in his life to see Viola in all her roles, and there’s such beauty to how she wanted to support her even though he barely knew her.

I liked when Viola’s Mom came out and told the boy he needs to eat 😂. Said every Mom ever! But then Sebastian was like “I’m stronger than I look.”

I loved that. Because he made it through. He had a future. How long? We don’t know. But we got glimpses of what it could be, and what it could be was bright, full of life and love.

“None of us know when our time is up. The gods gave us one gift—to know when our loves would come. The best part of life.”

(pg 151).

We don’t know.

But I loved loved loved the sentiment that they were given this gift to know when they found love. And love is such a beautiful thing that can’t be described properly or explained fully. And so when we love, we have to cherish our love and who we love because the people we love and the love we feel for them is a gift—-it’s the best part of life. So it’s also a valuable reminder that we never know what the future holds for us, but to love and be in the now—-to appreciate the now and what we have.

To celebrate love.

It’s our gift.

The one thing we do know.

Oomph by Emery Lord

“I think . . . I think all we can really do is chase the oomph.”

I lean forward, thinking I’ve misheard. “The oomph?”

. . . “Yea, that thing you feel when you’re right where you’re supposed to be. That steeled feeling.”

(pg. 169)

One of my favorite novellas in the book ♥️.

That oomph feeling.

We’ve all felt that oomph feeling. That feeling of doing or being right where you belong. To feel a pang in your chest or punch in your gut that tells you, “Hey, this is right. This is it.”

There’s a quote I recently saw that related to this feeling.

“Things that excite you are not random. They are connected to your purpose, follow them.”

– @thehappysnapshot

Not sure who said this exactly, but I saw this quote on the Instagram above. And I thought it fit well. If something excites us or gives us that oomph feeling, it’s a telling that it’s something more than just a random emotion. It’s tied to a purpose, whether it be a oomph feeling for a passion we have in life—–starting a business, becoming a doctor, helping others, etc. Or a feeling of knowing that you found the right person or people in your life.

Follow that feeling.

Trust that feeling.

The oomph feeling.

Sounds messed up or dirty, but trust me, it’s not 😂.

I liked the absolute mundanity of this meet cute. It was just absolutely cute.

CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE CUTE. CUUUUTE.

I liked how Cassidy was just any other person at an airport, traveling by herself for the first time to visit NYU to know she could do it on her own. Her dad kept calling her 😂. We either all have that dad or know that dad. 😂 I have that dad. What about you. But when Johanna got that red card from the airport TSA, I was like, OOOOOOHHH. Sis, if I got that from a TSA on my first traveling alone to a state, I WOULD BE QUAKING. I would be thinking, what did I do? What did I do? Did I accidentally pack to much liquid? I don’t know 😂. Man, my heart dropped for her because it’s like that feeling of gettin called to the principal’s office when you know you didn’t do anything wrong, but then you question if you did.

When in line, she saw this cute red-head girl and they strike up this cute CIA-spy theme conversation where Cassidy was the Margaret Carter and then Johanna was Natasha Romanoff because of the red hair. We love a Marvel reference. I love two people bonding together and falling in love because of a Marvel reference.

I also liked their conversation about guessing where they were going and what they were doing on their travels. It was cute how Johanna thought Cassidy was doing something for Model UN because of Cassidy’s very formal outfit. Then they had a cute conversation about acting and how Cassidy felt like a fish in a shark tank. She felt like she was just a little high schooler going out into the big world, so what made her the best actress. And it’s a feeling I felt too when I finished high school.

“But maybe I’m just a big fish in a small pond. What if I’m not any good, and I’m just driving myself into debt for a career that, like, basically no one gets to have in the long run?”

(pg 168)

And it’s hard because the insecurity sets in and we question whether or not we should do something. But we if it gives us that oomph feeling or excitement, to follow it. It’s our purpose.

I liked how Johanna reminded her of that.

I thought it was sweet when Johanna stayed with Cassidy at the airport terminal and they made their own little campout and campfire with a Rice Krispies treat as marshmallows, graham crackers, and a “fire” of hot water. 😂 I’d say they were making do with the situation. I thought it was cute how the Mom called Cassidy in the middle of this, and was asking her if she was okay. And then Cassidy was like, “I’m with a girl.” And the Mom goes all smug on her 😂. We all have those Mom’s too and friends!

Before leaving for each other’s terminals, they gave each other their phone numbers. And there was this whole moment Cassidy was questioning if Johanna would be just another person she would meet in her life, but then Johanna texted her, and my heart filled.

And then, then, Cassidy felt that oomph feeling.

And I tell you, I love when an author does the whole, ending the story with the title thing. I love a full circle moment. But Cassidy felt that feeling of love and that steeled feeling.

Gosh, let’s hope they meet more often when Cassidy goes to college in New York. I think that’s exciting though too—-that Cassidy now has a reason of excitement to go to New York and to figure things out.

I also just liked how natural this novella was and how wholesome. Very cute for sure 😊.

The Dictionary of You and Me by Jennifer L. Armentrout

“I mean, I figure I’m going to have to call you repeatedly to remind you to return the book, and I wouldn’t’ want the home phone scaring you again.”

His lashes lowered. “You will most definitely have to remind me.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I said, “And I’ll probably need it when . . . when we make plans to go grab something to eat.”

Grinning, he briefly looked to the side and then back to me. “Well, that would be just zazzy.”

(pg 193)

Let’s bring zazzy back.

Heck, let’s bring it around the first time 😂.

The Dictionary of You and Me was zazzy to my heart.

Absolutely loved and adored.

I think it was the boy and the book vibes for me. You know us bibliophiles.

I always dreamed of falling in love in a library. I would be cleaning books or sitting at a table, and then a boy who needed help would come up to me and then we would talk for hours and it would be love.

That never happened . . . yet. 😂 I’m joking I don’t know what’s going to happen.

So I was a sucker for this book and how Moss kept calling this random Mr. H. Smith dude to return the dictionary he borrowed. I was with her on this one, but why would someone borrow a dictionary these days 😂. Not judging you if you do, I mean, learn those new words because gosh knows my vocabulary is atrocious! But yea, I haven’t heard of anyone borrowing a dictionary from the library in a looooonggg time? Do you remember those yearly almanac things for kids? I used to love flipping through them. What’s the last book you borrowed from the library?

Anyway, I liked how she would have these intimate conversations with Mr. H. Smith over the phone and they would really get to know each other. I think when it just feels right, it feels right, and you can trust your gut feeling on it. I mean, please, don’t go talking to strangers over the phone and sharing your life story, but you know, there was something romantic about this one 😅. When Moss said how she didn’t imagine Mr. H. Smith being a serial killer or a creepy old man in the basement dude because of how he laughed, and creepy people don’t do that . . . but I mean, Joe freaking Goldberg from You. But again . . . good thing that was not it. 😅

Let’s not talk about the creepy side of the phone calls because we’re here for the romance.

Speaking of romance, let’s talk about the quiet, cute dude at her school. We love a TDH—-tall, dark, and handsome—-and quiet dude. Those are either the most thoughtful or the creepiest dudes, but again, we’re not going You on this. Tyler struck me as the latter because sometimes quiet peopel are just shy people who are nervous to talk to others. So it doesn’t come form a place of being stuck up or being “too cool,” and I felt that from Tyler.

I knew it was him.

Duh.

By the way we spent so long describing him. I mean, no author goes through mountains and rivers to describe a character in detail unless the character is important.

And when that zazzy almost slipped up. . . I was a goner.

He was the guy on the phone! 🤪

Dooooiiiii!

She hadn’t heard his voice, so duh, that would be his voice because she never heard his voice in close proximity before.

But I loved their conversation on the phone we got to hear with how a zokor is a fluffy and friendly mouse, and Moss was like, “I don’t know if if there are any rodents that are friendly looking.” And Tyler was like, “Uh, what about Mickey Mouse?” 😂

I just looked up a zokor, and they look like those mole-rats from the movies, you know the ones that live underground and have a like a pink star nose. Kind of like the mole from G-Force.

Anyway enough about zokor’s. When Tyler walked into the library, I was like, this is it. And then it comes out that he just moved there and his dad borrowed the dictionary, but Tyler was the one who always answered the calls. Honestly, it makes sense why the dad would borrow the dictionary 😂. But I respect Tyler as one of the only teenage boys who willingly reads the dictionary. But then he started talking to her and those were his favorite phone calls to get. And I thought that was so cute because who knew a phone call and a dictionary could lead to love?

I loved that ♥️.

I couldn’t stop laughing at how Tyler then wanted to borrow a HUGE Encyclopedia about animals just so he could spend all this time reading it and then not return it. I mean, we love a smooth move and a good intention to keep talking to Moss. I thought it was cute he gave her his number and that was his way of telling her to call her sometime and you know talk. I bet the zokor is in that enclyclopedia. I bet they’re going to talk about all teh animals in that book.

But how cute is it that a guy would borrow a massive book just so he could have a way to talk to you? I think that was sweet.

We love a guy who reads.

Truly inspired 😂.

The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love by Jocelyn Davies

“Because I was looking at this boy and all I could think was, this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. I’d planned everything out. I’d done the math. And the good ol’ universe did what it wanted to do anyway. I guess the world is bigger than that. there were mysteries yet to be solved. And this was one of them. the day our stories finally led us to meet face-to-face was the day nothing at all went according to plan. The day we met was an anomaly.”

(pg 215)

Hand down, I believe was the novella I loved the most out of this book, and I do not remember enjoying its much the first time around because if I did, I would have remembered 🤪. But there was something so honest about it and I also liked the style of how this novella was written; It was written like an experiment with different parts—-a true scientific, mathematical sense.

That was clever.

Anyway, math typically always has one right answer. The path to finding that answer might not always be the same. But there’s a certainty with math. And our main girl was a math fanatic. She was taking statistics, and I have taken statistics, and truthfully it is one of the more useful maths you can use. By gosh, is math not my strongest subject and I would have never been able to do the math of the whole likelihood of seeing someone on the subway and chances of falling in love at first sight, but the main character has done the math. And she knows it’s highly unlikely that she would ever fall in love at first sight with someone she met in passing on the subway.

But sometimes, when we think things are highly unlikely, they are actually the thing that happens.

And she did fall in love at first sight with blue hoodie boy she called Demetrius von Snufflemuffin 😂. Cute.

I thought it was interesting and cute how she created this whole stats project of what the likelihood of seeing Demetrius was. She did all these things to test her hypothesis—-went early to the train station, went right on time, and went late. When she was there on time, she saw him again.

“You know ho whey say that when you fall in love at first sight, the world kind of just stops for a moment? Just as I was registering his dimples, and then the fact that he was wearing the same blue hoodie, my subway car came to a screeching halt. So did his.”

(pg. 205)

And they locked eyes and did the whole You Belong With Me Taylor Swift thing where Demetrius held up a notepad with words on it. Cute!

Her friends kept telling her she was seeing him because it was fate rather than math, but our main character seems very analytical and I think she reasons that her meeting Demetrius was due to statistics because it’s easier to understand than the fact that some people are bound to meet and be together.

I always heard the saying that if it’s meant to be yours or if it’s meant to happen, the universe will make it happen and it will happen. And I do believe that. I believe that sometimes we want so badly for something to happen, we dwell on it forever, always wondering what if or when—-we’re constantly searching for the answer or the truth. Because if there is an answer, there has to be a clear cut reason to understand it and if we can figure that out, we can do it again for the same thing to happen—for the chances to align. It’s natural. As people we like control and we like things we understand.

It’s something I struggle with a lot.

Because at the end of the day, I have to remind myself that if it was meant to happen, it will happen and to trust in that. And that sometimes things do not happen for a reason at the right time and somethings do happen for a reason at the right time. And when it does or does not happen, and it cannot be explained, it is fate, it is the universe sending us a sign that this was for us. And to people, again, that’s hard to wrap our head around because it’s uncertain, it sounds weird—-that the universe sends us signs. But it does.

So life can’t be solved by math, because there are things that are just unexplainable and just happen because it was always meant to happen—always meant to be yours.

“Statistics taught me a lot about life. But I guess the most important thing I’ve learned is that there’s still room for error, and there’s a chance things won’t go the way you want them to, unless, of course, they do.”

(pg. 216)

And there’s always room for error where we think we had it all figured out—what we want of our lives or where or who we’ll end up with—but sometimes we do not know. There’s always a chance.

And this was her unlikely likelihood of finding someone she felt deep in her bones she connected with. Love is beyond powerful in that way.

But before they met, I liked how it was included how she did more research and she would always hope to see him. She was looking for him. There’s also this saying I’ve heard a lot when it comes to love, “Stop looking for love, it’ll find you,” and “When you stop looking for love, that’s when it will find you.” I think the universe likes to play jokes on us in that way. Because gosh knows I’ve tired to look soooo many times for the right person, thinking this boy in my class would be the love of my life, or this boy’s last name would sound good with my first name 🤪. And I was—am—constantly looking for love. As someone who has never been in a relationship it’s hard not to turn that part of my mind off to stop looking and wanting to find love one day because I’ve never felt that way before. But the other part of me knows that I need to stop looking because it will find me at the right time and right person. And the moments we do not expect it and we stop looking, I hear are the best.

But I guess that’s why this novella resonated with me so much because I’m someone who would like to think love is a straight answer—that there’s one way to find it. You put yourself out there, you date, you see who you like, you dump or are dumped, you date again. A set formula and cycle to figure out who that one true love is. That is explainable.

But love is not a straight answer. It is not a simple emotion. And it’s hard to find, but when you do, you know it’s real or it’s worth it.

When our main character didn’t seem Demetrius after a while, she lost hope she would ever see him again.

“So why was I so bummed?

It was a stupid question, because I knew exactly why. I was hoping the numbers would prove that I could trust my weird feeling about this guy. That if I ddi my research and followed the trail of data, it would lead me to him, and we would meet, and I would know what it felt like to be in love. I would have my answer.

Numbers don’t lie, even when the heart does. “

(pg 212)

I got chills when I read that ♥️. I understand it on deeper level. She felt the numbers didn’t lie when her heart told her she loved this guy.

But I was like, honey, that’s when you will meet him. When you think all hope is lost, love will find you.

And love did find her.

It’s crazy how to her it was rushed, hurried day. Nothing was going the way she wanted it to. The train station was crowded and then she forgot her poster. That sucked! So she got off her train and got on the train to go back home. And then, when she was finding a seat, she saw an instrument case.

“I couldn’t help feeling stupid about what a big deal I’d made over this mystery boy. People passed each other all the time in New York. Lives intersected and then diverged and went on either way. Once in a blue moon, maybe, an encounter would leave a person’s life changed. But most of the time it didn’t.”

(pg 215)

“I couldn’t help feeling stupid about what a big deal I’d made over this mystery boy.” Girl, I couldn’t help feeling stupid I made a big deal about any boy I’ve ever liked 😂 . All those crushes? Turned to nothing. But it’s beyond true how sometimes lives cross and people meet, and sometimes people meet and go on their way, but others leave a lasting impression on us.

But then Demetrius came up and was like, “I need to be by the window—“

Yes, please stop talking! 🤪

And they locked eyes and I was over!

OVER THE FREAKING MOON!

They found each other.

When they were most hopeless and during the most unexpected moment ♥️.

I love love.

I loved how she asked, “So how many blue hoodies do you own?” 😂

We love an outfit repeater.

It was sweet how he wore the same blue hoodie so she would recognize him. Oh, and his real name is Dev, so she was kind of close. But I liked how the story wrapped up in her giving her presentation at home with Dev there, and everyone in her class, including her pretty cool teacher, cheered her on. They must love love too! I also thought it was fitting how the last sentence was you can’t plan for everything. As much as we can and as much as we want to, we simply can’t and don’t see the unlikely things. But we need to remember that even if something seems unlikely—NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN—to know that there’s always a chance it will. And that’s what we should hold onto and hope for.

259 Million Miles by Kass Morgan

“My name’s Phillip. I figured it was time for you to meet me . . . the real me. . . so here I am. So hello to everyone out there who’s watching, whether you’re in the U.S., Asia, Europe, wherever. Or even if you’re on Mars,” I pause and smile. “Especially if you’re on Mars.

(pg 244)

Phillip was obviously trying to leave earth for some reason.

He didn’t want to go to his prom or be around any real person, so it made me think, what happened?

A viral video and a meme happened.

That’s like the 21st century kickstarter of bad problems.

I felt for Phillip because why in the world would people be so mean as to record him vomiting when he asked a cute girl to prom. Like if that happens, be a decent human being and don’t post it to the world because gosh knows you wouldn’t like it if that happened to you. So I understood why he wanted to go on this Mars trip. But those space tester people really did him dirty because they were just using him as a tester to see if a person already on Mars would be compatible with Blythe.

I quite liked Blythe. She’s a smart, independent woman who wants to part of the change. It’s quiet a theme I’ve been seeing with books in how people think the solution to climate change is going to a different planet to create life there. And I just want to say, that’s an inventive idea, but I think it’s even more important to heal earth rather than fix our problems by leaving it behind. Now, I’m all here for inventive and creative ideas, but change has to start here and with us before we should venture out and create a better world where we put the planet first.

I thought Phillip really grounded Blythe when she was worried and she calmed him and made him feel less embarassed adn shamed for the whole vomit prom thing. And we need those peopel in our life who bring us back down to earth (pun intended). They made a good team.

But man did heart clench when they were taken out of that simulation pod thing, and Blythe was already traveling to Mars and Phillip got the news that he wasn’t going. He was used 😆. He was robbed that date.

I mean, how fast could they whisk her to Mars?

Must have been some speedy space ship.

But I liked how Blythe gave him the strength to create a video about him, the real him and his side of the story and his life. Doing this allowed him to control the narrative as his life and be less embarrassed for something that happened in the past. And I think people need to let it go because we all have things we have done and we were embarrassed about—things we don’t want to remember. But the video was out there and so were the memes. Nothing was going to change that or the nasty comments he got. Those comments made my heart hurt 😢.

But Phillip had one supporter.

She was 259 million miles away.

She was real.

She was there.

And I know she would be proud of him.

I hope Phillip gets to see Blythe again some day, or vise versa.

Something Real by Julie Murphy

“What do you want to do?” I ask.

And then she kisses me. Right on the lips. I expected it, but I didn’t. It’s the perfect mix of want and surprise, which aren’t two things I often find in the same place. She pulls back, lingering for a moment, her lips hovering above mine. “Something real.”

(pg. 271)

This gave me Bachelor vibes through and through. And what faker was that pop star Dylan. He was misogynistic, self-absorbed, and rude.

I didn’t like him and I don’t know WHY anyone would want to win a date with him. If I were June and Martha, I would have walked straight out that studio the minute that self-absorbed prick walked by and said absolutely nothing nice.

It kind of made me think about how sometimes we build a person up in our head to be this role model or someone who is amazing, but then when we actually meet them, it’s really disappointing to find out their a prick 😂. But you know what? I’ve heard nothing but nice things about the majority of celebrities and that makes sense because they’re just people and want to live the happiest and healthiest life they can. I also think celebrities kindness comes from knowing what it’s not, so they try to exude as much love and positivity as they can and I respect and admire that.

But something was not it with this Dylan dude.

I don’t know what mirror is up his butt 🤪.

I liked June and how kind she was to Martha and helping her through the challenges. I also could relate to June’s fanigrlish thoughts in how we become so obsessed with someone because they connect with us whether it’s their music, acting, or dance, and for us it feels less alone in the world to know someone felt the way we did. And Dylan was that for her.

” . . . but I think we’d all surprise ourselves to find out what lengths we might go to re-create and savor the moments that make us feel like we have a purpose. There’s no shame in that.”

(pg 251)

I liked what June said here because she started this fan club to connect with people and savor the moments and feeling that the song Dylan sang. And when we love a moment or when we love something, we do our best to re-create it or enjoy it because it feels wholesome and makes us happy. So when people put down fangirls, it makes me sad because what’s wrong with loving something that makes you happy and feels less alone? And what’s wrong with a group of people loving something and bonding together over that? I know some pretty great people who have become friends with others because they have a mutual bond and love over something. I remember when I was little, there was one day where me and my friend choreographed a dance in the hallway of a hotel. It finally felt like I had a friend in my dance class because usually no one talked to me. But that day, me and my friend blasted music out of my blue sliding phone with the keyboard and we choreographed this whole dance because we were jazz dancers. It was a good day because I was laughing, I was having fun, and I had a friend.

The next year, we went back to the same hotel and we found ourselves together, and I thought, “Well, okay this can be just like last year where we can choreograph a dance together.” I had the music and everything. But my friend made a new friend and instead of choreographing something, the three of us spent it playing games on someone’s iPad. There was nothing wrong with that. But I felt like the third wheel and it wasn’t as fun as the year before. But the quote above resonated with me because I really wanted to re-create that moment because it meant a lot to me and it made me feel less alone. And there was no shame in me wanting to feel that way again. And there is no shame in loving something or someone.

I also adored Martha. Martha’s whole story reminded me how words have power and how they can connect us. I think Dylan’s reaction to Martha’s story was an under reaction and very insensitive because she literally poured her heart out and he was like, “Oh, cool,” and made it about him. Like where was his empathy? ☹️

The chicken nugget making contest was fun.

I didn’t like the host, Nate, or Dylan in how they said women were supposed to be in the kitchen.

EXCUSE MEEEEE?

I’ll show you what belongs in the kitchen 😡.

And what a CHILD for eating chicken nuggets.

I don’t judge eating chicken nuggets—-I eat chicken nuggets, and you might eat chicken nuggets and that’s okay with me—but when Dylan from this book eats chicken nuggets, I JUDGE.

I don’t like him.

He got his comeuppance when he got that stomach ache. Served him right for being a pig.

I liked how Martha and June got together because you could tell there was a connection there. And I loved how despite this love reality TV show they were on, they found something real with each other.

And, AHH, Julie Murphy did the full circle moment thing we talked about earlier.

Love ♥️.

Say Everything by Huntley Fitzpatrick

“You hid it. People don’t hide things that don’t matter to them.”

(pg 285)

This was a Huntley Fitzpatrick book if there ever was one 😆.

I could tell. It had that vibe—the mysterious boy and the questioning, but strong, studious-like girl.

I mean, that’s not a bad thing, I just think it’s amazing how you can discern an author’s writing. And this was Huntley Fitzpatrick for sure.

I liked the whole diner vibe and how Emma was someone who didn’t date. I’m wondering if it was someone broke her heart and she didn’t trust in people. But she humored Sean because he kept coming onto her and she probably was curious. I thought it was interesting he took her back to her old house. I mean, that’s also kind of weird, but the sentiments there you know. I liked how he hid her Book of Lost Things and how she always tried to talk to these boys, but it was always missed opportunities and she would write about what she should have done. I feel like we’ve all been there.

So I liked how Emma took a chance with Sean.

“Resolution: Just don’t be so afraid.

You will take chances.

You will find your way.

You will lose opportunities.

You will find luck.

You will lose your heart.

He will give you his.

That? You get to keep.”

(pg 289-90)

I loved this. It was so powerful like a manifestation of wills.

Because we need to be reminded to take chances when we are scared. We need to remember that we may lose ourselves or opportunities, but for all of those negative things, comes positivity. We will find ourselves when we get lost, and new opportunities present themselves. We will be lucky in life. We will experience heartbreak, but when that happens, we will experience love.

And when we know it’s right, that’s a heart we take a chance on.

A heart we get to keep and learn.

Say anything, and take a chance because love is all about chances.

The Department of Dead Love by Nicola Yoon

“People feel so much. Love is so big and it leaves behind a crater. Even when it’s wrong.”

(pg 306)

Fully questioning my choices in life because I said earlier The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love was my favorite, but this one comes REALL close. REAL close.

Nicola Yoon does not disappoint.

Truly does not.

I vaguely remember this novella from the first time I read this book because the Department of Dead Love sounded familiar to me. But golly, did I love the whole concept of Department of Dead Love 😂. I liked how Nicola Yoon created this whole world with buildings dedicated to Unrequited Love, Breakups, Bereavement, Young Love, Emotional Recovery, and Relationship Autopsy. I mean, she went to town on the range of emotions related to love! And the whole “Time heals” motto got me 😂. That’s all you hear when you go through a break-up or relationship hardships, “Oh, it gets better with time,” or “Give it time.”

TIME HEALS!

I can just imagine a bunch of people walking around pointing at each other saying, “Time heals,” “Time heals,” “Time heals.” 😂 I don’t know, but that’s funny to me. I feel we would want this because feelings are complicated and difficult to navigate and if we had a whole department dedicated to it . . . that would be interesting.

“What did people do before the Department of Dead Love existed? Did they just live with uncertainty, never quite knowing why love ended? What a cruel time that must have been.”

(pg 312)

I mean, Thomas is not wrong 😂. We do live with uncertainty a lot of the time about why our relationships fall out or end. Is it a cruel time to not have the DODL? Kind of. I think as much as we would want all these HeartWorkers telling us about love and why it falls out, sometimes it’s unexplainable and much more complex than a straight diagnosis or answer, and again, love is complicated. But it’s beautiful.

Thomas was in love with a girl named Sam. Sam was the only person who wanted to be his friend on the playground—-someone who showed him kindness. And he loved her ever since. I met my best friend on the playground when no one else talked to me. I know the feeling, not the romantic feeling, but I do love my best friend. But they broke up after a couple of months and it left Thomas feeling devastated and empty not knowing what went wrong.

So he went to the Relationship Autopsy building where he got assigned to the first young RA apprentice , Gabby Lee. And from the moment they met, something clicked if you will where I felt Gabby was interested and Thomas was kind of, but not really because he didn’t realize it yet. I mean, he was starting to like her smile and was noticing all these details about her. And boys don’t just pay attention to those details if a part of them doesn’t care.

I like how Thomas wants to know Gabby as more than his RA worker. I liked how he asked her how the autopsy would affect her because no one had asked her that before. I also liked how he asked her what the differences was between eating to be friends and wanting to be more than friends? That’s such an interesting question because what is that line that makes a person think they want to be more than friends with someone?

“Some people you want to get to know and some pope you want to know you. I think that’s the difference.

For whatever reason, there are people that you want to tell all your weird secret thoughts to. You what to show them your pimples and tell them about your braces. You want them to love you because of those things, not in spite of them.”

(pg 303)

I loved that ♥️.

Because with friends we just want to get to know them—-their likes and dislikes—-but with people we want to have a romantic relationship with, we want them to know us—-our beliefs, our values, our morals, our story, our life. We want them to love us because of the things we feel or things we have been through. And friends love us in the same way, but a romantic connection with someone is a love where they know us to our heart and that’s what I feel like is also the difference. But I loved what Nicola Yoon said here.

Thomas’s autopsy of why Sam and him broke up was inconclusive, so they had to ask Sam to test to see her perspective. But Thomas was angry that his results showed nothing because he wanted a reason—an answer. Then he asked Gabby if she had ever been in love and she said:

“I’d give anything to fall in love,” she says.

. . . “Really? Even knowing how much it hurts? Even knowing how it ends in most cases?”

“Thomas,” she says. “All love ends. Sometimes it’s a breakup. Sometimes the other person passes.”

Her voice is quiet that I have to move closer to hear her.

“Do you know why I was crying before? It wasn’t because of the pain of your heartbreak. It was because you felt so much in the first place.” She takes a deep breath. “And anyway, isn’t that what you’re doing here? Hoping that I’ll reset your memories and you can have a Do Over so you’ll feel that much again?”

(pg 308)

Love is painful and it hurts us, but love also heals us. A quote I heard from Bianca Sparacino or Rainbowsalt on Instagram. But I think that’s true. Love heals. It hurts like heck at first, but like the HeartWorkers would say “TIME HEALS.” 😂

This conversation also made me wonder if it is worth the pain to not remember it all just to end the pain of the heartache that comes when love ends?

Just a question to think about.

So they got Sam to test to see her perspective of why things didn’t work out between them, but her results were inconclusive too. The results showed nothing wrong. They still liked each other as people and they weren’t annoyed by each other or attracted to other people, but they just fell out of love.

“I wish I had an answer for you both,” Gabby says. “Think of it this way: back in the twenty-first century, when the elderly passed away in their sleep and a cause of death couldn’t be determined, the doctors referred to it as dying from ‘natural causes.’ I think that’s what happened to your relationship.”

She pauses to take a breath. “Sometimes love just ends.”

(pg 311)

We want the answers when it comes to love and why it ends, but sometimes it’s natural for love to end. To stop feeling a romantic love for a person, and there’s nothing wrong with you or that to feel that way. Because maybe that’s the universe’s way of saying that that person isn’t your person, but they are a good person, just not the one for you. I see Thomas and Sam being friends one day when they both heal because I can tell they genuinely care about each other, but maybe they aren’t the right ones for each other. Maybe they wouldn’t have broken up in the future and woudl ahve stayed in a complacent relationship unless they naturally fell out of love. Who knows?

But these things happen.

And we can’t be hard on ourselves or the other person, wondering what went wrong or thinking you or the other person was the issue.

Love falls out naturally.

And that is okay.

And when it does it’s going to hurt. It’s going to be confusing and sad.

But call me a HeartWorker, “TIME HEALS.”

It’s cheesy, but it’s true. Time heals and it will bring you new chances to explore who you are and other people who are meant for you. And maybe it’s that person you fell out of love with and later is a better time for both of you to find each other again. That’s okay too. Because timing, as the HeartWorkers would champion, is everything.

Thomas was given the option to erase his memory and pain of the last ten months of Samantha, but that also meant not remembering Gabby.

And boy chose right!

He didn’t go through with the Do Over because he wanted to give it a try with Gabby because he liked her 😏. See the universe led him to the DODL and that lead him to AR and then to Gabby. The universe knew what was up. I thought it was funny that Gabby was like “You’re not saying you’re in love with me now? I’ll have to refer you to Rebound.”

Of course, they would have a department of rebound 😂.

But I loved how the story ended and Thomas was like,

“I want to be known by you.”

“You know we might end up right back here.”

“The HeartWorker in need of a HeartWorker,” I say.

“It could happen.”

“Or not.”

“All love ends,” she says.

“Maybe,” I say. “But it has to start somewhere.”

(pg 314)

LOVE THAT ♥️.

As much as heartbreak hurts and we’re scared to be hurt again, it is worth that risk to try again. To find love.

All love ends.

But it has to start somewhere.

If we succumb to our heartbreak or let it rule our life to the point where we’re terrified to find love because of the pain, then we would have a very lonely and empty world.

Because you can’t have love without a little bit of pain.

So I’m proud of Thomas that he healed, or he was starting to heal. . . I’m not sure if we need to send him to Rebound or not 😂. He’s definitely not sad anymore.

So time heals, there’s truth in that.

Overall, reading all these novella’s made me fall back in love with love (not like I ever fell out of it). I just think that love is beautiful, it’s complex, it’s painful, it’s heart-breaking, it’s complicated, but it’s worth it, it’s a beginning, it’s fresh, it’s exciting, it’s compassionate, and it’s understanding.

Love is the epitome of emotion.

And this book just gives me hope and so much love that I will find love one day and to hold onto that, and to know that love will find me in the most unexpected ways or places. That’s exciting, but it’s also scary.

I also loved how inclusive all these stories were with showcasing all types of love. Representation matters completely, and everyone deserves love.

You deserve love. Remember that.

Here is how I ranked the novellas:

Ranking of Favorite to Least Favorite Novella

1) The Unlikely Likelihood of Falling in Love

2) The Dictionary of You and Me

3) The Department of Dead Love

4) Oomph

5) Something Real

6) Click

7) Say Everything

8) The Way We Love Here

9) 259 Million Miles

10) Print Shop

11) The Intern

12) Hourglass

13) Siege Etiquette

14) Somewhere That’s Green

Anyway, how would you rank the novellas? What is your ideal meet cute situation? Let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this 😊.

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.45 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: I appreciated the range of characters, diversity, and inclusivity.

Writing: I could tell whose writing was who and there is just something magical about authors coming together to create a collection of work that encompasses so many different lessons about love.

Plot: Each story is unique and provides a fresh perspective of love.

Romance: I have a greater appreciation for the triumphs and complications of love ♥️