The Temporary Roomie by Sarah Adams Book Review

“Do you know what it’s like to live with a woman you’re crazy about but have to hide every thought, every hope from her on a daily basis?”

(pg. 205)

About

Author: Sarah Adams

Genre: New Adult Rom-Com

Series: It Happened in Nashville book two

Click to buy book

Click to read other book reviews

Other It Happened in Nashville Book Reviews

The Off Limits Rule

Other It Happened in Charleston Book Reviews

The Match

The Enemy

Synopsis

What happens when you have to play nice with your greatest enemy? Revenge.

Drew Marshall may have let me [Jessie] move into his spare bedroom while my house is being renovated, but don’t think for one second his kindness comes without strings. Big, ugly, fake relationship strings. 

That’s okay, though, Dr. Andrew. I’ll agree to your terms, move into your house, and act like your girlfriend when the big day comes; but I also plan to make your life miserable—make you pay for what you did to me. 

I may not be good at forgiving or forgetting, but I’m excellent at getting even.

Review

Spoilers Contained Below

To the roommates we never expected,

I would just like to preface this review that my thoughts are as chaotic as Jessie 😂 and I apologize for the strong emotions that will spew out of my fingers as I type this.

The Temporary Roomie was . . . something else 🙈. Not in a bad way, I liked certain aspects of the book and some characters more than others (which I’ll get into), but the book was okay. I will say that I liked The Off Limits Rule a lot more than The Temporary Roomie, but that’s because I’m more of a friends to lovers or slow (but not too slow burn). I like enemies to lovers when it works and makes sense, but the whole book sort of made senses as to the hate and tension. But the hate was also irritating at some points because it was glaringly obvious and also you know who was petty as heck about it, but I’m getting ahead of myself 🤪. Ummmm, so I would also like to say nothing I say is meant to be personal or rude to Sarah Adams because I think she’s a great author and writes fun, light-hearted, feel-good books.

But my gosh, this book had me SCREAMING 😂. Yikes.

So let me just start by saying I absolutely, positively DETESTED and REVULSED Jessie 🙈.

Now, now, I get it, that’s a very bold statement to start this book review off on, but I couldn’t’ not talk about how much I didn’t like Jessie without the rest of this review making sense. I realllllly didn’t like Jessie and I just could not with her half the time. I mean, I couldn’t have been the only one who had very strong feelings about this woman.

Jessie, sure, had her good moments and she was a human being at some points, but overall she just struck me as petty, childish, ridiculous, outlandish, immature, and stubborn. I understand she was pregnant and was probably processing many emotions, but still, I don’t think that was what drove her to be the way she was. I also understood that Jessie had a complex history with relationships and that was the main reason for who she was. Jessie didn’t have the best boyfriends, and they always left her in some ways. Her baby daddy was a rock star who went on tour and wanted nothing to do with the baby, so he left Jessie to navigate her pregnancy on her own. I could only imagine the hurt and confusion Jessie felt with loving this man and then for him leaving her and not wanting anything to do with her or their child. I also could only imagine the anger and fear of being a single parents on her own. I would have felt all alone if I were here because she was practically doing it on her own. Because Jessie was used to attractive men leaving her, she had all this steel walls built around her so that they repelled anyone who made her heart beat faster or who she was even remotely attracted to; she built walls so she wouldn’t get hurt again by another pretty face who would ultimately leave her.

Then there was also the fact that her dad left her when she was younger. Jessie’s mom passed away when she was younger. After that, her dad left when Jessie was just a baby—-not caring for her. So that is why Jessie went to go live with her Grandaddy who basically raised her. Jessie lost a lot of people in her life, but her one constant was her Grandaddy, so it made sense why she had such a tight-knit relationship with him—-he was the only man who ever stayed in her life and loved her. Jessie was still living with the hurt of so much loss and abandonment, but also how many men left her life. Because she was so used to men leaving her, it explained how she didn’t want to trust another man.

Thus, the fortress of solitude walls.

I don’t blame her for thinking that another man would leave her after everything she had been through. I would also expect it and be guarded of my heart. But sis had the fortress of solicitude or something around her heart because she was not letting up and it made it so hard to like her. It was also challenging for me to like Jessie because she knew that she was guarded and hesitant with men, but she never took the time to process her feelings or reflected on how her actions hurt others. She also never took a moment to really think to herself that hurting Drew or turning him away would only serve to hurt him and ultimately herself in the end because she kept denying her heart.

So instead of owning up to her feelings, she got peezed off and was angry at Drew for literally nothing. She just hated him because she liked the idea of him but she didn’t like the thought that if she let herself fall for him, that he would leave and disappoint her like every other man. And I get it, but I also felt like her reason for hating Drew’s stinking guts was unfair and ridiculous because Drew was LITERALLY the NICEST guy ever to her and yet she was ragging a**hole to him the entire time.

Gosh, all mighty Jessie tested Drew’s patience and Cannot tell you the amount of times I said to myself that Drew could do SOOOOOO MUCH better than pinning for a girl who wasn’t mature enough to admit she loved him, but instead f***ed with him for his attention like they were pre-schoolers pulling each other’s pigtails on the playground.

“‘Don’t make that face. Jessie started this prank war. I’m just trying to keep up.’

‘Mmhmm,’ Cooper mumbles against his beer with a knowing look that I want to punch off his face. ‘Why don’t you just pull her pigtails? Or write her a check-yes-or-no note?'”

(pg. 111)

I freaking CACKLED when Cooper said that to Drew because Cooper wasn’t wrong!!! They were both acting like children, and not going to lie, but Jessie started it with hating Drew for nothing and giving him shiz for it.

The only reason she hated him was because she literally said he was too good looking and that made her mad 😂!!!!!!! LIKE WHAT THE BONKERS IS THAT????!!?!?

*Insert Taylor Swift’s song Gorgeous*

No, but seriously. That’s was DUMB. It happened when Jessie went to chew Drew out for not answering the phone when Lucy needed her brother with the whole Levi going to the hospital situation in the last book. You know, when Jessie threw a pack of diapers at his face and apparently Drew was too hot for her liking. I mean, you shouldn’t just hate a person because they are attractive. I understand if Drew was rude or stuck up to her, but I just didn’t get it because Drew didn’t deserve even a minuscule of the shiz he got from her. None.

She was just being utterly and ridiculously childish and I wanted to RAGE AND SCREAM for her to grow the heck up because she had a good a** decent, attractive, kind-hearted, patient, loving, caring, understanding, complex, and sweet man and she was pushing him away and keeping her walls up because she was scared. And the fact that she kept pushing back harder, I was like, sis, you are literally sabotaging yourself to the one person who might actually be good for you and treat you well, and heck, who even showed her how much he treated her well.

I didn’t get it.

Jessie had a good man and she didn’t even know it.

In my Off Limits Rule book review, I slightly raged about Drew 😂. I may or may not have said that Drew was the problem because, you know, he was. He got in the way of Lucy and Cooper’s happiness and he was being a child about them getting together.

However, in The Temporary Roomie, Drew really shined in my eyes and I saw him in such a brilliant and gleaming light.

What a man 👏🏼👏🏼💙!!!!!

He was hands down the best part of the book.

I had no idea why he put up with the shiz he did, but he was a good man.

First of all, he was a mother forking doctor 👏🏼!!!

I mean, a mother FORKING DOCTOR, I didn’t understand why or how no one else thought Drew the doctor was attractive as heck. I mean, he was a doc-tor 🤪.

He was an OB-GYN, which was an instant turn off for most ladies apparently. To be honest, if I heard a cute and nice doctor was an OB-GYN, it would make me feel weird, but interested to know more about why the person was an OB-GYN or to laugh about what they do. I know it’s easy to think that a male OB-GYN is a perv 😅, but I like to think that not all OB-GYNs are; there has to be a reason, you know. All the women who ran away after Drew said what he did for a living was missing out because they didn’t get to know the real Drew or the reason about why he chose his field.

Drew was an OB-GYN because he genuinely cared about women’s health 💙👏🏼!!

” . . . it’s the greatest honor to work alongside women to bring their babies into the world.”

(pg. 89-90)

What a self-respecting and wonderful human being to acknowledge how wonderful women and their bodies were.

I loved how Drew also mentioned how he was in medial school and felt like the hospital can be a very dark and negative place, but when he was doing rotations in the women’s health department, he really enjoyed the hope and positivity surrounding it—-how “women’s health deals mostly in preventative measures, and it revolves so much around life and family.” And Drew’s nothing but a family man. He saw the hope and joy that surrounded being an OB-GYN and wanted to be a part of that. I thought that was such an honorable and admirable reason, and if all those women would have FREAKING listened to Drew rather than be creeped out and judgmental, they would have known what a great guy he was.

Hahaha, their loss 🤪.

Sucks to suck.

There were those few nurse ladies who tried to hit him up and flirt with him at the hospital, and I was grinning because those ladies were truly shooting their shot—-go them! I understood Drew’s no-dating-co-workers policy, which was a smart policy because he didn’t want to mix work with his personal life. But I bet it made things awkward anyway because everyone seemingly knew that Drew was single and was hitting on him, which made him feel uncomfortable. I would have felt uncomfortable if I was Drew. But he was very kind about turning down his workers. I didn’t blame him for saying he had a fake girlfriend he was bringing to that auction party because he didn’t want more of the staff to hit on him and he was utterly tired from work and didn’t need that type of stress. However, it posed the question of who would be his fake girlfriend (we all knew who).

There was a big part of me that also felt for Drew because he was hopeless romantic at heart. Everyone around him seemed to be in happy, healthy relationships and starting a family—-something Drew really wanted, but never had because he poured himself into his work. He wanted to love someone the way Cooper loved Lucy and vice versa and he wanted to be loved—-the whole shebang. I loved that 🥺. It was just wholesome to know Drew had a good heart that wanted love in his life but he hadn’t found it yet because life things got in the way first.

But Drew deserved a family, love, and happiness in his life. He really did.

But I had no idea why he liked Jessie so gosh darn much 🤪.

One of the reasons Drew did say was how Jessie challenged him and he liked a challenge. Also, he was used to women fawning or falling over themselves for him, so it was nice to have someone who didn’t instantly love him because it made him work harder to break down Jessie’s walls and for her to love him. Also, Drew liked Jessie because he always felt this pressure of people depending on him from work to his family—-he saved lives and brought lives out into the world. He also always felt like he had to step up as the big protective bother to Lucy. He constantly stretched himself to care so much for others—-taking calls at home to reassure his patients and working overtime to be there for him—-that he wasn’t ever there for himself. However, it felt like here was Jessie who didn’t need him and I think Drew liked the fact that someone didn’t need him; that he could be there with someone and not feel like he had to pull himself to be strong or be of use. He could just be.

Jessie also gave me the vibe that she was terrified of needing Drew because of her trust issues with men, so that’s why Drew was also more enraptured to gain her trust and for her to need him in her life.

Another reason Drew liked Jessie was because she brought laughter and unpredictable fun to his life, which I bet he needed from all the hard days at the hospital. In my mind, I kind of followed the thought that Jessie was like a jester for his amusement because that’s what he made it sound like—-that Jessie made him laugh and brought joy.

But the the thing was, I wasn’t sure if their relationship was built on real love or if it was built on tension, anger, sexual frustration, and wanting someone so badly and having the first person who didn’t remotely like him be the person he wanted. You know? I felt like they didn’t have any real meaningful conversations where they got to know each other or where they connected on a deeper level. They were just messing with each other the entire book and to be frank, their pranks showed how much they cared about each other (deep down it was an attention thing), but it wasn’t something romantic or thoughtful that highlighted the love between them. I felt more hate than I did love.

That’s why the enemies to lovers trope is sticky for me—–sometimes the trope can border on being too hateful that I don’t feel the love or connection between them at all and only see the hate as childish games or attention.

I’m more of a person who believes in the heartfelt conversations and romantic scenes because that emphasizes their love and trust when games and pranks only depicts how much they want to peez the other off just to gain their attention and inadvertently their love to the point it doesn’t come across as love.

When Jessie moved into Drew’s house because her water pipes broke and her house needed to be repaired, it was prime time for their prank war to start. I thought it was petty of Jessie to mess with Drew when he was nice to let her stay in his house for free. Not going to lie though, I freaking laughed when Jessie packed her whole girly house and brought all these boxes to Drew’s house and basically invaded his man cave with kitschy things, mugs, pink, and lots of pillows.

“Ah geez, there’s more. It’s everywhere. Like the flu during he winter, her stuff has mutated and multiplied all over my home . . . Pillows—-so many damn pillows lining the couch there’s nowhere to sit anymore . . .There ins’t an inch of my house that hasn’t been touched—vandalized”

(pg. 49)

Drew was ready to combust.

But bro should have seen this coming when he asked his enemy to move into him. She was bound to screw with him 😆. DUH.

I liked that Sarah Adams included the pillows thing because I don’t know, as a woman who loves to decorate, I do have too many pillows on my couch that sometimes I don’t know where the couch beings and the pillows end 😂. I don’t know, does anyone else do that? I feel like it’s an ingrained habit to overstuff with pillows.

Their prank war or opportunity to irritate the heck out of each other was on.

“I release my palms from the counter and turn to face her—-my opponent. . . With the most deadly of opponents: a gorgeous woman.”

(pg. 58)

I liked the whole snowman mug thing with Drew using Jessie’s snowman mug that she was so adamant about needing and packing with her. Then Drew took the mug and put it on a shelf outside his room like some sort of consolation prize. Then there was the whole laundry fiasco with her needing to do her laundry and Drew also needing to wash his scrubs. Considering Drew let Jessie stay at his house, the least she could do (in my opinion) was be considerate enough to let Drew wash his laundry before her. I mean, the dude worked all week and just wanted to wash his scrubs a special way because that made him happy. She could literally wait a few until he was done and then wash her underwear. His scrubs probably were not going to take all day. But then she had to go and wash her clothes first and then she there Drew’s scrubs in with her clothes and turned his scrubs pink. Drew literally had a meticulous way of washing his scrubs and I had a feeling she was going to mess up his scrubs by not giving a second thought as to what would happen by mixing their clothes.

I had to say, I laughed when Drew hid her underwear from her. Not in a creepy way, but a mess-with-her-way. That was what she got for messing with his scrubs. But through it all, I liked how domestic and natural they were with each other not to be awkward about things like underwear.

I also really loved it when they used each other’s full names to really emphasize their hate for one another—-not bringing out the full names Jessica and Andrew. I felt like they were scolding a little kid or something.

Then there was the whole time where Jessie moved all her boxes out in the house again and Drew was furious at her, which I was honestly really surprised by. Out of all the things that Jessie had done so far to peez him off, I didn’t think that her moving her boxes back out into the house was a big deal. But it wasn’t the fact that her stuff was everywhere, but that she was very pregnant and exerting a lot of energy. She was all red-faced and flushed, that Drew was concerned about her health and well-being. It made more sense that Drew was angry because he cared about Jessie’s health, and as much as they were pranking each other he liked her and wanted her to be okay. If she had to expend herself to prank him, I don’t think he could have lived with himself. He really was being doctor Drew at that moment and I loved that for him. A personal doctor who really did care for her 🥺. I also liked how he got her a milkshake with no questions asked because he wanted Jessie to be okay and healthy—-the pranks didn’t mean anything to him rather than to play Jessie’s game the way she wanted.

After this sweet moment of caring, they had another saccharine moment where Drew cooked Jessie breakfast and it was this whole honestly scene. The moment had eggs of truce screaming all over it, and I liked that for them because when they weren’t raging at each other or playing games, they were actually really cute. I liked when Jessie wasn’t being chaotic or ridiculous 🙃.

“She smiles too, and it’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s light filtering into a desolate, damp cave. It’s the first taste of watermelon in summer. It’s a monarch butterfly landing on your finger.”

(pg. 97-8)

I was grinning when I read the sentence above because Sarah Adams used such descriptive language for me to easily picture Jessie’s smile, but also how much that smile meant to Drew. What a beautifully written sentence for sure 💙.

Because things seemed good between them, Jessie was bothered by her feelings because she didn’t want Drew to like her that way, so she crafted this elaborate prank that I thought was frankly idiotic and weird 😆. I couldn’t believe she also dragged Lucy into her prank. Jessie really wasn’t fooling no one with that whole birth guru and meditation with the stick thing. Or how Jessie said Lucy was going to birth her child because Lucy was the birthing guru and they watched birthing videos on Youtube. Yea, because Youtube is the best place to learn how to deliver a baby. I mean, I wasn’t buying it, Drew wasn’t buying it. But I did think it was hilarious that the whole baby guru thing was a decoy for a water bucked to fall on his head 😂. I had to give her props for that. I mean, Jessie sure went above to fake this whole scheme only to distract him from the real pranks which was very prank-master of her.

To get back at Jessie, Drew attempted to scare her.

“I’m a grown man—-a doctor!—who is looked up to , strutted, and respected to keep people alive and bring humans into the world, and I’m standing in a woman’s closet for a dumb prank.”

(pg. 115)

I mean, not his finest or smartest moment, but I sure had a good laugh.

That’s PhD thinking right there 🤪.

I FREAKING CACKLED when Drew wanted to scare Jessie and hid in her closet and then when he was in her closet, he started to second guess his plan. He thought his plan bordered on creepy and pervy, which I could understand. I mean, I would hide in someone’s closet too to scare them, but I guess it’s a different story for sure if that person comes home and they start to change and your still in the closet and then you look like a perv for sneaking in there 😂. Drew really was having a full on PANIC.

Drew texted Cooper about hiding in Lucy’s closet and how they were also laughing at him 😂. And then thy straight up told him an idiot for staying in the closet for too long without scaring her right from the get-go because now he looked like a creep. Then Drew missed his window to sneak out of her closet.

But what got me was when Jessie opened the closet and SOCKED The daylights out of him 😂.

I MEAN, what did he expect to happen!!?!?!?! This was pregnant woman who w was chaining her clothes and she saw some weirdo in her closest, so of course, her initial reaction was to sock the dude.

FREAKING DREW.

The only good thing that came out of that prank was the fact that it knocked some sense into both of the to stop pranking each other. Or to be a bit more civil.

I liked when they weren’t actively pranking each other, but they had this nice playful banter. But their kindness only lasted for a few moments before Lucy went ahead and self-sabotaged herself with her fear. I understand she was hurt, but she literally pushed Drew this whole time and now they were workmen towards a good thing, so she felt the need to push him away even more to make him want to leave. But Drew wasn’t the type of person to leave easily or want to leave.

What really PEEZED me off about Jessie—-what really made me go no no no no no no NO, absolutely not—-was the elaborate and childish prank she pulled at the gala 🙄. Rather than be a mature adult and at least acknowledge her feelings for Drew or at least not act out on her feelings for Drew, she pulled a STUPID prank that was more hurtful than anything, and honestly crossed so many lines. After the gala prank, I was truly for team Drew finding someone better because he deserved soooo much more 🙈. NOT GOING TO LIE.

But Jessie was really out here, putting on a show of Drew proposing to her with a fake teeny-tiny ring to make him look bad 🤨. WHAT. THE. HECK. I was confuzzled, bothered, disturbed, and peezed for Drew. It’s one thing to prank someone and pour a bucket of liquid over their head. A proposal prank???????

Yea, no. It’s a no from me.

And with a fake tiny ring so Drew looked like a cheap stake in front of all his coworkers?

What a petty loser.

Also, the fact that she faked a proposal in front of ALL his coworkers was a whole other thing I was peezed at for Drew because what the heck was he going to do when people asked him about his “fiancee” in the future if he never stayed with Jessie. And then there was the whole fact that Jessie was OBVIOUSLY pregnant, so I could only imaging the confusion of his coworkers wondering if that was his baby. Like did she not have half a brain to think about the repercussions of her so called “prank” and how it would make Drew look in the long run.

I was also FURIOUS that she went through with this prank after all this time she had to back out of the prank. Especially when Drew constantly showed her that he was a decent guy and that he was just playing her game because Jessie was a prankster. Sis, literally devised this fake proposal scheme after Drew missed meeting her granddaddy as the fake boyfriend when for 1) the granddaddy knew that Drew wasn’t her real boyfriend so it didn’t matter anyway and 2) the granddaddy didn’t even show up to meet Drew that day either so WHAT WAS THE BIG FREAKING DEAL?!?!?!?! BOO HOO, Drew missed meeting you Granddaddy who wasn’t even there 🤪. Like, build a bridge and GET OVER IT 👏🏼😆. It’s not that deep.

I could not.

Also, Jessie needed to cut Drew some freaking slack. A dude is a DOCTOR and he has better things to do than play fake boyfriend. He literally delivered three babies that day and was absolutely exhausted and wanted to go home and sleep. I didn’t blame the dude for forgetting to play hooky and for wanting to nap 😆. Does she not understand that he had, I don’t know, valuable responsibility?!!?!? The world didn’t revolve around her, and she should have pulled an Elsa and let that grudge go.

But noooooo she said I like you and I want you to hate me so I’m going to make you hate my stinking guts.

What is she? Five years old???????

Again, nothing against Sarah Adams, but I had a bone to pick with Jessie. Yes, she’s funny and I understand her, but MY GOSH she made me angry more than half the time. I was angry on behalf of Drew because he was incredibly sweet and had to deal with all her push and pull. Like I said, he deserved better.

I was surprised he wasn’t more peezed at her for pulling this big prank. Heck, he kissed her crazy because he knew that Jessie probably liked her a lot more than he thought if she was willing to pull such a momentous prank to prove that she “hated him.”

He was using his big PhD brain to put two and two together.

“All those other little wars just felt like messing around, having fun . . . like they were leading to something else between us. Was I wrong?”

(pg. 155)

No, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to admit that anytime soon because Jessie was scared to like him as much as she does.

What it made it worst was the fact that she denied liking him after he straight up confessed how much he liked her and thought she felt the same way. She told him she wasn’t attracted to him, which was BS—pushing him away yet again when he just gave her a reason to let her walls down. He liked her for her and he constantly showed her that he wasn’t backing down from her when things got hard. She was really just hurting herself at this point and it made me sad because she could really be happy with Drew.On a more serious note, I believed Jessie needed to return to therapy because it was apparent she liked Drew but her past hurt was getting in the way of her current happiness, and I didn’t wan that for her 😢.

“I was a prisoner to my own fear, and that’s how it has to be.”

(pg. 164)

That right there was an unhealthy thought.

Jessie didn’t need to and shouldn’t have to feel that way. Fear is natural and it protects us from things that are scary, but we don’t need to be or shouldn’t be held back by fear because we feel like it has to be that way or we deserve it. We tell ourselves those things; nothing has to be something if we don’t want it to be.

What blew my mind was Jessie’s absolute unjustified anger at Drew for going on dates when she literally told him that she was not attracted to him. I mean, what did she expect? For Drew to sit pretty on his couch and not move on with his life when he literally said he liked her. Bro wasn’t going to wait around for her if there was no chance of anything more happening between them. The only person she could be mad at was herlsef. What also sucked was that Drew gave her an out to admit her feelings before he went on this date, but she still denied her feelings.

We all knew Jessie was jealous because she loved Drew and didn’t want to see him with anyone else. So of course, we also all knew that she was going to spy on him. I felt really bad for Lucy because she wanted a girls’ night out with Jessie, but it turned into stalking her brother on his date. Jessie should have just put her feelings aside for her friend who was constantly there for her and gave her a GNO. But no, they faked valet a car and then crouched down outside of the restaurant to see who Drew was dining with. I freaking CACKLED at the fact that Drew saw her through the window and Jessie and Lucy dropped it like it was hot. We loved that they rolled away and acted like they weren’t there.

They were both idiots to be honest.

“Never have two more prideful, stubborn people existed.”

(pg. 173)

The lake house scene with the bosses was a fun trip. I cackled at the cover story Drew crafted to explain what happened to Jessie when they broke up because you know, they weren’t actually engaged. Drew really said you paint me as the bad guy, I also paint you as the bad guy too 😂. Good for you Drew, after all the shiz she gave you.

I was in hysterics with the whole lobster thing where Drew roped the Greens in pretending that they were going to serve Jessie lobster for dinner. They kept talking about how prized their lobster was and how good, and Jessie didn’t want to be rude and say she would rather jump of a cliff than eat a lobster. They really made her sweat. And then when they got to dinner, they actually gave her a steak. Freaking Drew pulled a good one on her with that prank though because she was highly bothered and worried about eating a lobster during her pregnancy.

I also had a field day with the whole snake in the shower scene and how Jessie didn’t want Drew to see her naked or her pregnant body, but she also didn’t want a snake in the shower. Doctor Drew really came through as Steve Irwin and got the snake 😂. I mean, it has not really crossed my mind to think about how to capture a snake if the circumstances arose, but I guess I kind of have an idea now. I wondered where Drew learned such a thing. Probably from protecting Lucy.

Let’s circle back to Jessie’s pregnant body. Similar to Lucy, Jessie also felt the insecurities of being a pregnant woman and having her body change so much that she felt like she was not as beautiful as before. As a woman I can understand what it feels like to have your body change and to feel uncomfortable by those changes. I think it’s because we glorify a past version of ourselves that we were so used to that when we change, it makes us uncomfortable and we think we’re not as pretty or good enough as we were. But there was something I heard once in how we when we reflect on our past selves no matter the point in time, we will always see ourselves better than we see it now even if at the time we thought ourselves not good enough because of the changes. So no matter how we view ourselves currently, we will always think our past selves a better version because we miss that version and who we used to be. Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing; it is a scary thing, but not always a bad thing. And I know there were multiple points in my life—and to this day—-where I find myself in this constant comparison of who I used to be and who I am now. I battled an ED growing up and body dysmorphia and it was difficult for me to push past the images of who I was, who I was with my ED, and who I wanted to be. And in that healing process, I remember incessantly thinking how I wanted to heal but I didn’t want to be who I was before but I also didn’t want to be who I was now because I was not my healthiest version. Later that healing process, I would look back on photos and think I did look better when I was not at my healthiest. Our perceptions will always sway to who we were. But there is nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with who we are becoming.

Bodies change. People change. It’s natural and we can’t stop it. But we can control how we feel about ourselves and how we speak to ourselves. We can also control the way we treat our bodies. In Jessie’s case, she was pregnant. That’s literally a huge change. I understood where she was coming from, but I also wanted to tell her that she needed to be gentle with herself because she was carrying a new life inside her and that was exciting and scary and beautiful. Her body was different and it was more beautiful, strong, and powerful because of it.

I liked how Drew reassured her that she was beautiful and she should be proud of who she was. I also loved how Drew was there for her when the contractors said her house would take longer to build. I could only imagine her worry at not having a home to bring her baby too. I would be worried to. But Drew was incredibly sweet by asking her to stay with him still—-to give her a place to bring her new baby into the world. After all the times she pushed him away, he was quite literally asking her to stay—-he wasn’t leaving her like the other guys. I also appreciated how Drew told her she wasn’t alone in this pregnancy because I could feel her worry and loneliness. No mother should have to go through that journey alone.

I also liked the moment when he checked her heart rate because he was worried about her health. We love a personal doctor moment. It was just soooo saccharine how he was so concerned about her health that he would constantly check in with her 🥺.

Drew was also incredibly sweet by talking abou her baby registry things. You know when Jessie mentioned her wish list and all those things, I was like Doctor Drew is about to come through and buy them all for her 👌🏼😉. And I had a feeling he was going to set up a nursery in his house just for her to ease her worries. You know, it helps that he was a humble rich doctor that he could buy her entire registry.

I also lived for the moment when they were lying in bed and he felt her baby kick. What a great man to also massage her aching feet like GENUINE GENTLEMAN. Like get you a good partner and be a good partner. What a sweetie 🥺💙.

I told you this man is too good.

Bad boys out, good men in.

Hahaha, no but really. I thought this when I was reading the feel-the-baby-kick scene because as a teenager, I was the typical hormonal mess that said I love a bad boy. You know, tall, dark, and damaged 😆. But the older I’ve gotten, the more I realized you really need to get a good partner, or in my case, a good man. Because at the end of the day, having someone who is a “bad boy/person” just because they have that allure or ominous and cool way about them, means absolutely nothing compared to a person who treats you well and loves you more. And I’ve come to appreciate good partners more. It’s called maturing and growth 😂.

But no seriously, you can have your bad boy fetish because it’s hot, but in actuality get you a partner who has a kind heart and treats you well. Someone who will massage your feet, reassure you, and who doesn’t run away after all the challenges you throw at them.

Anyway, besides my date-a-good-man PSA, I liked how they had calmer scenes together at the lake house because it showed who they were beyond just messing with each other.

I liked the whole tattoo moment where Jessie was admiring Drew’s shoulder boulders and his flower power tattoo 😆🌻. Not that I’m teasing, but I just loved the way I phrased the scene in my book notes. I love a person who loves flowers. Drew hid his tattoo like a “sexy secret” because of the unprofessionalism remarks he would have faced as a doctor with tattoos. This is unrelated, but it always bothered me that people with tattoos don’t get hired for jobs or there’s this dangerous and rough stigma around people with tattoos. I believe tattoos show a story and they are someone’s personal choice to have them, and it shouldn’t be a reason to not hire someone just because they look a certain way.

But there was also the intimate moment where Drew told Jessie that he was her home—-a place he could feel like he could rest. Not going to lie, I wondered why the heck he said that when she invaded his home and gave him shiz but whatever 🤪.

“‘What happened recently?’

He smirks down at me. ‘You.’

‘Me?’

He nods. ‘You steamrolled your way into my life and reminded me how good it feels to let go a little . . . to fight, to play to laugh.'”

(pg. 202)

Steamrolled is one way of putting it.

But I freaking cracked up more than I should at this part because in my brain I was like, this is Drew’s live, laugh, love moment.

After the lake house, they got closer and I felt like Jessie finally allowed herself to start something with Drew because he constantly showed and told her he was going to stay. And also, I felt like she finally let down her walls to let him stay. However, I could feel that she was still guarded, which I understood. Even though I liked that they weren’t playing petty, childish games, I still felt like we were missing something because we went from Jessie being absolutely adamant about hating Drew to letting him in without really getting to know each other that well or having a date or a heart-to-heart to connect. I mean, yes, they lived with each other and could have got to know each other that way, but we only mostly saw the pranking part of that, but I wanted the mushy gushy personal conversations that made me feel like there was something more there than jabs, sexual tension, attraction, and something new and exciting. Where was the romance romance?

Meeting the Grandaddy was a whole other thing that felt a bit extra if you ask me. I mean, this dude literally busted out a freaking lie detector test 😂. Drew taking the lie detector test is a testament to how much he really wanted to be with her. Honestly though, I didn’t understand why the Granddaddy was questioning Drew’s loyalty and character when we should be questioning Jessie’s.

Because the Grandaddy approved, it made it clearer to Jessie that Drew was a good guy, but DUH I could have told her this from the get go.

“Like a rolodex fanning out in front of me, I know see all the thoughtful little things Drew has done for me lately.”

(pg. 190)

No duh Sherlock.

And then there was this whole freaking scream fest as they were walking back to his house and Jessie needed to slow her roll just because Drew didn’t kiss her back or want to get it on in the car she went from point A to point B of thinking Drew thought she was a whale. I could not. Calm down. He literally didn’t want to have sex in a car because maybe he wanted it to be somewhere special. He didn’t think she was a whale and she was putting words in his mouth. Also, China could hear Jessie screaming how Drew thought she was a whale and didn’t want to have sex with her. *shakes head*

I don’t know what Drew saw in her 🙈. I could not. He deserved BETTER.

The reason Drew didn’t want to have sex with her in his car was because at home there was a bunch of friends and family waiting to surprise her for her baby shower. Because Jessie screamed her head off, everyone heard how she thought she was Shamu and Drew didn’t want to have sex with her *face palms.*

An IDIOT.

I could have told from the fact that Drew was quiet and acting weird about not wanting to sleep with her that he was trying to surprise her with something. It’s not like he wasn’t attracted to her. I liked how Drew did make a nursery and it was everything Jessie could imagine.

I felt that when Drew and Cooper left for this supposed camping trip that Jessie was going to give birth. I mean, Drew kept saying how fine it was going to be and how she was probably not going to give births which was basically book-talk for yes she will give birth and Drew will have to drive back home from the middle of the woods to see her give birth and be with her.

It kind of sucked that Drew did miss the birth, but you couldn’t say he didn’t try. Also, at least he stayed on the phone with her so it was like he was there with her.

But I thought it was extremely special and wholesome that Lucy was there for her. Thinking about the last book and how Lucy was there for Jessie, I thought it was perfect that Lucy was there again and they could take this journey together. I loved how supportive Lucy was of Jessie because at least Jessie wasn’t alone.

Not going to lie, a part of me in the beginning thought Drew was going to deliver her baby in a surprise moment at the end because he was a doctor and that was his specialty. I’m glad he didn’t though.

The baby’s name was Jane Alexandria Barnes. I wondered where Jane came from and if it held meaning to Jessie because we all know the middle name was random as heck 😂. It was just a random name Lucy blurted out earlier in the book when they were talking about baby names. I guess, the middle name kind of meant something because her best friend picked it, but still.

The proposal was simple and cute and real this time. I would have liked something grander or maybe a prank as an ode to how they messed with each other and then finally got together. They seemed happy together because she moved in and her Granddaddy moved into her old house to be closer to her.

But . . . Drew still deserved better.

I don’t know. I just didn’t think all that fighting and pranks was worth it and I didn’t know what work Jessie put in to actually change to be with him. I feel like she was still processing her hurt from her past relationships that she partially healed with Drew because he showed her he was someone who was going to stay, but there were other things that I felt like therapy could have helped her also work through to trust him and show him she loved him. Because the whole book, Drew constantly showed Jessie how much she loved her but not the other way around. Relationships are a two way street, sis.

Also, similar to The Off-Limits Rule, I was missing some conflict. You know the whole problem before the grand gesture to show that they really loved each other and fought to be together. I really wanted that because I didn’t feel their love, so much as accepted it just because I wanted Drew to be happy. But I wanted Jessie to revert back to her insecurities and really push Drew away one more time and then having him leave for good. And then I wanted Jessie to come to this big epiphany that she was hurting herself by pushing away her happiness and then her doing something to get him back to show that she really did love him the way he loved her. I think having that arc would have benefited the book and their relationship.

They seemed more physically attracted by each other and turned on by their game, but I wanted more of an emotional connection from them. I also wanted more of Drew’s POV because he was such an incredible guy that I felt like the majority of the book was Jessie getting in the way of her happiness that we didn’t see much of Dre’s perspective. I also think they should have had a serious conversation about Drew’s role in Jane’s life because they just went from finally being in a relationship to now sharing a home and a baby together. They didn’t even talk about it, which I guess they just fell into their roles. But still.

There were just many things missing that I would have liked to see for more depth. But I really did enjoy the writing and Drew. Drew was the best. Does he have a best friend besides Cooper? I would ask if he has a brother, but we know he has a sister 😂.

Anyway, what was your favorite part of the book? Least favorite part? What did you think of the book? 

What is the best prank you ever pulled or someone has pulled on you?

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

4.18 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: Drew was a gem—-what an incredible man. I don’t know about Jessie, she was something else 🙈.

Plot: I thought there were many funny parts and moments that had a deeper arc, but I felt like we only touched the surface of those arcs. I also wanted to understand more why Jessie and Drew were in love because it felt like they went from messing with each other to suddenly liking each other without knowing each other or connecting on a deeper level.

Writing: Sarah Adams writes fun books that sure know how to get you to feel something

Romance: Ehhhh, I liked Drew. I think he can do better than Jessie