I fear this was kind of a flop? The whole thing just felt contrived, slightly overdone, self-conscious. I’m an acolyte of less is more, and this book subscribes to the more is more and telling not showing dogma, two things I struggle with in books in this genre. Also, the exact same metaphors were repeated ad nauseum, and the writing was chock full of cliches (hello milk and honey). Some good nuggets, but I wasn’t rooting for the characters at all, and the main character is obstinate in a way that she seems like an author self-insert in that she just rationalizes bad behavior and miscommunication in the name of being afraid. Which like, felt, but let’s have a little character evolution if we’re gonna tout this book as a journey toward being ready for love and life. Also! Whatever happened to plot details? Who is this man? What do we like about him? Overdone I’ve concluded, which is a shame because the premise seemed made for my European summer vibes.