Elizabeth O'Roark just has this way of writing where she ends each chapter with a statement that kind of sinks your heart a bit but makes you rush to turn the page and keep reading. If you like damaged heroes, problematic exes, childhood friends to lovers, workplace romances, angsty romances, single and/or parent romances, you should probably read this one!

Lucie used to be shipped off to her aunt's lake house as a child, which is where she met Caleb, the older boy next door. They haven't seen one another for a very long time, but now her aunt's lake house is going to be Lucie's permanent home after she and her young twins leave her narcissistic ex. It turns out that Caleb is not only living in the house next door but also the owner of the company where she just got hired.

Caleb genuinely believes that his life will be better if no one is depending on him, so he doesn't want children or a family. But he can't stay away from Lucie so he begins spending time with her kids. And he's so great with them! But he doesn't want to promise anything to anyone. And of course Lucie wants to just have fun but she's believed her whole life that Caleb is who she's meant for and she melts every time he's patient with her kids, especially her son, who tends to struggle socially.

Lots of things happen in this story and I don't want to spoil anything but I did really enjoy it. If you've read any Elizabeth O'Roark books before, you know to be prepared for triggering things to happen to the main characters (or to have happened in the past) and this story is no different. If you want to know specifics, send me a message and I'm happy to share, but I don't want to spoil anything. You definitely don't need to read The Summer We Fell first, but this book does include some of the side characters we saw in that story as well.