Reviews

I’m just not typically a fan of a woman having to tell a man over and over again that she can’t get involved with him and him continuing to pursue her anyway. I get the whole “forbidden romance” trope is popular, but it only works if both parties want to take the risk. Dahlia didn’t want to (and couldn’t!) lose her job by getting involved with someone she works with / has to council and Levi still invited her out, bought her flowers that were sent to work, called her by a nickname at work, texted her constantly, etc. It’s not that I didn’t like the characters… I just wish their story hadn’t involved this dynamic. It didn’t work well because therapists have additional standards when it comes to boundaries… much more-so than just a typical coworker relationship and that wasn’t respected. Then when Levi has an issue and Dahlia needs to actually be his therapist, after setting all these boundaries, she was just like, “Nah nevermind. Let’s date.” I was like, “Wait what!?”

a_neverending_tbr's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Another good installment in this series. Levi is the brother that I feel like we know the least about and so it was nice to get to him better. Even though their connection was rather instant - I didn’t hate it and I liked the concept of Levi still hanging on for Dahlia all these years later. I like Dahlia’s relationship with her sister and her character for the most part. I didn’t love the forbidden aspect of the relationship as the conflict though and thought it needed more meat as well. I’m a rule follower to a fault maybe but that part wasn’t my favorite.

Content Notes: Kisses

pooohbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

3.0

hannuhreads's review

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challenging emotional lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

2.5

2.5 Stars

The vibes:

second chance
Dual pov
Instalove
Grief rep
Duel timeline

My thoughts:

The short version: I should have known myself better and maybe skipped this one. I truly believe this is a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”. As soon as I saw it was about a detective and the police department’s therapist- I was very uncomfortable with that concept. But I thought maybe the situation would not be what I thought and maybe it wouldn’t feel ethically icky to me. I give this book 2.5 stars but I give myself 1 star for jumping into a territory I knew would be dicey for me. So I mostly blame myself here.

So let’s get into the long story:

It started really cute between Levi and Dahlia. I loved their interactions together. There was a big focus on therapy (as that is the FMC’s occupation). I was fine with the therapy rep- I love it. My problem arises when Levi becomes Dahlia’s “patient”. I already have a tough go with workplace romances but with a therapist and client- I was just super uncomfortable the entire time.

I struggle with workplace romances where one party says no and tries to maintain professional boundaries and the other party ignores all protests and continues in strong pursuit. I get the “forbidden romance” vibe and I actually do like it in some situations but I only like it when both parties are totally on board and ready for all the risks and consequences. This was not the case here. Dahlia said no repeatedly (while also leading him on and being completely two sided) and Levi continued pursuing her with romance (probably because Dahlia was all over the place saying one thing and doing another.)

This is totally my personal preference and I know a ton of readers are not bothered by this. If this isn’t something that will bother you- I think you will love this book. Unfortunately it just didn’t land quite right for me, and I ended up really disliking Dahlia by the middle of the story. 😞

The good news is that I still love Annah Conwell. I truly love her writing and her other books just have read. This one is just a blip for me and I will absolutely continue reading and loving this author.

Spoilery rant coming up.

I was very bothered by Dahlia. Dahlia is in absolutely no place to be a therapist to Levi. At all. Ever. I will die on this hill. She insisted that she and Levi only be professional (which I respect and admire considering her position and his). But then as he continues crossing the lines (which also bothered me a lot, Levi)- she fully leans into it. Ok fine. They text. Call. Flirt. Hang out. She sends him hearts in their messages. He calls her beautiful and other nicknames. This is full on dating, people. And then when he wants more - she’s like- Excuse me but we need to only be friends like we have been. And I’m like excuse ME. That is neither professional nor “just friends”. So I felt like she was just lying to herself and also everyone else.

I wasn’t pleased with her lack of consequences. I wasn’t pleased with Levi’s magic mental health turn around after finally winning over Dahlia. I feel like his PTSD needed so much more to heal than getting a girlfriend and having one real conversation with his family. All of it just left me feeling sad.

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