This was a fast-moving, very inclusive romance with a real The Princess Diaries meets grad school vibe. I enjoyed the story and the characters but you have to excuse a lot of stilted conversations and plot holes to get through it.
If you’re looking for a believable romantic timeline, this is not the book for you. Within 72 hours of meeting, Remy and Sam are on a plane together for an overseas adventure. To be clear, this is before they’ve even decided if they like each other as people. At this point, they’re basically acquaintances. Sam can’t stand Remy’s personality, Remy finds Sam accepting yet overbearing, and they’re both just very attracted to each other. They have yet to have managed more than a few hours together without someone being offended or annoyed, a last-minute overseas trip should be a breeze.
I appreciated the inclusivity of the narrative and the overarching storyline. I did find Kolven’s writing to be a little rough in some instances. Instead of feeling natural, a lot of the relationships seemed forced or awkward in an attempt to be more inclusive. I found Sam lecturing Remy about their choices to be pretty hypocritical for someone meant to be the poster-child of acceptance and a lot of the conversations seem stilted or uncomfortable. It feels like a lot of the characters go into monologues in normal daily scenarios and manage to pull off speeches with an incredible level of detail and supporting evidence on the fly.
Overall, a lot happens in a very short period of time, but the message within these pages is an important one. While I wish the writing was more natural and the plot was more believable, I did enjoy this story.