Ten Years

Thank you Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the story of Becca and Charlie, enemies since college, struggling to move forward after their best friend and fiancé death.
Despite being sold as a romance, I've find this book to be mostly about grief and how different people deal with loss.

What I liked about the book:
- The way the book portrayed life after the loss of someone important and how grieving processes differ between persons.
- The character's growth was written in a way that was believable and I was invested in their emotional well-being.
- The ending was satisfying

What I think it could have been done better:
- I've felt both characters were childish. This is something I hate and that, unfortunately, I find very common in contemporary romances. I always wonder if these type of behaviors and conversations are common and I'm an alien who never experienced anything similar.
- Despite all the relationship buildup, the romance felt very sudden as the book was focused on how both characters dealt with their loss. I think the author failed at showing a true connection between Charlie and Becca. It could have worked better if the attraction started a bit sooner.
- I disliked Charlie's need to be with a woman to feel he was moving forward. I understood this behavior in the beginning when we was struggling with grief. However, in the end I was expecting him to acknowledge Becca's critiques and do some personal growth independently. I was disappointed that he reverted to his typical behavior.

Overall it was an easy and entertaining summer read.

TW: Death of a closed one, cancer

Thank you to the author for providing me with an ecopy of this book via Rachel's Random Resources in exchange for my honest review.

This book starts out at Ally's funeral. This isn't a spoiler it literally happens on the first page and it's in the synopsis. Charlie and Ally were engaged to be married. Becca and Ally were best friends and Charlie and Becca hate each other. This book deals with the grief that people go through after a loved one has passed away, so we get to see how both Becca and Charlie cope with Ally's death over the course of ten years most of which they only meet up once per year. 

I read the synopsis for this when I first agreed to read it and was intrigued but by the time I got around to reading it I had forgotten what it was about so I went in blind. To me this book was perfect. It gave me everything I want in a book. The fighting/banter between Becca and Charlie was amazing. They were cruel to each other at first just for the sake of being cruel but by the end it had turned into them just speaking the truth mostly in a loving way. I loved how they went from enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to friends to lovers and yes I meant to write that twice. There was always something they did or said that made them take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I will say I would have liked the romance to be more on page instead of fade to black but that is just a preference. it doesn't affect my rating of this book which you can tell from the rating I give it below. I would have also liked more of them actually being together because I just love romance and I want to read all about it. 

I loved that this showed how people deal with grief differently. Becca and Charlie both grieve in very different ways and while I didn't always agree with the choices they made it always felt real. The things they did never felt like they were out of character or didn't belong. 

This is the first book I have read by this author, and it definitely want be my last. I loved this book more than I was expecting and I am so glad I gave it a chance. If this sounds like something you would enjoy I highly recommend you giving it a try.