Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Peaches and Jamie are in the same close friendship group when they decide to take things a bit further…

I’m really on the fence with this ☹️ I wanted to like it but I just wasn’t hooked by anything? There was a lot of side characters so it got a bit confusing for me when none of them really played that big a role.. I also wasn’t a fan of Jamie, I thought she was just very spoiled and stroppy 😂 I do like Peaches though and I liked the diversity amongst the friendship group. I just think the story didn’t really go anywhere? There was so many red flags that cropped up that I just wasn’t rooting for them to be together

THANK YOU NET GALLEY AND PUBLISHER FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS. That being said, rating and feelings are my own:

I was excited to read this, and I am glad I read it...do not get me wrong, but I did not love this book. It was just okay in my opinion. The story seems a tad overused. Had me laughing at some points and rolling my eyes at others. Not my cup of tea but I can see how this can be a major book!

This had everything to be good but it was a bit of a let down for me.
It had a lot of fun and nice moments and I was really wondering how should I score it but it felt so unrealistic to me. And I know it’s fiction but when it’s this genre, I play this movie in my mind and this story just felt very unrealistic and not at all what someone would act in real life.
Will probably give it another try once it’s officially out.

Absolutely loved this story the concept was amazing I love this author this is the second book I read from this author.

I want to first thank NetGalley for this ARC, and say that all opinions remain my own.

I absolutely loved this book. I am so glad I read it so far in advance.

Peaches is a masculine presenting lesbian who owns her own barber shop, and is in a friend group with Jamie. Jamie is a femme lesbian, who is a manicurist.

I think my favourite part of this book was the open communication between the women. If there was ever an issue, it was fully talked out before moving on and that was refreshing to see.

It was also really hot. The women have amazing chemistry, and I loved reading about their relationship.

I loved this, read it!

Can’t let her go? More like, can’t get this book out of my mind, amirite?! A lovely romcom that I can’t let go of even though I finished it a few weeks ago.

2.5 stars

i was sooo excited to read this book and it got me even more hyped when i realized it was a sapphic story but at the end this book just wasn't for me.

i found the characters unrealistic and the dialogues they had were obviously written and not something a real person would say or how a real person would react to different things. so it made it really hard for me to connect with these characters and, for me, character development is the basic thing i need to enjoy a book.

it was funny at times and i love that we have a stud lesbian which i haven't seen in another book so far but besides that, the story in general was unbelievable.

Everything about this book was amazing. I fell in love with the connection between the MCs. It was such an exciting read. I honestly didn’t want it to end. I’m happy I was given the opportunity read this early.

A great LGBTQ romance. The middle fell flat but it picked up towards the end. Both characters were well written.

Can't Let Her Go was a cute friends to lovers story that was an easy read to help me unwind after a long day.

The writing style of this tended to be more descriptive of the actions characters were taking than their feelings which made it harder to get invested in the story, but I still found the romance and story enjoyable. After reading Jamie and Peaches' story I hope the other friends in their queer circle get their own happy endings as well!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this eARC!

OMG Kianna Alexander can do absolutely no wrong for me. The way she puts vibrant LGBT Black life on page is just "chef's kiss" Friends to lover? I loved Peaches and Jamie and their chemistry

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC but unfortunately I couldn’t get into it.

I had requested this ARC before having read ‘Can’t Resist Her’ by the same author. Unfortunately, both books (to me) seem to suffer from the same problem. The dialogue was clunky and it just fell kinda flat.

And to be honest, if i never hear/see the phrase “genderless enigma” again, I’ll be a happy bunny.

I'm kind of on the fence about this book. It's a decent read for a romance book, but I couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Whilst the style was very readable, and balanced, I found there was a distinct lack of interesting events within the first third of the book that struggles to gain the reader's attention. I couldn't get into it.

Weirdly enough, I thought the side characters felt a bit more real than the main characters. For example Alonzo and Taylor struck me as way more compelling. It doesn't do well for Peaches and Jamie to be both tame in personality, whereas side characters like the ones I mentioned seemed more outspoken and bold, and altogether had their own thoughts and feelings. I really appreciated how diverse the characters were, though, with Taylor being (I'm assuming) nonbinary, and there also being bisexual and pansexual representation found in Jamie's brother and friend respectively.
I would very willingly read a book about some of the side characters rather than the main characters.

Another thing I noted was that the characters' jobs were interesting, portrayed in a boring way. I wanted to hear more of the business aspect behind Peaches' and Jamie's workplaces, and I wanted to hear more about Jamie's plan to combat the person who had stolen her ideas. It's great to have these things at the beginning of a novel to hook in the reader. Instead, we get an almost immediate declaration of feelings that seemed disengenuine because of the pacing of the novel, and lack of interest shown beforehand.
I'm probably reading way too much into the way this book was created, but it was still an okay read.

This was sweet. There wasn't a lot of urgency in the plot but that was okay. It was a lovely story about two friends to lovers and their own journeys to taking the next step forward in their individual lives.

The plot was plodding at times and some scenes I think were unneeded but it was an excellent meandering read. The romance element was good although at times I did wonder if I actually wanted Peaches and Jaime together. There were times when they just didn't seem at all suited and the chemistry fluctuated a lot. Overall though this was a soft, cute read that I really liked.

This was my first time reading a book by this author and I throughly enjoyed her writing style. I was able to visualize what the characters looked like and cities/places they were in or visited.

The booked pulled me in in the beginning and i immediately established connections with one of the main characters, Peaches. I too am the eldest daughter in my family and feels they depend on me quite a bit. Jaimie got on my nerves midway thru the book and at times I felt like she didn’t deserve Peaches. I enjoyed the inclusiveness of the book, the different family dynamics, the friendships, and Peaches’ emotional intelligence, her self awareness, and her communication.

All in all I enjoyed the book and felt like it was a good friends to lover story.

I highly enjoyed this book! It was really good and I lost myself in it. I would highly really this book.
I just reviewed Can't Let Her Go by Kianna Alexander. #CantLetHerGo #NetGalley
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An inclusive and straightforward story about true love, happiness, reality, and society's commands as well. The sweetness expresses throughout its pages is as real as real love is. Never ever hesitate to give in love, no matter what always follow your heart and soul.

📑This ARC was granted to me through NetGalley and approved by Montlake in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

A sweet friendship-to-love story, this was. Overall, it was good, though it took me a little longer to read than I had hoped.
The family always turns to Peaches, the proprietor of a barbershop in Texas, for assistance. Jamie, who wants to start her own nail salon after earning a degree in chemistry, is one of her friends. To further their friendship, Jamie tries to woo Peaches. The narrative may have been condensed. The description, in my opinion, was overdone and concentrated excessively on minutiae that did not advance the plot. Having saying that, it was still a good tale of a friendship turning into a love affair.

As an older sister, I hard relate to what Peaches goes through in this book. It also makes me dislike a few things that Jamie does.

Considering they place the onus on their friendship group and ‘found family’, I was hoping for more of a backstory or relationship between the two characters. It felt like they were more friends of a friend than weekly meet-up partners.

Whilst, unfortunately, the relationship was my least favourite part of this book (whilst they had the steam, it just never felt right), I LOVED the exploration of women in STEM and women owned businesses, alongside the relationships between their other friends.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

2.5 stars but I rounded up - The description of this book had me excited however, I struggled with it. It seemed that the main characters were not really friends, engaging in small talk and having very little emotional insight into each other. I think as a result the pacing and plot became an issue - starting very slow as they got to know each other as if strangers and then rushes of plot/conflict in an attempt to develop some form of connection.