It's rare for me to find a Melissa Brayden book I don't enjoy. The only question is how much and I have to admit I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would, since Melissa's usual fare is adult women, not New Adults.

I'm also usually a bit iffy about premises about one MC taking care of the other as a child because it veers into an odd relationship imbalance that feels iffy at times. I'm pleased to say this one, despite being about a young girl who idolised her (five years older) babysitter works well because they immediately lose contact and then find each other again when they're both significantly more grown up and almost completely different people.

The thing I most appreciate in a romance is when conflict is not inserted purely for the sake of amping up drama and then strung out when reasonable people in real life would simply have a conversation and try to work out their problems. There are hurdles aplenty for Charlie and Taryn and thankfully they deal with them like adults. There is communication, space to heal and work out the next steps and even, delightfully, Taryn being the younger person in the couple displays actual immaturity sometimes about how to approach relationships. I find it all refreshing and thankfully balanced out by plenty of good times and realistic discussions as a new young couple on the cusp of big changes.

I enjoyed the lighthearted moments in this a lot (and a couple in particular made me laugh out loud) and the touching moments with Charlie's trauma despite her cool, confident persona made me tear up multiple times. All in all, a very sweet and wholesome romance and well worth reading.

This was a great read! I was very drawn in by the characters and the excellent chemistry between them. Their romance was adorable and sweet in the best way, and I loved how Charlie handled the situation with Danny. There was a lot of great communication in this book, which can often be an issue in a lot of romances. Yes, there was one big unfortunate miscommunication, but otherwise they both were very mature in the way they handled their relationship. Overall, definitely would recommend this one, 5/5 stars.

rating: 3 ⭐️
genre: sapphic contemporary romance
spice level: 🌶️

taryn has always had a crush on her babysitter, charlotte. she’s always looked up to charlotte and when she moves away suddenly taryn is devastated. until, flash forward to her junior year of college, and her and charlotte are reunited.

overall this is a lighthearted sapphic novel of figuring out who you are and that aspect of the book i did really like. charlotte really does go through a journey as she figures out who she really is. BUT this book does very briefly touch on a heavy topic so i would definitely recommend checking trigger warnings before reading.

i wasn’t a huge fan of the conflict at the end of the book; i found that it chipped away at taryn’s character until she realized how big of a mistake she truly made.

thanks to melissa brayden, bold stroke books, and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

When You Smile by Melissa Brayden

This is a coming of age story in more ways than one. Taryn is on her own for the first time and ready to spread her wings and fully be herself. She's embracing the new experiences of college life and navigating the world as a fully out lesbian.
Charlie is barreling towards the end of her masters program and the real world is looming. She's content with her life but feels there's just something that isn't clicking into place. When she encounters an unexpected person from her past.
Taryn cannot believe she's reconnected with Charlie, the age difference from her at 11 is almost non existent now, and the pull she couldn't name them is so much stronger now. Yet they are in very different places, but could they be the missing piece in each other's lives?

This is a story about Taryn Ross who grows up in a small town and has a crush on her babysitter Charlotte who was 5 years older than her. Charlotte moves away and Taryn is crushed. Years later they meet up at Unversity and they rekindle their friendship. Charlie is a straight woman with a serious boyfriend working on her masters degree. Taryn still has her crush going on.

I liked this book ok but Taryn’s character seemed very well adjusted and not traumatized as she was described. She seemed to know what she wanted and went for it.

Charlie’s break up scene with her boyfriend was way too easy for him to accept and she also seemed to not be upset over it. I didn’t think that was realistic. And the fade to black moment at the 80% mark was also way too easy for both MCs. Neither was described as very emotional over it.

I’ve enjoyed Brayden’s books in the past more than this one. I’ll keep reading her books.

ARC received from Net Galley for an honest and voluntary review.

I basically didn’t put this book down once I started to read it. I absolutely loved Taryn and Charlie’s story. Melissa Brayden really does know how to write a good romantic comedy. Taryn is an adorable character and I was cheering for her the whole way. Watching Charlie come to the realisation that she wasn’t living her best life and perhaps she wasn’t as straight as she thought was delightful. It also has two of my favourite past times…….photography and writing….what’s not to love!

This is a well written, engaging story with lots of snappy dialogue, entertaining secondary characters and chemistry that sizzles off the page between Taryn and Charlie. I highly recommend When You Smile. It will definitely put a smile on your face as you read this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
4.5/5 ⭐️s
The perfect sapphic romance, this was such a sweet and fluffy read. While navigating this new relationship Taryn and Charlie seem to really find themselves and their places in life.This book was one I could not put down but also one that I never wanted to end. This is my first book by Melissa Brayden but definitely not my last!

What a refreshing story. The communication, the vulnerability, and the openness between the MCs was great. While there was the element that kept you wanting to see what happened, the angst was quite low which I really enjoyed. I also loved that slight “forbidden” and coming out aspects to the story.

Cute!

When Taryn’s babysitter, Charlie, and her family suddenly moved away, Taryn was devastated. Upon transferring university, Taryn and Charlie are reunited. After a party one night, Charlie walks a drunk Taryn home and they start spending more time together, which leads to Charlie questioning everything when she finds herself reciprocating the feeling Taryn has for her.

While some people probably find this controversial, I found it fantastic! Given the smallish age gap between Taryn and Charlie, it was great that they’d found one another again and just fallen back into the easy connection they’d shared in the past. What was lovely was for Taryn, she’d had years to accept her feelings for Charlie, process them, and find herself, but for Charlie this was all new and another adventure on top of the already stressful one of graduating and taking steps to start her career and fulfill her dreams. Of course their attraction came with all the drama that surrounds disruptive feelings that change life situations, and that in turn came with some heartache.

I loved the easy connection Taryn and Charlie had. They truly cared about one another, which meant when Taryn was forced to make a decision she thought was for the best, it broke my heart. I just had to hope Charlie would eventually realise Taryn had been put in an awful position and only tried to do what was best for them all. Luckily Taryn had a good group of friends, who quickly made her realise it was a mistake and she got to work being the most selfless person in trying to prove that to Charlie.

Like its title, this story made me smile and was really beautiful. I enjoyed it so much, and hope Charlie and Taryn have an amazing future ahead.

**Book Review: When You Smile by Melissa Brayden**

Melissa Brayden's "When You Smile" is a captivating romance about rediscovering a teenage crush and navigating self-discovery. Taryn Ross, once smitten with her babysitter Charlotte, reunites with her years later at Hillspoint University. Now a grad student, Charlie is even more attractive and kind.

Taryn's journey of coming out and dealing with her lingering feelings for Charlie is portrayed with depth and authenticity. Meanwhile, Charlie's well-planned life is thrown into turmoil by her unexpected attraction to Taryn. Their chemistry is intense and undeniable, making their romance compelling and realistic.

Brayden's engaging prose and well-developed characters make "When You Smile" a delightful read for fans of contemporary romance. It's a heartfelt story of love, growth, and embracing one's true self.

This book definitely made me smile and it was a great introduction to this author.
I enjoyed every page of this book and devoured it in one go. Reading it, I was actually brought back to my own time as a student. The drama, the insecurities, the unknown.
It was penned down in a way that made me feel what the characters were feeling, the happiness, but also the heartbreak.
The way Taryn and Charlie navigated from the person they knew to the person they had grown into was also really nice to read.
I definitely liked this book and look forwards to delve into the other books Melissa Brayden has written.

I would like to say thanks to Bold Strokes Books, Inc. and NetGalley for this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book, it ranked around an 8, 10 being the best book ever and 1 being utter garbage. I feel the premise of the book was well thought out and developed, as was the plot, characters, and setting. 11 year old Taryn used to have the hots for her babysitter, 16 year old Charlie. Charlie's family moved away, and Taryn didn't see her for 10 years, when they were both going to the same college, Taryn being 21 and Charlie being 26.

I felt this book was cute and the characters were well developed, and the ending was a happy one, with little to no plot holes or loose ends.

A good, long read, I personally give this 4.5 stars.

Perhaps this would appeal more to a younger audience. The dialogue was definitely way cooler than me. The story seemed cute, and things I liked were the maturity and honesty without too much angst.

Wow. Thank you to Bold Stroke Books and Netgalley for the free ARC. I am a huge fan of Melissa Brayden's work, and this book is no exception. I loved the premise of falling for the babysitter only to run into her years later. I loved the way the book started. Taryn grew up so much when she finally spread her wings to fly. You can barely recognize her from the timid, almost shy girl at the start of the book and the courageous go-getter she becomes not too long after living on campus and starting her life. Charlie also goes through her own growth.

It was amazing to watch Charlie struggle with her sexuality. Brayden doesn't take many shortcuts, and Charlie gets to really struggle with the whole "do I want to be like her or do I want to date her feelings." There are no grand leaps of intuition, no sudden understandings. Just a slow, even paced, growing acceptance that everything she took for granted about herself wasn't necessarily true.

I also liked that Brayden didn't have to turn Danny into the villain in order to justify ending things with him. The setup was there and it would have been so easy to take that route. I was actually a little surprised that Danny's ego let him walk away from things so peacefully.

Other side characters like Caz, Sasha, and even Emerson were a great addition to everything. It was great to see the friendships that blossomed in Taryn and Charlie's lives. I didn't feel like most of them were that flat as characters either, which is always a strength of Brayden's.

The romance between Taryn and Charlie was spectacular. I loved how they supported each other and their goals. They built each other up as much as they could, and you could see them making each other better people. This isn't really a slowburn in the sense that nothing develops until the final act of the story. It also isn't insta-love. Taryn and Charlie have lots of chemistry and then finally get together at a reasonable point in the book. Then we get to see it grow stronger and become fully fleshed out.

There is a third act breakup. I totally didn't see the antagonist for it being who it ended up being. It was pretty disheartening in a lot of ways. I can understand how Taryn came to the decision she did that brought about the breakup, even though she acknowledged what the right thing to do probably was. I don't understand as well how after Charlie found out about everything that she still pushed Taryn away afterward. But, it didn't last all that long in the book. It did last several months chronologically though.

⭐️3⭐️

Reading the premise of this, I was really excited. But I was immediately thrown off when the beginning of the book said that they were 11 and 16 when they first met. 5 years in your mid 20s isn’t a bad age gap at all but basing the beginning of their friendship off of 11 and 16 just felt icky to me. And it got brought up a lot🙃

Getting past that, I did really like both characters and loved seeing each of their journeys in discovering their sexuality and exploring that in new ways. Was really excited to kick off pride month w a sapphic romance!

I did feel like Taryn and Charlie had very similar voices and struggled to know who was talking through most of the book, wish they each had a bit more depth and individuality.

Overall not mad that I read this, but I am happy to move onto the next book.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Taryn had falling in love with her babysitter Charlie when she was eleven and was heartbroken when they moved away. Taryn is now a junior in college where she goes to a party and is surprise to see her former babysitter there. Charlie has everything planned out for what she wants in life when she runs into her former charge Taryn and it’s shakes up her world because she never been attracted to women before and Taryn is making her feel things that not in her plan. This was cute romance with some side characters that made the story have heart and humor.

A delicious college or new adult romance from one of my favorite authors, Melissa Brayden. It delivers oodles of Brayden’s legendary friend speak. I love reading her dialogues and I know that real people seldom speak like that all the time. But my close friends and I have shortcuts in conversations and we know there are meanings beyond what we are saying out loud. And when I read Braydon, I intentionally slow down my reading to make sure I catch every word and nuance.

Taryn Ross is transferring for her junior year at college after completing junior college while living at home with her parents. She runs into Charlotte (Charlie) Adler on campus. Charlie is finishing in her last year getting her MFA and also teaching on campus. Charlie also used to babysit Taryn before she moved away from her town. Charlie is almost six years older and was Taryn’s first crush. There are cute conversations and catching up on lives between the pair before there is the feeling that this could be something more.

It is a simple plot and very sweet. I liked roommate Caz, friend Emerson and Taryn’s parents. They are very much side characters, not fully fleshed out like the twosome, but add humor and heart. I have a Brayden section on my bookshelf and I will add this book to it, in addition to my digital copy.

Taryn Ross was heartbroken when her first crush, her babysitter Charlotte Adler, moved away. They meet again when Taryn transfers to University and she is once more besotted....

Charlie has a plan, including finishing her MFA, and does not expect to have her plans shaken up by the now very grown up Taryn....

Drunk Taryn is adorable, by the way.

Caz and Sasha are amusing as the Greek chorus, more or less. They're Taryn's best friend's and sounding boards.

The only downside is the book has the dreaded third act breakup, and it's straight up kinda dumb. It's not AWFUL, but it's not great.
3 1/2 stars, with the half star being the poor breakup bit. Sorry.

Melissa Brayden has served up the most delicious of slowburns that pays off beautifully. This is romance with a capital “R.” A charming prologue highlights the 5-6 years age gap that begins as important but shrinks to meaningless as Taryn comes to understand how her childhood crush in fact was an early sign of her sexuality, while Charlotte is ready, she thinks to carve her straight road to life, success, and 2.4 children with long-term boyfriend, Danny.

There are several reasons I adored this, not least of which is how beautifully it’s written with sparkling dialogue. Two main things stood out for me: the university setting provides a backdrop of newness, excitement, and finding yourself. It’s the perfect place for a straight girl to reassess everything she’s thought about herself, and Ms. Brayden uses it to the full to draw you into that time of your life when everything and anything might be possible. Add that to how organic Charlie’s straight to queer journey feels. It’s less about sexuality than it is about the person we’re drawn to.

Taryn and Charlie are just so adorable together. It feels like snuggling under a rug in winter; like sunbathing under the golden sun in summer.

The whole read just feels so warm, pleasant, and tingly. Five golden stars for this!

Thank you to the author, to Bold Strokes Books, and to NetGalley for the chance to read this and give my honest opinion.

Another winning romance from Melissa Brayden. When You Smile was a quick read about a childhood crush on the babysitter. There was only five years age difference between the sitter, Charlie, and her charge, Taryn, so when they are reunited at college the story seems realistic. It’s a sweet slow burn romance combined with the reality of college life meeting the real world. The romance factor includes coming out in her mid twenties for Charlie and the first real love for both women. This book kept me invested in both characters and their outcome. 4.25 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.