I have mixed feelings about this one, the first 60% was a bit of a slog. I found it pretty slow and didn't really feel much chemistry between our main characters. The way Sara and Emily first became friends and their early interactions all felt kind of off for a 37 and 45-year-old.

However, the book's latter half picked up quite a bit and I ended up enjoying the end. My favourite part of this book is hands-down the representation of a late-in-life lesbian realising she's queer and navigating that. It's tricky and hard but it's a perspective we don't see much in queer media and I really enjoyed it. I do really wish we got a scene of Sara explaining it to her daughters though, cause it kinda seemed like they maybe suspected something was going on but It would have been a nice scene.

Honestly, the most annoying thing in this book was the use of 'Sar' as a nickname for Sara, since when is that a thing? It sounds so unnatural and It actually did kinda break immersion for me a bit bc every time my brain was just like 'huh?'.

Also ooft, cover redesign is needed asap because that font is painful.

Thank you to NetGally and Bella Books

Received an ARC from NetGalley and practically devoured this book in a day. I was instantly drawn both of the characters and their chemistry was immediate upon meeting. It was intoxicating to follow their story of falling in love. This book felt deeper than the average WLW love story as it dealt with a lot of deeper complexities of coming out later in life and how internalized homophobia, culture, heteronormativity, etc affect our process in coming out, even to ourselves. I definitely shed tears and felt a lot of pride for Sara on her journey. Emily’s character remained unwaveringly strong and compelling. Really enjoyed this book! It made me feel a lot of emotions and I am obviously a fan of the happy ending! Recommended for anyone who wants to read a love story with more substance.