“‘I don’t run from love. And I do love you, Brynn. I think I always have. I knew I was in trouble that day we ran into each other at the vending machine, from the moment you pretended not to remember me. So be sure. Because I’m playing for keeps.’” 

This is a people book! Like your favorite funny and warm episode of Friends. So much character development and story. Brynn Turner fell for a con-artist and lost everything from her perspective and self-trust to her apartment and belongings. In an attempt to start over, she heads home to Wildstone where she bumps into Eli Thomas 😍. But Eli is affiliated with Kinsey Davis which put him in the Mean Kids Club. The three grew up together going to the same summer camp, except Kinsey and Brynn are bickering bickersons frenemies. Eli has family issues and an inability to trust people to love him. Kinsey’s natural state is to be Eeyore. She has major health issues and utter failure to let people into her life. Then there’s Max, Eli’s younger half brother, who is a complication of every cliche of a surfer there ever was. Let’s not forget six-foot-five, single dad, Deckard Scott. Deck is Kinsey’s fun time guy. She is determined to not fall in love with Deck and vice versa. Whew! Those are the characters who make up this unforgettable story. The shocking connection between Kinsey and Brynn 😱 whaaa 😱! The camaraderie between the four roommates (five, if you consider Deck) was such a delight and I so wish I could have joined in on Eli’s midnight chocolate chip pancakes. A charming story about unconditional love beyond bearing, deep affection, cultivating friendship, fierce loyalty, trust, belonging, forgiveness, acceptance, and “wounded birds, watching one another’s backs, being one another’s family because family was who you let in, not who you were born to.”

“‘It means you want me in your life. You’ve known for a long time that I love you.’ He said seriously. ‘I’m keeping you now, Kinsey. No take backs.’”