Comme dans les livres

by Alex Light, Brigitte Hébert

Cela fait des années que Becca Hart ne croit plus au grand amour. Elle n’a que dix-sept ans mais pour elle, c’est sûr, ça n’existe que dans les livres et toute passion durable est vouée à l’échec. À l’image du brusque départ de son père, brisant sa famille des années auparavant.
Sur le papier, Brett Wells a tout pour lui et ne devrait avoir aucun problème à trouver quelqu’un avec qui sortir. Sauf qu’il doit se concentrer sur sa carrière sportive et que, malgré sa popularité au lycée, Brett se retrouve très souvent seul et sous pression.
Tout bascule le jour où, pour qu’on la laisse tranquille, Becca prétend avoir un copain, sans se douter que Brett l’a entendue, et qu’il va lui proposer d’être son ‘‘fake-date’’… Mais agir comme un couple parfait est loin d’être évident, surtout quand on ignore tout de l’autre.
Leur histoire se passera-t-elle comme dans les livres  ?

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fake Dating, Audiobook, Fiction, Young Adult Romance

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2020

About the author

Alex Light grew up reading too many books and listening to too many Taylor Swift songs. Now, she writes books that make people laugh (and sometimes cry).

Alex began writing as a teen. She shared dozens of love stories online, which have now been read over 150 million times. Shockingly, she graduated with a BA in English Literature, giving her the perfect excuse to read even more books when she wasn’t busy writing her own.

Living in Toronto, Canada with her 3 furry friends, Alex is an avid donut-eater, sometimes baker, and lover of the frozen winter months.

Reviews

[Layla · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that having parental issues was a personality trait.

[Esmée · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m officially too old for this...

[spring ~♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I successfully wasted one night of my life by picking up this book.
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Lets get one thing straight, I loved To All the Boys I've Loved Before and after that I became a sucker for this whole fake-dating trope. But this book? Well this one is just a weird and unrealistic retelling of the whole Lara Jean and Peter K's love story and I just want my lost time back!!

Becca our MC doesn’t believe in love (shocker!) and Brett (what kind of name is Brett anyway?) our handsome love interest is looking for a fake girlfriend to impress his dad. Of course he's already the most popular boy in the school. So they starts dating meanwhile slowly falling for each other.

question: See? What can go wrong?
answer: Everything.

The only two thing I loved about this book:
1: The first chapter.
2: This book ended.

Honorable mention: there was this chapter where Becca was throwing all of her BOOKS into the lake. That chapter was so "thrilling" and "chilling" that I was almost in the middle of a massive panic attack.

Me: What if I had a heart attack? I'm dying!
inner me: stop being so dramatic! you’re not gonna die because one of the protagonist is too dumb to survive in this world.
Me: I think I will. She is throwing her books in the water! I think I just forgot how to breathe. Someone save me.
inner me: *sigh*

[Mathangi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let's do a fun experiment!

1. Take a scrap of paper.
2. Draw a stick figure on it.
3. now, give your stick figure a name.
done?

congrats! your stick figure officially has more personality than ANY of the characters in this book.

[laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 :)

v e r y 　c u t e

my only complaint with this book is the fact that SHE THREW HER BOOKS INTO THE LAKE??!? i’m sorry- i can’t-

[jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

whoever let this leave wattpad i just wanna talk 😐

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars



Fake dating is a troupe I always love. The Upside of Falling had that, along with a bookwork heroine, a sweet and popular hero, and at the cutest romance!

Becca is seventeen and doesn’t have experience with guys. In fact, after going through her parent’s messy divorce, she doesn’t believe in a forever kind of love. She’ll take romance in her books, but she’s not here for it in real life.

I mean, there’s a reason all books end right after the couple gets together. No one wants to keep reading long enough to see the happily ever after turn into an unhappily ever after. Right?

When she’s taunted by her ex-bff, she lies about having a boyfriend. Brett Wells, captain of the football team and all around nice guy happens to overhear and steps in to save Becca from some humiliation. After talking and deciding they both have something to gain from this ‘dating’ thing, they decide to keep up the farce.

The thing with the fake dating is that it almost always turns into real feelings. Either that, or it completely falls apart. Sometimes it’s both. Becca and Brett both have a lot going on right now and this effects their relationship.

I enjoyed so much about this story. Brett was my favorite part. He was the absolute sweetest hero. I can’t wait to read more from Alex Light in the future. I would love a spin off book from this world!

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS BOOK IS PRECIOUS 🥹 I adored Brett & Becca, they were so mf cute!!!!! I loved that the book starts off right away, no playing around. it was perfect for someone currently in a ✨reading slump✨ also im a sucker for the smart girl/popular jock trope.. I hate to say it but IT GETS ME EVERY. DAMN. TIME. I blame my forever favorites NALEEEYYYY <3 anyway loved this. wish it had an epilogue tho!

“with all the downsides of love, you managed to show me the upside.” <3

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, super cute ya contemporary.
Enjoyed it!

[s · Rating 1 out of 5]

should've stayed on wattpad 🥰😘


would be a 2 star read but becca started ripping and throwing books into a lake 😐😐

[Lia Carstairs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Never before have I read stories from Wattpad, but reading this really makes me want change that.🥰

And I think I've finally been cured from my slump.
Thank you Brecca—or maybe Brett and Becca. Which sounds better?🤔

What I really loved about The Upside of Falling was that there wasn't really that annoying school drama that involves the popular ex-best friend who wants to ruin the MC's life after seeing that she's dating the popular jock.
It was a nice change.🙌

Brett was such a sweet guy and Becca was also so relatable in terms of her love of books—though, of course all readers would be able to relate xD. This whole books in general was such a cute and fluffy romance.💕

Also, after reading about Becca's mother owning a bakery shop, I'm really in the mood for some sweets. Just imagining myself with some Jelly Bells🤤😋............AHHH NO, NOW I'M HUNGRY FOR THOSE. CURSE YOU JELLY BELLS


I realized something when Becca said this:

“That doesn’t count. Everyone’s read Harry Potter. It’s practically a childhood rite of passage.”

That's actually true. It really does feel like that. I remember in my English class, my teacher asked who read Harry Potter and literally everyone raised their hands except for one book hater, but she doesn't count and I refuse to acknowledge this 'friend' (idek how I'm friends with this monster) after hearing her threaten to burn all books in the world just to mess with me.👿😂.

*Note to self: When in a horrible curse slump, read contemporary books.😉

[itsjessamess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it sm omg
It‘s a fake dating in Highschool young adult books so theres literally no spice at all but the romance and all the quotes were just 10/10 ALSO SHE‘S A BOOKIE okay???? she‘s literally obsessed with books and the way she talks abt the fictional life and all the fictional characters while LITERALLY BEING ONE is just immaculate.
Family Issues/ Drama and how they deal with it is heavy involved. I love Becca sm bc I honestly feel like she‘s me in every aspect

[lulu ☆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

as a dark romance reader, this book was way too normal. the romance was.. cute.

[Yusra ❥ · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book's one of those books that thinks it's much better then it is, lol.

[sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75⭐️

full review is up on My Blog———————————————————————-
Was it adorable? Yes. Did I love it? Not really. Should y’all give it a try? Sure why not. If you need something to binge then pick this one up.

[✪ JY ✪ (conans version)(Semi-Hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 Star
╒════════════════════════╕
➳I went into this book with pretty bad expectations for many reasons
first of all, it featured the cliche popular jock x shy bookworm 🙄 and the fake dating trope and the author is a Wattpad author, another big reason was that I have a strong dislike for contemporary romance they usually cringe or just straight-up boring This book was only slightly better than i expected that said I do hate it-it might just be my taste tho if u like it I have nothin against u.

●～●～●～●～●●～●～●～●～●●～●～●～●～●●～●～●～●～●
˙⊹ ੈ✰Becca(The FMC)🥱 ✰ ੈ⊹˙
She is the shy bookworm who as mentioned reads "2 books a week"🤓🤓 and she also does not believe in love-how cliche(i found myself saying that a lot). First of all, I just found her generally annoying when Brett asks her for some space because of what's happening in his life she literally gets all mad about it like wat??. Also she does not deserve the title of Bookworm because in one chapter(because she was an oh-so-dramatic teen going to heartbreak)She rips and chucks half of her books into a river😭🤬that scene was probably the most emotional for me-and she wasn't even upset about it later. WHAT A THRILLING AND ADVENTUROUS EXPERIENCE

˙⊹ ੈ✰ Brett(The MMC)✰ ੈ⊹˙
First of all what sort of name is that???. He is the rich popular jock who I imagine looks like this
🧿👄🧿 because of how often his "startling" blue eyes were described which where half his personality(along withh his daddy issues). One thing I liked about him was that he took Becca to a bookstore to buy whatever she wanted which was kinda sweet.



╰┈➤ ❝ The Bads ❞
There was like no description of anyy of the characters(except for the MMC) so I had no idea how they even looked it just wasn't that well written, most of the characters were also missing a personality(unless having family issues is one). The story also felt kinda unfinished at some points like how at the end jenny's brother visits but it was actually so random and Cassie was just there to say some random lines and stand in the background and the same for Jeff.

╰┈➤ ❝ The goods ❞
I liked the description of locations as i could actually imagine being there and i liked that it was KINDA realistic about families and the relationships between the main characters and their families. On a side note, i really want to try one of those jelly bells from Becca's mum's bakery.



"My point is that no one can live up to some romance you read when you were fourteen.But Bretts real.He's here.And isn't that better? Mistakes and all?"
hmmm what do u guys think about that quote?🤨🤔


*yes I changed the rating*

[Rizza✧˖° · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 25%

This book is so full of cliches and have such a predictable plot that six chapters in I'm already skipping pages until the last chapter. I know that I said that I liked the MC during my last update, but that was chapter 1. I should've read more of the book before I posted any updates. Another lesson for me.

I admit that I find the MC more tolerable than others and I would've liked to read more of it if not for the things I mentioned above. I also think the characters are a bit one-dimensional. I know that I would've loved this book 10 years ago. But now, after reading several books (and fanfictions) which have this exact kind of trope, I just had to put it down.

[Celia {Hiatus until August} · Rating 4 out of 5]

•| ⊱✿⊰ |• 4,4 Stars •| ⊱✿⊰ |•

Super fofinho e um verdadeiro YA.
Apesar disso, não consigo dar cinco estrelas.
Becca e Brett têm ambos 17 anos e estudam na mesma escola.
Becca é a geek que se esconde atrás dos livros e Brett o capitão de equipa.
Para proveito de ambos, resolvem fingir que estão num relacionamento e rapidamente se tornam amigos.
Gostei da forma como Alex Light transformou as personagens reais.
A maioria dos YA, esqueço que estou a ler acerca de miúdos com 15/18 anos.
São tão maturos, como alguém com estas idades podem ter diálogos e atitudes como certos YA nos trazem?
Gostei de ver os comportamentos dos personagens, correspondiam com as idades, e só por isso, a classificação subiu mais um bocadinho.

════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════

Super cute and a real YA.
Despite that, I can't give it five stars.
Becca and Brett are both 17 and go to the same school.
Becca is the geek who hides behind the books and Brett is the team captain.
To the benefit of both, they decide to pretend they are in a relationship and quickly become friends.
I liked the way Alex Light transformed to real characters.
Most YA make me forget I'm reading about 15/18 year old kids.
They are so mature, how can someone with these ages have dialogues and attitudes like certain YA bring us?
I enjoyed seeing the characters' behaviors, they corresponded to their ages, and just for that, the rating went up a little more.

════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ════

[abigailscupoftea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE fake dating trope books! This story was so cute! I highly recommend to fans of Jenny Han and Kasie West.

[Zoeisbookhooked · Rating 4 out of 5]

I, Zoe Book Hooked, read a contemporary. And not just any contemporary, a romance. And I liked it.

A poem to express my emotions:

Who is she?
That girl reading.
Zoe, it must be.
Yes, but she is read a contemporary.
I do think you’re right.
How scary.
Do you think she is Ill?
No she is fine.
She is a teen, she doesn’t know how she feels.
True but she reads fantasy alone.
But today is different.
She traveled to a world like her own.
Who is she?


I’m not sure myself... Anyways moving on.
If you don’t know I don’t really care for contemporaries and specifically a pure romance. But here I am.

The Upside of Falling is a super cute fluffy romance!
Becca’s father left her so it’s just her and her mom. She is smart and loves to read romance because she does not believe any romance like the ones she reads could exist.
Bret has the perfect family, achieving his dads dreams, and money. He wants to love someone like his parents love each other. But he starts to get suspicious of his parents.
Because of drama at school, Bret swoops in to Becca’s life and helps her out. By doing so he tells people they are dating. (Fake Dating trope) They continue to “date” for Bret’s father’s approval and for Becca’s Mom’s. They don’t realize that they really need each other and start to fall in love. Bret needs Becca while he is figuring out what is wrong with his parents and Becca needs him so she can snap back in to real life. They deal with hardship together as friends and possibly lovers.

Wow so I assumed to like it but not this much😂 It definitely exceeded my expectations. It was emotional in a good way.

Becca-I love her and relate to her! Except when she threw her books in a lake🤬 She is struggling with dad issues but also with her ex-best friend. And Bret helps her along the way and helps her bring out her social side. She is adorable.

Bret-Awww I love him! He is so sweet and kind to Becca and pulls her out of her comfort zone. He needed her when times were tough and he is just super cute!

Brecca is adorable and yes I ship them a lot😂 Added to the list of fav ships😃 They were perfect for each other and they give you faith that there is someone perfect out in the world for you.

The ending😆 fan girl squeal. We love a happy ending!! I can’t believe this was a wattpad story! I need to own this now! The ending was laid out perfectly
It was very fast paced as all contemporaries are.
My favorite scene was when they were in the arcade😭❤️ Why don’t people go on dates in arcades anymore?
I found it very gripping because it was something new then what I’m used to. It was enjoyable and emotional and cute✨
There were kisses obviously it’s a romance. The two mc and other high schoolers go to Lovers Lake in the middle of no where where couples hang out and...*coughs*. It is implied😂 but why would anyone do that in the woods💀 They just kiss and they walk back to their car and accidentally see a girl with her shirt off kissing someone but that’s all they mention. And at the end they imply that they have sex. They mention Bret pulling off Becca’s shirt and then it’s the end.
I loved the writing style! So fun and easy to read! It flowed nicely and was descriptive.


So yah! Bye❤️

[꩜ marti &#x1f577;️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ᝰ.ᐟ ⊹ pre-read.

02/06/2025: finally after a long time that I wanted to read a book in english I decided!! I think this is the perfect book to start reading in english and I really hope that I will like it a lot

[eli ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this story originated in Wattpad. you know, the website that supported the creation of a horrible book that cannot be named ("After" by Ana Todd). I don't even fuck with Wattpad because a lot of their stories that I used to read were pretty messed up, so I'm surprised this book came from the nice side of Wattpad.

The Upside Of Falling was pretty nice and sweet, and I enjoyed everything about it. I'm a sucker for the fake-relationship trope done well, and this book gave me that. I liked both the main characters, Becca and Brett, but they have some issues. and the pacing of this story wasn't great. same for the writing; it kinda dulled the experience for me because it felt a little cringy.

let's start with the "fake-relationship" trope. I liked how this was done throughout the story, and it was nice. the way it started was with a lie (like all the classic, "fake relationship" tropes), and it was nice seeing it form into a romantic relationship. I didn't really like how they quickly rushed into it, but we'll talk about that more with the pacing.

but for now, we need to talk about the two stars of the show: Becca and Brett. so these characters had a lot going on. Becca and Brett both had issues with their home lives, but they never talked about it with their peers at school. Becca was pretty cool, but all I remember about her was that she liked to bake and wasn't like other girls because she read romantic novels iN CLaSS. and all I remember about Brett was that he was a popular football player at school because of course, we need that and he didn't want to be like other guys since we don't get enough of that from Becca. but from what I remember, their flaws humanized them, which made me like them towards the end. it was refreshing to see them not use their issues as an excuse for their actions, and instead embrace those problems to become better people.

look, I didn't despise the pacing in this novel. but the pacing in this novel would not be someone I would sit with at the lunch table because we would not be friends. when the book is still in the exposition stage, Brett and Becca automatically start off the fake-relationship. I'm sorry, what? is this what we're doing now? I didn't really like this part, but the pacing isn't too bad after that.

the writing. oh my willy wonka the writing in this novel is just-



cringy. that's the only way I can really explain it. yes, it told the story, but at what cost? I can't remember how many times I cringed at the writing in this novel, and it kinda dulled the experience for me.

and after all this, I'm still going to give The Upside Of Falling 4 stars. I really enjoyed this novel and even though there were issues with the novel, I just can't give it 3 stars. it was such a sweet romance that had a well-executed plot. I don't think I can imagine myself reading this again, but I would recommend it to someone who doesn't mind a little cringy writing.

[alexa ☥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ofc this story came from wattpad and EPISODE pls

[W1nglockbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

I liked this book but it definitely hasnt become a new favourite. I think this is what I would consider a light, fluffy, probably summer read. It's a cute contemporary that can be read by the pool in one day. I'm looking forward to reading it again because there were some super cute moments which I was grinning at.

I felt like this could have been a little longer and there were more fake dating leading up to the romance because it did feel slightly rushed and a tiny bit insta-lovey. I also wish there could be a spin off for Jenny cause even though there was only a little bit of her in the story I loved her!

[sof (reading slump) · Rating 1 out of 5]

i probably would have loved this in middle school🧍‍♀️

[Joshita ❤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

My rating: 2 (Although I seem to be debating with myself about why am I even giving it 2 stars)

Of course, the girl was a nerd and cynical who wasn't popular.
Of course, the boy was popular and played football!
Of course, the girl had an ex-best friend who became popular and left her alone.
Of course one of their parents was divorced or getting a divorce.
Of course, the story was like every other Wattpad book

I was hoping to get a good story with the fake dating trope. After 'To all the boys I have loved before' this concept was so fun to me! I downloaded the book very instant I saw one of my friends reading it. But then I saw the cover and it had a Wattpad logo at the bottom. And I thought oh hell here comes the downfall of the book. But then I considered that Wattpad isn't bad! It is such a great platform for writers! And it is not necessary that all the books that come out of it are trashy ( guess that was wrong)

Becca wants to show her ex-best friend that she is dating someone and Brett wants to show his dad that he is enjoying his life as a high schooler and is not completely engrossed in football. What do they do...fake dating!

It was so crazy that after the very first chapter I could figure out that it was a Wattpad story!
I skimmed through the pages. I was literally reading 6 lines per every ebook page lol. Before becoming an avid reader I used to read a lot of Wattpad books and I think i was skipping most of this book because I knew what was going to happen or what line is going to come next or what the character was thinking...because it is all the fucking same!

Did we have a trashy but cute nerdy girl who felt like an outsider but was soon reopened to a new world because of our male MC Brett --check!
Did we have a perfect popular high school boy who is not very perfect in real life but the nerd girl seems to fix him --check!

And oh my god, I was so annoyed by the characters! So, our MC Becca the 'introvert' just doesn't seem to get past their parent's divorce and stalks her dad's new house and wife like crazy!
I mean I get it, girl, your parents divorced...5 years ago! Let's get this straight, most parents in America end up getting divorced but their children don't ruin their lives because of that.
But then I thought okay maybe Becca is different. She is over sensitive and feels emotions differently. Let us MOVE ON...

Brett the 'jock' feels like he needs to impress his dad and he plays football like all the time to fulfill his dad's dream. His dad attends all his games n all until one day he doesn't show up to his son's games because of work. Normally that is fine but Brett over here starts to whine like a fucking baby because his father didn't come to his game! He broke his record of coming to every game *gasps loudly* this is so emotional!

Moving on, there is so much I can say about this book but honestly I don't even have sentences to quote. Maybe in the future....someday...this books could get interesting for me...but right now...it was a disaster. I can't even write this review write now because I don't have shit to write about!

Now coming on to the things I did like:
1. The opening first few pages.
2. Some parts made me smile :)
3. That's probably it.

SO, this was my opinion but I won't judge you or force you to not read it. 'AFTER' was one of my favorites long ago so who am I to judge! (DISCLAIMER: after is not my fav right now, nor I will ever read it again )
Toodles! xx

[lilly ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ★

naur cause why was this actually good 🤭 was gonna listen to the audiobook but i ended up reading 90% of the book..... anyways😭 rtc

--

me complaining about cringe books then going to listen to this wattpad book 😃🤭

[✨⚡ Kelcey (felinebooktrovert) ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Read to me."
"Why?"
"Because you go somewhere else when you read. I want to go there with you."

3.75 stars

This was a cute, quick YA read.

Both characters were really enjoyable, but I wasn't a fan of the resolution of their individual family issues they were experiencing. Totally a personal opinion of mine, but it just all felt really naive to me.

But I read this in like 4 hours so obviously still liked it 🩵

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes pretending to fall in love can be as difficult as actually doing so! At least that's the concept of Alex Light's new book, The Upside of Falling .

Becca doesn’t believe in love. Well, she knows it exists but she doesn’t think it’s worth the risk. Someone always ends it and someone always gets hurt, right? But she loves to read romance novels, because between the pages of a book things are safe and the heartbreak is contained. Lives aren't ruined like they are in real life when love goes wrong, as she knows all too well from her parents' divorce.

When her former best friend publicly ridicules her for never having a real-life romance and just sticking to books, Becca claims to have a boyfriend. And just as she’s about to embellish her story, Brett, the school’s star football player, comes over and kisses her. In front of everyone. Becca is about as flummoxed as everyone else.

Becca is utterly unprepared for the real manifestation of her fictional romance, but for some reason, Brett seems determined to continue with the charade. She doesn't understand why he decided to do this, but it turns out he's been looking for a chance to have a girlfriend, but didn't really know where to look. She’s suddenly being challenged to live outside her comfort zone (eating in the cafeteria, attending football games, etc.) and surprisingly, it’s not as bad as she thought it would be.

The longer they continue pretending to date, the more she realizes that Brett has so much more depth than she imagined, and he has his share of problems, too. And Brett realizes that trying to make someone else happy is actually a pretty wonderful thing.

Things get complicated when pretend feelings threaten to turn into real ones, and when each of them faces personal challenges. Will they go back to their “regular” lives or will they realize that being in a relationship means supporting each other no matter how tough things get?

I thought this was such a sweet, fun book. It didn’t matter that I pretty much knew how everything would unfold. This fake-dating rom-com totally hit the spot, and I enjoyed every minute.

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.

Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm having a really hard time approaching this review. I enjoyed this book. I was fully engaged to the end. Even as I recognize that so much of this just couldn't work.

Take the adults. All of them. Not one makes any sense as a person. Both mothers are too ideal, with only a trait and/or passion or two to their characterization. Both fathers are broken disappointments with little to recommend them, really. And Brett comes across as a bit effeminate, even as he's a little too ideal as support/enabler for Becca.

And yet. I really liked spending time with them. Even when the completely unreasonable dark moment hit, I wasn't ready to give it up. And the thing that is breaking my head is I have no idea why I liked this! I can dispassionately list all the things that don't work. And it's a decent-sized list. And I can't figure out anything I liked that much that could outweigh this list of not-working bits. I mean, I liked both protagonists well-enough. And I definitely liked them together. And Becca's ex-best-friend story arc was unexpectedly good and had some juicy nuance. And maybe that's enough? It doesn't seem like it should be, is all.

Anyway, my four stars is my admission that I liked this story and was entertained. I wish I could tell you better why that is. I'm usually able to pick a story apart and figure out what works and what doesn't. Or, more importantly, what I liked and what I didn't. I'm at a loss with this one.

A note about Chaste: There's some good kissing. And the relationship progresses to spending alone time that included sex, though it's elided enough you could convince yourself it didn't if you like. So there's nothing on-page that's terribly racy. Which I consider chaste enough to earn the tag. Others could reasonably disagree.