This is an absolutely wonderful best friends to lovers romance, full of deep friendship, support, love, and heartbreak. I absolutely adored the relationship between Aiden and Roni, from their absolute first moment. The spice in this book was fantastic, a solid 3 on the spice scale, but the romance, the love story, that was a 10. I’ve also not cried for a book in, well, I don’t even know how long. Like, sobbing, heartbreaking crying. These characters grab onto your heart, dig in deep, and don’t let go. There are definitely some difficult topics in this story, so please check your content and trigger warnings.
Aiden and Roni’s story begins when they meet at a party when she’s around 16. They seem to have an instant connection, and it’s really quite sweet. But a traumatic experience at the same party throw’s Roni’s world into a tailspin. While Aiden helps her in the moment, they then don’t see each other again until they run into each other years later at another party, and there are instant sparks between them. When they realize who each other is, there’s this immediate shift, a bond solidifies, and they connect in one of the most beautiful friendships. They support each other, razz each other, their relationship is nearly the most important thing in each other’s life. Which is part of the reason why neither of them has acted on their secretly growing feelings, in fear of losing the friendship they couldn’t live without. When Roni’s boyfriend cheats on her, Aiden offers her a place to stay, and it’s the catalyst for a complete shift for both of them.
There are many obstacles in the way of Aiden and Roni’s relationship. At the heart of everything they have to go through, their friendship doesn’t waiver. Even when the most devastating events seem to separate them indelibly, they always seem to find their way back to their friendship, and eventually more. But the universe definitely has it out for them. There are multiple roadblocks they have to overcome, and they do, but their story is definitely one that ends, while their own version of an HEA, it’s most definitely a non-traditional one. But they fight for their love, in whatever form they can get it, and in their own way, they come out the winners.