Please Don't Go

The Midnight Strike #1

by E. Salvador

He felt like he was drowning.

She was about to drown.

Josefine Resendiz, is struggling to figure out her life. Between her complicated relationship with grief and not having a single clue how to feel what she can't understand, she's sinking and isn't sure how to float back up to the surface.

Daniel Garcia, shortstop, a budding ray of sunshine, and potential first round pick for the MLB Draft, has life figured out. At least, that's what everyone assumes. On the surface, he's the embodiment of happiness and life. But beneath it all, guilt and grief have been consuming him since his brother passed away. Unsure how to deal with his feelings, he bottles them up and masks the pain of haunting reminders behind a mask of smiles.

That's until he stumbles upon Josefine on Christmas Day. That wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to be there but neither was she, at least not for long. The night evolves into something neither one of them expected and when morning comes, she's nowhere to be found.

He can't stop thinking about her. She wants to forget him. But fate seems to have plans for them.

Once the semester begins they find out they have a class together, and avoiding Daniel becomes hard when they're paired to be hiking buddies. Much to Josefine's chagrin, she likes him more than she cares to admit. And Daniel is struggling to keep everything he's bottled up around her.

Hesitantly and unknowingly, they're opening up old wounds they wanted to keep closed. Feeling grounded around each other. And unintentionally falling in love.

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Sports, Contemporary Romance, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Audiobook

591 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2025

About the author

E. is a Mexican-American romance author who loves a good happily ever after and iced coffee with light ice.
When E. is not overthinking or creating multiple Pinterest boards for the hundred book ideas she has, she's writing or reading. And when she's not doing any of those things, she's spending time with her two sons and husband.

Reviews

[Marianna Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If you let me in, I’ll hold a flashlight, and we’ll find a way out together.”

NO STOP I CANNOT MY BABIESSSSS WENT THROUGH SO MUCH I CANT REMEMBER THE LAST TIME A BOOK MADE ME CRY THIS MUCH!!! hands down one of my favorite romance books ever, Josefine and Daniel are my new Roman Empire I will never get over them. I truly cannot put my feelings into words it just one of those books you have to read to fully encapsulate the emotions do the story justice.

This story navigates the reality of two people deeply struggling with their mental health, battling depression, anxiety, PTSD, and grief in completely different ways and the author did mental health rep so so so right. It hurt but it felt so real and I appreciate that so much. Nothing was glazed over or glamorized and they don’t really on one another to heal their broken bits when the time came to face the truth that they both needed help. It’s not an easy read but it’s such a healing one and so worth it in the end.

This is what I mean when I say I want PATHETIC YEARNING AND LONGING AND PINING!!! Daniel Garcia is the standard and one of my new favorite book men. I cannot stop thinking about him!! Because what do you mean she was about to take her own life until he found her and pulled her from the edge?! And now leaves sticky notes for her reminding her how happy he is that she’s here, meal preps her 3 meals a day because her depression makes it hard to eat, burns CDs for her with only happy music, gets her her favorite flowers every month, moves in with her because after her mom died she had nobody else?!!! All while battling his own grief and darkness in silence?! No I cannot. The way his breath catches whenever he looks at her?? Clenching his fists to keep from touching her? Turns into a stuttering mess around her?!!

Also… MEN. WHO. WHIMPER!!!!! He also loves that she’s a little mean and literally cherishes all her rough edges and dark parts.

And the way they literally love each other so deeply I feel it in my bones. Their chemistry was palpable from page 1. Golden retriever MMC with a dark soul and black cat FMC who doesn’t let anyone in is my favorite dynamic in romance books. They are soulmates in every lifetime.

Okay I honestly can’t recommend this book enough but warning it does read a little wattpaddy so I understand that the writing might not be forever everyone but it was for me!!!

Also the found family and friendships and girlhood!!! Ugh I love them all so much and need book 2 ASAP!!

“Because, Josefine, you’ve rewired the way I feel touch. Touching anyone that isn’t you feels overwhelming and so wrong. It’s like my brain can’t process that it’s not you. I don’t know how to make sense of that but I don’t want to touch anyone that isn’t you. You’re incomparable.”

“I know it’s hard for you to open up. I know it’s scary and I know this is probably a lot for you, but I am here and as long as you want me in your life, I’m not going anywhere. So…” I bring my lips to her forehead and kiss it but let them linger there. “I’ll give you a moment. Take your time. I have forever.”

[SK · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was worth the read but definitely the sort of book when you want to shed tears, go on a healing journey and pretty much through an emotional rollercoaster.

The beginning was not easy to read. It was the sort of heaviness that settles in the heart and I was so emotional seeing Josefine struggle. But even more at how persistent, gentle Daniel was to her. It was raw, so raw in its emotions, I had to slow things down and just process.

I really liked Josefine, she is a bit tough but such a marshmallow on the inside. The way she guards her heart behind the black cat aura was something relatable. As for Daniel, I absolutely adore this man. He has a way of making her feel safe, seen and loved. Even if it comes at a cost to his own self.. which did backfire at the end 👀 But he was the heart of this book 🥺🥺 You genuinely can't hate him.

But I loved their connection. The slow building romance that relied on friendship and Daniel through sheer willpower clawing his way into Josefine's stubborn, grumpy heart. The two are so good to each other. They're not perfect, so flawed but they make it work. The spice between them was so hot. Good Lord, the mouth on that man 🥵🥵 Also, idk if it's just me but I would have loved to see Josefine reciprocate some efforts and gestures towards Daniel too. She did try intimately, but I thought there was some imbalance. Daniel was needed, but he should have felt wanted to. Hence, one of the reasons why the third act was healthy. Space and healing was healthy.

I do however think this book was far from perfect. Imo it was a hundred pages too long. The whole thing about their exes got repetitive for me and unnecessarily dragged out to create drama. I did like the friend group and support system but sometimes it was a bit too "tiktok" for me. Other than that, I didn't have many issues.

Coming to the third act breakup. Huh, interesting. I think that was needed. They both needed to heal as individuals to be able to love each other in ways they deserved. So although it made me a little sad, it was dealt with in a healthy manner.

Definitely check for TW if you decide to give it a read.


~•~•~
I hear the man yearns and is a whimpering mess? It's my turn to find out if he makes me swoon and giggle.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where’s my Danny

4.25 ⭐️

[bruna (coming back)]

๋ · ˚ 🖇️ ⊹ ⌇ pre-read. ⋆
⤿ started on april 27, 2026.

“their story, while romantic and at times humorous, is raw, deep, aching, and devastating.” no need to say more, i’m immediately sold because i live for romance books that are deep and painful. 🫡 needless to say, my expectations are high for this one, so fingers crossed it’s as good as i expect it to be! 🤞🏻 (by the way, i’m obsessed with this cover. 🤭)

buddy reading with my sweet and precious ivy. 🤍⭐

[Larissa Cambusano]

dnf (for now!!!!) i’ll be back when i’m in the mood.

[Larareads · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 FUCKING ⭐️

this might be the best romance book I read this year

[Andy (slow) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

One thing about me — I don’t do golden retriever MMCs 🐕✨
My preferred fictional vibe is more like: drama, obsession, maybe a little stalking, a little scaring… doesn’t matter in which order 😂
(yeah… I probably need professional help….)

So I was very hesitant to start this book because our main man Daniel is a walking green flag. Like Danny… calm down with the emotional intelligence, you’re making the rest of fictional men look unemployed.

BUT — I have to admit — this was actually a great story. We get served a LOT of emotional damage and some moments were truly heartbreaking. Like… feelings were felt, heart was squeezed, and my dramatic reader soul was thriving. 💔✨

My biggest problem though?
Sometimes I cringed.

Because let’s be honest — the main reason I read romance is because I’m a sucker for fictional men. And fictional men are just ✨yummy✨.

BUT the whole post-it note situation — especially the “I’m happy you are here, Jos!” one — felt fictional even for fictional men. Like dude even my delulu standards have limits 😂

And the “what superpower would you choose” conversation? I physically cringed. I was sitting there like:
please… can we leave the kindergarten bonding activities? 🤦‍♀️

Honestly, at this point I feel like there’s a bigger chance of meeting a stalker in real life than a man who leaves perfectly cute post-it notes all over the house.

Overall: emotional, heartbreaking, sometimes adorable, sometimes cringe — but definitely entertaining and worth the ride.

[Laura Jane ♡ (semi ia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

daniel garcia you got me giggling so much my feet nearly flew off.

yay, i really enjoyed this & truly ate it up in record time (pros of being off work sick ig).
i will say, for me the first 50% of this book was honestly sitting around a 3.5/3.75, but the last 50% of this book… this is where this really had me invested. don’t get me wrong, i really enjoyed the whole story and i liked both daniel and josie throughout. the black cat x golden retriever dynamic was on point. i really appreciated how we got to see the softer josie beneath all the walls she’d built up. & daniel was down sooooo bad off the bat, love that. the way he was so patience with her and so protective when she wasn’t around. i was really liking all these vibes but the shift in the second half of this book is what had me feeling waaayyyy more connected to them. i think the development of their relationship and seeing them open up to each other really made everything feel more intimate and ramped the tension up 10 notches as well. and going through danny’s grief and anxiety with him, whilst they both were navigating different coping mechanisms.
and LISTEN UPP, daniel really levelled up on his own game in the 2nd half because DAMN, i was not expecting the spice between these two to be this peak. levitation station. he whimpers and he begs ANDDDD the mouth on him… gagged. i need more of that 😩😮‍💨

i will say that i didn’t really have too many deep emotions throughout this story. i did appreciate the depth and the struggles they both dealt with and worked through. and i really liked how they both helped each heal.
there’s always some type of conflict in contemporary romance but in this instance the last 20% was where i was actually feeling all the things and my chest felt heavy. i just felt so sad for them both ☹️☹️☹️ but i’m also glad they had time to work on themselves. so yeah, that was the part that drew the most from me emotionally actually; it felt almost necessary for their growth. i’m glad it played out how it did for them but also for me as a reader, because it gave me some of those deeper feelings.

”i couldn’t remember what feeling slice was like until she came into my life.” 🥹

overall, i do wish i had felt more of a connection to the deeper topics a bit more throughout, but i was having a hehehehe good time so i didn’t mind, i enjoyed myself.
anyway, it definitely isn’t a perfect read for me but i’m very happy that i really enjoyed this! it’s funny how i have seen the odd criticism of this being too long, and yes sure it could have been cut down a tiny bit, but actually the latter half of this book is when it really shined for me. i wasn’t really expecting that but i’m very pleasantly surprised by it. the last couple chapters were kinda cheesy in a cute way.
overall i really liked this and daniel garcia 😮‍💨 well you know. an delicious angel of a man. i just love it when they are so obsessed they act all pathetic. be more pathetic please, never stop.

i definitely will try more of this author work and look forward to that next one in this series!

side note for those who have read this; what was with amanda and bryson? like just fuck off already. no one wants your looser asses. please they were so desperate and pissing me offffffff 🤣

________
found myself back in my contemporary era after a hot minute, so it’s time to meet danny. i hope i love this one as much as all my pals do 🥹

[Youssra {very busy-review slumping} · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book should be labeled as a fantasy and let me tell you why. A fantasy has elements not rooted in real life and includes unrealistic characters, events etc.... DANIEL GARCIA IS NOT A HUMAN MAN. NO THIS MAN IS A FANTASY CONJURED UP FOR US!!!

THE YEARNING

THE BEGGING

THE WHIMPERING

THE ACTS OF SERVICE

THE PRAISING

HIS MOUTHHHHHHH😩😩😩

HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE MENACE !!


Was this a perfect book? No, I had some issues with it. (Wattpady-ish writing, pacing, length)

Did I enjoy myself? ABSOLUTELY YESSSS!!! I loved the characters and the found family and I'm sooo excited for the rest of the books about the other couples!

Did I sob? Not really, a tear or two but it did have some really heavy and sad moments💔 This book deals with a lot of difficult subject matter.

Would I recommend? YES!! But not the audiobook...because well.. the male narrator should find a new job😶‍🌫️

Was Danial Garcia Isaiah Rhodes coded? YES YESSSSSS!! The man was so pathetically down bad guysssss😩 I still prefer Isaiah though because I'm loyal like that💁‍♀️
__________________________________________________________
pre-read:

Saw someone say the mmc is Isaiah Rhodes coded. That's all I need to hear because ISAIAH IS EVERYTHING TO ME😭

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 5 stars!

a man who yearns is a man that what? EARNS!! 🗣️🙂‍↕️

・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・

pre-read:

my first e. salvador book! also, just look at the cover 😩 it may seem simple but i’m absolutely loving it so much! the blurb really got me interested 👀 hope it’s even more interesting on the inside 🤞🏼🥹

[ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

࣪ ˖ ֪ꮽ᱖܄ 4 stars˚ִִ꒱꒱ ִ݂

⤻ no spoiler review . disclaimer: this book contains a huge theme of grief. i have personally never lost someone uber close to me, so please do not take my word on how well done it is;; make sure that you are in the right headspace to read this 🫶🏻

⋆｡˚ ꕥ “Because those moments we shared are the essence of my existence.” He shifts on his side and cups my cheek, staring down at me. “Those moments made me feel me again and are the reason why I looked forward to every day as long as it meant I got to make more with you.”

i always love taking my friends recommendations because it allows me to find amazing books and authors like this 🌟 i really, really enjoyed this book. admittedly, the first half of the book was pretty slow and not my vibe, but I was still intrigued. once we got to the second half though.. e. Salvador stepped up her game real quick 🧘🏻‍♀️. the way i was giggling but on the verge of tears is a talent. this was such a distinct book that will definitely hold a special place on my shelves.

་ 💭 ⊹ ࣪୨୧ preface. Josie and Daniel are two characters dealing with their grief in varying levels, with Daniel hiding behind a cheerful facade and Josie feeling completely lost. they coincidentally have a class together after an almost fateful event on Christmas Eve. they eventually share their pain with each other, molding it into something beautiful and endearing. 

⸝⸝ the characters ⁺໒꒱

ᡣ𐭩 — josie. she is one of the most raw characters i’ve ever read about. e. Salvador did not shy away from the dark sides of grief — me, as the reader, could feel the pain that Josie was going through. ALSO, she was a competitive swimmer and still spends so much time around comp swimmers and pools that it gave me such blinding nostalgia from when i was in the peak of my competing era 😭 it was so heartwarming to read about and really made me enjoy her povs 🥹

ᡣ𐭩 — daniel. he’s the sweetest soul ever 🪷 his little notes to Josie throughout the book made my heart MELT. whatever all my other besties said about him is so true !!! you will never, ever find a man like this in real life (i was truly just savoring whatever time i had left reading about him).

𖥔 ݁ ˖ ⌗﹒ a few problems i had with this book that hindered it from getting a higher rating were:
1. the first half was very basic and quite mundane.
2. they moved in together almost immediately…? pls, even if it was Daniel I wouldn’t trust a man in my space for at least a year after we’re dating.
3. the past timeline aspect was very disorienting and i sometimes had to read paragraphs multiple times to see which timeline we were in.

﹏﹒✦ overall, this was such a stunning start to a series! i’m so obsessed with the setting + vibe of this book (specifically because of the monterey + carmel-by-the-sea mentions!).. and looks like we’re getting a Grayson/angel book next 👀 and again, thank you to my forever best friend, bru for reading this with me. ilysm 🤭

⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹

˒˒🐠 pre read ˒˒࿐· started apr 25・xxvi 𖦞.˖
this book actually takes place in a city that i've visited + stayed multiple times, so i'm veryyy excited 🤭💛 also reading this with my favorite 🥹🪽☀️.
⤿ this read is fully dedicated to my most beautiful of queens, yoanna 𓇼𓈒𓏸

[Morgan Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve got to stop letting tik tok recommend me romance books

[cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I realize then that the loud drumming isn’t coming from the water. It’s coming from him. It’s his heart that’s racing at a dangerous speed, all too rapidly, all too thunderous, against me. “𝓟𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓭𝓸𝓷’𝓽 𝓰𝓸.”


on repeat 𝄞 ࿐♬ 𓍢ִ🎧ྀི ᯓ ‎♪ˎˊ˗
“ɢʀᴏᴡ ᴀꜱ ᴡᴇ ɢᴏ” x ʙᴇɴ ᴘʟᴀᴛᴛ
0:52 ──♥──────── 4:09


FIRST OF ALL, the way I was already obsessed with this cover and then found out the themes were green and yellow… and those just happen to be Josie and Danny’s favorite colors??!! A coincidence??? I think not. 🙂‍↕️😌(or maybe I’m just delulu)

This book does not ease you in. It grabs you by the throat from page one and throws you straight into the deep end. And as someone who has experienced something painfully similar to that opening scene 😭😭 it wrecked me. Immediately. It’s one of those stories that doesn’t let you keep your emotions at arm’s length. It forces you to sit in them. To feel all of it. The grief, the guilt, the helplessness, the anger, the aching loneliness.

Josie… oh, Josie 😭 my sweet girl. She’s prickly and standoffish and honestly so hard on herself that it hurt to read sometimes, but it made perfect sense. She wasn’t living. She was surviving. Existing. Carrying this specific kind of grief that hollowed her out from the inside, while being treated so poorly for so long that she started believing every awful thing said about her. Watching her self-sabotage because she truly believed she didn’t deserve good things??? 😭😭😭 I was UNWELL. This girl had nothing left to hold onto, and somehow she still kept going. She was resilient in the quietest, most heartbreaking way. She kept pushing through even when she was at her absolute lowest. She’s so strong 🥺🥺

And then there’s Danny. This man. THIS MAN 😭 if acts of service were a person, it would be him. He is patience and warmth and words of affirmation wrapped up in one baseball-playing fictional man who has now ruined all others for me. I heard some people say he came off childish and respectfully… I do not care. Go keep your red flag men and i'll take him for myself 🤣 Sue me. The way he carried so much light for everyone else while he was falling apart internally absolutely shattered me. 🥺🥺

Their beginning was one of my favorites. The back and forth push and pull. How persistent he was with her because he cared so deeply. And the silly moments that were a part of the build up 😂

“Everyone wants to be my friend”
“They must feel bad for you.”
“So, feel bad for me and be my friend.”

I loved them so much 😭🫶🏼 Although the book was so heavy, I love how there was still a good dose of humor woven throughout

The romance was beautiful—the slow burn was immaculate, the tension was chef’s kiss, the chemistry was THERE, and when the spice hit?? I 100% was not expecting that heat, but idk why I was surprised because from the beginning their chemistry was crackling—but the real love story here was healing. It was learning how to let someone witness your pain without feeling like a burden. It was learning that surviving isn’t the same thing as living 🫂

And I loved that the book never sugarcoated that. It never pretended grief just disappears because you found love. It never wrapped pain up in a neat little bow and called it fixed. It understood that grief changes shape, but it stays. Anxiety stays. Trauma stays. You just learn how to carry it differently.

“Let yourself feel. Making yourself numb will only make you want to stop breathing. So talk to me. Let yourself feel. It hurts, and that’ll probably never go away, but you can share your pain with me. I can’t promise I’ll make it go away, but I’ll do my best to lessen it.”

That quote?? THAT is what made this story hit so hard. Not just the romance, but the honesty. The reminder that love isn’t always someone saving you. Sometimes it’s someone sitting beside you in the wreckage and saying I’ll stay.

The way they both slowly became the place the other could breathe? They didn’t just fall in love romantically… they understood each other in that quiet, terrifying way that only happens when two people recognize the same kind of pain.

And then the final stretch… I’m actually sick over it 😭

The breaking point. The unraveling. The emotional destruction. I genuinely felt like my heart was cracking page by page and I kept thinking surely this cannot get worse… and then it did 😭 it was so raw and ugly and real in the best way. And it hurt because it was supposed to hurt.

Their happy ending felt so earned. After everything—the grief, the guilt, the healing, the setbacks, the fear—I cannot remember the last time I felt this relieved for characters to finally get peace. They deserved every second of it.

And Danny’s teammates 🥹 The teasing and banter made their friendship feel real, but it was the loyalty underneath it that hit the hardest. They felt like true family, the kind that shows up when everything is falling apart and helps carry the weight with you. When he was at his lowest, they were there. No questions, no hesitation. (ofc excluding Bryson, because he’s awful and deserves all my hatred. actual piece of garbage 😀)

This book hurt me. It comforted me. It reminded me that grief doesn’t mean life is over, and healing doesn’t mean forgetting. Sometimes it just means choosing to keep going 🙂‍↕️🥹

The biggest takeaways from this book wasn’t romance related at all. It’s how dangerous it is to keep forcing a smile while you’re drowning inside. How trying to be everything for everyone else can destroy you if you never let anyone be there for you. How important it is to have your people—your army. People who will sit with you in the dark and help you carry it. And how if you want to love people well, you have to learn how to believe you are worthy of love too🥹🥹

I’m both heartbroken and relieved that this book is over because I love them so much, but I’m so happy that they got their happy ending. Danny and Josie deserve the world and so much more 😭
AND YOU BEST BELIEVE IM GOING TO PICK THE NEXT ONE IN THIS SERIES UP WHEN IT COMES OUT.

favorite quotes ↓

"Because, Josefine, you’ve rewired the way I feel touch. Touching anyone that isn’t you feels overwhelming and so wrong. It’s like my brain can’t process that it’s not you. I don’t know how to make sense of that but I don’t want to touch anyone that isn’t you. You’re incomparable."

"She was my girlfriend first. We have history."
"Well, now she's your ex and one day she'll be my wife. She moved on; it's time you do too."

"If you let me in, I’ll hold a flashlight, and we’ll find a way out together."

things to know about the book ↓

💛 friends to lovers
💛 black cat x golden retriever
💛 handwritten notes
💛 he falls first
💛 SLOWWWBURNNNN
💛 forced proximity
💛 emotional healing
💛 dual POV

spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
swearing: yes

Thank you NetGalley, publisher & author for this arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
❗️TW- If you don’t want spoilers don’t continue❗️
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→ This book touches on on-page suicide attempt, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, intense themes surrounding: anxiety, depression, healing, guilt, & mental health.

[Mysha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright! There were definitely parts I really enjoyed such as how prominent the side characters were and how sweet the MMC was. I did get emotional at times, but overall I found the book too long and kinda cringe. The writing and dialogue just wasn’t my favourite, BUT I was entertained enough so 3 stars for now I guess 😛😛

[manas · Rating 5 out of 5]

raw, deep, and passionate.

[nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read INFINITE STARSSSS !!!!

this book means the world to me. danny and josie have my whole heart. i adore this author. i just can't be normal about this, i'm sorry 👹👹👹

i do have my og review, but i want to add a few things !!
so i'll do that tomorrow !!



˚ ꩜ ｡ pre reread

i haven't stopped thinking about danny and josie since last year, when i first read this book. but oh, did it change my life and ruin me.

it's been on my mind a lot lately, so of course the only option is to revisit one of my favorite books from last year, and dare i say, one of my favorite books of all time !!!!

[nadine · Rating 2 out of 5]

well… this kind of backfired. I’d say the book was just okay overall. I liked the concept, and I genuinely loved the characters and related to them, but the story felt way too long for no reason. there were so many moments where the pacing dragged, and I found myself getting bored more often than invested.

what disappointed me the most was how the author handled the suicidal thoughts, depression and anxiety.
It felt like such an important topic, but instead of being explored properly, it was pushed into the background as more of a side plot while the romance took center stage. I honestly think the emotional and mental health aspects should’ve been the main focus because they had so much more depth and potential.

[aislinn ★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

─── ୨ৎ 4 stars
⤿ .ᐟ spoiler-free review

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎⤿ ‎⋮ ⟢ started: july 25, finished: august 01

"you electrified my soul. this is the most awake I've ever mentally felt."

⋆˙⟡ 📒 tropes / what to expectˎˊ˗
- dual pov
- found family
- mental health rep
- college / sports romance
- topics of grief & self harm

⋆˙⟡ 💫 thoughtsˎˊ˗
I guess I'll start off with saying that, despite my 4 star rating, I went into this expecting to get more out of it than I got, but I'll blame myself for that because honestly my hopes were through the roof. I was expecting to have my heart shattered, to be left in shambles and most of all, find a new 5 star read. but of course, neither of these things really happened. however, there is still a lot that I did enjoy about this book, hence my 4 star rating.

the first 50% of this book was excellent. I quickly began to love both of the main characters as well as the majority of the side characters and I thought the pacing was going really well. a contemporary romance book pushing nearly 600 pages will often ring as a red flag for me, but the more I read on, the more I was sure I wouldn't get bored. I absolutely love when heavier topics are involved in the books I read, and this one truly was no exception. I think all topics discussed were discussed in very transparent and impactful ways.

shortly after the 50% mark, however, I became bored. very quickly. it felt like the exact same things were happening, any previous story progression was suddenly stunted and let me tell you, that was not what my reading slump needed. my boredom unfortunately dragged on for quite a long time and I began to struggle to really want to pick up the book. another thing that threw me way off was how fast the mmc moved in with the fmc... I'm talking it only took a few weeks for it to happen after just meeting for the first time. it was so unrealistic to me and unfortunately killed some of my excitement I had for their connection / relationship.

honestly though, even with the downsides I experienced in this book, the good does outweigh the bad. I can't forget how much I related to certain parts of these characters and the book, or how invested I was in their well-being at various points either. and of course I must give bonus points for that ending. it was adorable.

⋆˙⟡ 💚 charactersˎˊ˗

⚾️ .ᐟ daniel garcia.
danny is one of few characters that I have read about and have felt the level of understanding and connection towards him that I did. many of the things he did, the choices he made, the ways he acted, I felt that I understood his reasonings in every possible way and resonated with him an immense amount. I think he is such a sweet, adorable and beautiful man. it physically pained me to hear and see some of the things he had to go through yet still tried to be that shoulder for everyone else. e. salvador didn't make one mistake with this boy right here.

👙 .ᐟ josefine resendiz.
another complex yet beautifully written character. there is so much to be admired about josie; from the way she carries herself, despite everything she's gone through, to the way she doesn't take any shit from anyone, she is the coolest girl and I thoroughly loved her. it made incredibly happy to watch her growth and see her finally allow people into her life and slowly open up to them. I sympathized for her so much, and I really just wanted her to see her own strength and worth the entire time.

💛 .ᐟ daniel + josefine.
such a power couple, my god. despite moving too fast in some ways, I found that their actual relationship was such a beautiful and exciting slow-burn. danny immediately made it his life's mission to be there for josie and josie couldn't help but melt a little more with each of his gestures (and I can't blame her, he is actually the cutest!). I loved both the small and big ways that these two helped each other, I loved their quickly formed partner-in-crime (literally) connection and I loved how each of their love languages really shone through in everything they did for each other.

⋆˙⟡ 🌼 overallˎˊ˗
the characters in this book are what really carries my overall rating and I am so excited for the next book in this series because I am eager as hell to get to know some of these side characters even better. this was a good book, it really was, but don't be like me and go into it expecting it to be the best thing in the world because it does have moments that feel dragged out and unnecessary. overall though, I strongly recommend this book.

⋆˙⟡ 💌 more quotes I lovedˎˊ˗

“he’s only staring at me like i’m everything he’s prayed for. ”

“if you let me in, i’ll hold a flashlight, and we’ll find a way out together.”

“it’s crazy how something cataclysmic can make you physically feel like the world has stopped moving, but the reality is that it’s only you who stopped.”

"maybe she wants to purposely stay in the shadows because she thinks that’s where she belongs, but that would never work for her because I see her. I can’t point out one singular thing that stands out because there isn’t just one—it’s her whole. she is light, a blinding color that’s hard to ignore. like a lighthouse guiding you home."

"there’s hardly any light filtering through, and I know the moment it gets pitch black, I won’t be able to shut down the ugly thoughts still lurking in the back of my head."

"impending doom is what i’ve been feeling recently. I know why and I wish I could make it go away. I wish I could shut my brain off from the memory, but I can’t."

"you don’t think i’m done, do you? remember, this is all about you right now. i’m going to help you get cleaned up and then i’m going to feed you and we’ll watch a movie.” 

"because, Josefine, you’ve rewired the way I feel touch. touching anyone that isn’t you feels overwhelming and so wrong. it’s like my brain can’t process that it’s not you. I don’t know how to make sense of that but I don’t want to touch anyone that isn’t you. you’re incomparable. and no, I haven’t touched anyone to find that out. I just know. I can’t and won’t touch anyone that isn’t you. does that answer your question? can you answer mine now?”

"well, now she’s your ex and one day she’ll be my wife. she moved on; it’s time you do too"

[₊ ˚ ale ࿓ ♡ ⋆｡˚ · Rating 0.5 out of 5]

‎ ‎ ⌗‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ── ⚾🐈‍⬛ᝰ .ᐟ read.
no bc i will let this book go. this book and happy place are my villain origin story
RTC

‎ ‎ ⌗‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ── ⚾🐈‍⬛ᝰ .ᐟ pre-read.
i've been wanting to read this one for a while now, and i have the opportunity to do a buddy reading with my beautiful nerlie, happiest reading, baby girl!

[bookluvr (s-ia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

gaaaaah i loved this so much - danny and josie have my whole heart, please! *cries* this is genuinely the first book in a minute that had me shedding some tears while reading - i was a snotty mess in the last stretch 😭 now, the writing wasn’t without some flaws but this is one of those cases where story and characters >>> perfect writing. i was pulled in by the first few chapters and how josie and danny first meet - and i continued to stay invested and immersed in the progression of their relationship, their individual arcs, the friendships and everything else that was going on.

josie was the perfect black cat. i find that a lot of times, fmcs with this characterization can be portrayed as overly argumentative and obstinate for no logical or a poorly documented reason, or just because - and then they come off as rude and harsh while the book tries to sell this as “grumpy”. also, sometimes a “grumpy” character in a contemporary romance is horrible to people in the book and the author tries to excuse or explain away their behaviour in the writing by trying to pin this on the fact that the person is suffering from unaddressed trauma. with great relief, i can say that none of this happened in here and josie’s characterization fell into neither of these situations. she was withdrawn and not sunshiney but her standoff-ish nature was well motivated by her dealing with complicated grief and having a hard time trusting people after bad experiences in the past, but she wasn’t taking this out on people or behaving very poorly because of this. watching her slowly open up, bloom and find happiness over the course of the story as the right people find their way to her and she gradually lets them in and builds that trust with them was just sooooo 🥹. the writing also made it feel organic in its pacing and did a really great job at humanizing her. she was just someone i was rooting for so bad! i loved her dry sense of humour, her resilience, her spirit, and i found her to be written in a way that was incredibly relatable.

daniel jesus garcia…WHAT A MAN. i just KNOW he went to the isaiah rhodes school for DOWN-BAD-obsessed-acts-of-service-backwards-cap-wearing-sad-boy-golden-retriever baseball players. this man 😭 he was just so sweet and goofy and funny and so incredibly loving - the perfect book boyfriend istg. and he knew how to throw down and was sexy as fuck 🤪 his acts of service, his little post-its that he kept leaving josie to remind her that someone is glad she’s here, she’s alive, she’s loved, his gifts and cards, just his general attentiveness, respect for consent and gentle nature - it was all so endearing and attractive. this man was so obsessed he ran to her house to bring her a rhinestone that fell off from her make up at a party just to have an excuse to see her again AND he kept said rhinestone in his wallet afterwards 🥹 GIVE ME MORE PATHETIC MEN LIKE THIS. and then… 😭😭 i just wanted to give him the biggest hug. he was also going through a lot and needed someone to do the same for him as he did for others and remind HIM of the things he reminded josie of every day. this man has my whole heart y’all.

together, josie and danny had fantastic chemistry, they were so sweet and cute and cozy together, they had the perfect balance of mutual hurt / comfort, there was yearning, there was angst…and they were HOT. listen, the spice in this book had me running laps lol. i really appreciated the pace of their relationship development because the burn was slow. yes, there is an insta connection but it’s written in a way that makes sense and i wouldn’t categorize it as insta-lusty per se. their connection also gets fleshed out and deepened really well over the course of the story. mutual attraction does become apparent to reader pretty early, but the transition from friends to more felt appropriately gradual to me and the spice only hits much deeper into the book. since the book is long, that means you’re waiting just shy of 300 pages for that first kiss and grind, even longer for something more to happen and i was satisfied by the pace and the anticipation it inspired and built up as i was waiting for the tension to break…and listen…when it does break and that spice hits, it did NOT disappoint. these two were sexy as hell and the spice was quite explosive (more so than i was expecting - this is my first book by this author so i had no reference). like with most books, i really only enjoy the spice when two things are present: it’s written to my liking (language used, level of detail, nothing cringey, vibes, etc) AND when i believe in and have been enjoying the chemistry and build-up between the characters before the spice hits - and this book satisfied both, so it was all *chef’s kiss*. the balance between sex / lust and emotional connection / actual ROMANCE was done to my liking as well - the latter was not forsaken for a disproportionate focus on the former. more than anything though, i was deeply invested in wanting to see them be happy and ok individually and together - and if a story can get me to care about the two mcs and their relationship to elicit that response from me, then the book did what it needed to do.

i loved the way mental health, anxiety, depression and grief were represented in this story - and both characters had rich arcs and development over the course of the book. i also appreciated the message that while positive romantic love can be transformative and healing, sometimes it can’t be the sole thing to heal you if you are in the worst of places - it can be a motivator and a positive influence on your life, as well as reinforce that you have support and care, but you also need to address your own mental health to find well-rounded happiness, be the best version of yourself that you can be for yourself and for your loved ones, and that it’s ok (and essential really) to get external help if you can / if it’s available to you. sometimes in romance books, one of the mcs is in a bad place and they fall in love over the course of the book and that ends up being the sole explanation for how this person has a personal hea, but i appreciated that in this book, there was a little bit more to it, and the writing handled the individual journeys of both josie and danny in the way that i would have wanted them to be handled by the end, by balancing love and treatment. also, the third act in this book (and subsequent resolution) both felt appropriate and neither of the main characters’ actions made me want to slap someone upside THEIR head or shake MY head at their (or the author’s) tomfoolery, which is a great feat - as a lot of third acts do tend to make me feel either way.

i really enjoyed the side characters in this as well - the friends added a lot of fun and humour to the story and i love the little found family they had going on (which i’m looking forward to seeing more of in future books). usually with sports romances, and even more so with college ones, the group of male friends / teammates linked to the mmc tends to give me the ick because of how writers often depict how they talk about girls / women, their overinflated egos and a ton of bro nonsense that i don’t care about, but that ick never came up for me in here - i really liked these guys, they were a fun bunch! and the girl gang with vi and pen was so endearing and i loved how they gave josie a safe space to land when she hadn’t had quality female friendships before them. all these friendships really shone for me in the last stretch of the book the most 🥹 i can’t wait for future installments in the series. i can tell the second book is probably going to be angel x pen, but i also really want a book for noah and for vi (not necessarily those two together but i DO need love stories for both)!

as someone who doesn’t typically like sports romances, i found the sport balance in here to be to my liking as well - it wasn’t too overpowering. i’m also starting to realize that baseball (while i don’t understand much) is a sport i find quite pleasant in romance books compared to some of the usual suspects (hockey, american football, etc).

now, the book is loooooooong, and this may be where it loses some people, but i ate up all near 600 pages of this! i don’t have an issue with long books if i’m enjoying what’s going on and they, more often, lead to pacing i’m more comfortable with than in shorter romances (where kisses and spice are already cropping up < 100-150 pages in, which can sometimes feel too fast for me). i do think there were some things that could have been edited a bit better and perhaps led to some pages coming off the final product, but i wasn’t put off by the length overall. and as i said, the writing wasn’t always perfect. it could have been smoother and a little more finessed. there were lots of closely repeated words / phrases (which is something that typically makes my eye twitch and causes me to rate a book down), there were a few spelling errors / a word missing in a sentence here and there (i read this on ku so maybe this isn’t an issue in the physical copy), some sentences that could have been structured a bit better and there was a touch of over-explaining things that needn’t have been and some redundancies, but the writing had a lot of heart, emotion and a well-documented connection, even if it wasn’t always immaculate from a technical standpoint - and sometimes, the former is just that more important. i really fell so hard for these characters and this story.

oh, and also - HELLO - the cover of this book is gorgeous. i may need to buy the physical because i need this on my shelf!!!

[lena ♡⸝⸝ · Rating 3 out of 5]

the more that i think about this book…the more i dislike it. now don’t get me wrong, i still enjoyed it. thats why, right now, it’s sitting at at three point seven five for me. but unfortunately, after having slept on it and now writing this review - more flaws are piling up that are hard to ignore. gah. i wanted to love this book so bad, i was ready for this to be in my god tier & for danny to enter my top 10 book boyfriends. but that didn’t happen, obviously. lol.

“i’m so happy you’re here.”
and i’m so happy that im done reading about your corny ass one liners. thank you very much. 🌚

apart from the fact that i felt like i was having déjà vu when reading this book because the scenes were that repetitive - the writing was painfully average. not that i was expecting some shakespeare or fyodor dostoevsky but this felt repetitive, choppy, and overall poorly written. i will say, the chapters that flashed between josies pov and danny’s pov were amusing to read about. chapter 27 was my favourite of the entire book; lmao.

the pacing of the first half were really good. we immediately jumped into the plot and romance without any distractions and i was highly amused by pen and vi + josies and danny’s banter. even though no one was addressing what happened in chapter one, i assumed someone would say something about it relatively soon. that didn’t happen. anyways, i was really enjoying basically everything and the pace flowed perfectly. it genuinely didn’t feel like i had read 300 pages in three hours!!!!!!

then the fifty percent mark hit. we still hadn’t addressed anything: and the romance was blossoming to them basically having a “friends with benefits” relationship. they would swim. fuck. make lunch together. swim. fuck. go to class. make lunch together. swim. fuck. fuck again - until it felt like i was reading the same thing over and over again for over 150 pages!!! there was NOTHING happening for over 25 percent, and i contemplated DNF’ing at that point. but i decided to stick around to see how everything unravels and how it would conclude. well the elephant in the room wasn’t addressed until the last three chapters. no. joke.

(spoiler: the elephant being that josie and danny met because josie was going to jump off a building.)

if every time i got a penny when the third act breakup could’ve been avoided if the two main characters had a talk with no miscommunication or trying to hide their feelings, i would be a millionaire. genuinely the dumbest break up ever, but also, not really because the relationship that they had formed was so borderline codependent that i was happy that josie could get the fuck out of there.

JESUS MOTHER AND THE DONKEY I REBUKE I REBUKE THIS !!!!!!!

please god never let any man like danny garcia come five meters from me. ew. i don’t let no man think he can control me or #saveme because i will save myself, bitch. why did this man act like a controlling freak towards josie?? oh my god yall met five fucking days ago and you decided it was okay to move in with her??! what the fuck is his issue. the fact that you’re a broke ass motherfucker??? and she has more money than you??? get the fuck out of here you gold digger before i whoop your ass with my tabis. an emotionally vulnerable women that youre taking advantage of, by the way. this man was so perfect; so “book boyfriend” coded (🥸🤢) that it felt unrealistic and overbearing.

“i’m so happy you here”
and i’m so happy she dumped your goofy ass.

oh my god spare me from your pity story that you only bring up so that josie can get back with you. the breakup could’ve been avoided if you didn’t force her to vent to you: EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF EVERY SINGLE DAY. when she asked YOU if YOU were okay and to talk about your feelings after you forced her to talk about hers : YOU could’ve said YES but YOU said NO. so no unfortunately i don’t give a singular, minuscule, molecule FUCK about your dead brother. hope this helps. and never bring up your threesome in front of josie again or i’ll beat your fucking ass.

josie. my baby angel who carried this book and who has never done anything wrong in her entire life. please dump your annoying ass man and run to me. i swear i’ll buy you even more flowers than he does 😁🌟 as a fellow neurodivergent girlie who understands that people will probably never comprehend why we randomly shut down, i’ve also been called wednesday 😭 (i haven’t recovered.) so were in this together sista. it had been such a long time since i’ve related to a female character as much as i related to josie. she has now joined my “lena’s god tier fmc club!!!!!” and you might notice a pattern. spoiler; they are all mean. lizzie young, silver queens, rose calloway, sage donahue, josie ANGEL BABY 😭😭 & ava nash are all in my elite club that NO man will ever be able to join. i’m getting emotional just thinking about them. the mental health representation was perfectly done (for josie.) i shed a tear or two (only for josie.) basically i finished this book (for josie.)

anyways, vi, pen and josie carried the book so fucking hard that at this point all of their backs are shattered.

speaking of side characters : noah, kai, gray and angel were all so cute and respectful. so excited for their books because they were giving more than dan*el. and the crumbs we were getting of angel and pen 🙈👀 i’m saaaaatt (even though we don’t have a release date, lol.)

PLEASE GOD NEVER LET ME READ ABOUT ANOTHER CODEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP EVER AGAIN!!!!!!

“i’m so happy you’re here”
and i’m so happy that i’m done with this book.

good bye

[har. (catching up!!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

┆ ⤿ 🌊 ⌗ started: april 9, finished: april 24

4 stars 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
⤿ review with some spoilers.

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ note. 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
before you read this, please read the trigger warnings. mentions of su!cide, grief, selfharm, abuse, death and more. please know you're also not alone. you deserve to be here.

I was high, not on drugs but on Josie. She just makes me feel alive and on top of the world. It’s like she injected herself in my veins and all I feel is euphoria rushing through my body.

read this with my best friend mads! i love you forever! thank you for reading this with me and crying together!! 💌⭐️💗

tropes: ⋆˚࿔
.ᐟ sports romance
.ᐟ roommates
.ᐟ grumpy girl x sunshine boy
.ᐟ friends to lovers
.ᐟ mental health rep

thoughts: ⋆˚࿔
please don’t go absolutely wrecked me in the best way possible. i had to put this book down multiple times because of how heavy, yet beautiful, it was. from the very first chapter, i was already tearing up without even realizing it. the story pulls you straight into grief, loneliness, and that quiet, painful search for a reason to keep going.

i felt so emotionally connected to both josefine and daniel that everything they went through felt amplified. salvador did such an incredible job making mental health the core of the story while still delivering a romance that feels raw and real. the character development was so well done, both mc’s were given equal depth, and their struggles felt genuine.

their connection wasn’t perfect or easy, but that’s what made it so special. watching them slowly open up, face their grief, and find comfort in each other was so emotional and beautifully written. this book hurts, heals, and stays with you long after you finish 🥹

i took the one star off because of how i felt like it was dragging at certain rates. i'm not particularly a fan of romance books that are 500+ pages and i felt like at points i just wanted more to happen. but other than that, everything was perfect.

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ characters 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹

josefine resendiz: ⋆˚࿔
her story was so heartbreaking. from the very beginning, all i wanted was to hug her and remind her that she deserves to live, that she deserves to stay. the way she carried so much grief and confusion, not knowing how to feel or even understand her own emotions, made it hurt even more. she deserved to be loved in the way she needed, even if that love didn’t come from her mom. watching her slowly try to make sense of everything, even when it felt impossible, just completely shattered me. i was so glad she was able to meet daniel, vi and penelope because they were able to show her that she belongs. hell, even angel was able to show that too even after their breakup. i'm so glad she was able to open when she needed to and she had the support she deserved.

daniel garcia: ⋆˚࿔
i honestly have no words for him. from the outside, daniel is sweet, outgoing, and so easy to love, but on the inside, he’s fighting battles no one can see. carrying grief, guilt, and thoughts he keeps hidden behind a smile. it hurt so much to see how he masked everything so well, how no one really knew what he was going through. he felt like he had to be okay for everyone else, even when he was quietly breaking. and again, i'm so glad he found josie, who helped him realise that he's not alone and that he can talk about his feelings. however, the third act breakup was something that broke me. mainly because i hate that trope so much but also because his reaction broke me.

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ quotes 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹
“I don’t want you to feel like you need to make yourself cheerful or useful in order to be around me. I just want you to be you. And if you need someone to talk to, vent to, someone who will just listen, I’m here.” Her brown eyes level with mine as she says that. “But if you don’t, that’s okay, too.”

“You know, I see you. You can act like whatever you feel doesn’t matter, but it does.”

“It was for you. The price didn’t matter. I figured they’d be worth it.” He pauses and this time I feel his eyes on me. “I hope they were. Were they worth it?”

“I didn’t do this because I expect something from you. I did this because I wanted to. It’s Valentine’s Day and well, what can I say, I love a good holiday.”

“Was it for me and she made me happy. She made me feel so good, I looked forward to a future with her. I wasn’t thinking about Adrian and the future he wouldn’t get to have. How selfish is that? He died because of me, and I was happy planning my future with her?” I close my eyes, focusing on the rapid beat of his heart. “I’m not okay, and I’m tired of pretending like I am. I don’t want to feel like this anymore, but I don’t know how to not feel…empty.”

[Rebekah · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think this book had potential but just wasn’t written very well? truly the sentence formatting in a lot of the book was just not good 🫠 Phrases were repeated over and over to make the point instead of implying the point 😔 did not love this 1.5/5

[destiny ✿ · Rating 2 out of 5]

does it make me a bad person if i found this book to be too corny 😭😭😭 like ok yes good message but come on this was very much insta-love to the max

[Brianna]

౨ৎ 𝐒𝐎𝐅𝐓 𝐃𝐍𝐅 @ 24 %

I really wanted to continue with this book, but I feel like I’d love it more than I am if I was reading it at a different time. Right now it’s just not hitting for me for some reason, like it’s entertaining yet I feel no connection to the story like I want to. I think this is just putting me in a reading slump but trust me when I say I’ll pick this book back up at some point 🤞

[꒰ა laila s.ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally wrote the review guys😅

6⭐️
OMGGG this was everything I expected it to be and more, genuinely has become one of my fav books and it is 100% god tier. The black cat gf x golden retriever bf ATE as well not my fav trop3 ever but I loved it in this - Josie and Daniel are EVERYTHING and I need the next book in the series, this is THE ultimate sports romance this has actually become one of my fav books ever.

This was a tad insta luvvy but tbh I am SO here for it! The first scene literally broke my heart I lovelovelove the mental health rep smm. Danny and Josie constantly being there for each other was so healing and their friendship was already the cutest so the romance was EVERYTHING. The smut was surprisingly really well written and some of the best I’ve read in a while . It moved at a really good pace and even though it was already like 500 pages I literally didn’t want it to end!

OMDZ this man was SO fucking fine you don’t even understand. Like he is one of my top book bfs for sure. The way he was there for her the whole time even when he was struggling himself. Omgg and the way this man was so pathetically down BAD like he literally worshipped the ground she walked on.
He whimpered, he BEGGED and the mouth on him?!🤭
Guys take notes because THIS is the standard. Ugh Danny Garcia has my heart!!

Josie is SO Lizzie young coded like I actually cant. Ugh you don’t even understand I just love them together sm like MY BABIESSS THEY ARE LITERALLY EVERYTHING

Anyway this is one of my fav books ever and if your looking for a contemporary romance that’s a bit heavy but will CONSUME you read this



⚾💛🥽 Pre read 🥽💛⚾

⤷ 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦: 𝟣𝟧𝘵𝘩 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 ✧

i need something new to obsess over and i have a feeling this is going to be it - like this is looking like it might be god tier, im exciteddd
im not usually the biggest fan of golden retriever mmcs but i hear daniel garcia is changing peoples minds🤭 also can we take a sec to appreciate this cover? like its so gorgeous im obsessed with the character art (why is daniel kinda fine is what im trying to say)

[maddi ⋆˚ᨳଓ.⋆ (semi-ia)]

⋆˚𖤓˖°┆ 𝑝𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑 .ᐟ ₊ 🌻 ⊹

to anyone wondering, 'gosh, does this girl sleep?' no. like i literally don't it's past 1am rn 😭 the cover is obviously stunning and i'm hoping this will keep up the streak of good spring vibes and reads and wreck me just enough!! 🤗 @laila this is for u my favie <3

[madi · Rating 4 out of 5]

⋆˙⟡ — 4.5 stars
⤷⊹ started: april 9th, finished: april 24th
𐙚 spoiler-free review ♡

♡ ⋆｡˚ thoughts
wow… this book genuinely broke my heart so much 😭 listen, when i started reading this book, i did not expect to cry in the first 2 chapters. like not even little tears, i was full-on sobbing because of josie ☹️ i don’t think you guys understand how much these characters now mean to me. trust me when i say everyone needs to read this book because omg 🥹 the only thing i have to “complain” about is that certain parts of the book did drag a little, BUT it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be. sometimes with long books they end up dragging forever, but with this one it really wasn’t that bad (to me at least).

♡ ⋆｡˚ characters

♡ ⋆｡˚ josefine resendiz
i loved this girl so much omg. from the very first page she had me crying so much when we were seeing what was going to happen if danny hadn’t shown up. i wanted to give this girl the biggest hug throughout this book because the things she went through were so heartbreaking ☹️ this girl deserves all the love in the world, and i’m so glad that she was able to get that from danny and her friends vi and penelope 🥹i was sooo glad when we finally got to see her opening up to them and allowing them to support her when she needed it most.

♡ ⋆｡˚ daniel garcia
this man broke my heart too omg 😭 we couldn’t fully see it because of how he portrays himself, but he was battling so many fights on the inside and i hate that he felt like he couldn’t let them out. anytime a character feels the need to hide their pain my heart always breaks because of course you never want someone to feel that way ☹️ i’m just so thankful that he was able to find josie because she really helped him realize that she would always be there for him and that he never has to go through anything alone.

♡ ⋆｡˚ daniel + josefine
UGH these two man 😩 they were so freaking hot bro like 🤤 their chemistry and tension was just everything to me and it made the book so much more fun 🤭 now let me say, that third act breakup BROKE me. when i say i wasn’t expecting that at all?! like when it hit, i literally went insane. and the amount of tears that i shed during that time 💔 i’m just so glad that they were able to find their way back to each other 😌

♡ ⋆｡˚ final thoughts
this book was so painful, but it really made me realize that i enjoy books that can rip my heart out and then put it right back together. if you’ve been thinking about picking up this book please do!! i hope it doesn’t let you down 🤭

₊˚ ‿︵‿︵‿︵୨୧ · · ♡ · · ୨୧‿︵‿︵‿︵ ˚₊
— ⋆˙⟡ pre-read 𓂃˖ ࣪⊹

i’ve been hearing AMAZING things about this book, so obviously i had to check it out 😋 especially because yoanna loved this and people compared the mmc to isaiah rhodes?! 🤭 and ofc i’m reading this with my best friend har!! ilysm and i can’t wait to read this with you 🥹💗

[ᨳଓ clementine · Rating 5 out of 5]

some stories break your heart. others remind you why it’s worth putting it back together. ♡

꒰ა characters ໒꒱

i genuinely don’t know what i’m supposed to do with myself now that i’ve finished this book because how am i meant to just go about my day knowing that josefine and daniel garcia are fictional people who don’t know i exist?! 😭 i went into please don’t go expecting to enjoy it, but i wasn’t prepared for the way these two would worm their way into my heart and make themselves at home. somewhere between the heartbreak, the laughter, the yearning and the moments that had me staring at my book like i’d personally been attacked, i became ridiculously attached. and now i’m left with that very specific kind of book hangover where you want to immediately recommend the book to everyone, reread your favourite scenes and somehow find a way to experience the entire story for the first time all over again. five stars, two precious fictional humans, and one very emotionally compromised reader. 🥹♡

josie, my sweet, sweet girl. there was something about her character that made me want to wrap her up in the softest blanket, put her favourite things within reach and remind her that she deserves to be here just as much as anybody else. she’s guarded, a little prickly and not exactly the sort of person who lets people wander into her life without a second thought, but i never found myself wanting her to become somebody else. i wanted her to feel safe enough to be herself. her grief and the things she’d experienced had changed the way she saw the world, and you could feel how difficult it was for her to trust that anything good could actually last. what hurt most was seeing how easily that pain could convince her that she wasn’t deserving of happiness. she wasn’t simply waiting for a man to come along and fix her life; she was a girl trying to find her footing again when so much of what she’d known had fallen apart. and watching her slowly begin to believe in the possibility of something better was genuinely beautiful. she didn’t need to become easier to love. she needed to discover that she’d always been worthy of it. 😭

i also adored the little things that made josie feel like josie. her dry humour, her attitude, the way she could be stubborn without losing the vulnerability underneath it all. i love a black cat fmc, but what makes one work for me is being able to understand the person behind the walls, and i felt that here. her guarded nature wasn’t just a personality trait thrown in to make the romance interesting; it was part of the way she’d learned to protect herself. and the more she allowed herself to connect with the people around her, the more i found myself falling in love with her character. i wanted her to experience friendship without fear, love without constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop, and happiness without feeling guilty for having it. i wanted her to have those ordinary, quiet moments where she could simply exist without everything hurting quite so much. my girl deserved so much softness, and i was rooting for her with my WHOLE CHEST.

and then we have daniel. jesus. garcia. ୨୧

i fear this man has permanently altered my brain chemistry because WHAT DO YOU MEAN i’m supposed to go back to reading about fictional men who don’t know how to communicate when danny garcia is RIGHT THERE?! 😭🫶🏻 this man is affectionate, attentive, funny, thoughtful and so wonderfully devoted that i genuinely wanted to climb into the pages and steal him. he has that lovely combination of playful golden retriever energy and a much more complicated inner world, which made him so much more than just the sweet baseball boy who falls for the grumpy girl. the way he shows affection through the smallest things absolutely got me. he notices. he remembers. he makes an effort. he finds ways to let the people he loves know that they matter, even when he doesn’t necessarily have the right words for everything he’s feeling himself. and i LOVE a man whose devotion can be seen in the things he does when nobody is making him do them. romance is lovely, but a man who pays attention? oh, i’m listening. 🤭♡

what made danny even more special was the contrast between how much warmth he gives to others and how much he struggles to make space for his own pain. there’s something heartbreaking about watching a person become so accustomed to being the one who shows up that they forget they’re allowed to need somebody, too. he has his own fears and grief to navigate, and yet there’s this constant desire to make life a little gentler for josie. i loved his tenderness, his humour and the way he could be so openly gone for her, but i also wanted him to understand that he didn’t have to keep everything together all the time. he deserved the same patience he offered her. the same reassurance. the same reminder that he didn’t have to earn love by being useful, strong or endlessly available to everybody else. somebody please give this boy a hug, a nap and approximately a thousand reminders that he is loved. because i simply cannot cope with him. 😭♡

꒰ა the romance ໒꒱

josie and danny together… oh, i’m SICK. actually unwell. somebody needs to come and collect me because these two had me smiling at my book like an absolute idiot. 😭♡ their dynamic was everything i wanted it to be: the guarded girl who doesn’t let people close easily and the affectionate boy who makes it feel a little less frightening to be known. they have such different ways of approaching the world, but there was something so natural about the way they gravitated towards each other. i loved that their connection wasn’t built on attraction alone. there was genuine friendship, humour, curiosity and that lovely feeling of two people gradually discovering that the person in front of them understands more than they expected. they could make each other laugh, give each other room to breathe and create little moments of happiness even when the bigger picture felt overwhelming. they didn’t just want each other. they made sense to each other. and that is always what makes me fall hardest. 🥹

THE YEAR NING, THOUGH. THE PINING. THE WAY I WAS JUST WAITING FOR THESE TWO TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING BETWEEN THEM. ୨୧ ♡ i love a romance that understands the importance of anticipation, where every little interaction adds another layer to the connection and you can feel the characters getting closer long before they’re ready to say it out loud. with josie and danny, i loved the gradual shift from friendship into something more, because their feelings had room to develop alongside their trust in each other. it wasn’t just about the excitement of falling for somebody; it was about realising that this person had become important to you in ways you hadn’t planned for. the tiny moments, the teasing, the almosts, the tenderness that sneaks up on you when you least expect it… PLEASE. i was living for all of it. i wanted to shake them both and tell them to get together, but i also wanted to savour every single page of the journey. give me the slow burn, give me the longing, give me the almost-kiss that has me kicking my feet. i am BEGGING. 😭

and when the tension finally gets its moment? HELLOOOOO. 🤭♡ i was not prepared for just how much heat these two would bring to the table, and i will not be taking questions at this time. the chemistry was already there, simmering away beneath all those little moments of closeness, so when things finally shifted into something more intimate, it felt like a natural extension of everything they’d been building. i loved that the physical side of their relationship had tenderness and emotion alongside the attraction. their connection wasn’t suddenly reduced to the spicy scenes, because there was still so much affection and vulnerability woven through it all. and yes, i absolutely enjoyed the heat, thank you very much, but what made it work for me was caring about them as a couple before we ever got there. the chemistry caught my attention. the emotional connection made me stay. ♡

also, the black cat girlfriend x golden retriever boyfriend dynamic deserves a little standing ovation because i am NEVER beating the allegations. 😭 give me the affectionate man who thinks his girl is the most wonderful person alive, even when she’s being a little difficult. give me the woman who slowly discovers that somebody can love her without asking her to sand down all her edges first. give me the man who delights in making her smile and the girl who makes him feel seen in ways he didn’t even realise he needed. i love that josie doesn’t have to turn into a sunshiney, endlessly cheerful person to fit into danny’s life, and i love that his softness doesn’t make him any less complex. their differences are part of what makes their relationship work, but so is the way they learn to understand each other. he brings the sunshine; she brings the attitude; together, they bring me to my knees. respectfully, i need approximately seventeen more books with this dynamic. 🫶🏻

꒰ა the heartache & healing ໒꒱

what really made this book stand out for me was the way it handled the heavier parts of the story. underneath the romance is a very raw exploration of grief, depression, anxiety and the different ways people try to survive when life has left them feeling completely overwhelmed. these aren’t easy subjects, and there were moments when i had to pause and sit with what i’d just read because the emotions felt so painfully close to the surface. josie and danny carry different kinds of hurt, and i appreciated that the story allowed those experiences to shape them as individuals rather than treating them as background details that existed solely to make their relationship more dramatic. their struggles mattered independently of their romance, and so did their individual journeys towards finding a way forward. i didn’t just want them to fall in love. i wanted them to find some peace within themselves, too. i wanted them to know that being here was enough. 🥹

one of the things i appreciated most was that the story didn’t pretend love could magically make all the difficult things disappear. being loved can change so much about the way you experience the world, especially when you’ve spent a long time feeling alone, but it doesn’t mean that the hard days suddenly stop happening. sometimes love gives you the courage to ask for help. sometimes it reminds you that you have people who care about you when your own mind is telling you otherwise. sometimes it gives you a reason to believe that things can improve, even when you’re not quite sure how to get there yet. but healing is still a journey, and it can be complicated and uncomfortable and frustratingly slow. i loved that these characters were allowed to have their own work to do, rather than placing the entire responsibility for their happiness on the person they fell in love with. being someone’s safe place doesn’t mean you have to be their only source of healing. and i thought that was such an important message to weave into a romance.

there’s also something so moving about watching people learn that they don’t have to hide every difficult feeling to protect the people around them. when you’re used to dealing with things alone, letting somebody see you struggle can feel more frightening than simply pretending you’re fine. you don’t want to be a burden. you don’t want to worry anyone. you don’t want to admit that the person everybody thinks has it together might actually be having a really difficult time. and yet, those are often the moments when support matters most. i loved seeing that explored through both josie and danny, because neither of them is perfect at navigating their feelings, and neither of them has everything figured out. they’re human. they struggle. they make progress, and they have moments when things are difficult again. you can be a work in progress and still be somebody worth loving. that sentiment alone would have made this story meaningful to me, but seeing it reflected in the way their relationship develops made it hit even harder. 😭

and the final stretch… i am not looking at anybody. i am not answering questions. i am simply sitting here with my feelings and a very strong desire to wrap these characters in bubble wrap. 😭 the closer i got to the end, the more i realised how deeply invested i had become in their happiness. i wanted things to work out so badly that every difficult moment felt personal. i needed them to have the chance to breathe again. i needed them to see that the pain they’d been carrying didn’t have to be the whole story. and when everything finally began moving towards its resolution, i felt that enormous wave of relief that only happens when you’ve spent an entire book worrying about characters as if they’re your actual friends. their ending mattered because the journey mattered. they didn’t need a perfect life without sadness or setbacks; they deserved the opportunity to keep living, growing and loving each other beyond the pages we’d been given. i wanted them to have a future. i wanted them to have ordinary days. i wanted them to be okay. and apparently, that was all it took to absolutely ruin me. 🥹

꒰ა the friendships & found family ໒꒱

i will forever be a girl who loves a good found family, and this book gave me another reason to be completely insufferable about it. ♡ i loved that josie and danny had people around them who brought different kinds of warmth, humour and support into their lives. the friendships added so much to the atmosphere of the story, giving us lighter moments between the heavier scenes and making the world feel like it existed beyond the central romance. i especially loved the idea of josie gradually finding her place among people who genuinely wanted her there. there’s something so lovely about watching a character who has become accustomed to being alone discover that friendship doesn’t have to be complicated by fear or uncertainty. sometimes you can just be yourself, make a stupid joke, spend time with people who make you laugh and slowly realise that you’ve found somewhere you belong. girlhood, friendship and finding your people will ALWAYS get me. 🫶🏻

and danny’s friendships brought another lovely layer to the story, too. i enjoy seeing male friendships that have personality beyond the usual predictable sports-team antics, where the banter is fun but there’s genuine loyalty underneath it. the moments when people show up for each other without needing to make a grand announcement about it can be just as touching as the big emotional scenes. it made me happy to see that support existing around the characters, because nobody should have to rely on one person to meet every emotional need in their life. having a group of people who care about you in different ways is such a beautiful thing, and i loved that this story made room for those connections. naturally, i am now emotionally invested in the entire group and will be requiring additional appearances from everyone. this is no longer a request. 😭

and can we talk about how finishing a book and immediately wanting the next one is genuinely one of my favourite feelings? because i am SO ready to spend more time with these characters and see where the series goes next. i want the romances, the drama, the friendships, the little glimpses of everybody’s lives that make you feel like you’re catching up with old friends. i want to return to this world and have another excuse to become deeply attached to fictional people who will inevitably make me cry. apparently, i never learn. apparently, i have no self-preservation when it comes to books. one found family later and suddenly i’m emotionally committed to an entire fictional universe.

꒰ა a little honesty ໒꒱

although this was a five-star read for me, i can understand why the writing style might not be for everyone. there were moments when the prose could have been a little more polished, and i noticed some repetition and passages that could have been tightened up. the book is also a commitment in terms of length, so i can see how the pacing might feel different depending on what you usually enjoy in a romance. for me, though, the time spent with these characters was part of what made their relationship so satisfying. i wanted to understand them, to watch their connection develop and to have the space to experience their individual journeys alongside the romance. i wasn’t reading purely to reach the next big moment; i was invested in the quieter scenes, too. the book wasn’t technically perfect, but it gave me characters i cared about and emotions that stayed with me. and sometimes, when a story manages to make you feel that much, the little imperfections become easier to look past. my heart was far too busy getting attached to conduct a proper editorial assessment. 😭

also, the COVER. THE ACTUAL COVER. some books are pretty, and then some books make you want to rearrange your entire bookshelf to give them the perfect little spot. this one is absolutely giving the latter. i love when the aesthetic of a book becomes part of the experience, and i can already imagine how gorgeous it would look sitting on my shelves alongside my other favourites. add in the fact that i’ve become this attached to the story itself, and suddenly owning a physical copy feels less like a want and more like a completely reasonable life decision. please do not ask me to justify my book-buying habits. i am simply a girl who has feelings and a bookshelf that needs feeding. 🙂‍↕️

꒰ა final thoughts ໒꒱

i think the reason please don’t go worked so well for me is that it gave me so much more than a couple to root for. it gave me characters whose happiness genuinely mattered to me, a romance built around the gradual discovery of trust and a story that understood how complicated it can be to keep moving forward when you’re carrying grief. it reminded me that healing doesn’t mean becoming the person you were before something hurt you. sometimes it means learning who you are now, finding people who make the journey a little less lonely and discovering that there are still things worth looking forward to. it reminded me that love doesn’t have to be about rescuing somebody or making all their problems disappear. sometimes it’s about showing up, listening, being patient and helping somebody remember that they don’t have to face everything on their own. there is so much tenderness in being loved as the person you are, rather than the person you think you need to become. and that is what i’ll be taking away from this story.

ꕤ pre-reading thoughts ❦
a sunshine boy, a guarded heart, and a love story that promises to leave a little ache behind. ♡ going into this one hoping for soft moments, slow-burn feelings, characters to fall hopelessly in love with, and the kind of romance that makes you wish you could live inside the pages just a little longer.

[Seri ❤ (no sleep) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️ (rounded up!)
Danny "I'm so happy you're here" Garcia has my whole heart and soul! 🥹

Never have my brain and heart differed on a final rating quite so strongly! Realistically, this 100% deserves a 3-star rating, but… Danny Garcia. He's the literal picture-book ideal of a Golden Retriever MMC! I was squealing and kicking my feet over some of his lines!

"Because, Josephine, you've rewired the way I feel touch. Touching anyone that isn't you feels overwhelming and so wrong. It's like my brain can't process that it's not you."

Talking about superpowers, she mentions wanting invisibility. His response:

"You're going to have to pick something else. Because I don't think it's working. I see you, Jos."

Danny's kindness, his patience, and his constant positive energy managed to slowly bring out the light in someone who was prepared to end it all! ❤️‍🩹
On the topic of ending it all, HEAVY trigger warning for suicide and death/grief. If you are currently struggling with your mental health, suicide is a VERY prevalent topic in this book. Hell, the opening scene is Josephine (the FL) on a cliff about to kill herself before Danny shows up and talks her off! So proceed at your own discretion; no book is worth tanking your mental health over.

"Please, please, please don't go."

My BIGGEST problem with this book is that it could've EASILY been a minimum of 100 pages shorter! The storyline got VERY repetitive with a back-and-forth of "Well, people call me Wednesday and I'm so gloomy, so he can't want me!" and "I fake a smile and feel empty inside, so I don't deserve her." And then scene after scene of friends (on both sides) saying, "You two obviously like each other!" Yet both leads scoff and act like that's impossible because they're "just friends." When this repeats at least five different times PLUS two exes (one for each lead) that buzz in and out like angry mosquitoes… it gets old. Fast.

Long story short: The highlight for this book is its AMAZING ML and his unrelenting journey in helping the depressed FL. There are highs and lows for both characters, and their love definitely did feel believable by the end. If not for the repetitiveness and draggy middle, this would've been a new favorite.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Book for the ARC! All opinions are my own. 🩵