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- GenresRomance
352 pages, Paperback
Published September 4, 2025
5 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Mona Kasten
31 books9,366 followersMona Kasten wurde 1992 geboren und studierte Bibliotheks- und Informationsmanagement, bevor sie sich ganz dem Schreiben widmete. Sie lebt gemeinsam mit ihrem Mann und ihren Katzen sowie unendlich vielen Büchern in Hamburg, liebt Koffein in jeglicher Form, lange Waldspaziergänge und Tage, an denen sie nur schreiben kann.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 2, 2025
I may or may not be reviewing this on the wrong edition, considering how few reviews are out on this one. That said, this is the edition I read, and so here I am...
Shall we start again with the basics?
POV: First person
POV Character(s): Ruby Bell, James Beaufort, Ember Bell, Lydia Beaufort
Verb Tense: Present
Trigger Warnings: Teen pregnancy, displays of violence
Spice Level: low, passionate kisses only in this one
So, let's start with the beginning here: if you haven't read book 1, this will contain spoilers for the first book. You've been warned.
The first book ended with the reveal of both Lydia's pregnancy and the death of Cordelia Beaufort, both of which rocked the worlds of our protagonists. And it saw the beginning of James's descent into drinking himself stupid to avoid the pain of his mother's death and confronting his father's cruelty in hiding the fact.
I'll be honest, most of the time I hate when a book ends on a cliffhanger like book 1 did. But I was already expecting it due to having seen the first season of the TV show and especially because as I read, I realized the show had followed book 1 beat for beat. So it wasn't as awful as I expected, especially as I knew this book had already been released.
That said, if I were reading this under different circumstances, I'd likely have been ticked off at the cliffy in book 1.
Book 2 starts us in that dark place where book 1 left us, and we're immediately immersed back in Ruby's and James's world where the two are hitting all sorts of roadblocks to their burgeoning relationship. Ruby's depressed and in a rage at James for how he treated her when she visited him, but she doesn't have all the facts. And James? He's in an alcohol- and drug-fueled daze as he tries to forget what's happening in his life.
I liked that this book introduced the perspectives of both Ember and Lydia to the mix. Lydia always felt like she should have a bit more of a story to tell, given her relationship with Mr. Sutton and then the reveal of her hidden pregnancy. Her character feels so real, and the angst she experiences about not being able to take on the Beaufort family business because she's not a man is relatable.
Meanwhile we get Ember's POV, and she's just as much a delight as she was in the first book. Ember is 16 and admires Ruby's passion and discipline but also adores her older sister as a best friend. The sisters weren't always so close; it was after their dad's accident that they became closer and learned how to deal with his anger over losing his mobility. And it's so interesting to see how just one little line about their dad's former temper can speak volumes about what they might have dealt with while he was coming to terms with being stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Ember is your typical 16 year old. She loves fashion, boys, and blogging, and she wants to go into fashion design when she gets out of high school. But Ember's passion for fashion has come about because she's overweight, and her weight problems have pushed her to design clothes for overweight girls who have to deal with mainstream fashion's tendency to reduce oversized women to a "one-shape-fits-all" bucket, spending less to put out clothes that only flatter one shape of woman rather than actually offering things that work for different figures. Ember's really a sweet person, and I love her tenacity and drive to change the shape of fashion through her blogging and tailoring efforts.
I actually really loved this book. We got to know the characters so much better in this one. I know more about Cyril, Wren, and Ember than I did before. We even got more information about Lin and her background and motivations, and I just found her character to be so fun.
The book continues in the same traditions of this genre with continuing to throw more roadblocks at Ruby and James as they struggle to understand one another. It's really no surprise, either. The two have come from entirely different backgrounds, so there's bound to be misunderstandings and (un)timely reveals of secrets that serve to pull them apart.
The plot drives forward with this book and gives us more to think about. I enjoyed it and read it just as quickly as the first book. It was a great story. I'm glad I picked it up and can't wait to read the third book when it's out.
Shall we start again with the basics?
POV: First person
POV Character(s): Ruby Bell, James Beaufort, Ember Bell, Lydia Beaufort
Verb Tense: Present
Trigger Warnings: Teen pregnancy, displays of violence
Spice Level: low, passionate kisses only in this one
So, let's start with the beginning here: if you haven't read book 1, this will contain spoilers for the first book. You've been warned.
The first book ended with the reveal of both Lydia's pregnancy and the death of Cordelia Beaufort, both of which rocked the worlds of our protagonists. And it saw the beginning of James's descent into drinking himself stupid to avoid the pain of his mother's death and confronting his father's cruelty in hiding the fact.
I'll be honest, most of the time I hate when a book ends on a cliffhanger like book 1 did. But I was already expecting it due to having seen the first season of the TV show and especially because as I read, I realized the show had followed book 1 beat for beat. So it wasn't as awful as I expected, especially as I knew this book had already been released.
That said, if I were reading this under different circumstances, I'd likely have been ticked off at the cliffy in book 1.
Book 2 starts us in that dark place where book 1 left us, and we're immediately immersed back in Ruby's and James's world where the two are hitting all sorts of roadblocks to their burgeoning relationship. Ruby's depressed and in a rage at James for how he treated her when she visited him, but she doesn't have all the facts. And James? He's in an alcohol- and drug-fueled daze as he tries to forget what's happening in his life.
I liked that this book introduced the perspectives of both Ember and Lydia to the mix. Lydia always felt like she should have a bit more of a story to tell, given her relationship with Mr. Sutton and then the reveal of her hidden pregnancy. Her character feels so real, and the angst she experiences about not being able to take on the Beaufort family business because she's not a man is relatable.
Meanwhile we get Ember's POV, and she's just as much a delight as she was in the first book. Ember is 16 and admires Ruby's passion and discipline but also adores her older sister as a best friend. The sisters weren't always so close; it was after their dad's accident that they became closer and learned how to deal with his anger over losing his mobility. And it's so interesting to see how just one little line about their dad's former temper can speak volumes about what they might have dealt with while he was coming to terms with being stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
Ember is your typical 16 year old. She loves fashion, boys, and blogging, and she wants to go into fashion design when she gets out of high school. But Ember's passion for fashion has come about because she's overweight, and her weight problems have pushed her to design clothes for overweight girls who have to deal with mainstream fashion's tendency to reduce oversized women to a "one-shape-fits-all" bucket, spending less to put out clothes that only flatter one shape of woman rather than actually offering things that work for different figures. Ember's really a sweet person, and I love her tenacity and drive to change the shape of fashion through her blogging and tailoring efforts.
I actually really loved this book. We got to know the characters so much better in this one. I know more about Cyril, Wren, and Ember than I did before. We even got more information about Lin and her background and motivations, and I just found her character to be so fun.
The book continues in the same traditions of this genre with continuing to throw more roadblocks at Ruby and James as they struggle to understand one another. It's really no surprise, either. The two have come from entirely different backgrounds, so there's bound to be misunderstandings and (un)timely reveals of secrets that serve to pull them apart.
The plot drives forward with this book and gives us more to think about. I enjoyed it and read it just as quickly as the first book. It was a great story. I'm glad I picked it up and can't wait to read the third book when it's out.
November 13, 2025
loved the other POVs of characters. loved the drama
November 21, 2025
Hey! What the heck!
December 28, 2025
I like that the plot is different than the show and the tension between the two leads is just TOO good. Mindless romance but neither character is insufferable
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews