Both Gabby Cosette and Flynn O’Grady had been passed over for other people—Gabby because she’s the girl-next-door, the pretty but not gorgeous kind that men put in the friend zone, and Flynn because of his disability and his quiet nature. Yet they’re best friends, co-workers and simply people who rely so much on each other that entangling their lives beyond this risks the complete collapse of their friendship. But not rocking the boat isn’t an option anymore, when the small crush (Kelly Moran makes it clear it was never serious pining or secretly-in-love kind) Flynn has nursed but shoved deep into a box suddenly sparks a bigger flame.
I’m always wary about best friends-to-lovers romance, but I’m glad Moran has her characters addressing why the sudden change occurred—and of all times, why now? I wasn’t entirely too sure what sort of answer would have satisfied me though, to be honest, but I could frankly say that I liked how Gabby and Flynn themselves struggled with this and how the resulting tension that came out of it made for a delicious, smouldering build up of heat. The pacing lags a little as Gabby/Flynn transition from friends to more but I think Moran does show how perfect they are for each other through every up and down in their lives. I completely understood Gabby’s perceived insecurities about Flynn not wanting her ‘properly’, yet how tuned in she is to him—how considerate she when it comes to his deafness despite her inability to see how Flynn had crushed on her—won me over. It’s equally difficult not to feel for the deaf guy, who, while a quietly confident man on his own, does have several issues of his own to overcome with regard to his inability to hear.
‘Tracking You’ is quite an emotional, romantic read nonetheless; there’s the homely feel of the small-town romance and the sense that neighbourly interference is good-natured rather than malicious so when the couple in question finally get together, it’s with cheers and all the feels you can summon up.
*ARC by netgalley
(always grateful, mind)