Buddy read with Amanda, Gaby, and Irena :)
I'm honestly not familiar with reading novellas so maybe I'm being overly judgemental about the lack of connection with the characters, lack of character development, and rushed romance that happened to drip with super saccharine dialogue/descriptions. I know I sound like Mr. Grinch, but Holly and Aiden knew each other for 6 months, fell in LOVE within a handful of DAYS, and decided on marriage and babies soon after. Idk, it's a choice. Another MAJOR con is that I didn't even recognize the mastermind behind all the attacks on Holly. Lol. I still have no idea when said mastermind previously appeared in the story. I guess brownie points for having an unpredictable plot twist? Idk, that was kind of a "yikes" moment for me. I also didn't like the perpetrator's comical monologue that was ALL telling, rather than showing. Idk, what can you expect from a novella that is only ~100 pages? Overall, despite my qualms, this wasn't terrible. Maybe Holly didn't have to be such a damsel in distress. Maybe we could've done without the religious prose. And maybe this mystery/thriller could've incited more group discussions, as the genre usually does. But this story was decent enough and many of us appreciated that it was fast-paced, relatively gripping, and action-packed. Anyway, onto the next read!