Book Smart Kate

Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

by Jessica Joyce (July 16, 2024) – Thank you to @berkleyromance for the free digital copy of this book that grabbed my heart on the first page and never let go.

Georgia, Adam, and Eli became best friends in high school. Adam’s home became a refuge to both Georgia and Eli. Their summers spent working at Blue Yonder, Adam’s family winery, were where Georgia and Eli’s relationship began to transform from friends to lovers. After years together, many complexities drove them apart, with Eli in NYC and Georgia in San Fransisco. They promised their breakup wouldn’t destroy their friendship with Adam – and they’ve made Adam believe it by abiding by a set of rules that ensures they never get too close and never address the past. With Eli on the other side of the country and working 24/7, she only has to manage him in small doses – a holiday or a party at a time. But now, five years post-breakup, Adam is getting married. Everything about the wedding is going wrong, and with just over a week until the day, Georgia and Eli are tasked with heading to Blue Yonder to replan the wedding. Back where it all started, they are forced to reckon with the past, present, and all they’ve left unsaid for years.

The amount of palpable emotion, heartbreak, pining, and love Joyce infuses into this story is hard to describe. Her writing is gorgeous, breathing life into the complexity of Georgia & Eli’s relationship. The story is told from Georgia’s POV and in a single timeline, but through how the characters recall the past and how Joyce writes their actions, readers can feel all the characters in their messy, deeply relatable lives riddled with anxieties about careers, families, and friendship. I love that so much of this book is rooted in friendship and working to keep friendships alive. With the backdrop of Blue Yonder, Joyce infuses this story with tender hearts, aching regret, humor, hijinks, pining, passion, and so much love. I cannot wait for you to fall in love with this book.

(Also, if you love Taylor Swift fan, this book screams “You’re Losing Me” and “Paper Rings”)

What was your last 5-star read?