Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti (Indie published July 2023, Audio October 7, 2025) Thank you, @hachetteaudio for the free audiobook! This book is so wildly popular – like almost 50K reviews on Goodreads – so when it came out on audio, I knew it was a sign to indulge my curiosity. #hachetteaudioinfluencer
Daniella Daisy Maria and Levi Coldwell were childhood best friends. But has they grew up and navigated high school, Daisy began to realize that her feelings were much deeper than friendship. But she’s devastated when Levi doesn’t appear to feel the same and cuts off ties to save her fragile heart. Now it is 4 years later, she’s close to finishing college and runs into Levi for the first time at a crowded NYC bar. For a variety of reasons, Levi really needs to appear to have a girlfriend at his sister’s wedding and asks Daisy to be his fake girlfriend for everything wedding related. As she’s always had a hard time saying no to Levi, she agrees. Quickly she remembers their friendship and her desire for something more. And maybe this time, if they can be honest, they might have a future.
Ok, so this book is filled with frustrating miscommunication but hear me out – I feel like it actually really suits a YA novel about complicated first love feelings and messy truly young adult ways of managing emotions. This would definitely be a book for a YA age-range reader to explore if they are interested in the romance genre. It was cute, low stakes, and definitely over-the-top dramatic (which if I recall correctly, is a lot like my high school and college relationships!)
🎧 Audiobook Thoughts: (8h 13m) Stevi Incremona and Andrew Gibson nicely deliver performances that hit the sweet spot between juvenile and adult in a fitting YA performance!
Book: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
🎧 Audio performance: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
🔥 Spice: Closed Door
Book Smart Kate 