When I saw this on Netgalley I knew I had to request it, as it was up my alley. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes so I had a feeling I might like this, sadly that was not the case. The relationship between Luke and Layla was sweet, there were a lot of moments that gave me butterflies, but for some reason I never felt the chemistry between them. I think it was the lack of background story to go off from. Layla started to fall for Luke right when she first met him when he started working at the same publishing company, then three years later Luke fell for Layla. There was no backstory, as I was reading I kept wondering when did Luke see Layla differently? When did the people around Luke and Layla notice that there was something between them? The former was answered towards the last 50 pages and the latter was never really answered. A few chapters would have been helpful to help paint Luke and Layla’s dynamic. I was only rooting for them because one, it was clear from the beginning that they liked each other and two their friends and family have all rooted for them, I felt I had no choice but to root for them. 

Another thing that bothered me was Luke’s nickname for Layla. I mean seriously “little one?!?” Every time he called her that I can’t help but picture Layla as a kid rather than a woman in her early 20’s. Imagine having a sweet moment with your crush only for him to say “Little one, I will never be too busy for you……” or “Hey little one, what are you up to?” Am I five or a grown adult?!

I am not sure if this will be a series but there was a lot of information about some of the side characters. It got confusing at times. Looking back at it, I think there was more info about the side characters than the main.

This was 245 pages and yet it took me about a week to finish. I found myself not really trying to focus on the book towards the end. It was a lot of skimming through, I was just trying to finish the book. If this wasn’t an ARC I probably would have DNF'd. 

Although I did not love this, I encourage you to give it a chance should it peak your interest. Books are subjective, just because I didn’t love it, doesn’t mean you won’t either.