Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers for providing me with a copy of this egalley to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I really love Lynn Painter but I especially love this little series. The first book was so much fun. Enemies to friends to lovers, lots of romance, and just an all around good feeling book.

What I was not expecting was the heartache that came with this one. I had zero idea Painter was going to take it where she did and then make is a second chance romance. And, while I was praying for a wonderful HEA, I honestly wasn't sure I was going to even get it, even when I was nearing the end of the book! But Painter always comes through with her stories (love her adult fiction, as well) and I was graced with an ending that truly did this couple justice.

Wes has to be one of my favorite YA book boyfriends. I love his sense of humor. I love his commitment to family and friends, and I especially love his heart. His story for this book really got to me. His guilt over the tragedy that struck his family. His willingness to let it all go in order to support them. He carried such a burden in this book. You could feel it weighing him down, even after he kind of got things together and was giving himself a chance to grow.

Liz was very different in this book, definitely not the same girl we knew in book #1. Her thoughts on love and being a lover of love were totally different from the Liz we saw in the first book. She's totally jaded and has done a 180 in terms of where she stands with this. I know this was from dealing with the loss of Wes and what they had built together in high school but I wasn't expecting it to be such a tremendous turn around. She went from believing in romance to kicking it to the curb. Her turn around made me angry and very sad for her. There were times in the book I wanted to really give her a little smack upside the head and say "snap out of it!" I was very happy when she opened her heart to the potential of a second chance.

The pacing on this one was just as great as the first. I wanted to climb into the book and experience it from all sides and never put it down. I felt torn between the need to get to the ending as quickly as possible to see what happens and wanting to experience each scene and interaction with the the MMC and FMC in slow motion so it would not end.

The plot is definitely a figure out who you are, grow a little, and then go after what you really want type of flow. I had one plot hole that really was annoying to me. I don't want to spoil anything but I felt like the fake dating trope that was introduced was truly unnecessary and didn't really lend anything to the plot. Plus, it was never truly revealed to all in the long run so I'm not sure why it was even included.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this book. Painter continues to be on my list of must read authors whenever she publishes something. The characters are more mature, with bigger problems than high school kids, yet it was still kept on a level that YA lovers will understand and appreciate. I laughed, I cried, I held my breath, and I sighed. It took me through all the emotions and definitely had me shedding some tears at times.   I've done Painter's books in both print and audio for all of them and I cannot wait to listen to this one when it's released. Definitely a read it again book for me!