~ 4 stars for romance with great mental health rep~
Another new author to me, I loved the way Simone Monroe handled a sensitive topic like anxiety. As someone who has suffered with anxiety throughout their entire life, sometimes reading the description of characters with anxiety is rough. Normally, it is a very brief part of the story or done in a way that is not realistic. Reading the thoughts that went through Shaylee's mind when dealing with anxiety are super realistic! The negative thoughts the anxiety would manifest as are very realistic and made the story even more enjoyable. It was also realistic of how the anxiety was not magically cured, but was something she could manage and fight better and not let it over take her life.
Our main man Jason, whew, what a rough bit of time in his life up until meeting our friend Shaylee. Not only losing his bandmates but also getting dumped, our guy was going through it. A little case of mistaken identity to start the book, we get a second chance meeting when Jason and Shaylee are paired up to create a great song. I love that there was a slow burn aspect to their relationship and they truly built up a friendship before becoming romantic. They were both in a rough spot mentally when they met, but they learned how to support each other as they continued with their class.
Not going to lie, there were parts of the book that I thought I had figured out and I was actually wrong, which I love. Having a book too predictable can be boring at times, but Simone figured out a way to keep the reader in the dark while growing a romance which can be difficult. I also love how the drama with Shaylee's big secret was handled. At first Jason's reaction aggravated me, but the conclusion to the situation was explained well and left me with the fuzzy (not the anxiety fuzzy, iykyk) feeling that I need at the end of my romance books.
Simone - thanks for giving us socially anxious girlies hope and proper representation in the romance world!
* I received an ARC copy of the book from the author in exchange for this unbiased review. *