We Met Like This
Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for giving me the opportunity to be an early reader of a digital review copy. This one hit shelves on September 16th.
Margot met Aaron (I mean, Oliver) three years ago. Their first and only date was a disaster, that is until the steamy car makeout she’s never forgotten. Years have passed. Margot still hasn’t been promoted to become a full blown literary agent. She still hasn’t found love. And somehow the dating apps still keep matching her with Oliver. While they’ve never seen each other again in person, their humorous DMs on the apps may be the most consistent and longstanding relationship of her adult life. Can Margot make some changes and push her life forward in the direction she wants?
This was really cute. I thought the banter was hilarious and really liked the chemistry between the two characters. Did it focus quite a bit on the physical attraction? Sure. I mean, the opening scene was a lot of steam in my face. However, I felt like Margot and Oliver really do connect over time and eventually share more of their lives, background, and emotions with each other. In the romance department my one qualm is they said they’d be “friends first” and that gets thrown out the window pretty quickly. Margot’s best friend, Sloane describes it well, “Oh, now I see. You have a lot of chemistry.” (My paraphrase, here).
Now, the conflict in the book was a little frustrating. I could see the reason for relational tension coming from miles away. I don’t know that it was meant to be a shocking secret to the reader. I wanted Oliver to communicated quicker about the past, but I also see how Margot’s insecurities blocked his way at every chance.
What I really appreciated about this one was Margot’s personal growth. She finds her strengths, advocates for herself, and stops living in others’ shadows. The storyline with her sister really added to the novel.
I will say, I don’t have any familiarity with the author’s former YA work, so I’m not sure how much of a tonal shift there was. This one contained quite a few open-door romance scenes, which I’m certain departs from her prior novels. I’m not of the opinion that these types of scenes need to be present to make a book “adult,” and with my preferences, this one could have had fewer. But overall, I enjoyed this humorous and romantic adult debut and would definitely pick up another book by Kasie West.
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🌶️ This book contains on-page romance scenes (some makeouts, some full blown open-door, and some fade-to-black). For skimmers/skippers, these are in the prologue and chapters 30, 31, and 39.
