Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren

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Still feeling in a contemporary romance mood, I went through my tbr for Fall in Love. I thought I'd look through Shelby-s 5-star reads and see if there was something I had marked as want to read and that sounded good. I ended up picking Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren. I have a few of her series on my tbr, but was more intrigued by her newest series. This is the first book of her Say Everything series.

We meet Hollyn (I love that name), the face behind the popular reviewer Miz Poppy in New Orleans. She is dealing with extreme anxiety and Tourette's. As recommended by her therapist, she rents an office in a shared space building to be around other people and help her push herself. There's a new barista in the coffee bar, improv actor Jasper. He's back in town after not making it big in LA and splitting with his girlfriend. When Hollyn is forced to start doing video reviews or lose her job, she goes to Jasper to help her gain confidence in front of the camera. They quickly acknowledge the attraction between them, and soon they're also "practicing" dating and fulfilling each other's physical needs.

This was a book I saw a lot of when it came out, but mostly due to people's criticisms of the cover. I did hear that it had good representation, but I think of the illustrated covers out there, I don't mind this one. Is it weird, yeah. Does it lead you on thinking it's a rom-com, not really. I think after reading the first little bit and understanding what kind of representation is here, the cover makes more sense and makes me like it more. I really felt for Hollyn and enjoyed how blunt she was with Jasper. He also has ADHD or something similar, but it's never really talked about being diagnosed outside of his mention of it at the end. I just wanted his "disorder" to be addressed a little more too. Mainly since I felt bad that it wasn't really addressed when he was in school. Granted he was in the foster care system, so things like that have an even higher chance of getting missed.

I loved the connection between them and how they both just seemed to fit together. There were some awkward moments between them, but I loved how upfront Hollyn was once anger pushed her passed her guards. Jasper was so flirty and cute. The way he was with Hollyn made me really love them together. When he was going on about Miz Poppy and his love for her to Hollyn was so awkwardly adorable. He just felt like a cute puppy sometimes and was one of those charming and easy-going people that gets along with everyone easily. I also loved how improv was talked about and how it could be seen as a good skill to have in everyday life. It almost makes me want to take an improv class myself, but I probably won't. Speaking in front of people is just not something I handle well, which is why I have blog and not other medium of reviews. I loved the progression of their relationship and of Hollyn pushing past her comfort and really learn to be more comfortable and accepting of herself. It was really inspiring.

I really enjoyed reading this and will definitely continue with this series and for sure pick up other of Roni Loren's books I have on my tbr. If were to be specific, I'd probably make this a 4.5-star rating. It just didn't blow me away enough to get the full 5-stars. I do think it took about 25-30% for me to really get into the story and didn't quite fully connect emotionally to both characters. If you are looking to add some representation to your reads, definitely check this one out!

Have you read Yes & I Love You?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Yes & I Love You, Roni Loren, 4-stars, 2 days, eBook, 352 pages, published in 2021