☆4.25
“Despite the fact that you’re a pretentious asshole, I want to kiss you again. I liked kissing you.”
✨️Magical Realism Romance
⏳Time Loop
✨️Dual Pov
✨️Grumpy/Sunshine
✨️Forced Proximity
✨️Small Town
🌶️detailed spice scenes
✨️kissing in the library
✨️Literal roll in the hay
Carly is stuck at her father's funeral. Every day, you can do whatever you want. The whole town is stuck in a time loop. Every day is April 23rd. Which is awful - because of course, April 25th is the best day, I mean, it's not too hot and not too cold. All you need is a light jacket. That's beside the point. Every day, Carly restarts at the funeral home with her dad. Every day, she listens to the funeral home director and his soon to be ex-wife bicker (She left him for his best friend, yikes). Every day, there is an eclipse, and everyone resets in the morning. After 225 days, Carly really, really, wants to go home again. She (reluctantly at first) teams up with Adam, the funeral director, in hopes of breaking the cycle.
This book is listed as an enemies to lovers, I don't think it was that much. I use the grumpy sunshine troupe listing loosely, I think the characters are really more outgoing extrovert vs. introverts. Carly and Adam don't get along. Carly really doesn't like the small town and the people who live there. She really has to come around to the idea that the town was a special place for her father. The book kind of skips over a lot of the first days of the time loop- which I think I would have enjoyed reading, but I understand leaving it out for the sake of pacing. I liked Adam from the beginning. Maybe it's the introvert in me. Carly and Adam do start to figure out their feelings for each other when Carly believes that physical connection will shorten the ellipse and send them home. It all ends up being about trial and error until they can go home. There were a lot of science bits to this book that fit in well and didn't feel overbearing. I know so much more about the science of time loops now! I found myself laughing throughout this book, and for it containing such heavy subjects, it was all handled in a lighthearted manner. I quite enjoyed this book, I think if you enjoy the reluctant partners to spicy lovers in a magical realism setting, this book is for you.
This is an open-door spice book. It is detailed. I don't want to spoil everything, but there's some very spicy kissing in the library that left me blusshhhing.
Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin trade publishing for providing me with a copy to read and review honestly.