You, With a View by Jessica Joyce
Noelle Shepard is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.
Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, though: Paul, Theo’s grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them.
It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them…until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart.
Review: Noelle recently lost her job and moved back in with her parents. She's mourning her beloved grandmother and one night finds an old photo of her with another man, along with a love letter. She goes to TikTok to ask if anyone recognizes her grandmother's old love and is shocked to wake up to discover the post has gone viral. And the grandson of the man has responded. And he happens to be her old rival from high school, Theo Spencer. This ultimately leads to Noelle, Theo, and his grandfather on a road trip tracing the route of the honeymoon trip her grandmother had planned to take with him before they broke off their engagement.
I love academic rivals stories so this book really spoke to me. I liked that despite not seeing each other for several years, Theo and Noelle have a lot of history from their competitive school days. It was fun to see all the forced proximity on the road trip, as they are pulled closer and closer together. The two have great chemistry and tension and I was rooting for them all along.
Probably my favorite part of this plot was the tie-in with the grandparents! I loved how close both of these two were with their grandparents and how Noelle embarks on this whole crazy trip out of grief and love for her late grandmother. It also felt so meant to be that while her grandmother and his grandfather weren't able to live out their love story, their grandchildren were able to have the chance at love they never got. It felt like a full circle moment that the families would still be united if Theo and Noelle give it a shot.
I did think the whole viral TikTok and subsequent road trip seemed far-fetched. Why wouldn't she just ask her parents who the man was? And it seemed like if Theo had known about his grandfather's past, it might have come up at some point over the years. I also felt like it was a little cringe that they were sneaking around right under the nose/one room over from his grandfather. But, like a lot of romances, you've got to suspend your disbelief a bit, and I did like the way the journey was initially to discover more about her grandmother but ultimately became about Noelle figuring her own life out.
This was well done on audio!
This was very spicy with multiple open-door scenes, for those who might want to know.
Stars: 3.75
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