Date of Publication: January 24, 2023
Type: Romance, YA/New Adult, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Found Family
Content Warnings: Death of a Parent, Cheating/Infidelity, Child Abandonment (Mentioned)
Links: Goodreads/Bookshop/Libro.fm/Storygraph
This YA romance has everything I love in a cozy read and left me reminiscing on my own college experience. While this is a story about relationships and found family at its heart, the characters struggle with loss, family rifts, and uncertainty about the future. These heavier topics are so lovingly woven into the story and give more depth to the characters than I expected. Like many YA romances, this one is a slow burn but cleverly avoids going too deep into the usual tropes. If you are looking for something to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside, this is the perfect read for you!
Andie Rose has done the impossible: transferring from a community college in her small hometown to the prestigious Blue Ridge State mid-semester. She knows it will be a tough adjustment, but Andie’s boyfriend Connor will be there to help. That is, until she discovers that Connor transferred to her old school to be with her! But Connor isn’t the only thing bringing Andie to Blue Ridge State. Andie has dreamed of attending Blue Ridge State and following in her mother’s footsteps since she was very little. Together with her bookish roommate Shay and grumpy RA Milo, Andie sets off to collect enough ribbons for both Connor and herself to earn her a spot in one of the school’s secret societies. She hopes the journey will bring her closer to the mother she lost, but she might find much more along the way.
From Andie’s book obsessed roommate to the pirate radio station Andie becomes part of, there is plenty to make you want to step into this reality. Oh! Did I mention there are bagels? Andie’s experiences in the college dorm and ribbon hunting brought back so many wonderful college memories for me and made it all the more enjoyable. The coziness might just touch the edge of pandering, but I honestly didn’t mind. I was waiting for something to make me smile and this book definitely delivered.
Despite all the warm vibes, it’s the characters that really make this book stand out for me. In addition to their quirky personalities, each character is also struggling with difficult personal issues that affect them in very real ways. I found myself just as invested in each character finding their way as I was in the actual romance. The chemistry between all of the characters (romantic and not) was so on point and made it possible for things to develop in ways I didn’t expect they would.
Rowan Hill 