Right after I read this book, I heard about the trauma response many abused children carry into adulthood, the ability to read people in an instant. These are adults that had to learn vigilance to a ridiculous degree to avoid physical, mental, and emotional abuse from parents or other trusted adults. It explained everything about Louie and his ability to pick up on subtle clues and manipulate people in an instant. As always, Camilla Evergreen manages to make the most ridiculous rom-com plot deeper and more grounded in reality than it has any right to be.
This is not a light book. This is Hallmark Channel taking a detour into trauma land and coming out better for it. Summer is not your typical Hallmark heroine. She’s strong and capable, yes, but she’s not just pining for a lost love, her love was lost due to suicide and, rare for a mainstream romance, a woman. Louie, bless him, understands her pain and supports her while never forcing her to admit anything she’s not ready to share about her past. I’m sure part of that choice is to make Summer’s past more palatable for the mainstream audience, but it also serves the story as it gives Louie a gentleness he sometimes lacks.
The plot puts them at odds, because it is a rom com at heart, and the forced marriage trope is central to the heart of the story. Summer wants out – out of the marriage, out of the town, out of her pain. Meanwhile, Louie finds himself on the opposite trajectory. What starts out as a rebellion against his controlling and abusive father becomes a desire to make his way in – into the marriage, into the town, into Summer’s heart. It’s a wonderful way to put them at odds in a way that respects their growing relationship while bringing conflict that never feels forced.
This book hit me harder than I expected because I wasn’t a Louie fan when he showed up in book two of this series, Could Have Been Closer, but the trauma for both characters is grounded in reality and handled with care. Seriously, people should be studying Ms. Evergreen’s work in a lab somewhere. This is rare alchemy, and I just hope more authors learn something from her ability to take simple tropes and elevate them into something completely new and real.
5 Hallmark-should-be-taking-notes stars
