I’m surprised I liked this as much as I did, because in general I don’t enjoy romances that occur over short periods of time—it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t tie to reality, it draws me out of my enjoyment cocoon. But there was something about this novel that was charming nonetheless, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it as a palate cleanser (in my case, after reading a manifesto against colonialism that had me quite riled up).
This is a pretty standard trope, with some nice additional elements. Nora has children, who feature quite heavily in the story and can never be conveniently “at summer camp” or “with their father” when convenient for the plot. I can appreciate an author who writes themselves hurdles and then sticks with them. Leo the hunk might be a rich, impossibly attractive gentleman with a convenient job that allows him (hypothetically) to stay with Nora, but there’s also the usual issues that come with trying to merge two adult lives together at a point in their life when they are actual adults with full on lives (see aforementioned children).
The third act conflict is a BIT overblown, which is why on second thought I’ve reduced this to three stars. I have a lot of patience with this genre, but some things require a bit much suspension of disbelief. Then again, I don’t have kids and interact with kids on a semi- to infrequent basis, and perhaps Monaghan has adeptly captured what kids are like 😉