Name: Emma Hak-Kovacs's review of Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti
Item: Picking Daisies on Sundays
Rating: 3
Author: Emma Hak-Kovacs

Liana Cincotti

Perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Jenny Han, this romantic comedy follows a hopeless romantic finishing college who agrees to embark on a fake relationship with her childhood best friend, who, unfortunately for her, also happens to be her first love.

Daniella Daisy Maria wanted love. It’s all she hoped for when watching endless rom-coms every Friday night. What she hadn't hoped for was to find it in her childhood best friend Levi. It was the hand-trembling, heart-thumping kind of love that wasn't supposed to happen when you saw your best friend. But it all ended when he didn’t feel the same way and she vowed to never see him again.

Four years later and one night in a crowded bar in the West Village, there he was, just as perfect as ever. Maybe it was the lighting or the way his hair curled above his brow, but she couldn’t say no when he asked her to be his fake girlfriend for his sister’s wedding. Another chance at being his friend and mending her immature mistake? How was she supposed to say no?The weight of possible rejection from her dream grad school quickly became the least of her problems. With old, resurfacing feelings at every staged, romantic interaction and stolen glance, she struggles to find confidence. She couldn't help but think that maybe she should’ve said no to protect her heart for a second time.

Picking Daisies on Sundays

elly

I tried to stop loving you, but along the way, you found your way into the sound of my laugh, the style of my writing, and the threads of my clothes.

You have to do the scary stuff to get to the good stuff.

Kika

She lives in between the pinks and yellows of the world / where a beautiful color is unknown to others / and when she speaks, I become a bee enthralled in a field of daisies

Emma Hak-Kovacs

lmfao had to dnf cause i could not STAND the grammar oh dear

it’s okay. the miscommunication in this is kinda annoying and the style of writing pains me, which is making it hard for me to like this book. and the mc… girl..

ayoni

idk, it's like a book about how the FMC simps over the MMC. at some point, or in most parts, it gets repetitive, like the button-down shirt that Levi wears with some buttons undone that Dani always describes. like, i get it, gurl, you're head over heels.

Kath

Almost good but expecting more build up. Writing is ok, i find it sweet but a little too young-ish for my taste and the characters who are already grad students. This has similar style to lynn painter’s books. So i would recommend it if you like her style. 🩷

korfai 

౨ৎ | “you’re so physically enthralling, let alone when you speak. and when you speak, all of the light in the room comes from you.”

there’s something i just LOVE about fake dating, especially when the two mcs already know eachother. i eat that shit UP. the way they talked about one another? god im so obsessed. i am unwell. my reactions to some dialogue was insane. 

౨ৎ | “you’re so physically enthralling, let alone when you speak. and when you speak, all of the light in the room comes from you.”

— ★ 5/5

LEVI COLDWELL 🙌🏽🙌🏽 

there’s something i just LOVE about fake dating, especially when the two mcs already know eachother. i eat that shit UP. the way they talked about one another? god im so obsessed. i am unwell. my reactions to some dialogue was insane. 

"Every single day. I see him in every room I walk into, like he'll be there waiting for me on the other side of the door. Sometimes, I swear I hear his voice in the morning calling me downstairs. And there are instances when I run down and don't realize it until I'm halfway down the stairs." He shook his head and made a sound similar to a laugh but resonated it with defeat. "I don't even live in the same house that he raised me in either."

He blew out a breath. "It's not that it hasn't gotten easier, but rather my eyes and heart refuse to believe what's real."

Could I live like that forever? Waiting for my heart to catch up with reality? I had grown accustomed to what life was like without Dad, but that didn't mean I felt okay.

✨"I wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful because you are. I knew I wouldn't miss you when you walked in tonight because you're you. You're so physically enthralling, let alone when you speak. And when you speak, all of the light in the room comes from you. You're absolute sunshine and spring. 1 could watch you speak—"

✨I couldn't tell him I loved him, I couldn't. But he could identify my lies the way I could identify grief in a person. So, I sufficed for a pocketed truth that haunted me every day. That even haunted me tonight when I dressed in the most beautiful of dresses, but still couldn't help compare myself to all the beautiful women around us.

"I'm not beautiful, Vi," my voice cracked, causing another tear to fall. It was the first time I had said that aloud in years. I had thought if I stopped saying it, then it would become less true.

But all it did was make me lonelier in my insecurities.

✨"You intoxicate me, Daisy. The scent of flowers lingers on you everywhere you go, and I always want to follow,"

✨"Daisy, how do you know when you're in love?"

"You'll know you're in love when being around them never feels long enough. Everything you learn about them will be beautiful pockets of information, no matter how flawed. Your hands will be clammy, and you'll trip over your words when you're around them. But if they love you back, they'll only think that it makes you lovelier."

✨"l’ll buy you flowers every day for the rest of my life if it makes you this happy."

✨"If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

I want an all-consuming love. Not one that suffocates, but one that makes me so thankful that my chest feels physically overwhelmed with emotion. To have this silent, unspoken communication with a person through touch and gazes. I want to be noticed in a crowded room. I want to be the only person in a crowded room. I want to be wanted, truly wanted, and desired. I want to laugh and to sing and to dance with someone and not feel self-conscious over it because I love them and I'm confident that they love me. I want to be touched and kissed and held because I've forgotten what it feels like... and yet, I think I deserve it."

✨It was his book. White font, a pastel pink cover, a small table in the bottom corner with two chairs and a vase of daisies. But the front was ruined with marker. A translation: Picking Daisies on Sundays, just like Marty had said, written beside the printed French title.

✨"I'm so grateful for everything I have in life, I am. But when I see you, all I can think about is how much better life would be if you were mine. I'm so infatuated with everything you do, from the color of your lips to the way you slide your hips back and forth when you dance to the way you twist your earrings when you're upset or how you blush when I touch you and how you breathe when I say Daisy."

✨No one tells you how much losing someone feels like inheriting a dream. Because that's what thinking of him felt like: a dream. For him to have been here for decades, and then to only exist in my pictures and memories. I'd like to imagine that if I hadn't developed object permanence as a child, then maybe my mind would've had an easier time accepting that he wasn't here anymore.

Mariaaa

✨"How often do you think of him?"

"Every single day. I see him in every room I walk into, like he'll be there waiting for me on the other side of the door. Sometimes, I swear I hear his voice in the morning calling me downstairs. And there are instances when I run down and don't realize it until I'm halfway down the stairs." He shook his head and made a sound similar to a laugh but resonated it with defeat. "I don't even live in the same house that he raised me in either."

"So it hasn't gotten any easier?"

He blew out a breath. "It's not that it hasn't gotten easier, but rather my eyes and heart refuse to believe what's real."

Could I live like that forever? Waiting for my heart to catch up with reality? I had grown accustomed to what life was like without Dad, but that didn't mean I felt okay.

✨"I wanted to tell you that you looked beautiful because you are. I knew I wouldn't miss you when you walked in tonight because you're you. You're so physically enthralling, let alone when you speak. And when you speak, all of the light in the room comes from you. You're absolute sunshine and spring. 1 could watch you speak—"

✨I couldn't tell him I loved him, I couldn't. But he could identify my lies the way I could identify grief in a person. So, I sufficed for a pocketed truth that haunted me every day. That even haunted me tonight when I dressed in the most beautiful of dresses, but still couldn't help compare myself to all the beautiful women around us.

"I'm not beautiful, Vi," my voice cracked, causing another tear to fall. It was the first time I had said that aloud in years. I had thought if I stopped saying it, then it would become less true.

But all it did was make me lonelier in my insecurities.

✨"You intoxicate me, Daisy. The scent of flowers lingers on you everywhere you go, and I always want to follow,"

✨"Daisy, how do you know when you're in love?"

"You'll know you're in love when being around them never feels long enough. Everything you learn about them will be beautiful pockets of information, no matter how flawed. Your hands will be clammy, and you'll trip over your words when you're around them. But if they love you back, they'll only think that it makes you lovelier."

✨"l’ll buy you flowers every day for the rest of my life if it makes you this happy."

✨"If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

“Love”

I want an all-consuming love. Not one that suffocates, but one that makes me so thankful that my chest feels physically overwhelmed with emotion. To have this silent, unspoken communication with a person through touch and gazes. I want to be noticed in a crowded room. I want to be the only person in a crowded room. I want to be wanted, truly wanted, and desired. I want to laugh and to sing and to dance with someone and not feel self-conscious over it because I love them and I'm confident that they love me. I want to be touched and kissed and held because I've forgotten what it feels like... and yet, I think I deserve it."

✨It was his book. White font, a pastel pink cover, a small table in the bottom corner with two chairs and a vase of daisies. But the front was ruined with marker. A translation: Picking Daisies on Sundays, just like Marty had said, written beside the printed French title.

✨"I'm so grateful for everything I have in life, I am. But when I see you, all I can think about is how much better life would be if you were mine. I'm so infatuated with everything you do, from the color of your lips to the way you slide your hips back and forth when you dance to the way you twist your earrings when you're upset or how you blush when I touch you and how you breathe when I say Daisy."

✨No one tells you how much losing someone feels like inheriting a dream. Because that's what thinking of him felt like: a dream. For him to have been here for decades, and then to only exist in my pictures and memories. I'd like to imagine that if I hadn't developed object permanence as a child, then maybe my mind would've had an easier time accepting that he wasn't here anymore.

It gives you all the feelings you want from a romance book 😭💗

Louisa lopes 

loved the cutie vibe, giggling and kicking my feet kinda vibes! levis hold a special place in my heart 

debbie <3

julie reads

I DIDN’T KNOW EVERY CHAPTER STARTED WITH HIS FRACTION OF POEMS. They’re too sweet, just lack communication. 

tiffany 

Perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Jenny Han, this romantic comedy follows a hopeless romantic finishing college who agrees to embark on a fake relationship with her childhood best friend, who, unfortunately for her, also happens to be her first love.

Daniella Daisy Maria wanted love. It's all she hoped for when watching endless rom-coms every Friday night. What she hadn't hoped for was to find it in her childhood best friend Levi. It was the hand-trembling, heart-thumping kind of love that wasn't supposed to happen when you saw your best friend. But it all ended when he didn't feel the same way and she vowed to never see him again.

Four years later and one night in a crowded bar in the West Village, there he was, just as perfect as ever. Maybe it was the lighting or the way his hair curled above his brow, but she couldn't say no when he asked her to be his fake girlfriend for his sister's wedding. Another chance at being his friend and mending her immature mistake? How was she supposed to say no? The weight of possible rejection from her dream grad school quickly became the least of her problems. With old, resurfacing feelings at every staged, romantic interaction and stolen glance, she struggles to find confidence. She couldn't help but think that maybe she should've said no to protect her heart for a second time.

millena

4.25 ⭐️ omg this one was SO sweet 😩💖 in the beginning I thought I wouldn’t like bc I’m not a friends to lovers/second chance girl but ugh it’s impossible not to fall in love with them

the fact that he wrote an entire book of poems in FRENCH for her almost made me cry (I’m totally serious), their story is the definition of miscommunication but even though I (also) hate this trope I loved every page

it just didn't deserve 5 stars because I didn't really understand Bella's role in this book (more drama maybe?) and I felt that some things could have developed better, but I swear, everyone should read this!!!

Linta

4.75⭐️
this is one of the cutest romance books I’ve read and it’ll be stuck in my mind for a long time. LEVI WAS A WHOLE GREEN FLAG


Daisy was so relatable and I could actually see snippets of myself in her. At times she annoyed me coz all she needed to do was just communicate rather than running away.


Levi , what do I say about him. He a wrote a book of freaking poems about daisy and that too in french😭😭😭

now i need a man who’d write me a whole book in french.

this is honestly a cute friends to lovers novel in which the two main leads reunites 4 years after high school and agrees to start a fake relationship. 

truthfully, i was a little skeptical before i picked this up because i thought that the plot is a little overused and i may end up getting disappointed. BUT lo and behold, upon reading this, i immediately flew through the pages because it felt like i was watching an early 2000s romcom movie.

i love levi and daisy’s chemistry with each other. i can immediately feel the butterflies when they bumped into each other for the first time again in a bar. the tension between them all throughout the story is palpable which makes it feel like i’m watching them in a movie! 

levi is such a green flag!! the way he paid attention to every small detail about daisy’s interests as well as writing a whole book in french about HER?! where do i honestly can get a man like that? reading this book made my standards in men even higher. 

again, i know that the plot is a little overrated but the way the author told the story is actually interesting. sometimes, we do not really need complicated plot twists and characters. sometimes, it can be this simple — a tale about first loves and heartbreaks. therefore this is a solid 4 stars for me ‎♡‧₊˚

kate 

now i need a man who’d write me a whole book in french

THIS JUST RESTORED MY FAITH IN BOOKS AGAIN!! the way dani was just so relatable even me i felt frustrated with levi pero ES QUE LEVI WAS SO SWEET WITH HER AND THE BOOOK AND HIM SAYING HIS FAV FLOWERS SON LOS DAISIES los amo they are everything

Emma Hak-Kovacs &
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Emma Hak-Kovacs &Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Emma Hak-Kovacs &
Picking Daisies on Sundays by Liana Cincotti