Sarah Hogle

Can you find real love when you've always got your head in the clouds? Maybell Parish has always been a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. But living in her own world has long been preferable to dealing with the disappointments of real life. So when Maybell inherits a charming house in the Smokies from her Great-Aunt Violet, she seizes the opportunity to make a fresh start. Yet when she arrives, it seems her troubles have only just begun. Not only is the house falling apart around her, but she isn't the only inheritor: she has to share everything with Wesley Koehler, the groundskeeper who's as grouchy as he is gorgeous--and it turns out he has a very different vision for the property's future. Convincing the taciturn Wesley to stop avoiding her and compromise is a task more formidable than the other dying wishes Great-Aunt Violet left behind. But when Maybell uncovers something unexpectedly sweet beneath Wesley's scowls, and as the two slowly begin to let their guard down, they might learn that sometimes the smallest steps outside one's comfort zone can lead to the greatest rewards.

Twice Shy

Sophie

sani

buny

Riya

This was so much better than her previous work. I could relate so much to Wesley, and thought that Sarah really gets social anxiety, for she successfully created a character so real & human. And Maybell has my heart. I wanted to forever live in her dreamy AU cafe, but these things weren’t even the best part of this story; it was how these two interacted- my heart was a puddle of warmth while reading their moments. The way Wesley listened to Maybell talking about her daydreams and also participating in drawing out different scenarios with her just made me a gushing mess. He has to be the best romance male lead I have ever read.
The writing had such a tonal shift from you deserve each other. While i felt you deserve each other had somewhat of a robotic writing which made it hard for me to connect with the characters; the writing in this was smooth, breezy, intricate. It managed to make me laugh, cry and feel millions of emotions just from a single sentence.

nuélle

was giggling like a middle school girl while reading this

Tish

Well that was just so darn cute I think my heart melted into a puddle on the ground.

—————

*adds to Want to Read shelf without even reading the description because it’s Sarah Hogle*

I really liked this book. Took me forever to finish it but I don't think thats because it was boring. The ending was perfect and not too cheesy. I liked the adventure.

Maria

menna

If i had to use one word to describe this book, it would be Soft™.

It’ll leave you all warm inside, giving you the exact equivalent feeling of being wrapped in a soft blanket!! it's just so wholesome, sweet and gives you all the nice, wonderful feels!!! Every line is just pure magic that made my heart ache, I was 3 seconds away from combusting.

I was thinking about when I could reread this again from the moment I started because of the way it made me feel!! And honestly this feeling got bigger and bigger the more I got into the book. 

It feels like this book was written just for me. i tried to spend my time with the book and not read it in one sitting because i couldn’t bear the thought of it ending and with it, this feeling of being seen. At this point I'm just wondering if Sarah Hogle spent some time rummaging around my thoughts and feelings, came up with this book and said ahaa yesss this is just perfect for her. My heart obsessed with every line, every scene and just fell so deeply in love with both characters. it’s so full of love for them, it jumped out of my chest and threw itself in their hands. 

The social anxiety rep was so good!! it felt so nice seeing myself in a character where he's not viewed as an inconvenience to other people because of his anxiety!! i found some of his coping mechanisms very relatable and loved how a lot of them were normalized and not seen as annoying or weird!! (view spoiler)[like how he sometimes prefers texting or writing notes over talking in person (hide spoiler)]. 

All their scenes are god tier from the very start!! There’s grumpy-but-secretly-a-softie/sunshine and fun banter and it was everything i could ever want!! The last few chapters were spent with tears in my eyes and I couldn't make them stop because of how beautiful the scenes were and how every word just lodged itself in my heart!!I can’t wait for people to read this and fall in love with it like i did!!

TW: anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks
thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for approving me for the arc

mercy

i know i’m rating this 3 stars but take that with a grain of salt because i actually adored some aspects of this book to bits. 

let’s start with the obvious—the romance. maybell and wesley were so sweet together, they made me tear up a couple of times. i loved how slow-burn the beginning of their relationship was and towards the end of this book, i was pretty sure my heart grew ten times its size. i also loved the whimsical and sort of magical air the story had going on, i think mainly because it’s set in this mansion with its loaded history and secret passageways. and finally, can we talk about wesley. plant-dad, animal-loving, loch ness-monster-enthused giant ball of fluff. he is, without a doubt, one of the most precious love interests i’ve read in a while.

sadly, all of those things that i loved about the story couldn’t change the fact that i was so underwhelmed while reading it. i just wanted so much more from the book. more development for the romance because everything in the second half just happened too quickly for my liking and that ending was so abrupt, more details on the quirky small-town background, more wesley. instead, i got pages and pages of maybell daydreaming instead of actual characterization or plot… it did add some level of charm to the story, but it also made the story hard to follow sometimes.

all in all, this was a lovely little love story that i enjoyed for the most part. from naomi and nicholas and now to maybell and wesley—i can’t wait to see what sarah hogle writes next.

 arc kindly provided by the publisher via edelweiss+

dija

My brain cannot form a single coherent thought no one touch me someone hold me this book radiates comfort it made me feel everything i want to feel idk what to say 

And the author mentioned me in the acknowledgements i got to see a thank you for "dija" it was the nicest surprise ever 😭

Buddy read with my bby nicole

celene

3.5 “You’re much more flowers than you are cactus.”

i like the social anxiety rep, as a person who also have social anxiety disorder, it felt like a hug,, felt nice :”)

Jennifer mitchell

Officially DNFing @ 44% done. I really tried to like this book and get into it but it’s PAINFUL. The book starts off incredibly slow and unfortunately didn’t pick up for me in the almost entire first half that I did read. I didn’t connect with these characters at all and had absolutely nothing to look forward to with this story because I didn’t feel any tension or chemistry between them. Loved You Deserve Each Other and wanted to love this one too, but life is too short to read books you’re not into.

taylor alyse pisanie

I loved how this book made me feel. The characters feel so real; I love how the kind of people that always go unseen have been chosen as the main characters here. 

Celina Blanco

Yami🌷

aditi

Nicole

Pretty sure I have cavities now but who cares

Tia Malt 

This was just so wholesome, I’m so content

Turtle lover

so so cute cute cute fluff fluff fluff cute cute. LOVE IT. I WAS SMILLING THE WHOLE TIME!AND LAUGHING MY ASS OFF. SO SO FUNNY AND SWEET AND FLUFFY.

Alyssa Huffman

oh my god!?!?!? i have absolutely no coherent thoughts at this moment. thank u to this book for removing me from my slump <3

Juliet Sittler

This book is so soft and I loved it so much. Wesley is one of, if not the most thoughtful and quietly caring hero I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Swooniest moment is of course him recreating Maybell Parrish’s AU in the clouds, but the swooniest line in the entire book (in my opinion) was after she admitted to inviting the displaced mother and son to stay with them and he says “Maybell, your big heart is one of the things I like best about you. I can’t be mad when you use it.” Like UGH. And the bit about feeling seen… I felt that. I also loved Maybell’s internal monologue realizing that she is exactly who she is and deserves people who love all of her. I swear I have the entire “I Love You” phone conversation where they both specified that they loved every part of each other highlighted in my book. The part where she demands he repeat that he was loved and write it down to remember had me tearing up. A I loved You Deserve Each Other and I love Sarah Hogle’s writing style that seems to blend reality perfectly with a dreamland. I pre-ordered this book back at the beginning of the year and it was well worth the wait!

Inês Filipa

There’s something about Sarah Hogle’s books... At first it takes me a while to get into them because I find the beginning slow, but then as we reach 30% of the book... oh my god.

So, in this one, we meet Maybell and Wesley who both inherited the same property. At first they disagree in almost everything and one could even say they are sort of enemies. 
However, it is not like that at all. At first, Wesley seems to be just a grumpy hero, but the truth? 
I’ve never read a book that approaches social anxiety and anxiety in general the way this book does. I found myself feeling so sad about what the character felt and even identifying myself with his statements. 

On a more positive note, Wesley is an adorable man. He’s got a golden heart and is the most precious human being! Maybell is a kind, warm heroine. She doesn’t have a ounce of cruelty in her body. 

It was adorable. I found myself smiling as I read it. Their notes, their surprises, their treasure hunt, etc etc it all made this book an amazing, adorable read. 


5-top-of-the-world-stars ✨

sydney

everything about this book is so.. it is literally perfect, i need my own wesley

*3.5

sarah hogle always knows how to make my heart go 💝💗💖💞💖

Twice Shy

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