When she returns to her hometown for her dad’s funeral, Victoria (Vic) doesn’t expect to see her high school ex, Tony, much less be rescued by him from the side of the road when her ancient sedan breaks down just outside of the city limits.
Through a series of flashbacks, Vic remembers the last summer she and Tony were together, the summer when their friendship turned to romance, and also the summer when Tony’s mother passed away from an aggressive form of cancer.
Even though Tony was grieving and begging Vic to stay, Vic had to get out of their small town and away from her overbearing mother. Coming back a decade later, Vic sees the scars that her leaving created in her mother, her friends, and in Tony.
Vic’s mother begins harassing her as soon as she arrives, so Vic decides to take Tony up on his offer so she can prepare for her father’s funeral without being her mother’s emotional punching bag. For better or for worse, she and Tony start hooking up and Vic starts to understand how Tony has matured as well as hung onto the pain of their separation all of those years ago.
This book could have been great. The story was compelling and the characters were very sympathetic. I related to both Tony and Vic’s point of view. Even though Tony was grief-stricken, I understand why Vic had to leave and go to college. And I also understand how Tony could ask her to stay.
By the end of the book, Vic begins to understand her mother’s own pain and why she lashed out at Vic in her grief. In the end, both women try to grant one another grace in an attempt to support each other while grieving the loss of Vic’s father.
The main issues I had with this book were how clingy Tony got at the end. Almost all of the goodwill he’d accumulated throughout the book vanished when it came time for Vic to go back to the big city and sort out her life before moving forward with Tony. Instead of trusting one another, it felt like they both reverted to their high school selves. By the end, I wanted Vic to return to her job and take a beat to figure out what she really wanted and whether or not she had to give up her life to move back to her small town and be with her soulmate.
Despite only giving the story two stars, the cover art is gorgeous! Please don’t let it be AI-generated.
CW for cancer diagnosis and subsequent death of a parent.
