Book Review: What If You & Me by Roni Loren

Rating: 4/5

Genre: Contemporary Romance and Adult Fiction

Warnings: PTSD, depression, anxiety, physical disability, assault and infidelity

Read if you liked: Yes & I Love You or Life’s Too Short

Steam: 3/5

Thank you to @sourcebookscasa and @netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. What If You & Me will be released on July 6th.

I read Yes & I Love You in March and it was a surprise pick that ended up being one of my favorites of 2021. If you haven’t already, pick it up! Needless to say, I was super excited to find out there would be a second, Andi’s story, released in July (I pre-ordered it right away). I 100% read this within 24 hours of getting the approval.

I genuinely just enjoyed reading this book. I loved the characters, it flowed nicely so it was about 80% in when I realized I couldn’t find a clear cut plot…this isn’t necessary a bad thing because again, I really enjoyed the characters and watching them develop together and learn to move forward from their trauma but just an FYI. This is totally a go with the journey kind of book.

Roni Loren’s has this unique and delightful way of normalizing taboo topics and trauma in her books, showing that people can have a happy ending/deserve love no matter what “happened” to them. I’m planning on diving into her backlist after this.

Things I loved: The banter and dialogue was fantastic. Hill and Andi had great chemistry and their communication was really great. They both owned their trauma and where working on it…we love a healthy mental health journey. There was an organic nature of bringing back old characters and introducing new that I enjoyed. Always love a cooking angle, it was so sweet to watch him teach her how to cook. Hill’s was so respect of Andi’s boundaries and triggers, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…CONSENT IS SEXY.

Things I didn’t care for: I didn’t feel the conflict was fully fleshed out, it was abrupt and I wish there would have been a bit more context throughout the storyline.

Something I picked up on and had never seen in a book before that I want to point out: So often we see men being the hero when they are “saving” someone…Statistically, this really ends badly. I can hear Christina tell Burke, “don’t be a hero, the hero always dies” in my head (Grey’s Anatomy forever). I really appreciate that Andi asked Hill to say safe with her, let the police do their job because it wasn’t worth his safety.

What if You & Me is out July 6th, 2021! Pre-order or request at your local library!

Love,

A