You, with a View by Jessica Joyce
Contemporary Romance
July 11, 2023- Berkley
ARC

Review by Angela

The blurb for this book does not do it justice. What might appear to be just a fun, enemies to lovers, road trip romance is really so much more. So, so much more.

Noelle Shepard is unemployed and living with her parents, down in the dumps, and a little lost. She is still grieving over the death of her beloved grandmother when she comes across pictures of her with a man who isn’t her grandfather. A letter also seems to hint that their relationship was serious. So she makes a TikTok, which goes viral, asking for help identifying the man in the picture. And lo and behold, she gets an answer, the grandson of the man comments and agrees that they will meet with her in a public place so she can get some answers.

That’s when she realizes that the grandson is none other than her nemesis from high school- Theo Spencer.

Regardless, she is going to spend as much time with his grandfather as possible and hear all she can about his time with her grandmother. She’s not prepared to be sucked into a love story, getting to know Grampa Paul along the way, and having the time of her life retracing the planned honeymoon trip that Paul and her grandmother never got to take.

This is one of those books that takes its readers on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Highs and lows, ups and downs, and pretty much every emotion in between. It’s a grief book, but it’s also heartfelt, uplifting, and beyond sexy. When the book opens Noelle is at a point in her life where she has no direction and doesn’t know what to do about that; no job, living with her parents, and still very deep in her grief. The prospect of reconnecting with her grandmother and learning more about her life gives her hope and direction. I think the surface animosity she has with Theo also gives her a little spark.

The road trip is fun, with Noelle and Theo sniping at each other but trying their best to get along for the sake of Paul. It’s never really mean, and both give as good as they get. It almost felt like foreplay to me. Theo has his own problems, all having to do with his relationship with his father and the current direction his company is heading. Noelle doesn’t know about any of it but can sense his tension. Let me tell you, when these two start to talk and get to know each other, it’s magic. And OMG the chemistry between them is romance gold that manifests into the sexiest of sex scenes.

But what this book is really about is moving through the stages of grief and realizing when to hold on and when to let go. Believing and accepting yourself and that failure is just a tool to help you move on to bigger and better things. The secondary characters, from Paul to Noelle’s family are so loving and accepting. I couldn’t really ask for more support for our main characters. Every part of this book worked for me, from the pacing to the banter between all of the characters to the wonder of the locations that were visited during the road trip. There is so much love within these pages. I can hardly believe that this is a debut author.

You, with a View, is such a wonderful, heartwarming, and uplifting novel. Jessica Joyce is an author to watch. I highly, highly recommended everyone put this on their TBR. As for me, I’ll be placing it on my favorites shelf.

Grade-A

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