seriously romantic: you before anyone else by julie cross and mark perini

you know the trope, one night stand becomes something more, something real.  you before anyone else  basically starts when eddie and finley hook up one night and then can't stay away from each other. but they are keeping some pretty big secrets from each other, from themselves. and it's the problems that they face, and the way that they face them that makes this book a worthwhile read.

however before you get to the interesting stuff, the first couple of chapters are a bit of a confusing slog. sometimes, with these alternating pov stories things start in the middle of the action, and as a reader you have to play catch up for a while before everything makes sense. i also think sometimes you are so busy looking at the world through the character's eyes that you don't get the chance to fully invest in the character. so it's not until the two leads start spending serious time together that you begin to know them and like them. there's no easy solution to this, and it's a problem i see in a lot of books written like this, but eventually the two leads here prove to be likeable.

it would be a spoiler to get into the kinds of issues that eddie and finley deal with, but they aren't light silly issues. but watching the characters get their shit together and realize who they want to be as individuals and as a couple is rewarding. the supporting cast of characters, excluding eddie's family, are all just good people. if i have one complaint it's that everyone here is just almost too perfect, their flaws aren't really flaws, you know?

but for romance, especially a young/new adult romance, the kind of dreamy perfection works. both eddie and finley work as models and one of the comments finley consistently gets back from casting directors is that she lacks edge, she is too sweet. and the same can be said for the book. even as it tries to tackle serious things like drug addiction and eating disorders and teen parenting it doesn't really address these issues with any depth.

other authors writing in this format have maybe done a better job at adding heft to the issues, i'm thinking of katie mcgarry and huntley fitzpatrick who have covered similar ground. but that isn't to say that you before anyone else isn't worth reading. i did enjoy the book, especially once i got past the introductory stage. i think the book picks up once eddie comes along with finley to visit her family, from there i pretty much couldn't put it down. and both eddie and finley are engaging characters and their relationship is very sweet.

**you before anyone else is set to publish on august 2, 2016. i received an advanced reader copy from netgalley/sourcebooks fire in exchange for my honest review.