By: Abby Jimenez
“Sometimes the start of something good begins during something bad.”
Charlotte and Seth are neighbors, but have never met, until today. Seth leaves his second floor apartment to go get coffee, and the stairs are gone. Which means he’s stuck and so is Charlotte. Charlotte leads a pretty isolated life due to a stalker and arms herself with bear spray. So armed with her bear spray, the two of them hang out on the landing that weekend, which also happens to be Valentine’s Day weekend, and the weekend Seth’s divorce is finalized. With her never knowing when her stalker is going to pop up, Charlotte is always ready to leave at any moment. While Seth really is starting to like her, Charlotte tells him that she’s a fall risk.
This was a sweet, short novella! It’s less than 100 pages (and just wanted I needed this week with my work training taking up most of my time). I really thought the fact that the workers working on the apartment building accidentally destroying the stairs was a really creative idea. Did I necessarily feel the chemistry between Charlotte and Seth? No, not the way that I have felt it in longer novels. I definitely think this should have been longer so that the characters and the romance could have been fleshed out better.
The stalker situation is scary for Charlotte. So she takes her precautions, including taking self defense classes. I really think that this could have and should have been fleshed out better as well. There’s a bit of violence surrounding this, and it’s sort of just brushed over. Just felt a little wrong to me.
But for 82 pages, it was cute and fun to read. It’s a really good palette cleanser, and it was a fun idea. Oh yeah, and can’t forget about the fish – Swim Shady!
Publish date: March 1, 2025
Find the book here
* This post contains an affiliate link. I earn a small commission if you purchase the book through this link.
Book Addict Book Blog 