Now that she’s in her late twenties and feeling directionless, Georgie decides to use this diary as a guide to figuring out what she truly wants for her life.

Something I thought a lot about while reading is the idea I came across recently in an unrelated reading, positing that books don't belong to genres so much as they use genres. But this is different, because while the plot is slow, the romance is actually close to insta-love and moves far too quickly. There’s an ambition and a boldness to it that belies the smalltown setting and the quiet connections it celebrates, and above all such a non-obnoxious sense of hope. Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate — Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit.When her boss decides to retire and advises her to figure out what she wants she heads home to visit her pregnant best friend and parents. He, too, has come a long way: From local troublemaker to local dock builder, Levi rose to many occasions - just not confronting his toxic father and, thus, he’s also estranged from his siblings for no good reason at all. The Sing Along CD has been specially recorded for those who may not have access to a piano, and features 20 of the songs from the Song Book.

However, he has a successful business now, is somewhat antisocial, and is tenderhearted with his dog, Hank. Each board book comes with a free instrumental and vocal version of the nursery rhyme – simply scan the QR code for little ones to listen and sing along! And, because of this, there are times when the book feels a little sprawling and structurally chaotic (although there’s a degree to which this is very reflective of its heroine, so I’m inclined to see this is a feature, not a bug) but, ultimately, all these connections come together absolutely beautifully---rendering this one of the most emotionally kind of nourishing?

He has a pile of romance hero stereotypes to match Georgie's: he's got a beard, he's the town hermit, he's shy, he's gruff, he's good with his hands, he's the Older Brother. As Levi helps Georgie with this wishlist of sorts, they each have to let go of their difficult pasts and figure out what feels authentic to them in the present. From the small-town setting, to the forced-proximity, to the expertly utilised sunshine/grumpy dynamic, I was all on board, finding it extremely hard to put the book down to attend to real life for the duration of this read. She takes a break and comes home to her rural hometown due to feeling like huge parts of her are simply “blank”.