Review: What If…I Love You by Yvonne Marie

What If…I Love You
Yvonne Marie

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
There’s no room for error in Renee Johnson’s life.

No one tolerates mistakes from an autistic Black woman, even in the tech world. But overnight Renee goes from a rising star in the Austin tech scene to the target of a social media firestorm.

At the heart of the controversy threatening to destroy everything she’s built, is her former best friend turn rival, Knox Lyons.
The two friends and business partners, who were once inseparable, find themselves thrust back into each other’s lives. Despite her attempts to push him away, Knox is determined to convince Renee to give him another chance.

The chemistry between them is hotter than ever, as long-held secrets come to light, and moments from their past and present collide. They can’t help but wonder–what if we were always more than friends?

My Review

I received a free copy from the author through Booksprout and am voluntarily reviewing it.

This book caught my eye when I spotted it on Booksprout and after reading the sample I requested it. I really enjoyed this book, it was such a well written and realistic romance story. And I really liked the couple in this book and reading about them individually too and seeing the changes they go through in this book.

What If…I Love You is told from dual points of views of both Renee and Knox. They used to be best friends and started a company together, but they haven’t spoken in years after Knox told her he would join his father’s company and stop working together with her. Although there was more going on on both their sides that the other isn’t aware of. When both of their companies become caught up in a social media storm they have to work together again.

I was a bit confused at first as I thought they had been lovers in the past, but only in a flashback later on in the book it’s clearer up they were really close friends who lived together. I liked seeing them find their way back together and see how they opened up and found their easy friendship again. It was great seeing that friendship turn into more. I also appreciated how they both are their own person and have things they need to face and come to terms with throughout the story. There is some amazing character growth and development for both of them and I really enjoyed that part. Both felt like real and realistic characters and it was a joy to read about them.

I thought the autistic representation was really well done. Renee is autistic and that really shows in who she is. I liked how integrated it was in her personality and really part of her, not just something she struggles with. I liked seeing her face things and figure things out when it came to her company and the product she designed. I really liked seeing how she handled and resolved things and figured out more about herself in the process too.

Knox was awesome too. I liked how accepting Knox was of Renee and everything that she is. It was really wonderful to see how he dealt with things and was there for her. I thought Know had an interesting plot line too with how he has taken over his father’s company and now has to figure out what type of CEO he wants to be. The ending of this book felt really strong with them both figuring out the resolution to their struggles and things fall on their place and then their happy ending was awesome.

I only wish there had been an epilogue of some sort at the end of the book as I wanted to see more of them and their future. There was a downloadable epilogue that I still have to read so that might change how I feel about it, but that’s not part of the actual book. I also would’ve liked to know earlier on that they didn’t have a romantic relationship in the past, as with it marketed as a second chance romance I immediately jumped to that conclusion. Once I had read that flashback chapter I felt like I much better understood their relationship and what happened, but I would’ve liked it earlier, although I do understand why it’s placed where it is in the book.

To summarize: This was a wonderful read. I really liked reading about both Renee and Knox, both are realistic and relatable characters and it was a joy to read about them and their romance. Both have an interesting character development arc throughout the book and the last few chapters were really engaging and satisfying to read where they both figure things out and find their way forward and together. I liked the romance between the two of them and seeing them find their way back together and develop their friendship into more. They were just such a great couple. I thought the autistic representation was really well done, it really was a part of Renee’s personality and it was very well written. This was an awesome read and I can’t wait to read more of this author’s books in the future!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.