Queen B’s Decree: We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This as a title didn’t fit with the story. I expected a series of meet cutes, maybe some enemies-to-lovers. Instead it’s about Quinn and Tarek, who have been working on weddings most of their lives with their families (wedding planning and catering, respectively) and have been friends the whole time. They have a weird friend break-up when Tarek goes to college and ignores Quinn’s email of love. A year later and Tarek is back for the summer and he’s trying to get close to Quinn again.
Quinn was so cynical and anti-love while Tarek is a romantic who is all about big gestures and Rom Coms. Quinn’s cynicism feels overblown. It’s all based on an event that occurs in her childhood and her uncertainty and wish to prevent any romantic pain causes her to almost be cruel in her interactions with Tarek. Not to mention how she purposely hides everything from her parents, her sister, and her best friend. Thus, Quinn was a hard character to both connect to or like.
I thought the author did a great job discussing mental health and physical health. OCD, depression, anxiety, and even how eczema’s physical representation can affect you mentally were all well written and mentioned.
WCKMLT was cute and light while still dealing with deep and emotional topics. Tarek was the star with his genuine and realistic approach to love and life. But I have to agree with Quinn and her opinion about Sleepless in Seattle – Meg Ryan is one hundo a stalker.
I SAID IT.
Book: We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Series: standalone
Genre: Young Adult
Hotness: mild salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: friends-to-lovers