Cori’s Pick: Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

Back in early August I reviewed Christina Lauren’s The Unhoneymooners.  It was the perfect beach read with lots of much needed laughs.  So naturally, I picked up a few of her other titles including this one and fell in love with Christina Lauren all over again!  Side note, while looking up titles I learned that Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings.

I loved this book so much!   Reading in the time of COVID has led me to fall back on the romance genre way more than usual and I’m glad I’ve trusted my book cravings because this one brought me joy and appreciation and all the feels.  The story revolves around Macy and Elliot.  They are just kids when Macy and her father buy the ‘weekend getaway’ house next door to Elliot and his family.  Told in alternating time lines between then and now, Elliot and Macy become best friends, then best everythings, then total strangers.  Throughout the chapters you learn there was a falling out between the two, but you wonder what could have possibly happened to keep them apart.  The author does an amazing job of making you feel the bond between the two characters.  They have that inexplicable, all-consuming love that we all hope for, but few are fortunate to have.  Maybe it’s because I could relate to this teen crush turned adult love affair, but I enjoyed every word of this book – no pun intended.  Read this one!