Single Sundays: Just Say When by Kaylee Ryan

Single Sundays: While this blog may be focused on reviewing book series as a whole, we can’t forget about the good ole’ standalone novel! On Sundays, I will review a novel that is considered to be a standalone novel. Here is this week’s offering:

Synopsis for Just Say When (from Goodreads):

Saving myself for marriage, not hardly.‬‬
Saving myself for someone who will make my heart race, most definitely.

In theory it’s a good plan, however even the best-laid plans fall through. Seeing him, being around him, alerts all my senses and I dream about being his, wrapping myself in his arms and never letting go. The only problem – he sees me as his sister.

My name’s Ava Evans and I’m in love with my older brother’s best friend, Nate Garrison.

Burying myself in work for the past two years, avoiding any thought of her, has worked, until now. She’s everywhere, in my dreams, in my gym, and in my heart. I’m not sure when I fell in love with Ava Evans, but I am completely in love with my best friends baby sister.

At first she was too young for me and that made it easy to stay away. Now, it’s a struggle to keep my distance.

How am I supposed to resist her when I can’t escape her? If he ever found out, it would ruin our friendship. Even with that knowledge all she would have to do is…

Just Say When.

Author: Kaylee Ryan
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Date: May 16, 2015
Source & Format: Own–eBook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I marked this as a novel I found on a blog but I’m not sure who’s blog that was (sorry!).

Anywho, I enjoy the “in love with my brother’s BFF” trope for many reasons so that’s what caught my eye. They’re usually filled with delicious tension and swoon worthy moments. I had just finished a YA novel I didn’t particularly enjoy and had just DNF’d another NA read that bored me to tears so I had high hopes that this novel would lift me up from a downward slump.

The Plot:

There isn’t anything new here. If you’ve read any book with this trope, you’ve essentially read this novel. It’s not a bad thing, but I need a little more to stimulate my interest. There isn’t much to this story but these two trying to deny their obvious feelings.

I contemplated DNFing this one pretty early on to be honest because it just moved so, so slowly. But I stuck with it and skimmed the rest of the novel.

The Characters:

They were pretty flat if you ask me. Again, nothing new here. I didn’t care for either of them.

The Romance:

This is definitely a slow burn romance. It wasn’t until the 30% mark that these two make their first move. Which is fine, but not exactly what I wanted from this novel. I wanted tension and longing looks early on…and they are there to an extent. It just wasn’t as passionate as I wanted; it was more sweet and cheesy.

My Rating: 2/5

If I read this when I bought it two years ago, perhaps my review would be different. This novel isn’t awful, it just isn’t anything new. So if you are looking for a sweet and cheesy read about a young girl finally realizing her crush isn’t so unrequited, it might be worth your time.

Read if You Like: sisters in love with brother’s BFF
Avoid if You: want a deeper romance