Published by Emily Bestler Books on August 12, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Enchanted Realism, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
In elementary school Chloe Hanako Quinn is assigned Oliver Jones as her pen pal. Before sending her letter she also whispers a note into it…and he hears her. It is the beginning of a friendship that blooms into something more—that is, until disaster strikes.
Now more than twenty years later Chloe is a high school guidance counselor in New York City, but life is not what she dreamed it would be as she faces a layoff, rising rent, a situationship, and loneliness. Desperate for encouragement, she gives herself a pep talk via uplifting messages written on yellow origami paper that she folds into roses. When one of the roses accidentally finds its way to a neighbor in need of cheering-up, Chloe, feeling a desire to spread kindness and optimism, begins purposely leaving them around town.
Across the city, Oliver has picked himself up from the rough circumstances that forced him to leave everything behind as a teenager—including Chloe. Now a successful financial analyst, Oliver’s past continues to haunt him. But when the city is suddenly inundated with yellow origami roses, a specific one finds its way into his hands and changes his life forever.
After 16 years apart, childhood best friends and first loves find each other again with a little magical help.
Sometimes you just know a book has found you at the right time. That was the case with The Incredible Kindness of Paper. This feel-good story was exactly what I needed with everything going on in my life! There were so many reasons I LOVED this book but things that really stood out are as follows:
- Second Chance Romance - This is one of my favorite tropes, and there was nothing I wanted more than for Chloe and Oliver to get their opportunity to explore their feelings. Oliver's abrupt departure ended a beautiful friendship and left two people with broken hearts. This was their chance to set the record straight, heal, and see if that spark was still there.
- Friends-to-lovers - My ALL-TIME favorite trope. I was so happy we got flashbacks to learn about "Clover's" [Chloe + Oliver] history and watch them fall in love as kids. It was precious.
- Happenstance, coincidences, and fate? - The universe was working hard to get Chloe and Oliver back together, and there were so many times they were *this* close. It was exciting when their paths crossed and crossed again. And all those degrees of separation and connections delighted me as well.
- The flowers - The whole concept of the paper flowers was lovely. It seems like everyone has to do something for a reason, but Chloe just wanted to put a bit of kindness and joy into the world. She didn't want money or recognition. She didn't need to blast it across social media. Just seeing her flowers "find" the right people at the right time was enough for her, and it proves that it really is the little things that matter.
- Connection and Community - Skye really dug into the human element here showing the value of connection and community. It's especially wonderful to see in a place like NYC, a city of millions, where one can sometimes disappear in the sea of people.
- A touch of magic - I am a hardcore contemporary reader but do delight in small touches of magic particularly when they are as thoughtful and well incorporated as the ones here. These magical flowers were well utilized and such a fantastic and whimsical special touch.
Overall, I adored this book! This magical tale of hope, connection and kindness put a smile on my face and joy in my heart. Uplifting and filled with hope, this charming story tamed my inner cynic and left me walking on sunshine.
Published by G.P. Putman's Sons on August 5, 2025
Age/Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:
Goodreads
From the beloved author of Four Weekends and a Funeral, a nostalgic, heartwarming romance about a Type-A woman who road trips through the Minnesotan woods with her non-committal childhood best friend . . . only for their long-suppressed sparks to burn like wildfire.
Twenty-nine year old Charley Beekman is thriving. Is she financially strapped, languishing in her legal career, and very likely the youngest divorcee at the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on a Friday night? Yes. But, now that she's accepted the inherent flaws that lie in all romantic relationships, she finally has life all figured out! She's definitely due for an upswing.
So when her free-spirited sister announces her plan to elope with her messy on-again-off-again childhood sweetheart, Charley knows she has to stop the wedding, even if it means road-tripping into the northern woods of Minnesota in a camper van with her childhood best friend, Ethan, who’s as gorgeous as he is chronically unreliable.
But when their cozy journey ignites a spark she's tried to ignore for years, Charley tries to write off her feelings as fleeting. Because after failing at marriage so spectacularly with the most responsible man she's ever known, Charley definitely shouldn't risk it all for her non-committal, nomadic, musician best friend . . . right?
Following her surprise divorce, Charley was even more soured on romantic relationships and marriage. So when news of her sister's impending elopement reached her, she hopped in a camper van with her estranged best friend, Ethan, to stop the wedding. Along the way, Charley began to see her life, and Ethan, in a different light. Would she be able to forego the roots and stability she thought she needed and take a chance on love?
I am such a super-fan of Palmer's Four Weekends and a Funeral that I was bursting with anticipation to read her follow-up. Once again, she crafted another fun and charming story that had me smiling from ear to ear.
Charley was a very complicated woman. Through flashbacks, I learned about her past and her parents' tumultuous relationship which helped me understand why she made the choices she did. This was a woman who saw her mother disappear into her marriage, she saw her father leave when he was restless, she was forced to move around often and start over in new places. Once she was in charge of her life, she sought roots and stability, but she had compromised her wants and needs to have these things.
Her divorce may have come as a surprise to her, but it was actually a gift that sent Charley on a roadtrip and personal journey where she gained a lot of insight into herself. I won't say Charley didn't frustrate me. Throughout her history with Ethan, you could tell he was all in. It was always Charley who kept them in the friend zone. As she got older, she was even more weary of relationships and feared giving her heart to another person who will just leave. I could definitely related to Charley here, on some level, and that's why I was rooting for her to gather that courage to take a chance on Ethan, love, and herself.
I labeled this a romance because I felt like the Charley-Ethan plot was front and center, but it often leaned into women's fiction. With the story being told from Charley's point of view and following her personal growth, it seemed more her story most of the time.
But don't count Ethan out. Ethan, *smile*, I adored him from that very first meeting when they just 13 years old. This skinny boy with the bright smile who smelled like sugar and gave comfort to Charley. I think she loved him from the beginning but was afraid of what that meant for their friendship.
Regardless of all that, Ethan was good for Charley. He was opposite her in ways that would help her find that balance she was missing. His free spiritedness was born from being tied down to the same town by his family obligations for so long. But with his parents' blessing, he embarked on a musical career and a nomadic lifestyle. No matter where or when, all roads led back to Charley, and I absolutely loved them together.
Anywhere With You took me on a quite roadtrip filled with shenanigans, family, friendship, love, and personal growth. I released as many laughs as tears while rooting for everyone to find their happy place, their person, their home.
*ARCS PROVIDED BY THE PUBLISHER
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