Only Love Can Hurt Like This

"To be fair 3.5 ⭐️s. I really wanted to like it more than I did. The plot was a little all over the place with minor characters problems popping in and out in a manner that felt choppy. In some ways it was under-developed and in other ways it was over done. A very slow moving story and a very slow burn romance with very little actual romance. "

"This book was so good. The emotional journey in this book will have you in your feelings. I love the relationship between Wren and her step sister Bailey. I also love how Anders and Jonas overcome their trauma and heartbreak. Chefs kiss! 😘 Wren is so mature even after all her heartbreaks. ❤️"

"This was a cute book. It has me excited for summer to come. I usually don’t care for city girl in a small country town but this one kind of made it work because she wasn’t a helpless city girl she was willing to work and do what she could help her family without complaining."

"Absolutely love!! I really enjoy the end of the acceptance of everything. I also really liked that Wren saw her faults in her most recent past relationship. "

"Absolutely heartbreaking mini plots scattered throughout the main characters life but she is so incredibly mature and an extremely likeable character."

"This book had me in the beginning but then unfortunately from halfway on I really could not connect with the book anymore. I felt like the two main characters their story line was very forced. And when the secret was revealed, I didn’t like how the author portrayed the main character as such an honourable man. This book gave me a terrible feeling in my gut. This book was not it for me unfortunately. "

"I had high hopes for this book because of the reviews but I didn’t really connect with the characters"

"I read this book to have a bit of a light escape, I wanted a nice love story but I struggle with silly romcoms so I thought this might be meaningful and enjoyable. <br/><br/>The story is meaningful and it is heartbreaking. For me, I’m not sure it moved my heart in the way I wanted it to (this could be a reflection more on where my head is personally than on the writing as a whole) but I did definitely find it hard to connect with the characters. While I was on their team, there was nothing about the characters that convince me that they were made to be together. I was rooting for them because that is the point of a romance and not because I thought it was best for them or even really wanted them to be happy together. <br/><br/>The protagonist, while intelligent and attentive, also changes her mind on almost everything she notices. While I enjoyed her ability to admit when her initial assumptions or interpretations of moments or actions were incorrect, it made it challenging to follow or trust her perception of the world around her. I liked her enough but could not relate to her at all, in her responses, her choices, and interpretations. This made it hard to root for her all too much. I would have been ok with any ending to the story because I wasn’t all that invested in what would happen to her.<br/><br/>Anders, the love interest, is complicated. And that is ok, that’s the whole point of the story, he has a heavy past that inhibits their relationship. Unfortunately I think this inhibited his actions to the extent that I was never convinced that he really was invested or interested in Wren. If he was I certainly never knew why. Their relationship seemed to me to be simply due to inevitability rather than true connection. While Anders is respectable I was not drawn to him, only sorry for him and impressed by his ability to overcome adversity and support people in his life. <br/><br/>The story did capture me though, I enjoyed the level of mystery to Anders’ past, I enjoyed the internal exploration and work that Wren did throughout the book (even if it may have been unrealistically speedy). I enjoyed it quite a bit, it certainly brought me back and kept me procrastinating but did not change my life. Probably wouldn’t recommend this read. Though I read the whole thing quickly so … maybe you should read it?"

"This is my first Paige Toon novel and it won’t be my last. I was impressed with how the author was able to build reader connections to the characters that grew stronger throughout the chapters. <br/><br/>The title clues you in that this book will explore the pain that can sometimes go hand in hand with love; however, the emotional journey that Wren and Anders travel together is absolutely gut wrenching."