Love has no rules.
It’s been a year since Eden Munro last saw Tyler Bruce: her stepbrother…and secret love. Although they swore to ignore their feelings and put their family first, Eden can’t help but feel excited when Tyler invites her to join him in New York City for the summer.
But it’s not like anything is going to happen. Eden is happy with her boyfriend Dean, and she knows gorgeous, green-eyed Tyler must have moved on as well. But as they spend the long, hot summer in the city that never sleeps, it becomes obvious that those old feelings are still there…simmering beneath the surface. Will Tyler and Eden be able to resist temptation?
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 1, 2016
I was provided with an eArc from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! Also, I buddy-read it with Cristina @My Tiny Obsessions, so make sure to head over to her blog in the following days to check out her review! (It is out now, click here to read it!)
This is the second book in the DIMILY trilogy and I would advise against you reading this if you haven’t read the first book! (You can check out my previous post here.) Otherwise I am trying to make this a spoiler-free review, I can’t say the same about the comment-section.
I think I wasn’t aware how much time had actually passed between the first and the second book – 2 years is a lot! And to me it showed how much everyone can change in that amount of time. Eden, who is still dating Dean, has become so much more irritating, because she is just constantly jealous of the girls (of whom there are not that many) in Tyler’s life. I get the sting of jealousy every now and then but this girl was beyond reason in some instances. However, I am glad she realised that at some point herself.
And then there is Tyler. I wasn’t his biggest fan in the first book and he still makes some stupid decisions, but I like him so much more now. I am really rooting for him and not just with Eden either, but for him as a person in general – to actually fully heal and get better. He has become much more responsible and even there are still the anger issues, I hope that’s what he is tackling next.
There was some drinking and cheating in the first book and it’s going to happen again. The thing is that this time the cheating is a lot less excusable, because we aren’t talking about psycho Tiffani but rather about sweet and nice Dean. He’d deserve so much better and there are obviously going to consequences. Much more severe ones than the last time.
Without wanting to give away too much, you can definitely expect a couple of faces from the past beside Eden, Tyler and Dean though. None of whom I like very much by now. Then there are also some new characters and despite me being dubious of some of them at first, I think they are a great addition.
The new setting in New York City was quite cool, because of Maskame really describing the place from the eyes of an excited teen who’s never been there before. However, sometimes it was just a little too much for me. Sure, you can talk about the Central Park or Empire State Building, but if you go on about certain street numbers I have no clue where on the map we are.
In the end, I enjoyed getting back into the mess of Eden and Tyler. Their situation is a little uncommon and complicated, but I still don’t think that they were wrong to fall in love. It can happen! But it’s their surroundings that make everything so darn difficult and it’s interesting to see how they handle everything. But the last chapter – I am so not cool with the cliffhanger this ended on! It does make sense, don’t get me wrong, but it was just so harsh and raw! It’s devastating when you know that something has to happen, but everyone still gets hurt. I need to read how this is all going to come together in Did I Mention I Miss You?.
Fazit: 4/5 stars! Despite me not liking it as much as the first book, it’s still a really gripping story with a lot of emotions coursing through you while reading. I will definitely continue with the series!
Do you intend to read Did I Mention I Need You? Have you read the first book? What’s your take on step-siblings falling in love?