This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
My Review:Title: Gouda Friends
Author: Cathy Yardley
Series: Ponto Beach Reunion #2
Published by: Montlake Romance
Release Date: March 22, 2022
Format: Kindle Book
Pages: 303
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 2, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2023 May SIAM
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N
My rating:
Blurb:Two high school BFFs reunite and endeavor to fix each other’s lives in this geeky romance from the author of Love, Comment, Subscribe.
Tam Doan dumped her boyfriend after he threw away her gourmet cheese. Sure, it’s a little more complicated than that, but the point is, he had it coming. Newly single and unemployed, Tam calls up her best friend from high school and utters the emergency code word—goldfish. Next thing she knows, she’s on a plane back home.
Josh O’Malley was a troubled, unconfident teenager. Now he’s the successful owner of a multimillion-dollar ghost kitchen. Tam, his high school BFF and fellow member of the Nerd Herd friend group, was instrumental in building his self-esteem. When she calls him out of the blue, he jumps at the chance to return the favor.
Josh and Tam immediately get to work fixing her life—but again, it’s complicated. Their close friendship was always a lifeline between them; a blooming romance might confuse things. Still, at least one thing is for certain: their chemistry is un-brie-lievable.
4 stars — Tam and Josh were just quirky and funny and nerdy and dorky and cute.
It took me a bit to settle into this one. Maybe because I was just getting over a cold so my brain was a bit foggy? Not sure. Maybe because some of the situations felt a bit cliche? But I have to be honest with myself, do I care? Sometimes I do. And earlier maybe I did, but Tam and Josh just grew on me like a fungus and at the end, no matter how much I could see where things were going, I just didn’t care. I wanted these two adorable dorks to find their way.
I loved seeing Tam’s natural ability to help others and see solutions that eluded others. It was so gratifying, and I almost would have loved if someone had been able to see that gift more explicitly. But I appreciated the way her personal story went regardless, it fit her so well. And she really grew throughout the story, in little bits along the way. I almost wished some of her biggest growth hadn’t happened somewhat off page, but it was still satisfying. It was hard to watch her initially bow to pressures from well meaning family/friends, but it made it that much better when she stood her ground.
Josh was pretty adorable in his own right. He was more settled in some ways, but he still had to grow through his personal relationship fears, which he did with a little help from some friends.
And honestly, they were pretty cute together. Sure, they frustrated me a bit with their cliche book reactions of “just this once”, and then, “friends with benefits” schtick, but I do get where it came from. And you could genuinely feel how much they cared for one another, and how scared they were of losing what they had. I’ve probably just read a few too many stories like that, so my patience was thinner. But I really loved their connection, the way they just fit and complemented one another.
All in all this was a solid quirky romance. I loved all the foodie stuff, and the cheesey goodness…it was feta-tastic!
Leave a Reply