Review: Exes and O’s by Amy Lea

Romance novel obsessed Tara Chen has had more than her fair share of heartbreak. Ever since her most recent breakup, adding to a long line of men that dumped her because of her supposed clingy tendencies, her love life has grown sour. Tara wants to find love more than anything, but with the growing popularity of dating apps, a modern meet-cute is out of the question. Luckily, an insightful interview gives her an idea: revisit her past exes and reevaluate the relationship in an attempt to earn one of the most time-honored tropes, the second-chance romance. In her quest to reconnect with her past relationships, Tara enlists the help of her standoffish roommate Trevor, who couldn’t be any more against commitment. As the two venture deeper into Tara’s past, the closer they become, and though the disappointments grow even higher, finding the love she’s been looking for may not lie in the past at all, but in the everyday details.

Amy Lea did not hold back with this wholly magnetic and exquisitely tender slow-burn love story. I mean I heard the words “and they were roommates” and immediately dropped whatever I was doing to go and read this. Exes and O’s has a lot going for it, what with its central protagonists, an emotionally unavailable fireman, and a nurse with a tendency to romanticize, falling for one another under the guise of a search for a second-chance romance. Lea quietly constructs a simmering slow burn, with close-the-book level tension and enough going on that I never wanted to stop reading. Plot aside, the strongest part of this novel is its leading characters, Trevor and Tara. Not only was there enough set up to establish an emotional conflict that never became overbearing, but both character arcs intersected and complemented one another in increasingly fascinating ways. Out of the two main leads, Tara has to be my favorite. She’s the romance novel aficionado and book-lover heroine we deserve, and her inner struggle really resonated with me. I know many people appreciate dual POV in romance, but with a slow burn in mind and the characters in question, I loved the fact that we only got Tara’s. It helped make the pining almost unbearable and the undercurrent of the whole will they won’t they vibe. Throughout Tara’s entire emotional arc, Lea illustrates the importance of learning to be yourself wholeheartedly when it comes to love while continuing to hold onto your dreams and ideals. It’s obvious that friends to lovers is one of my all-time favorite tropes and I think this one might be at the top of that list. Exes and O’s is a novel dedicated to all the romance-obsessed daydreamers out there, entirely charming, swoon-worthy, and vulnerable.

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc.

Trigger warnings: sexism, gaslighting

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