Book: Built to Last by Nouha Jullienne
Reviewed by Desi Disassociates
Rating: 4/5
Five years after the passing of his wife, Lila, Griffin is struggling to juggle all of the things in his life after his nanny, Joyce, has to move away to care for a relative. His son, Sylas, has been living off breakfasts of cereal and Griffin is just trying to keep all of the plates spinning in his life and seeking comfort and routine by pseudo-internet stalking an influencer on Instagram.
Tiana (TJ), said influencer, has bigger goals that being a public face online. She's been working at Willow's, a cafe that she's been desperately saving up to buy when the owner retires. While she thought she had more time, the owner gives her six months to be able to secure the loan, and if she doesn't meet that deadline, he's selling to a developer.
In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, Mya, Griffin's employee and TJ's sister introduces the two with the hopes that it's a match made in grumpy/sunshine heaven. But when Griffin's online obsession lands in his home for a trial run, he has to decide if he wants to live in real life or like his online version in DMs.
Built to Last was a love letter to grief and the struggles of trying to move on while still honoring those you have lost. There was a lot of internal struggle for Griffin in coming to terms with the evolution of his feelings for Mya while trying to stay loyal to his wife, Lila. Griffin and Tiana were a hot mess at times, but their story was beautiful. I read this one after losing someone semi-recently so it hit me right in the feels.
And of course, the slow burn and push/pull of these two had me in a chokehold. The spice was great and the man grovelllllllls. More of that please. But seriously, this book was great and now I have to go back and read the first. (It can be read as a standalone though without missing too much).