Book: While You Were Seething by Charlotte Stein
Reviewed by Maggie Hayes
Rating: 4.5/5
ARC REVIEW
While You Were Seething by Charlotte Stein
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ (4.5/5)
I really enjoyed this quiet yet deeply emotional second-chance romance. The dual timeline—past college days and present-day book tour—is handled so well. The emotional beats line up perfectly, helping you understand how two people who so clearly belong together somehow became enemies.
I love grumpy, secretly pining Caleb. I’m a sucker for a mountain man who keeps his heart locked down, and Caleb fully delivers. The dedications at the start of his books? Absolutely swoonworthy. You just know a man who writes that lyrically about lost love is hiding a lot beneath the surface.
Daisy is my favorite kind of FMC—strong, independent, and capable, but with a soft center that makes her feel incredibly real. She goes toe-to-toe with Caleb and his stubbornness, runs her own business like a boss, and still carries emotional wounds that hit hard when Caleb presses in the wrong places. His perceived rejection of her hurts, and you feel that.
Together, they are a delicious mess. The fake dating setup gives them just enough cover to finally act on the tension that’s been simmering since the beginning—and it’s both incredibly sexy and surprisingly tender. Watching the line between fake and real blur is messy, emotional, and completely addictive.
While You Were Seething gave me the same feelings I had reading When Grumpy Met Sunshine—and that’s about as high a compliment as I can give. Charlotte Stein is quickly becoming an auto-read author for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC!