Liz Czukas

With a unique and refreshingly angst free storyline, When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill is an absolutely delightful New Adult romance. This marvelous friends with benefits-ish novel is a light-hearted read that begins when Joss and Matt meet their freshman year of college and follows their rather unusual friendship for the next seven years. It is a very charming story with an appealing cast of characters and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary romances.

When Joss and Matt first meet, there is a spark of attraction between them, but Joss is in a long distance relationship with her high school sweetheart. When her boyfriend dumps her, Matt proposes a somewhat unorthodox plan to help her get over him: Sorbet sex. A meaningless encounter that replaces the bad experience with a pleasant one. As a result, their unorthodox "friends with benefits" arrangement is born. To protect their friendship, the two make up a list of "rules" that range from silly to aww, sweet and over the next seven years, Joss and Matt date other people, but they always end up back in one another's beds. Is there more to the arrangement than two friends simply helping one another get over their last relationship? Will Joss and Matt finally figure out what is blatantly obvious to everyone else in their lives?

Written in first person from Joss's point of view, When Joss Met Matt begins in the present but quickly flashes back to Joss and Matt's first meeting. The story then follows both Matt and Joss through the ups and downs of their relationships with other lovers. Some of their relationships were meaningful and left them with battered hearts while others were just blips on their dating radars.

Joss and Matt always maintain their close friendship no matter if the other was in a relationship or not, and eventually, they anticipate their sorbet sex more than their current romance. While both are careful to keep their emotions out of their sorbet encounters, it soon becomes clear that there is more to their relationship than casual sex. For Joss, her fear of losing Matt's friendship make it difficult for her to admit to herself, let alone Matt, that she might be in love with him. Just as Joss is beginning to come to terms with her unexpected feelings, Matt re-evaluates his life after a tragic loss and a misunderstanding soon threatens their entire relationship.

When Joss Met Matt is an enchanting novel that is relatively drama free. The novel is well-written with witty dialogue and a cast of genuine and likable characters. The sex scenes fade to black with few details so it is a mostly clean romance. Like many novels set during college, there are several drinking references, but nothing too over the top and the characters do behave pretty responsibly. Overall, Ellie Cahill avoids most of the clichés that are typically found New Adult romances which makes it an engrossing and extremely entertaining novel.… (mais)

3.5 Stars

Clementine is awkward and stuck living under her grandparent's watchful eyes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't act like every other twenty-something when she falls into the lap of a hot guy and finds herself stuck with his phone for a week. What starts as passing along messages to one another soon turns into more when Clementine and Justin start pushing the lines of just sharing messages by sharing a bit about themselves and some photos. Music and pictures soon become more and when they finally meet in person for the big phone exchange, their chemistry over the phone is still there when in person. Clementines keeping a secret though, her family money and past makes it convenient to lie, but when real feelings grow she has to face Justin with the truth.

While a bit unbelievable, Call Me, Maybe, is a fast-paced, cute story filled with fun characters. Clementine, what a name, is the kind of character that you will like or hate. She's a bit immature, obsessed with books (we all can relate to that), and has an overbearing family. She dealt with life's pressures in such a way that I wanted to shake some sense in her, but she also landed herself in the cutest flirtashionship. I really enjoyed the phone aspect of Clementine and Justin, especially in this day and age where people really do fall in love through just Facebook, texts, and skype calls. That said, for someone who is so wary of social media, she sure jumps into it with Justin. Clementine is easy to sympathize with and, minus the odd way it happened, her relationship with Justin is one I rooted for. I could understand her hiding parts of herself, yet trying to learn more about Justin as a way to justify her emotions towards him. The drama that unfolds is predictable, but is well written and works out just how you want it too. I enjoyed the personal growth, from both characters, and the lesson that is weaved into the story.

Let's be honest though, anyone who loses their phone now days has everything backed up And can get a replacement one. They certainly wouldn't let someone use their phone for a whole week, especially if they're a wealthy well-known figure in the community, but hey this is fiction. That said, I look up people when I meet them and since Clementine is a really unusual name, and Justin is a journalist, don't we think that Clementine Chicago typed into Google would turn up some results? Just maybe.

While the general story is unbelievable, it's still a cute, flirty read. I liked the general relationship, the phone conversations prior to their meeting are certainly entertaining, and while it's fairly clean, the sex scenes definitely make up a lot of their relationship. I can always use more chemistry and drama in a book, but this quick read made me smile and relax for a little while.… (mais)

4.5 stars. Very cute story of two former roommates getting married in order to live in married housing. Emmy and Becket have been friends since freshman year of college. What could possibly go wrong with this setup?!? Some very cute moments made me smile.

The author did a great job on character development and dialogue. E Cahill has a certain cadence to her writing style which I really enjoyed. The story was sweet. I wish the epilogue had been longer, although, what we were given was very cute.

This is my first time reading this author but will soon rectify that. I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for this book.… (mais)