YOU, AGAIN

Opposites become enemies and then friends and finally lovers in this delightful, trope-filled contemporary romance debut.

Aspiring (and failing) comedian Arianna Sloane doesn't do commitment. In fact, she actively avoids it. She has a strict rule when it comes to her hookups to never stay the night. Josh Kestenberg is in love with love, a chef with grand professional ambitions who also dreams of settling down and serving his eventual soul mate breakfast in bed. Ari and Josh are like oil and water, and it's dislike at first sight. Underscoring their mutual hatred is the bombshell revelation that they're both sleeping with the same woman, who happens to be Ari's roommate. Talk about awkward. For years, Ari and Josh keep falling into each other's orbit, with each meeting more disastrous than the next, until they reunite when they're both at their lowest. Misery seems to make great company, and instead of bickering, they wind up bonding. Supportive texts turn into late-night phone calls and eventually graduate to cathartic movie marathons. The way their friendship blooms is slow and sweet and subtle, and it makes their inevitable romance happen almost seamlessly. The snarky banter between them eventually softens as Ari and Josh allow themselves to be vulnerable; it's rare to find such a perfect balance of funny and emotional scenes without either one overpowering the other. Goldbeck is clearly a writer to watch, creating and building characters that feel like people you've known and loved rather than caricatures dropped into a scene for the sake of a punchline or plot beat. Ari and Josh are thoughtfully written, layered with histories and memories that have molded their contemporary personalities.

This debut romance ticks all the boxes of a must-read, with plenty of bite giving it edge.