Special thanks to the author and her team for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Over the years, Kate Canterbary has become one of my favourite go-to romance authors. Now when I pick up one of her books, I know it’ll be a great time.

TL;DR: Reading In A Rush felt like receiving a warm and welcoming hug from an old friend I hadn’t seen in a while and I loved Ryan and Emme! Their chemistry was a simmering explosion just waiting to happen, their friend groups were hilarious, their families entertaining (but also very messed up, at least on Emme’s side) and overall, this was the perfect romantic escape read from the mess of reality. I was all for Ryan’s peak Wife Guy energy that had me swooning all over the place (no joke)! I’m already excited to get more books in the Friendship series (please bless us, KC!).

We’re first introduced to this group of friends in Shay’s book, In a Jam, as they’re school teacher friends from Boston. While we didn’t “properly” meet them in Shay’s book, I’m happy we get to know more about this group of messy, sarcastic, overdramatic, and highly relatable ride-or-die girlfriends. Typical of Canterbary’s FMCs, Emme is your feisty, slightly unhinged binch, who often doesn’t know her strength and finds herself being walked over by the worst of men-kind. She won’t be everyone’s cuppa but I found her highly relatable. As corny as it sounds, I loved watching her bloom again when Ryan comes back into her life and she sheds the shroud of doubt and insecurity that her pig of an ex so expertly draped over her. You can see in subtle ways how she finds confidence and joy in being herself again and it was clear to everyone else too.

As for Ryan… Holy granola, this man! He had me swooning all over the show with his doting Wife Guy energy and I was seated for the whole ride. Though IRL Wife Guys may be “out” thanks to idiots tarnishing the term, I’m still a sucker for the in-book Wife Guys and how they love to dote on their wives. I love how Canterbary’s men do this and because of them, I’ve come to adore this sub-trope more. There’s just something about a guy who would love to do nothing more than spoil and adore their wives and make their lives better—and not for the public or anyone else but just because they can’t help themselves from doing so! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and swoony and Ryan excelled at being a Wife Guy and setting those butterflies in my stomach off in a total frenzy! I made a lot of highlights where he was concerned. 🤭

Their romance was unsurprisingly explosive and I loved the build-up of tension as they go from besties wondering if they’re actually doing this (well, he’s wondering if this is real cos his dream is coming true, lol) to crossing the line into lovers and being married. Their personalities complemented each other so well! They’re not grumpy sunshine opposites per se, but rather grumpy and grumpier and they both come across as intimidating and not people to mess around with. However, he is also the calm to her chaos and they’d both do anything for the people they love, even if it’s at their own expense. I loved how Canterbary introduced the strength of their friendship bond from their high school days through to the present in a way that was organic and didn’t involve flashback chapters. I felt the closeness of their bond and understood how well they clicked on a soulmate level. They were just so wonderful together! 😉

The reason why this isn’t a full five stars is that I thought we’d at least get one scene with Ryan’s whole family. Their group chat was a forking delight and one of the many highlights of the book for me, so I was bummed when we didn’t get a face-to-face scene with them, especially because Grandma Cece sounded like a hoot! I also just generally wished we spent more time with both friend groups because I just loved spending time with them. The reasons for their marriage of convenience also didn’t end up playing as big a role as I expected it to but on the whole, these were (IMHO) minor things that didn’t hugely impact my overall enjoyment of this romance!

Have you read In A Rush or is it on your TBR?

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