We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A wedding harpist disillusioned with love and a hopeless romantic cater-waiter flirt and fight their way through a summer of weddings in this effervescent romantic comedy from the acclaimed author of Today Tonight Tomorrow.
Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.
Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents’ weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately. Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.
Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher.
Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.

I love trying new to me contemporary YA authors. Even more than that? I love when it works out and I absolutely adore what I just read. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon is a solid story about conceptualizing love as a performance and how that can negatively impact one’s relationships. I gobbled this book up in twenty four hours which truly felt like an indulgence — also found myself wanting to go visit Seattle by the end of it as well.

Quinn Berkowitz, main character of We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This and Tarek Mansour’s families have worked together at weddings for years. Quinn’s parents are wedding planners and own a business called Borrowed + Blue. Tarek’s parents are caterers. Last summer, Quinn emailed Tarek a declaration of love, to which she did not receive a response. When she sees him again, she’s full of dread and anxiety because she did lay it out on the line to get nothing back. As they will be working together a lot over the summer, they end up friends again but Quinn still has feelings for him.

Meanwhile, Quinn’s about to head to UW in the fall to start a business major and eventually go into business with her parents. Her whole life is planned out for her, and well, Quinn doesn’t want it. So, she’s agonizing over how to tell her parents. The story Quinn tells herself is that if she tells her parents she doesn’t want it, they’ll fight. It’ll be the last straw, and they will divorce. You see, Quinn has anxiety and catastrophizes, but she’s also got some unresolved childhood trauma.

Oh, and did I mention she’s a harpist and taking on some new lessons? But also that attraction between her and Tarek is budding and finally she also gets his side of the story.

One thing that I thought Solomon did so well in this book was the dialogue. It just flows so well and is so readable. I felt like all of the conversations in We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This were authentic and natural – albeit also awkward at times. In addition to the dialogue, this book also does a decent job with mental health rep. Quinn has OCD and anxiety. The way it is written is with sensitivity and doesn’t rely on stereotypes. We also see a character who has depression. And others who have anxiety. Mental healthcare is portrayed in a positive light. Therapy and medication are normalized. I am absolutely a fan and here for that.

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is a wonderful book about growth and coming into your own voice. It is so scary for Quinn to speak up and say what she does and does not want to do with her future. She also has to grow when it comes to her perception of relationships and really learn to lean into feelings. I think this was such an excellent read. So, I for sure will be checking out more books by Rachel Lynn Solomon.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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