You, With A View by Jessica Joyce (Review by Shay Tibbs)

5 stars

One of the best debuts I’ve ever read, this title is sure to end up on my list of favorites for 2023, it was incredible!

Let’s start with the stunning cover, throw in a title that fits perfectly with the overall themes in the book and fits our character’s love for photography all at once, and I just can’t tell you enough just how smitten I was from the start. Cheers all around for the team that put this title together, and knew that the cover lovers would have to have this one, I hope it reaches the hands of many readers because it blew me away!

Noelle is having a hard time after losing her job right after the loss of her beloved grandmother, and she’s struggling to find motivation for anything, especially when it comes to figuring out her future. As she’s grieving, she discovers photos and a love letter of her Gram’s, from a man who’s not her grandfather. She creates a TikTok in search of the man and soon finds herself meeting not only him but discovering that his grandson is none other than her high school nemesis, Theo.

In contrast, Theo has everything she doesn’t. As a Forbes 500 CEO of a travel company, he has always bested her, creating a relationship full of bickering and one-upping one another. When his grandfather begins to tell Noelle stories of the past, she soon finds herself on a road trip with Paul AND Theo, creating a delicious enemies-to-lovers situation where occasionally they find themselves too close for comfort.

As she finds joy from the connection to her grandma she never knew was possible through her lens and Paul’s recollections of the past, Noelle quickly became a character I was invested in, I could not get enough of the charming plotline. I was enthralled with the writing style, Joyce gave us so many delicious tropes in a new way, my favorites being the forced proximity of a two-week road trip that of COURSE results in one bed for one of their stays, which gives just the right amount of chemistry with equally balanced banter and emotional depth.

This book was such an emotional journey, with perfect pacing to keep you invested in the history of the older generation, while the two main characters fell in love alongside those moments, and I cannot wait to see what Joyce writes next!