REVIEW: You, with a View by Jessica Joyce

In You, with a View by Jessica Joyce, The past six months have not been great for Noelle Shepard. It started with losing her best friend in the world–her grandmother, Kathleen–and then the catastrophes piled up from there: losing her job, losing her apartment, and at twenty-eight-years-old, moving back into her childhood bedroom. So yeah, not the best year Noelle’s ever had. Then she finds pictures and a letter from the 1950s in some of Gram’s things. The man in the photos and who wrote the letter? It’s definitely not her Grandpa Joe. Determined to find out who “Paul” is, Noelle turns to TikTok, making her own plea to the masses for info, and relatively soon after gets her answer. Paul is the grandfather of her former high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.

‘My high school adversary is Paul’s grandson, and we’ve been talking all week without realizing it.
What force has brought him back into my life? Satan? No, that doesn’t make sense–the same force brought Paul into my life, too.’

As much as she enjoys talking with Paul, learning more about her beloved grandmother and the secrets she kept from that time in her life, Noelle isn’t sure what to do about Theo being part of the equation. Particularly when Paul insists on accompanying her on the road trip she’s taking in honor of Gram–the honeymoon the couple never got to enjoy because their engagement sadly fell apart. Theo of course is invited along by Paul. And Theo, ever protective and competitive, agrees. But as they spend countless hours together, Noelle realizes he’s changed in the decade since graduation. For the better, thankfully. The attraction that’s always been simmering just beneath the surface comes out in full force. And as she heals from the loss of Gram, little by little, one destination at a time, Noelle also falls for Theo, one mile at a time.

‘I wish I could tell her about Theo. What a wild secret he is.
What would she think of us? Is it too strange that we’re tied by her and Paul’s interrupted love, or would she think it was something like fate?’

A debut romance that filled my heart with every emotion imaginable, You, with a View was the embodiment of an enemies to lovers storyline. Author Jessica Joyce takes us on a road trip that uncovers secrets from the past while a new couple forges their way into an unknown but promising future.

‘I sense the same connection between him and Paul as what I had with Gram. That soulmate thing, the string connecting two people, longer than death, further than forever.’

Enemies to lovers is a popular trope for a reason. From the delicious tension building up, scene by scene, to the quick–sometimes flirty, sometimes comical–bantering and then the turning point where the couple *finally* gets together, there’s so much to love. You, with a View, took all of those elements, added in a road trip exploring a honeymoon never taken, and then shook things up with family issues and secrets. In other words, this was a novel done perfectly.

Told from our heroine Noelle’s POV, there was a feeling of nostalgia mixed in with the modern day. It was mainly thanks to the letter and pictures she found from the mid to late 1950s in her grandmother’s things after she passed away. I will mention that Noelle’s grief could be a bit overwhelming at times. It will be especially so if you’ve recently lost a loved one. But Joyce was very careful in not getting *too* dark or heavy with it–instead showing ways to honor our loved ones and how to feel like we’re carrying part of them with us in our hearts, memories, and with special mementos.

Noelle and Theo were such a fun pair. They’d been adversaries in high school, both super competitive, so when they found out their grandparents almost married in the late 50s, it was a complete shock. Their verbal sparring, their undeniable attraction, and how they tried so hard to ignore it, completely worked. The forced proximity while Noelle, Theo, and her grandmother’s former beau, Paul, took that road trip helped to ratchet up the heat for the former rivals. It took some time, though. The antagonism slowly changed into something more passionate and meaningful. And as past and current secrets were revealed, it was obvious that Theo and Noelle wanted to do the work to figure out a way to stay together–at times with a little help from Paul, himself, who readers will absolutely adore.

QOTD: Have you been to any of the US National Parks? If so, have a favorite one?

Book Info:

Publication: Published: July 11th, 2023 | Berkley |

“Jessica Joyce is a new and forever fave!” — Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of Love, Theoretically

One of Amazon’s Best Romances of July!

Two high school enemies must reunite for a road trip inspired by their grandparents’ broken engagement in this electric debut romance.

Noelle Shepard is unemployed, living with her parents, and grieving the loss of her beloved grandmother when she discovers decades-old photos of Gram and a smitten man, tucked alongside a love letter. She creates a TikTok to search for the mystery man, which goes viral, and she’s shocked when his grandson responds—a man who happens to be her high school nemesis, Theo Spencer.

Noelle refuses to let Theo’s annoying accomplishments in adulthood—or his sexy smirk—stand in the way of meeting his grandfather and unlocking the secrets he knew about her gram as a young woman. When she learns that their plans to elope were thwarted, Noelle decides to take the honeymoon road trip they planned but never got to carry out. There’s a catch, Paul, Theo’s grandfather, asks to come with her, and he insists that Theo join them.

It’ll be a miracle if they make it through the trip without Noelle throwing Theo out of the moving car—or the bed they end up sharing. As the miles tick by, the tension simmers hotter between them…until she discovers that Theo’s hiding a secret that could cause their tenuous relationship to end before it can restart.