[Skye’s Review:] We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This
by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Pages: 336
Published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: June 8th 2021
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Diverse, YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC

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 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.

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This follows Quinn during her last summer before she starts college. She’s working at her family’s wedding planning business when she runs into Tarek. Tarek, her old friend. Tarek, the guy she poured her heart out to in an email a year ago. An email that he never responded to. 

We see Quinn go through a lot in this book. She’s struggling with being honest with her family, Tarek, and herself. She doesn’t want to work at her family’s company after college, but she doesn’t know how to tell them. Tarek is a hopeless romantic while she is a cynic. How could they ever work out? Does she want them to work out? Is love worth the risk of getting hurt?

Solomon tackled all of the issues in this book really well. Everything felt real. Quinn’s fear of falling in love and being loved was so relatable. I loved watching Quinn grow throughout the whole book. She finally found her voice and embraced the fact that life is full of uncertainty. There are no guarantees. 

Another thing I love about this book is the representation! This book has ownvoices Jewish rep. Tarek, the love interest, is Muslim. Quinn’s best friend is bisexual. There’s also mental health rep (anxiety, OCD, and depression). I really appreciate how Solomon incorporated all of these different things seamlessly into the book. I’m so happy that mental health is becoming a more common topic in the publishing industry.