Rose Lerner

Courtney Milan is a genius in many ways, but one of my favorite things about her writing is the sheer depth of longing in her books. I bought Mark and Jessica as meant for each other within seconds of them meeting, their connection was so intense and real. And I felt Jessica's bitter loneliness in my bones. This moment killed me:

"When she'd first tried to seduce him on that long-ago night, he'd grinned at her and told her he rather liked himself. And that, more than Weston, more than her reputation and all her fears for the future, seemed a suddenly unbridgeable gulf.

She loved him. But she would never like herself."

I loved all the minor characters, and it was great to see the Turner brothers again, and <33333333. And even if none of that were true, I would have loved the book anyway solely for the moment when Mark's fangirls stop trying to marry him themselves and start rooting for him to hook up with Jessica. So awesome!