Then You Saw Me - Carrie Aarons

You know what’s guaranteed to send your heart into your throat? Opening the front door of your off-campus house to find the boy you had a crush on all through high school telling you he’s the new subletter.

Of course, he barely knew I existed back then, and still doesn’t even though we attend the same university. But in a house of six college kids, it should be easy to remain invisible while carrying a torch for him. After all, I’m skilled at being overlooked and playing second fiddle.

Except Austin Van Hewitt, my hometown’s golden boy, doesn’t get the memo. After we throw our first party of the year, I’m on his radar and somehow my lips miraculously end up on his. The budding romance is one I’ve always dreamt about. As he shows more and more interest, I push aside the plaguing insecurity of never being good enough.

But then a letter shows up in our mailbox. A time capsule I wrote to myself when I was fifteen. You know, the kind where a teacher sends it to you years later? Guess who opens it by mistake and reads all about how I plan on marrying him and having his babies one day? Did I mention I signed it using his last name?

Mortifying would be an understatement. After he starts pulling away, I’m once again the girl in the background hoping that someone will understand me enough to pay me all of their attention. 

The old me, the one conditioned to settle for what she’s given, would back down. This time, though, if I want everything I almost held in my hands, I’ll have to speak up. I’ll have to admit exactly how I feel, fight for the love that was blossoming. And I’m not sure what’s scarier; voicing my inner thoughts or facing his ultimate rejection.

I enjoy anything by Carrie Aarons. I discovered her work through Tik Tok is an awesome marketing campaign for one of her other books and I’ve been slowly adding her stories to my completed reading list. She has a great ability to write teen angst in a way that makes readers remember being a teenager and feel what the characters feel. In THEN YOU SAW ME, we see characters Taya and Austin dealing with their own problems while also getting to know each other, and falling in love in the process. 

Any time a character writes a love letter to another character, I’m in. It always end up getting back to the other, an awkward encounter occurs, and I want to hide behind my hands but can’t stop reading until I know they’ve gotten past the letter. That is exactly what happens to Taya, she writes a silly letter to her crush Austin freshman year of high school. Then sophomore year of college that letter somehow makes its way to Austin. Mortified doesn’t even begin to explain how I’d feel. 

The relationship between Austin and Taya is cute, they really try to build each other up but also respect each other’s boundaries. I think the sex scenes were a little forced, and not as steamy as I wanted them to be which is fine.. They were still plenty steamy. I felt like their whole relationship, while very cute, was thrown together super fast without much time for the seriousness of their feelings. I’m not a huge fan on instalove which I think this book really relied on. I do love forced proximity though, which I think could have added a little more excitement to the story. The characters were either in bed together, or avoiding each other in the house. There was no in-between which I didn’t love.

There’s also A LOT of drama with the MCs’ families and the background characters’ relationships. I am not interested in any besides Gannon and Ams, because there’s seems the most exciting. Bevan and Callum seem to just be, well, annoying. I like Scott, and I want to see where he goes. The family drama was SUPER built up for literally no pay off. Taya barely forgives her parents for ignoring her, she forgives her sister kind of I guess, and Austin gets essentially disowned… There was no pay off. Maybe I needed a scene set even further in the future? I don’t know. 

Rating: 3/5    I was able to finish it which is why its middle of the row, but didn't love it like I had other Aarons' books.