Casually Yours — Vivian Jia Lac
Title: Casually Yours
Author: Vivian Jia Lac
Genre: Contemporary Romance | Second Chance Romance | Friends to Lovers
Format: eARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 5/5
Synopsis
Dani Tsai and Parker Tran were once inseparable childhood best friends.
Then their friendship abruptly ended, and for seven years, Dani has kept her distance from both Parker and their small hometown of Silverpine.
Now living in New York and pursuing her writing career, Dani unexpectedly runs into Parker again. He's only in the city temporarily, and after a heated reunion turns into something considerably more physical, they decide on a simple arrangement:
Keep things casual until Parker leaves.
No strings. No feelings.
Easy, right?
Except seven years apart haven't erased their history, or their chemistry. And when circumstances bring them both back to Silverpine, hiding their new arrangement from the families and friends who remember exactly how badly things ended becomes increasingly complicated.
Especially when "casual" starts looking suspiciously like something neither of them is ready to admit.
My Thoughts
Dani and Parker have history.
And when I say history, I mean BIG. FAT. HISTORY.
These two grew up together. They were best friends, always cheering each other on, supporting each other's dreams and basically being inseparable.
Until one day Parker ghosted Dani.
No explanation. Nothing.
Eventually, he tried to explain what happened, but by that point Dani was DONE. She kicked him to the curb, refused to hear him out and...
POOF!
Years of friendship gone.
Just like that.
Fast-forward seven years and Dani is living in New York when, completely by coincidence, she runs into Parker again.
One heated argument leads to one heated kiss.
One heated kiss leads to...
cough cough
A considerably more heated evening.
Is it me or is it hot in here?
And naturally, these two geniuses come up with the PERFECT solution.
Parker is only temporarily in New York, so they'll keep things casual until he leaves.
No strings.
No feelings.
Just casual.
Sure.
Because things almost always go according to plan in romance books.
Anyway... Moving on...
Watching Dani and Parker attempt to be “casual” when they have YEARS of history between them was one of my favorite parts of the book.
The banter was so good, their chemistry was there from the beginning, and all those little moments where their old friendship started slipping back into their relationship made it increasingly obvious that these two were absolutely fooling themselves.
Then, because apparently the universe wasn't finished meddling, they end up back in their hometown at the same time.
And everyone is basically:
WAIT.
YOU TWO ARE TALKING AGAIN?!
I loved the small-town portion of the story. Dani and Parker sneaking around to see each other while their families and everyone who knew their history were right there made the whole “casual” situation even more entertaining.
Like... Guys...
You're secretly meeting up in your hometown.
You're emotionally attached.
You're remembering your childhood together.
You're getting jealous.
You're having feelings.
But yes.
Very casual.
Extremely convincing.
Sigh...
I also genuinely loved both Dani and Parker, which made such a difference.
Once everything about their past finally came out, I understood what had happened with Parker and why things went so badly between them.
But OMG.
SEVEN YEARS.
Seven whole years lost because these two couldn't properly clear the air.
That hurt.
Part of me desperately wished they'd had that conversation years earlier because it felt like such a shame for two people who had meant so much to each other to lose all that time.
At the same time, though...
Maybe they needed those years.
When they finally found each other again, they were older, they'd built their own lives, and they were both in a much better place to actually talk about what happened, listen to each other and finally move forward.
And apparently “moving forward” also involved falling hopelessly in love while repeatedly insisting everything was casual.
Naturally.
Final Thoughts
I really, really enjoyed this.
The banter, the chemistry, the childhood-best-friends history, forced proximity, second chance, sneaking around their hometown, all the memories, and those little moments where friendship started turning into something more...
It all worked for me.
I especially loved that underneath all the chemistry was a friendship that had once meant everything to both of them. Their romance wasn't simply about falling for someone new—it was about finding each other again after seven years apart.
Dani and Parker wasted seven years.
I forgive them.
Mostly.
I'm still judging them a little, but shhht!
5⭐
ARC Disclaimer
Thank you to Vivian Jia Lac and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
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