If you asked me in the beginning half of the book whether I thought Tessa and Simon would be meant for each other, I’d say absolutely not. In fact, I just couldn’t figure out why or where they were going. They were like the odd couple but found themselves magnetized to each other. Despite their differences, fate hung around in the background and brought a romantic story bringing two unlikely people together in My Goodbye Girl by Anna Gomez.

Tessa Tallsman is a vibrant, carefree in the moment sort of gal. A popular romance writer on one of her book tours meets Simon Fremont, a scientist committed to making innovations in his field. They meet in Paris and despite their initial attraction, their lives couldn’t be more different. Tessa loves to travel all the time, taking her to a different place. Simon is super focused and more grounded in life placing all his focus on his work. Despite their obvious differences in lifestyle, they decide to begin their situationship and surprisingly it begins to grow. I say situationship because what they said and what happened are two different things.I think partly when you have someone who agrees to one thing but deep down feels another, that sort of complicates things by putting the relationship on different pages.

As their romance develops, their feelings grow despite not being on the same page with conflicting goals and what they want out of life. Tessa wants to enjoy life not sedentary in one place and Simon wants to settle down to be stable and consistent in one place. With no compromise on the table, as her writing career begins to flourish, and their time seems to be limited, it takes a toll on their relationship. Each time they leave each other, it gets harder to say goodbye, looming thoughts of regret begin to creep up on Tess questioning her happiness.

With things are finally getting on the right track and Tessa is ready to make a decision about her life, an accident happens that changes their lives. Tessa must let go of the past and face her fear of goodbye in the pain of possibility to receiving true love.

Honestly, my feelings are conflicted about this book. This had no impact on the quality, just my frustration with the plot. Side note, nothing wrong with the plot, I just feel jilted with how it happened. After the first half of the book, I was so frustrated with the abrupt ending of the trajectory of finally some momentum of hope in their story and then with no resolution. Simon had to grow on me because I couldn’t figure out if I truly liked him. I liked Tessa from the start with no objections. I finally got to the point where I was accepting where they were going and was optimistic. Then a huge plot twist that just came out of nowhere and we are set in the present. Or was there a transition in time? I didn’t know that we were in the past. The accident that happened was so random with no immediate explanation and then with the next part being the present and then later finding out what happened after the fact. I wish I could’ve experienced this in the moment.

Regardless of how I feel, the characters were wonderful and relatable. You really get to know Tessa and Simon on a personal level and get invested in where they are going. Not only their journey but I loved the friendship between Tessa and Riley. The plot definitely had some twists and turns that I wish had happened differently but it turned out good despite my grumbling. Honestly, after the shock after the first part, I will say the book's conclusion surprised me and leaves you feeling good.

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