Colleen Hoover is a longtime author who has recently gained popularity through the social media platform, TikTok. Her book It Ends With Us went viral and everyone, I mean everyone, read it. I really enjoyed It Ends With Us and started to read her other books when I came across Layla.

The novel is about Leeds who meets Layla at Layla’s sister’s wedding, convinced they’ll spend the rest of their lives together. After they become very close, Layla suffers the injury of a gunshot by Leeds’ ex-girlfriend Sable. The attack leaves Layla mentally and emotionally scarred. Leeds takes Layla back to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met, in hopes of rekindling their relationship, and gets things back to normal. Although, just a few days after they get there, Layla’s actions take an interesting turn. Over time, Leeds meets Willow, another guest at the B&B. They form a connection as he becomes distant from Layla. Leeds’ and Willow’s relationship grows as Leeds discovers more about who Willow is. He is forced to make tough decisions that could either fix all of his problems or leave him feeling regretful for the rest of his life.

I really liked the book and found it very entertaining. It kept me engaged as I continuously flipped through the pages. My favorite character was Layla because it was really interesting to see her character development throughout the novel. The story kept me predicting what would happen next, though I don’t believe I ever could have. The story took a very unexpected turn when Willow was introduced. My favorite part of the book was the ending because the stakes were very high for the characters, and I was dying to know what was going to happen next. I believe the book was written with very thoughtful writing.

To be completely honest, there was nothing about the book I disliked. It was scary at some parts yet so exciting. I highly recommend you read this book. I give it a 5/5 star rating. I recommend this book to lovers of realistic and young adult fiction for something they have never seen before but will definitely love.