Day 11 — Love & Lidocaine by Kendra Hope
★★★★☆ — small town · workplace romance · forced proximity
Daily Recommendation · No. 011
★★★★☆ 4/5 stars
Closed door / No spice
small townworkplace romanceforced proximityslow burngrumpy sunshine
If you have ever tried to run away from something only to find it waiting for you at your new front door, this book will feel uncomfortably relatable.
Hope has spent her whole life trying to escape the dental world she was raised in, so naturally her fresh start in a small town lands her working for Jay, a dentist who also happens to be her next-door neighbor. The setup is warm and funny, the banter has genuine bite to it, and Jay is the kind of quiet, steady love interest who makes you feel safe just reading about him.
Hope as a protagonist is one of those characters who asks something of you as a reader. Her behavior can read as a lot on the page, and I completely understand why some people have put this one down early. But knowing going in that she is actively working through real anxiety reframes so much of what you see. Suddenly it is not over the top, it is just honest, and sometimes anxiety is messy and hard to watch from the outside. I think that context is genuinely useful before you start.
My one sticking point was the pacing. This is a longer book, and there were stretches where Hope's spiraling started to feel circular rather than like it was moving her forward. The emotional core is solid, and Jay's steadiness is lovely every single time it shows up, but those repetitive patches kept this from a full five stars for me. Still, if you want a cozy small-town romance with a heroine who feels real in an imperfect, recognizable way, this one is well worth your time.
Not a 5-star read for me, but a rating is just one reader's experience. If the tropes above are your thing, this could be exactly what you're looking for. I'd rather share it than gatekeep it.
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