I Want It That Way by Ann Aguirre

I received this book for free from Gifted, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Nadia Conrad has big dreams, and she's determined to make them come true—for her parents' sake as well as her own. But between maintaining her college scholarship and working at the local day care to support herself, she barely has time to think, let alone date. Then she moves into a new apartment and meets the taciturn yet irresistible guy in 1B….

Daniel Tyler has grown up too fast. Becoming a single dad at twenty turned his life upside down—and brought him heartache he can't risk again. Now, as he raises his four-year-old son while balancing a full-time construction management job and night classes, a social life is out of the question. The last thing he wants is for four noisy students to move into the apartment upstairs. But one night, Nadia's and Ty's paths cross, and soon they can't stay away from each other.

The timing is all wrong—but love happens when it happens. And you can't know what you truly need until you stand to lose it.

Ok let’s go on and get this out the way:

*plays I Want It That Way while I write this review*

This is my 2nd Ann Aguirre book and sweet baby goodness gracious! I am in complete love with her!

I know how creepy that sounded but you don’t understand! First she scared me and left me in awe with Mortal Danger and now she has taken my heart and made it feel things I just wasn’t ready to feel at this point in my life. I Want It That Way is Nadia and Ty’s story of love, lost and good old fashion stupidity. Nadia is a full time college student who works part time in a daycare. Ty is a part time college student, full time construction worker and all the time dad to the most adorable little boy I’ve ever seen in print. Their lives are hectic and to be frank they don’t have time for dating or any of that nonsense, but sometimes when things are hectic and messy the best things come along. And this was probably my second favorite thing about IWITW. Aguirre never steered away from a messy reality and I love and appreciate that so much! Usually when we see a “college student” in NA we rarely see them actually in college. We rarely see the pressure of finals or them doing homework. Don’t get me wrong I know there are some NA books out there that do show this *cough* Wait For You *cough* but it doesn’t happen often enough.  Aguirre knows how to show that and keep the balance and I seriously just dreamy sighed writing that.

Which brings me to our characters. Nadia was an absolute sweetheart. She was kind, smart, funny, easy to relate to and so loyal my heart actually squeals at her interactions with her friends. Usually the MC has some….moment during the book where they do something completely stupid and unbelievable and it taints (and sometimes ruins) the love you had for them. But Nadia wasn’t about all of that! When she made a mistake she said it, when she felt something she said it, when she wasn’t sure how to properly respond to something she admitted it! So much of my love for the book comes from the characters and Nadia is the type of character I need to see more of.

Next you have Ty. Single dad, working hard and focused on his son. I loved that he was such a genuine and good person. When he said something he meant exactly what he said and there wasn’t that crazy inner monologuing of “well what does he mean by that!?” nonsense happening. He was very stubborn at times too and even made me want to wring his neck a few times but he is honestly what book boyfriends are made of. In fact all of the supporting characters were what good book friends are made of. Lauren and Max (gosh dammit I love Max!)  were all not just amazing friends but a huge addition to the story. They just helped make the story that much more relatable and dammit I heart Aguirre so hard right now!

I really don’t think there is anything else I can say to convince you. Just go grab your copy, read it and I’ll be here for your feels when you finish.