mel ☽'s Reviews > I Promise You

3.5 stars

is it just me or does the book cover model lowkey look like my husband #3849 Chris Hemsworth??

you know weirdly enough i've been looking for a book where it's all soft, cute and chill and whaddaya know? this book just showed up on my feed and i was like eehhh why not. and this was actually very cute and adorable!! aaand the fact that Dillon (H) is waaay more into Serena (h) and spent the majority of the book chasing her and fighting for her??



so the premise also drew me in because Dillon first saw Serena (he was a freshman and she was a junior) at a bonfire and apparently whoever you kiss first at that specific bonfire, they end up being your soulmate so he kisses her and never sees her again until 3 years later. and for those years, she was still "tormenting" his mind even though he had no hope whether or not he'll see her again - but SIKE they meet each other again.

and basically this has a lot of things im trash for like:

— H simping for h // Dillon was SO into her guys i can't even explain it
→ cute scenarios where there's tons of sexual tension
→ h "playing hard to get" while H still fights for her
→ emotional connection // bonding over their trauma of losing a family member
→ semi slowburn // y'all when i say the h played hard to get she really played hard to get
→ cute girl friendships // aaahhh i wish there were more scenes of this
→ paintball scene // The Hating Game anyone?

you guys see this? all chef's kiss material.

// Serena Jensen (h) //
ok i LOVED this girl. this bishh KNEW👏🏼HER👏🏼WORTH and i was all for it. she was in a bad relationship before (but i'll talk about that later) so she's a bit hesitant towards Dillon and to be honest i was kinda annoyed sometimes when she would push him away just cuz i know Dillon was genuine but i guess Serena wasn't sure about him yet so im not too mad about it. but honestly i ain't complaining when she's playing hard to get cuz YESSS girl make him work harder!!! him suffering is entertaining to me 😌✨

we love a hero who gets rejected but still works hard to get the girl cuz that's how much he's into Serena.

// Dillon McQueen (H) //

"My soul, my heart, the very essence of me... It's connected to her, a fragile string that's never been broken, not even by three years."

did i mention he's a simp for Serena? this dude was just very sweet and he's another soft boi. you know, i love asshole heroes but sometimes... soft bois where it's at. he's your typical quarterback, most popular dude in campus type of new adult H but as soon as Serena is in his vicinity, he turns into this adorkable, blubbering mess cuz he's so nervous and doesn't wanna f things up.



ugh. soft bois FOR. THE. WIN.

➵ romance
you know those situations where H and h are forced to be close to each other which then garners sexual tension + emotional connection? yeah it's like that here. there was the scene where Dillon was treating Serena's blister when she went to the stadium, H and h doing yoga, PAINTBALL scene (loved this chapter), blind/speed dating in sorority event, etc.

though, when they finally got together, it felt kinda rushed?? since this is semi-slowburn they didn't get together officially till 74% and then after that a lot of the romance was mostly told and not shown and there were also time jumps. i don't know. everything was going too fast for me BUT there was a little bit of a drama that happens by the end, they break up for few days and Dillon grovels a little bit.

(SPOILERS) also!! the reason why they broke up is hmm... well- it kinda felt weird to me i don't know why. i guess that whole challenge thing in the beginning didn't seem like such a big deal but i guess it IS a big deal since that's the reason why they broke up. i don't know... it just felt like it was thrown there to add drama but heyyy im a ho for drama so i was like



drama in fiction >>> drama in real life

➵ OW/OM drama (spoilers)
there's some ex drama in Serena's side. she was in a long-term relationship with this rockstar, Vane, and they started dating since she was a sophomore (so yes, Dillon met her while she was still with the asshole). she got pregnant, they were married for 2 months, she had a miscarriage and when she was about to tell Vane, she saw him getting a bj soo yeahh the dude cheated on her. what a dick. Vane just causes a little bit of drama and he's kinda the reason why Serena's so hesitant when it comes Dillon

as for OW drama, Dillon is the "prize" for this sorority thing and sorority sisters are supposed to compete to win a date with him. he goes on this date at the end which is kinda one of the reasons why they broke up by the end.

* * *

again, i think it's super cute that Dillon was obsessed with her since the beginning AND he was even celibate for a few months after he met her, hoping he'd see her again. that's how much of a simp he was.

i would've rated this higher but it's a it's not you, it's me type of situation. on one hand, i was in the mood for something soft and light but on the other, i'm in the mood for angsty, stressing me tf out type of drama. UGH I CAN'T CHOOSE.

literally, this is me whenever i choose a book from my tbr:



issa struggle. im a mess and im ok with that ✨

anyways, i just couldn't concentrate on the book because my attention was somewhere else so that kinda derailed my enjoyment BUT this was still very much cute af.