Overall Grade: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Tropes: hate to love; enemies to lovers; forced proximity; forbidden romance; dead fiance’s best friend; found family; small town romance

Penelope Ward’s newest romance, I Could Never, is the emotional juggernaut of a story that you expect from her. Her characters, Carly and Josh, put her readers through the paces as they navigate the minefields of a forbidden relationship as Carly is the fiancee of Josh’s now-dead best friend. Ward weaves hate to love with forced proximity and forbidden romance while also falling into a trope of found family as Carly and Josh are left to care for Scottie, the orphaned brother of Carly’s dead fiance, Brad. All of this culminates in a story that tears at your heart and makes you yearn deeply for Carly and Josh’s future. 

A highlight of I Could Never is the dialogue and banter between the main characters, Josh and Carly. What begins with the spirited banter between the two who begin with attraction but also disdain flows into an emotional, tortured dialogue as they fight that attraction out of a sense of obligation to Brad. Ward is careful to dole the tension of her story out through their interactions, and it’s pure torture for most of the story. That is the compelling force throughout the book. 

A second highlight is Ward’s creation of their chemistry. While they begin with a hate-to-love vibe given some actions of the past, it’s clear from almost the beginning that they are fated for each other. Unfortunately, Ward complicates it with a forbidden element. She edges her readers as they hold out even though they are ready to burst with their attraction. Again, it’s another compelling force behind her book.

Another important highlight is the found family trope created by Carly and Josh’s care for Scottie, the dead fiance’s orphaned brother. Ward creates a charm in their care for Scottie who is non-verbal autistic. From Scottie’s obsession with Josh’s smell to Carly and Josh’s compassion for Scottie, Ward’s readers are charmed into loving this trio. When she complicates their world through a series of actions, Ward builds a different tension level into her story, drawing her readers through the book. As I see it, the ending of I Could Never is the only way forward, and it’s my favorite part of the book. 

My biggest criticism of Ward’s book is the balance between Carly and Josh’s chemistry and their guilt over it. For me, it felt overwrought and unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong. I understand it, but it wasn’t necessary for it to exist for much of the book. I believe it could have ended sooner, and she might have complicated Carly and Josh’s relationship in other ways.

That aside, Penelope Ward’s I Could Never is special. It highlights the love for people living with special needs and the necessary depth of care for them. The story is spicy and romantic, but it feels like the last important part of this story. 

In love and romance,

Professor A