We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: June 8, 2021
Genres: Young Adult Fiction
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Book Review

Quinn Berkowitz has been involved in her parent’s wedding planning business for as long as she can remember. When an allergic reaction reunites her with fellow wedding kid, Tarek, she just wants to disappear. Tarek is the son of the Mansour’s, the owners of a predominant Seattle catering company that frequently works with Quinn’s parents. He’s also the guy Quinn has crushed on for years. Quinn has been dreading seeing him since last summer when she regretfully sent him an email telling him her feelings. The two are thrown together over the course of the summer wedding season. Quinn quickly realizes her feelings for Tarek are still there, but can she open up about her own fears before it’s too late?

We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is told in the first person from Quinn’s perspective. I loved Quinn as a character. She struggles to please her parents while also trying to do her own thing. Tarek is also wonderful. He works for his parents catering company but dreams of working in food science. Both main characters have mental health issues. Quinn has OCD and Tarek has depression. I loved the scenes where they open up to each other about their issues and religions (Quinn is Jewish, Tarek is Muslim). It felt so honest and healthy and I loved seeing that represented. 

The book is predominantly broken up by the various weddings Quinn and Tarek are involved in. If you were a fan of Soloman’s previous YA novel, Today Tonight Tomorrow you will appreciate the cameo of main characters Rowan and Neil. I loved getting to watch the various weddings through the wedding planner’s eyes! I especially loved experiencing weddings from Quinn’s Jewish perspective.

This story is so unique but has such a familiar feel to it. This is a quintessential YA summer romance book. It’s perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson. I would definitely recommend picking this up if you’re in the mood for something light but not fluffy, as there are some heavier topics involved such as OCD and Depression.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

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Synopsis from Goodreads

A wedding harpist disillusioned with love and a hopeless romantic cater-waiter flirt and fight their way through a summer of weddings in this effervescent romantic comedy from the acclaimed author of Today Tonight Tomorrow.

Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour’s families have been in business together for years: Quinn’s parents are wedding planners, and Tarek’s own a catering company. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her crush on him in the form of a rambling email—and then he left for college without a response.

Quinn has been dreading seeing him again almost as much as she dreads another summer playing the harp for her parents’ weddings. When he shows up at the first wedding of the summer, looking cuter than ever after a year apart, they clash immediately. Tarek’s always loved the grand gestures in weddings—the flashier, the better—while Quinn can’t see them as anything but fake. Even as they can’t seem to have one civil conversation, Quinn’s thrown together with Tarek wedding after wedding, from performing a daring cake rescue to filling in for a missing bridesmaid and groomsman.

Quinn can’t deny her feelings for him are still there, especially after she learns the truth about his silence, opens up about her own fears, and begins learning the art of harp-making from an enigmatic teacher.

Maybe love isn’t the enemy after all—and maybe allowing herself to fall is the most honest thing Quinn’s ever done.

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About the Author