And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens

It’s crazy that I haven’t shared any notes from books throughout all 2025. I promise I’ve been reading. I finished “The Finish Line” a spicy novel I picked up in a little Italy island, Procida bookstore this past summer. I guess work and life has been all consuming.

Anyway!!!!!

I picked up this book “And Then There Was You” at LAX in my transfer from New Mexico to Maui.

I’m such a sucker for airport bookstores because the selection is narrower so it’s less overwhelming than my usual B&N and Strand.

I finished this book in about 3 days (it’s a cute AI-ish love story). I don’t typically take notes in fiction books but I wound up taking the highlighter a few sentences and phrases because I thought they resonated, were clever, or generally just liked them:

• "The reward of a thing well done is to have done it,” John said. “An appreciative audience, a job well done, time enjoyed with friends.”

• If she was too ashamed of her life to face her old university friends, what did that tell her? It told her she needed to change something.

• “Was it worth it?” she asked, intrigued. “Yes, it’s beautiful. And anticipation is everything,” he said, and now, when their eyes meet, she felt that dart of energy pass between them, sharp and surprising, like catching a live wire.

• “It’s not all about your job,” he said. “Creativity is just allowing your curiosity to bloom.”

• Writing, even badly, is what makes you better at writing. (another line by the John character who you just, ugh, slowly fall in love with too)

• Because being down here with John reminded her what real intimacy felt like. And it didn’t always approve of you or flatter you; it challenged you, called you out, made you feel seen in ways that were sometimes unbearable. But it was honest, and unflinching, and real.