Hollyland by Patricia Leavy is an insta-love romance between Dee Schwartz, a writer and art researcher, and Ryder Field, Hollywood’s leading man. When the two of them meet, sparks instantly fly. From the first paragraph through the rest of the book, the two are inseparable. They just know they’ve met the love of their lives. What follows is a romance full of sweet moments between the two, however, the story often feels as if something is missing.

Because the characters meet in the first couple paragraphs, we never get to see Dee and Rye on their own. They’re almost never apart. Because we don’t see the characters separate, it feels as if the characters are not complete. It’s never really clear who they are as individuals. I think there are only a handful of scenes where the two aren’t together. There is no character growth throughout the whole novel. The characters feel very stagnant.

Because there is little character growth, there is also almost no conflict. The couple gets together, and then have a series of very happy interaction through the whole book. There’s no will they or won’t they, or question about whether or not things are happening too quickly. While this might be a very realistic story, it doesn’t make for a very interesting one.

In the end, the book wasn’t the best thing I’ve read this year, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. If you enjoy sweet insta-love romances, and just want something fluffy to read, this book is for you. If you want something with more meat, then you should probably skip.