My 2025 Valentine Day’s read was Pick-Up by Nora Dahlia, a super smart rom-com with laugh-out-loud dialogue. It was recommended by my local indie bookstore, so I knew it was going to be good, but it exceeded expectations.

Sasha is a video producer and struggling single mom of two. Her ex-husband, a filmmaker who was still married to Sasha when he was photographed groping a starlet at the Golden Globes, gives new meaning to the term dead-beat dad.

Overwhelmed by life, she messes up constantly—forgetting such important events as silly sock day and earning the evil eye from the school administrator. It’s hard not to feel like a terrible mom. Plus this handsome guy Ethan (aka Demon Dad) blocks her best mom intentions at every turn. He buys the last school hoodie in her daughter’s size and steals the only available slot for the after-school drama club. Right in front of her.

When she lands a gig on a private Caribbean island—with the possibility of a full-time job—Sasha begins to hope things are turning around. Until, that is, she discovers Demon Dad is also on the island. He’s her boss. And he looks ridiculously hot in cargo shorts and his perfect white T-shirts. They try to keep it professional, but with pitchers of rum punch, star-lit nights on the beach, and chemistry that crackles, is that even possible?

But here’s what I really loved about the story: the inclusion of a third point-of-view character. Kaitlin, who knew Sasha as a teen, is another mom at the school and spends an unnatural amount of time tracking Sasha at pick-up. Initially, I thought she was a ruse to insert backstory, but in the last 100 pages a fabulous twist explains her role.

I knew Sasha and Ethan would end up together—it’s romance, people!—but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.