We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This follows Quinn Berkowitz and Tarek Mansour, whose families have been together in business for years. Quinn’s parents are wedding planners who are determined to have Quinn follow in their footsteps, planning her entire life for her from the moment she starts playing the harp at their weddings; Tarek’s family owns a catering company and for years Quinn and Tarek’s paths have crossed and a friendship has evolved. When Quinn confesses her feelings to Tarek in an email right before he heads off to college only to be left on read for the better part of a year, the already romance cynic Quinn knows not to fall in love—or trust in it—ever again. Safe to say that things between Tarek and Quinn are frosty when he returns for his semester break and wants to rekindle their friendship.
A lot of things have changed in that one year—Quinn has no interest in playing the harp anymore, doesn’t want to take over her parents’ business, and Tarek seems different too —but one thing has stayed the same: they’re on opposing sides when it comes to love. Tarek, who’s enamoured with weddings and grand gestures, and Quinn, who thinks love is a sham, keep clashing. But as they keep being thrown together wedding after wedding, Quinn can’t deny that the feelings she had for Tarek still linger…and maybe love isn’t the enemy she thought it to be, after all.
This was my second dive into Solomon’s books and I can safely say, that woman knows how to write. We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is an unputdownable YA rom-com with incredibly fleshed-out characters, painfully relatable conundrums, and a romance that puts Sleepless in Seattle to shame (yes, that’s an insider reference to Quinn’s and Tarek’s love story).
Let’s get right into the biggest and best part of this book. The portrayal of love—in all its infinite ways from platonic to romantic love—is beautifully illustrated in We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This.
Tarek’s indomitable belief in true love and the importance of romantic gestures is beautifully juxtaposed with Quinn’s (well-earned) cynicism and general disbelief of love’s ability to last. On the one hand, you have this guy that would go to the ends of the earth for his partner, and on the other, a girl who has been in the wedding business for ages, knows the divorce rate of those people who paid for splashy weddings and who, on top of all of that, worries her parents’ marriage will fall apart if anything rocks the boat. Quinn’s stance on love and the journey she goes on in this book was riveting and I could relate to her mistrust so much and I loved that even when Tarek came up with grand gestures, she didn’t just go along but actually told him that she wasn’t about that. Their relationship has its ups and downs, and relatable struggles, but their communication was truly a joy to follow—not to mention the sizzling chemistry and fun banter they’ve got going on.
Quinn, beyond her issues with love, also struggles with her family’s plans for her in this book. Already sick of playing the same songs on her harp at every wedding, she doesn’t know how to tell her parents that she doesn’t want to study business at college and certainly does not want to take over the wedding planning business once she graduates. I loved how, not only through her friendship with her best friend, but also her sister, Tarek, and a professional harpist, Quinn got to explore what she wanted to do with her life and learn how to stand up to her parents.
It is incredibly hard to talk about the parts that I related to most in this book and that made it the unforgettable read that it was without spoiling pretty much everything you get to slowly unpack as a reader, so apologies in advance for vague descriptions. Solomon explores mental illness and seamlessly includes discussions about OCD and depression in the story. Quinn has been dealing with OCD and comorbid anxiety for years and though she is no longer in therapy for it, she still takes medication and experiences compulsive moments. While mental health plays a key role in the story, it doesn’t take over the narrative. It is an important part of Quinn’s identity and the way she lives her life but it’s not the focus. Somehow, this representation meant all the more to me because of that and I think anyone who’s ever dealt with or lives with a mental illness knows how hard it is to not let it define you and this representation was so refreshing because it showed that it doesn’t have to.
Another thing that struck me as really well done was the way Solomon integrated religion into this book. Quinn’s family is Jewish, yet they don’t adhere to all of the rules, such as when Quinn’s sister’s fiancé becomes a more prominent part in their lives and her sister starts eating kosher, this causes Quinn to think about the way even these “non-traditional ways of keeping with tradition” bring her family closer together. Similarly, Tarek is Muslim and while he doesn’t adhere to all of the traditions, he still values the role they play in his relationship with his parents. While I can’t speak for the authenticity of either of those religions, I do want to point out how thoughtfully these beliefs were interweaved in the story and how it showed such a wonderfully modern way of appreciating these traditions and what they mean to people.
Beyond all those wonderful aspects, this book also was a lot of fun—there’s hilarious banter and super awkward encounters, not to mention the disasters that happen at the weddings Quinn and Tarek attend. Despite the sometimes heavy subject matter, this story was also lighthearted, fluffy, and entertaining!
Throwing a disillusioned wedding harpist together with a diehard romantic baker, We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is a funny, thoughtful and vulnerable exploration of what it means to love and let love, even when the odds seem stacked against you.
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 8th 2021.
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Synopsis | 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.
