BOOK REVIEW: I Will Always Love You (Maybe) by Dana Hawkins (A Meet Cute in Minnesota Story)

What’s worse than regretting a one-night stand? Being snowed in with her.

Since losing her wife six years ago, Colby has perfected the hermit lifestyle: secluded Minnesota cabin, golden retriever, weekly cupcake run. Zero complications. Until a chaotic, pink-haired vet tech arrives for a house call and—in one reckless moment—Colby lets someone in.

It was supposed to be one night. Then the blizzard hit.

Josie is a serial hobbyist who’s perfected the art of avoiding rejection. Pilates, painting, pickleball—anything but feelings. So being trapped in a cabin with no distractions and a gorgeous woman who clearly regrets last night? Personal nightmare.

But a lot can happen in a week. Stolen glances turn into lingering eye contact. Awkward silences become late-night conversations. And when the snow stops, both of them have to face the question they’ve been avoiding: what if the biggest risk isn’t opening your heart to someone, it’s letting her walk away when the roads finally clear?

Dana Hawkins, I will always love you (definitely)

Hawkins became an auto-read author for me a long time ago and she continues to prove why. She has the formula that just keeps me hooked; guaranteed romance, queer joy, and some of the best book girlfriends you could ever ask for. I always know I’m in for a happy ending but the journey is always the fun part.

And of course, there’s the beautiful little check-ins to characters from other books, tying everything together into this lovely web of connections, even cheekily revealing one of our leading ladies who we fall absolutely in love with might’ve been a side character we didn’t really like that much in another story.

Meet Colby and Josie - and of course, Kona, the best dog in the world. Unfortunately Koda doesn’t get their own chapters, so Colby and Josie share the narration, letting us see their meeting through each other eyes - they were just so readable, chatty, thoughtful.

Their relationship, although a romcom classic, still felt so real, naturally moving and the tension between them jumped off the page. As usual, this book just had the emotional range of a rainbow — sweet, steamy, silly, sad; it had it all. There’s a few harder moments but always handled with genuine care.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received a reviewers copy of this title in return for a review. Contains potentially upsetting content including loss of a spouse, and sickness of a pet (they're fine, I promise)

Opposites attract Forced proximity Sapphic love Dog mums

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