Review: Tessa Bailey’s SINK OR SWIM.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author but all opinions provided are my own.
 
Sink or Swim’s Jiya Dalal has always wanted (1) to fly and (2) her best friend Andrew Prince, but she has neither. Now she’s in her late twenties and ready to do whatever it takes to get closer to her dreams, even if that means letting go of the man she’s loved since she was a child.
 
This book is about choosing to act, really. The choice to follow passions/to accept oneself/to take a chance on someone/to let go of guilt, like the ferocious kind that Andrew Prince has been carrying around, when life says it might be easier to live with the status quo.
 
But Jiya and Andrew have both reached the point of no return in Sink or Swim, and yearning forever isn’t going to work anymore because Bailey’s books are ultimately happy and hopeful, dammit. Bailey shows us, this is what happens when people have finally had enough, when they’ve decided to take their happiness from the world no matter what that little voice in their head says and I love how that freeing results in something beautiful.
 
Jiya and Andrew’s decisions to reject the status quo—even when it wants to hold on with two grasping hands—took me through all the emotions, from the tortured to the boundlessly happy. Because the past has a tight grip in this book, especially when it manifests itself in the form of a very real villain *spits on his grave* who keeps showing up at the most inopportune times. But you can’t keep a good (amazing) romance writer down, and the ending of this book—the final chapters—are stunning, destined to be re-read and skimmed when I need a quick HEA fix in the future.
 
I’ll also be skimming the insanely sexy parts of Sink or Swim, because we’re talking Tessa Bailey here. I love how she writes a variety of sexual dynamics in her books and how hard she pushes the limits. I’ve often been surprised by them and by what’s intrigued me and what I find a little personally off-putting. It sounds silly to say to read these books for educational reasons, but…maybe read these books for educational reasons.
 
I’m going to miss this Beach Kingdom series. These men and women who are effortlessly adorable even as they’re a wee bit tormented. Who make big, rom-com worthy gestures. Who grab a second chance and hold on tight.
 
4.5/5 stars.