Oblivious

The title of the book is absolutely precise - Oblivious! Because Noah and August needed quite the push to really look at each other and see in depth. Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, but the way their friendship transitioned to relationship definitely left me with the feeling of something missing. They were together as friends in all important moments of their life, but somehow never learned how to communicate honestly without holding back, always hesitant will the other understand. So the red flag in their friendship was the communication. August and Noah were the typical neighbouring kids - growing up together, going to school together, hanging out together most of the time. They even built a successful business together. And all of this in the span of 25years. The Key word here is Togetherness! Like 2 well oiled cogs in a machine, they were seamlessly working in synchronisation but when it came to personal interaction and intimacy, the synchronisation was gone. They tried to fool around in their teen years which ended badly because of the mutual lack of experience. And somehow these attempts put an invisible barrier in their interactions, unspoken distance and the proverbial elephant in the room anyone of them ever talked about. In the eyes of their friends and families though, they were the perfect item, the ideal couple, years before they found the courage to delve into their feelings and untangle all the hidden emotions, longing / for Noah/ and insecurities. I enjoyed the originality of the idea about sending inappropriate msgs in the most inappropriate time - it was like their own secret language. The banter was also great fun to read. Once August decided to go all in, he definitely forgot the brakes and was a force to be reckoned with in showing Noah how precious and cherished he is/and the numerous marriage proposals didn't hurt the incredulity of the situation either - August was relentless /
Overall it was a pleasant, low angst book with elements of office romance and found family trope in addition to the main line - friends to lovers.
I received an ARC and this is my honest opinion.