Say Yes
Kandi Steiner
June 24, 2021
Two strangers.
Two words.
One unforgettable summer…
When you’re an artist, everything has to be perfect.
Or so I thought, until my professor told me my perfection was boring and unoriginal. Studying abroad in Florence has taught me one thing: I know nothing when it comes to what makes art truly beautiful.
So, with my professor’s words in my ear, I step outside one evening and decide to say yes to any and everything I’m faced with until the sun rises.
Of course, I didn’t expect him to show up.
Liam Benson, the broody, sexy, tortured artist from my class who I can’t stand. He’s got a sour outlook on the world and an ego so big no one could properly stroke it to his satisfaction.
When he finds out what I’m doing, he hijacks my “yes” night.
And after just twelve hours with him, I’m desperate for more.
But Liam is running from more than I could ever understand, and with his heart guarded and mind made up about life, I don’t stand a chance.
I convince myself that we can keep it casual.
But walking away from him at the end of the summer is as impossible as painting outside the lines.
I used to think when you’re an artist, everything has to be perfect.
Turns out everything has to be painful, and messy, and fleeting.
If only I’d known that before I fell under Liam Benson’s spell.
Kandi Steiner has published yet another beautifully soul crushing book. Each time I start another one of her books, entering this new world she’s created for us, I think that it can’t be better than the last one and each time she amazes me with how much more I fall in love with her characters, her world and her writing.
Say Yes is a book set in the mid 90’s, in Italy no less. Y’all know Kandi loves to write traveling books, and that’s definitely a reason I want to travel so bad. Say Yes wasn’t any more helpful with it being set in the place of my dream vacation. To hear about Florence, Italy the way Kandi saw it a few years back has made my desire to see Italy as a whole that much more.
Harley and Liam’s love story is truly one of a kind, not because it’s set in the 90’s, but because of the trials and tribulations that they go through, both together and separately. Though this is all told in Harley’s POV, we still see Liam’s growth and how far he came from the boy he was in the beginning to the man he is in the end. His growth is spectacular. It’s very obvious from the start that he suffered from depression, PTSD and probably anxiety as well, all due to a tragic event that occurred in his past, but in the end? He’s still the boy we met, but so much better. Harley, she has her own hurdles to jump over, starting with her hand and always looking at it as a deformity over just helping make her who she is. Or maybe that’s why she views it as a deformity? It’s hard to tell, but I am very happy with the way she grew from start to finish.
Given that this book is based over the course of a summer art class, I would be lying if I didn’t say how much I wish I could see the pieces that Harley and Liam created, but I’ll let my imagination help with that one.
I truly hope y’all pick up this book, its a bit eye opening and as previously mentioned, a soul crushing story, but I honestly would not ask or expect anything else from Kandi Steiner, queen of angst.
Kandi Steiner is a bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing “emotional rollercoaster” stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance — in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you’re a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she’s your gal.
An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women’s Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed it to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a diehard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs.
When Kandi isn’t writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys live music, traveling, anything heavy in carbs, beach days, movie marathons, craft beer, and sweet wine — not necessarily in that order.
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