This is my first time reading anything by Kate McBrien, and I'd definitely come back for seconds!

Built to Last opens with our protagonists living worlds apart, and not just because of the ocean separating them. Max is an up and coming music producer based in London. We get a swift introduction to his family, their pub The Carmichael Arms, and a peak into his sister's life that'll be important down the line.  Althea on the other hand, is living in the beautiful Santorini, tending to a mixed list of jobs, and fielding any calls she can from her family. And honestly who can blame her?

It's pretty evident from the get-go that there's bound to be some kind of clash of personalities between the two. In the authors own words, "Althea has strong opinions on just about every topic, and Max is wonderfully stubborn". This makes for an interesting pairing for sure!

I found Built to Last a little slow to really kick off. Introducing the characters separately at the beginning made for an interesting chance to see them at their own pace, especially given that a fair amount of the book has them pushed together for the road trip. I think my issue was with how drawn out the time spent on Santorini was. Like I mentioned, this is my first time reading anything by McBrien, so I think the full impact of the wedding was a little lost on me. I think it's definitely one of those scenes geared towards long-time fans of the Indigo series! Definitely something to bear in mind going in. I don't think it brought anything to the novel, other than an easy way to bring Althea and Max together.

On the flip side of all that, I did find some of the elements a little rushed. Althea has a bit of a tendency to immediately jump into intimacy when she's upset, which can be a little jarring. It's makes for interesting, but ultimately clumsy, dialogue and plot. This is mostly true for Chapter 19, when Althea calls her father from the bathroom of a club they happen to be in, the result of which is her feeling "empty" and alone. This leads to her hugging and then kissing Max, both "without waiting for permission" which poses it's own set of problems. My real issue for me lies in the resenting awkwardness in the narrative. Max doesn't question her advance at all in the club, when she's literally just broken into tears in his arms. I think the idea is that he's caught up in the moment and doesn't really question it until later when things get a little more heated.

The issue here for me can pretty much be summed up in this line of dialogue: "I think it's too bad we can't teleport back to the hotel". Setting here plays an important role, and unfortunately not in a good way. Max's "This doesn't feel right" comes only a few pages after Althea first kisses him in the club, but in real time this happens after they've had to leave the club, call their limo, be driven all the way back to the hotel, "walk through the lobby", ride a busy elevator up to their floor, and then decide which of their rooms to go to. It would have made so much more sense of him to have come to that conclusion before getting to her room and undressing, and I couldn't stop thinking that as I was reading it.

I enjoyed the novel as a whole, but it was in moment like that that I was left wondering if maybe Built to Last needs a little more editing to really do the plot line justice.

I liked the road-trip element of the book, and I think McBrien is pretty good at giving us her own take on the familiar 'sharing a room' trope that we've seen over and over. It's a personal favourite, and she definitely delivers a cute take on it! It actually leads on to one of my favourite parts of Max and Althea's budding relationship, which is Max's lullaby's. It's a really sweet element of the novel, and gives us a chance to really feel involved by using real songs. I know some people aren't fans of mentioning specific songs within books, but I personally really enjoy it. And music plays such a huge role in Built to Last, that it's really nice to be able to put the songs on whilst reading. Definitely adds another fun element to the book! And a perfect way to help us explore the characters that little bit more!

McBrien does a great job at creating a real sense of who the characters are and what drives them. I think the Epilogue reads especially well for this, and does a nice job of closing up the book. We get a look into how Althea and Max are doing in their professional and personal lives, and I think you can really tell they've both matured, and learnt the balance of staying true to your beliefs and compromising.

Overall, an good plot and interesting characters! I'd be interested to see how Kate McBrien's other books play out, and if maybe this one just wasn't a great fit for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kate McBrien for providing this e-ARC copy for honest review.