Aria Price arrived at Horizon Point University determined to start over, committed to her future music career. But once Chase Knight reappears, the past she assumed was left behind comes rushing back. As middle school classmates with secret crushes they never confessed, their connection was left unresolved—and unfinished. Now carrying dreams of their own, Aria and Chase are forced to confront buried feelings and missed chances along with a question yet to be answered: what if the timing had been right? Can they pursue their dreams and still find time for love?
Read: July 20, 2026 – July 21, 2026
Final Rating: 4/5 – I really liked it
I’d fought it at first, convinced I was a burden, but I was slowly learning something new: it’s okay to let people love you. Maddie took notes for me when I couldn’t make it to class. Reign kept me fed and distracted when my brain turned against me. And Chase? He held me together on nights I didn’t have the strength to do it myself. I was surrounded by love.
Where do I even begin with how beautiful Love, unfinished was? What a tender tale about young, new love, and second chances. In this story, we follow Aria Price and Chase Knight – they went to middle school together and are just now reconnecting at their university. What stood out the most about this book was how patient Chase was with Aria, and how much Aria grew specifically regarding her fears and insecurities.
What I loved
- I love a reverse grumpy x sunshine where the FMC is a black cat and the MMC is a golden retriever. I thought Chase did an amazing job at helping Aria lower her walls and become more comfortable with him. I also thought that Aria was excellent in helping Chase realize that he needed to find himself first and not rely on her and their relationship to be his compass and guiding light.
- Honestly, I was cheesing and giggling with every interaction. It was incredibly cute and sweet and everything you’d expect in a romantic, new adult story. I thought the characters were well written and their big feelings reminded me a lot of my undergrad days and how I felt and processed life as it was happening to me.
- Though the romance was a big part of the story, I liked that there was a lot of emphasis placed on the personal growth of our main characters. Aria starts the book shy, reserved, and hurting from the trauma of having to carry all of her mother’s expectations. Chase starts the book as a shell of himself, living in the shadow of the plan that his father laid out for him. Throughout the pages of the book, we see them growing, learning, and actually encouraging each other to become better versions of themselves. The Aria we see at the end is more willing to allow people to love her, and she does not blame herself for the mistakes of her father. The Chase we see at the end stands up to his father and decides to carve his own path based on his interests and loves.
- And oh don’t get me started on my darling creative couple! A painter and a singer – and each of them is each other’s muse – UGH. I ADORED their relationship.
- Their friends (Reign and Jackson, specifically) felt like amazing complements to their stories and the author did an amazing job of setting them up to be main characters in future books in the series.
There were some minor continuity errors like what the characters were wearing and some minor typos, as well as references to Amazon Prime and other services that felt out of place. But overall I adored this book and would highly recommend especially if you’re looking for a sweet Black love story – perfect to get you out of a reading slump. I am definitely looking forward to more from D. A. Alston.