Reviews

Return Engagement by Lynn Michaels

karen62's review

5.0

This was definitely not the book I was expecting from the blurb on the back. It was more a story of a man who was on top, hit rock bottom hard, was given a chance and dug his way out. Noah and Lindsay were big TV stars 20 years ago and had a hit teen series. Lindsay left Hollywood for her home town and has a happy life there. Noah was a train wreck in Hollywood and when the series ended he continued his descent down. When the book opens he's lost everything, been destitute for a while, was a full blown alcoholic who's lost a lot of memories and is laying down in the waves on the beach trying to drown himself. Fortunately for him Lindsay's mother (who is a top agent) finds him at this point and offers him a deal - she'll pay for him to pull himself together if he'll star in a play with Lindsay. He doesn't know that Lindsay has no clue this is happening. There's a lot of family drama, lots of humor, lots of great characters and old secrets that come out. This is the first book I've read by Lynn Michaels and I'm looking forward to reading more. One good thing that's come out of the pandemic and only being able to get to the library once a month is it's making me read my own books that i didn't have time to before and discovering new authors I like.

thelichreads's review

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

I read this book not knowing what I was signing up for and was pleasantly surprised! The dialogue’s great and the characters are kooky, there were moments that literally made me laugh out loud. I genuinely enjoyed 80% of the book but the final 20% felt so rushed, it kinda dampened it for me. 

Towards the end it felt like everything was pretty much solved by a couple of phone calls. The play they talked so much about wrapped up in 1-2 pages (sure, maybe the play wasn’t the point of the story but the writing got me really invested that I expected something would happen during - I’m probably just nitpicking though!)

Also really wished Vivienne & Jolie’s characters got a better written redemption or some sort. Like I said, it all felt rushed. The ending & epilogue felt like everything wrapped way too neatly (and a little bit corny - earlier parts of the book felt more wholesome and campy and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book). 

I’m giving it a 4/5 because I extremely enjoyed the majority of the book but man I wished the ending was more fleshed out. Wouldn’t have minded if it made the book a tad longer, Lynn Michaels’ writing is fun to read.