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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
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wefwif
4.8 stars. okay, why the fuck was jack perfect. like seriously??? i feel insane and very chronically online because he has to be one of my favorite male characters fr. idk. anyways i rated this book a four stars cus of the vibes. like a close close five star. and hallie was so hot and sexy i wanted to kiss her on the mouth. fr like ughhhh im sick why me god.
one thing that gave me the ick was when he ghosted her for two weeks. like bruh im finna kill u. no seriously, and hen saying he THINKS he loves her when he was inter monologuing act his fascination with her for the entire book missed me off. hallie is real and amain and beautiful. idk why but authors cannot write likable female characters for the life of them… but lynn???? bangers after banger after banger tyvm.
about the characters, i loved them. they were very lovable. actually, as i am writing this im am coming back from my trip to Colorado, so the stories def collide with mine which is fuckin nuts. i laughed a fuck ton while reading this, thiamin about jack makes m mad cause i love him so much. i avant read more than two books in like three months, and this book is making me wanna get back into reading.
lynn painter, you are truly amazing.
wefwif
4.8 stars. okay, why the fuck was jack perfect. like seriously??? i feel insane and very chronically online because he has to be one of my favorite male characters fr. idk. anyways i rated this book a four stars cus of the vibes. like a close close five star. and hallie was so hot and sexy i wanted to kiss her on the mouth. fr like ughhhh im sick why me god.
one thing that gave me the ick was when he ghosted her for two weeks. like bruh im finna kill u. no seriously, and hen saying he THINKS he loves her when he was inter monologuing act his fascination with her for the entire book missed me off. hallie is real and amain and beautiful. idk why but authors cannot write likable female characters for the life of them… but lynn???? bangers after banger after banger tyvm.
about the characters, i loved them. they were very lovable. actually, as i am writing this im am coming back from my trip to Colorado, so the stories def collide with mine which is fuckin nuts. i laughed a fuck ton while reading this, thiamin about jack makes m mad cause i love him so much. i avant read more than two books in like three months, and this book is making me wanna get back into reading.
lynn painter, you are truly amazing.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A perfectly serviceable romance. Hallie and Jack meet at Jack’s sister’s wedding, when his almost-fiancée gets crazy jealous and throws a glass of Chardonnay in Hallie’s (bartender) face. This was the most exciting thing that happened in the book. They end up hooking up that night, then reconnecting on a dating app, then becoming best friends and fake boyfriends and real boyfriends. It was cute, there were some funny bits, but I wasn’t obsessed with these two people like I was with Olivia and Colin from Lynne Painter’s last book. Still had fun reading it though.
I definitely like this book more than the first. They're both very cute, but I like Hallie and Jack more than Colin and Olivia. The former's relationship felt much more mature and the melodrama was at a minimum here. Olivia is a bit too chaotic for me, and I'm glad it works for Colin, but I like that Hallie is herself, and still has her life together a little more. The opening scene at Colin and Olivia's wedding was pretty great. I would've killed to have been an unimportant guest there to witness Vanessa tossing wine in Hallie's face. I think I like this about as much as I like Better Than the Movies; this is just a slightly different vibe since BTtM is YA. The idea that they're making a competition out of dating apps is brilliant. I also think dating is a slog and would be much more motivated and entertained if I were going through it with someone else at the same time to compare notes. I was very entertained by their dating escapades and lol'd multiple times throughout at their dating fails/awkward encounters that are so realistic of what it's like to date as a millennial/gen z-er today. I myself have some very entertaining stories from when I've dated on apps. I also lol'd when I heard about the disaster that prevented Olivia and Colin from going on their honeymoon -- Olivia's foot getting run over by the limo that was supposed to take them to the airport. Very Olivia and a nice little nod to her penchant for accidents that we explored quite heavily in book 1.
Again, Painter does such a great job with the banter between her main characters. I didn't enjoy the female audiobook narrator as much as in Mr. Wrong Number, especially for Olivia's voice, so hearing "Olivia's" voice in this book was weird/discombobulating. Colin continued to be kind of a meh character to me, not that I expected anything revolutionary to happen in this one since he's barely present.
I like the dynamic between Jack and Olivia. I wish we could've seen more of the elder brother, Will (I think he's the oldest?). We didn't see him, his wife, or his kids nearly as much in this book. I would definitely read more books with these characters if Painter wrote them. The text back and forth between each respective couple was very spot on.
The last line of the epilogue was weird to me: "And it occurred to him, when he woke up under the Christmas tree the next morning with Hallie's cat sitting on his neck and her knee in his back, that he already had it" (289). They slept under the Christmas tree?
Painter does a really good job with the small details in her descriptions/characters' thoughts. They're oftentimes hilarious but also just...really insightful, yet subtle. There's also a very light, non-judgmental tone without over explaining/justifying that I appreciate. I.e.: "Were we seriously getting matching ass tattoos?
Were we hillbillies now?
No offense to people with ass tattoos, I thought, but what the hell?" (Mr. Wrong Number bonus wedding day epilogue)
Also totally dig how Painter can write such lovely, reverent descriptions of her main characters from the other main characters' pov without being skeevy, but then also knows how to describe characters when the other main characters are in the mood. I.e. "She was joy personified, the picture of shimmery golden happiness" (Mr. Wrong Number bonus wedding day epilogue).
Her writing style really works for me and I can't wait to make my way through the rest of her published novels.
Again, Painter does such a great job with the banter between her main characters. I didn't enjoy the female audiobook narrator as much as in Mr. Wrong Number, especially for Olivia's voice, so hearing "Olivia's" voice in this book was weird/discombobulating. Colin continued to be kind of a meh character to me, not that I expected anything revolutionary to happen in this one since he's barely present.
I like the dynamic between Jack and Olivia. I wish we could've seen more of the elder brother, Will (I think he's the oldest?). We didn't see him, his wife, or his kids nearly as much in this book. I would definitely read more books with these characters if Painter wrote them. The text back and forth between each respective couple was very spot on.
The last line of the epilogue was weird to me: "And it occurred to him, when he woke up under the Christmas tree the next morning with Hallie's cat sitting on his neck and her knee in his back, that he already had it" (289). They slept under the Christmas tree?
Painter does a really good job with the small details in her descriptions/characters' thoughts. They're oftentimes hilarious but also just...really insightful, yet subtle. There's also a very light, non-judgmental tone without over explaining/justifying that I appreciate. I.e.: "Were we seriously getting matching ass tattoos?
Were we hillbillies now?
No offense to people with ass tattoos, I thought, but what the hell?" (Mr. Wrong Number bonus wedding day epilogue)
Also totally dig how Painter can write such lovely, reverent descriptions of her main characters from the other main characters' pov without being skeevy, but then also knows how to describe characters when the other main characters are in the mood. I.e. "She was joy personified, the picture of shimmery golden happiness" (Mr. Wrong Number bonus wedding day epilogue).
Her writing style really works for me and I can't wait to make my way through the rest of her published novels.
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Cute rom com. Good writing and adorable plot. Will be reading again.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a cute book! I am a sucker for friends-to-lovers and this one had it all: fake dating, Taco Bell dates, exquisite banter, only one bed, a wedding, silly nicknames and inside jokes, and above all a dramatic kiss in the rain scene.
An easy read with two phenomenal MCs.
An easy read with two phenomenal MCs.