Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Happily Never After

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

8 reviews

aray16's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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abidavisf's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Funny and flirty, Happily Never After is a joyous read. It explores the meaning of love and the importance of friendship at all ages & in romantic relationships.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to the main characters, who say they don’t want a romantic relationship, “getting theirs” together, using each other to experiment with their own sexual desires. The beauty of this is that, as they got to know each other and attempt to reinforce that they are ‘just friends’, it becomes evident that it’s easiest to “get yours” when you feel safe and secure with somebody. That brings confidence to ask for what you want, but it also brings an emotional connection that, of course, leads us to our HEA. Friends with benefits, schmiends with schmenefits.

Happily Never After features a variety of tough subjects, from infidelity to heartbreak, but none of them are delved into too much. There was potential to take the book much deeper and more reflective, and I like that we, instead, explore the topics at a very high level, enabling us to focus on the fun and flirtation, rather than sitting in the sadness.

The dialogue in Happily Never After is so funny and clever. I could hear these characters’ voices so clearly. I need to read more Lynn Painter!

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sunshinekmp's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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grace33's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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ninahuynh's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I would say I have a love-hate relationship with Sophie and Max. While I dislike the miscommunication trope, I understand their inner turmoil. I can see myself having such doubts. I am a sucker for he-falls-first, so that balances out the former, haha. As we are reaching a pinnacle point in the plot (which happened way later than I anticipated), I felt that there is an imbalance between how much of Sophie's thoughts and feelings we get compared to Max's. I can definite relate to Max and see what is going on in his head. With Sophie, however, I would like a bit more. There's a bit of a disconnect there. I didn't count the chapters/sections for each pov, and I don't know if it's cause I feel more closely connected to Max's stream of thought, so those may be factors.

Overall, may read her other books, too!

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I wanted to read this book because I love Lynn Painter’s work and when she announced this book, I instantly pre-ordered this book.

This book is based on Sophie Steinbeck and finds out just hours before nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her saviour comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object.” During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He's a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in. The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of their betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a hookup session or two, but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all. And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.

This book is so fun and adorable and flirty. I love the aspect of professional stopping wedding discreetly without being the one that is breaking the family apart. I feel like I would find the perfect job, I would love to do this job. I love Sophie, I think she is brilliant, and I wanted to hug her throughout the book, she was going through a rough time, trying to get a promotion and having to see her ex-fiancé every day. I love the character development she had and how she went from being a cynic to be all fluffy and in love. Max took a while to grow on me, I think it’s mainly because I was waiting for the red flag to make an appearance. He seemed too perfect for a main character, even in fluffy romances there is usually something wrong with the love interest. I loved his POV and wanted more than him just talking about how much he missed or wanted Sophie. I loved Larry and Rose and what them to have a book together please? They could be doing anything – bickering, on holiday, working. I don’t care, I loved those two.

The third-act conflict wasn’t needed. The miscommunication wasn’t needed. If Max had told Sophie on the phone that Lilabeth was his ex then she would have understood why he didn’t want to be the objector at this one and then moved on, but instead he went behind her back and then was wondering why she was pissed. It was all just very annoying for the last sixty pages.

I will always read anything Lynn Painter writes. I adore her work and I'm hoping to rate one of her books five stars soon, but this was just missing something to make it a five-star read.

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lexiemoon321's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Did I manage to read this all in a couple of hours? Yes, I did.

Okay, I want to go ahead and get my only problem with the book: the romance between the two main characters just completely undermines what the book is trying to talk about: that love isn't real. But besides that...I liked it! If there is one thing that I have noticed with Lynn Painter is that she writes the most HILARIOUS banter. I think overall this was a really cute read and one that you can read in one sitting!

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brynjamin's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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