Yet another one of Helena’s books that I freaking loved. Oh Dax is such a swoon worthy character. Kaylen drove me a little nuts with her motives but in the end I loved the concept and the great delivery that Helena always gives

I got a copy of this book from #Netgalley. Helena Hunting did it again! This book has it all: emotion, depth, humour and an adorably awkward meet cute. Everything you could ever want! The characters grow and develop and you also get to experience the struggles of being a single parent/ co-parent to an angsty teen. It would be so amazing to have s sequel to this book.

It has taken me a long time to read this book because I was worried that it would not live up to the hype. I have read a lot of really good contemporary romance novels this past year and I'm kicking myself for letting this one fall to the back. It is such a great book! I was hooked almost immediately. The characters are all so likable and their stories are heartbreaking. I was truly rooting for everyone to come out on top. It was a steamy, emotional, entertaining read and I definitely recommend.

This was not my favorite Helena Hunting. Some of the humor and quirkiness of her books was missing in this one.

Hunting took every teen girls fantasy of meeting and dating their teen celeb crush and brought it to life. Dax and Kailyn are adorable together as they deal with the not so glamorous and emotional aspects of life.

So full disclosure; I’m not sure why, but after reading the blurb and seeing the ADORABLE cover, I was expecting a steamy, laugh out loud rom-com. This book was not quite that. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While it wasn’t quite what I expected, I still fell in love with this story and these characters.
This was an incredibly sweet, character-driven, heartfelt romance. And while it had it’s humorous moments, mostly it managed to tug at every heart string for me.
When Kailyn first met Daxton Hughes, she almost had a fangirl heart attach. It’s not every day that a girl gets to meet the teenage star of her dreams from her favorite TV Show. But this Dax is fully grown and happens to be at the same law school she’s at. So of course she makes a total fool of herself in a way that will make you giggle and feel for her at the same time. But then something happens to turn her fangirling infatuation to hate when Dax betrays her. She never expects to see him again. And then he walks into her law office years later to set up a trust with his parents for his younger sister.
The story takes a bit of a morose turn after the meet cute. The author does such a phenomenal job with the character development. Dax is a hero that’s impossible not to love. There’s just something so incredibly endearing and approachable about him. He’s not your stereotypical cocky lawyer. He’s sweet with this undercurrent of vulnerability that you simply can’t help but fall for. His relationship with his sister is sure to tug every heart string. I absolutely loved her as the secondary character.
Kailyn is not the fumbling fangirl that Dax first met in college. She hates him and he doesn’t know why. There’s plenty of great banter between these two. but mainly its Kailyn giving him hell and Dax taking it all with a smile and charm. The romance is a slow build with plenty of chemistry to keep you completely invested in the characters. I seriously couldn’t get enough of these two. I loved how Kailyn slowly begins to see a side of Dax that she didn’t realize was there. A sweet, vulnerable and endearing side that he shows to her in the way he cares for his sister and even pursues her.
This was a slower paced story with plenty of feels and just a touch of sizzle, and this reader loved every page of it!

Received in exchange for a honest review.

this book takes you to the past a little but not much. The past helps you understand the present and Kailyn’s feelings in the beginning. I love that beginning they had. It was adorable.

When it comes to Dax, you are at first feeling anger from the past but realize there is more to things than meets the eye. He is smart, sweet, loves his sister to death and is very loyal. He is thrown into a situation that sends him off kilter but in a good way. You love him and how he is with his sister. He is so good with her and what he sees from his aunt does get his hackles raised. You also wonder what the woman is up to.

Kailyn is sweet and smart. You love her desire to help others and you see that she is stuck in a tough situation. She can be promoted but only if she does something that she is uncomfortable with. It’s not easy on her. When she begins this relationship of Dax as her client, she is very wary of him. Thinking his motives are not good but as she gets to know him and his sister more, she sees the love her has for her and who he is.

I love how Kailyn slowly begins to trust Dax and fall in love with him. How he isn’t who she thought and saw him for who he is and not what she believed she wanted him to be. I love the slow burn of the relationship. How it wasn’t instant but a buildup of the chemistry andattraciton. How it was where they had to learn abou one another and trust each other and how they took his sister into consideration before doing anything. I love how they worked together to figure out his aunt’s motives and were working together for the sake of his sister. How he would do whatever was best for his sister no matter what and that has you swoon for him.

The story is fun and flirty. Sexy and sweet but also has some serious undertones. It is about family and love. Trust and support. You fall in love with Dax and his sister but also the romance that is happening with Dax and Kailyn.

I meant to read this a few months ago when I first got it, but my vacation in Europe was more jam-packed than expected, so I put this one on the back-burner. Boy, was I missing out! I've read a lot of people were disappointed that this book was marketed as a romance when it really wasn't, but I disagree. I believe it was a romance, but it also leaned heavily on general fiction, much in the same way a book like Me Before You could be marketed as a romance. Yes, there are plenty of romance elements, but there is also plenty of drama that might be considered too dark for a typical romance.
I thought the characters were well-developed and that the central conflict was good and engaging. I cared as much about the romance between the two main characters as much as I cared about Dax's custody battle and work situation. I will say the one thing that bothered me was how much Emme cried. It seemed like every scene she was on the page, she found some way to cry. Although I have never gone through the trauma that she went through, as someone with a much older brother, I thought her relationship with Dax was very believable. Another hangup I had was at how obvious it was that Linda was the bad guy all along, but I could overlook it. Overall, it was a great book! It was easy and engaging and I enjoyed it.

Meet Cute the book was a tough one for me. I couldn't get into it. I read to about 20% and but it down. Which was hard for me, because I am big fan Helena's work. When the audio came out, I tried again. I needed to give it another change. This experience is proof that sometimes the audio book, is a better experience for me than the book. I loved it! I think if I had gone just a little further than 20% in the ebook, I would have found my groove.

Sometimes I check out reviews for books before I read them (it helps me set reasonable expectations especially if the book is highly anticipated by me), other times I like to go in completely blind so that I’m unbiased. Meet Cute is a book that I highly anticipated (her Pucked series is one of my faves) and I inadvertently stumbled across a few opinions that made me hesitant to dive in - not anything negative, just some comments about it being less romance more chick lit (and let me state now that I totally disagree). Now I’m kicking myself for waiting so long because I absolutely adored Dax and Kailyn (and Emme)! I totally felt the romance: there is angst, and heat, and emotion, and chemistry - all the components of a fantastic romance... Along with a fabulous story. Dax was downright swoony from the get go and I LOVED the tension between him and Kailyn! I don’t know why I held back - I have yet to read a book by Helena Hunting that I did not love and I don’t expect that to change. 5 out of 5 wine glasses.

I came into this book unsure as to what to expect. I have heard both good and bad things, and I was skeptical as to the whole celeb crush, meet cute storyline and how it would play out without being cliché or cheesy. But Helena did it, I really liked it. The character build from then and now was perfectly done. Without dragging us through the whole one chapter past, then switching to present writing style that just makes you want more of the time line that you were just reading. I loved the antagonist in this story, it was unlike any similar story that I have read. I did feel as though it was all a bit rushed towards the end. We really got to know, connect, and become attached to all of the characters through the first half, and then when the dilemma comes to a stop.. we just seem to hit fast forward. Over all it was good, and I will be sure to pick up more from Helena.

My Highly Caffeinated Thought: A perfect mix of realistic emotional moments, sexy bits, and fun banter between two characters who might be the ideal match.

MEET CUTE is a wonderfully sweet and real story. Though we first meet our leads in an awkward and embarrassing introduction back in college, the majority of the story is set years later after Dax suffers a devastating loss which causes their lives to collide again. The beauty of this book lies within the journey the reader gets to go on with Dax and Kailyn while they navigate the legal issues of custody, the chemistry between them, and parenting a teenage girl.

What I loved about this book is the honesty and reality within the prose. The author creates a world where things have ups, downs, and in-betweens. She manages to give her readers characters with genuine emotion, authentic reactions, and biting wit.

For the romance lovers out there, this is a book which will give you the sexy moments you love in addition to a grounded narrative for you to invest in all of those you meet. Though I have to say, Dax and Kailyn may be the main characters, Emme is the star of this book for me. Be warned; she will grab your heart and not let go.

Love, love, love this book! From the beginning to the end it was excellent. Loved the way Dax and Kailyn meet. I don’t blame her one bit for being a fan girl! 🔥 Emme put me right back in my 13 year old defiant self. You really feel for her and Dax with everything they are going through. All of the drastic changes they have to endure. It’s a little heart wrenching and times, but makes it even more wonderful. That ending was perfect! I’m so excited to make all my bookish friends read this one!!

This was definitely a Cute book! I really enjoyed this book. This a book I would love to see made into a movie. Great job Helena Hunting! This is by far my favorite book by her,

On her first day of law school, Kailyn walks into the middle of a frisbee game and collides with her favorite TV star from her teenage years. Daxton Hughes is trying to put his teenage stardom on a sitcom behind him. Kailyn and Daxton have a friendship rivalry with sparks and after law school go their separate ways. Eight years later, a happenstance meeting and then the tragic death of Daxton's parents throw the two together again. With the custody of Dax's sister on the line and pressure from Kailyn's boss to get Daxton to come work for her firm, Kailyn has got to figure out what she wants.

So I liked this book. Kailyn is a kinda sweet and Dax does some big growing up, so they were cute together. My favorite character was Emme. She deserves a happy ending and I'm glad she gets it.

I did have some things that didn't work for me. The whole mess of the paper turned in late. It was such a big deal and then Kailyn lets is go. But I was unhappy about how it was handled. And I didn't like Felix from the beginning and then he was responsible and there weren't any repercussions and I just didn't like it.

There were some aspects that weren't explored as much that I wanted more like, like Kailyn's pro bono work which was interesting and added depth to her character. It also adds to her relationship with Emme.

So overall it was good.

Appealing leads and a fun setup, Meet Cute by Helena Hunting has a lot of heart and is a nice summer beach read option. (LOVE THE COVER!)

We adore Helena Hunting, and we’re so excited for her newest novel Meet Cute! This one has a redemption storyline that may make for a bit of angst, but if there’s one thing Hunting is great at, it’s resolving those tense situations!

I wanted to love this book. I really did, but it wasn't for me. I think what didn't work for me was that it felt like the characters were too immature for being in their 30's. I think I would have loved it if the story took place when the characters attended university. The only think I loved about this book was the prologue, when they were in college. lol

Meet Cute is one of those books with a cute cartoon cover that disguises some serious subject matter within. I'm starting to get used to these, but it still throws me if I don't carefully read the blurb. In the prologue, we meet Daxton and Kailyn, both attending law school together. The title refers to their first and second meetings, in which Kailyn walks right through Daxton's frisbee game and then spills coffee all over herself when trying to get into the seat next to him in class, the only seat available. Oh, and Daxton just happens to be the star of Kailyn's favorite teen drama of all time, so she fangirls and then is horribly embarassed. (He's essentially Dawson from Dawson's Creek.)

Fast forward to the present, when Kailyn is a successful lawyer and handling a new trust being set up for Daxton's much younger sister, Emmy. Then Daxton's parents die in a car accident and everything changes. Dax gets custody of his younger sister (she's 13 and he's like 32) and Kailyn is put in charge of Emmy's financial affairs when their aunt sues for custody. It's pretty obvious to the reader that the aunt is a shady character, but she does a whole bunch of shady things to try to get custody of Emmy and access to her money.

Kailyn ends up saving the day several times and her position with Emmy results in a lot of forced proximity. Sexy times between the adults, plus some humor and brother-sister bonding. There's grief and lots of legal stuff, but the relationship develops at a good pace and I thought the 13-year-old was given more depth than most kids in romance novels.

Overall a good read, but I think you'll have to suspend your disbelief a bit. How are they in LA and there aren't any non-white people? Hm. Why didn't Kailyn immediately go through the aunt's financials with her position as conservator? It felt like due process that should have been happening during the whole custody battle, since the aunt was trying to paint Dax as irresponsible and only out for the money. I also really resented the idea that everyone thought a 32 year old wasn't capable of raising a child. (Personal bias - I'm 32 and have an 8 year old and a 5 year old. I think I do alright.)

Bits of humor and the chemistry between the main characters make this a mostly enjoyable read.


Content Warnings: Grief, death of parents, custody battle, using a child for financial gain, gambling addiction

Suzanne received a copy of this book for review, but ended up buying and reading it on audio.

Just as the title and the cover suggests, you’re in for a cute ride when you pick up MEET CUTE. Kailyn has crushed on Dax since she was a teenager and he was a child actor and lead on her favorite TV show. He quit acting after that show ended and went to college and that’s where the two met. Eight years later they’re back in each others’ lives, both lawyers, and Dax needing Kailyn’s help navigating being the guardian of his younger sister after their parents death.

I found this book entertaining. Kailyn is definitely a bit quirky and a total fangirl. It can be cute at times and others maybe a little embarrassing. But there was something endearing about her and that connection to Dax. Dax on the other hand was totally oblivious at times, and others a little too cocky. But overall, they were both really cute and they had good chemistry together. The characters definitely were the stand outs in this one.

Having said that, I was expecting a bit more from this story. Some of the plot could’ve been fleshed out better in my opinion. The major conflict between them was just a really easy one to throw into the story and I guess I wanted it to be more interesting than that. But if you’re into stories with forced proximity, definitely give this one a try. It’s a cute and light romantic comedy.