The Reunion by Elizabeth Drummond

Who: Former high school classmates Posy Edwins and Lucas O’Rourke.

What: A crackling romance.

When: Modern day.

Where: UK, specifically England

How: Posy, newly cut off by her wealthy father, needs to book a flight to Hawaii for a photography convention to get her career off the ground. Posy enlists Lucas’s help to defraud their alma mater, a private school, by taking advantage of long-forgotten clause in its charter: if the Head Boy and Head Girl of a graduating class ever marry, the school is liable to pay for the wedding. Lucas agrees to pretend to marry her to get cash from the school, which Posy will use for her plane ticket, and Posy promises to help connect Lucas with her family’s rich associates to boost his client base for his wealth management company.

What I Thought:
I’m only recently on the romantic comedy book train, and I really wanted to enjoy Elizabeth Drummond’s debut. There are a lot of familiar tropes in romantic novels, including enemies-to-lovers and fake dating, and many of them are at play in this particular book.

A significant portion of the plot revolves around economic shaming: both of Lucas’s parents worked at the elite private school where Posy and Lucas first met, and his nickname was “Helpboy.” Talk about revolting. Posy’s family has a toxic habit of referring to her by the nickname “Hurricane,” referring to the fact that her life is generally a mess and that she leaves messes and chaos in her wake. I almost didn’t make it through the first few chapters, to be honest – the “we only tease you because we love you!” attitude that Posy’s family hides behind hit a little too close to home for me.

The characters did their best to rescue this book: Lucas was really well-developed, as was his family, but Posy was sort of flat and hard to relate to, as she only really treated a few people kindly (including her bestie, Tara, who STOLE THE SHOW. Can we please have a book about Tara?)

There were a few points in the book where I felt kind of emotionally invested; sadly, it just wasn’t the book for me overall.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

If you can suspend belief you'll likely enjoy this story. I unfortunately struggled.

I also never felt the chemistry, things felt very rushed, then very slow, then wrapped up too quickly.

Just not for me and unfortunately moving on.

The Reunion was an adorable and heartwarming take on an enemies to lovers trope. Posy and Lucas are charming, funny, and adorable. The book was a quick read that kept you engaged and interested.

This book had two of my favourite tropes in it. Fake dating and enemies to lovers, and it is a slow burn, which I am all for. But it did fall flat with everything else in the story. I especially did not like how it wrapped up so quickly at the end of the novel as it felt like the author just weed the book to be done.

2.5 stars for this one.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was not the greatest book I've ever read. Too many fat jokes and the characters were just not likeable and there was zero chemistry between them. Not the book for me.

Lucas and Poppy were not what anyone would consider friends when they were prefects at their high school ten years ago. Lucas, the only scholarship kid at the school, was serious and focused entirely on his education. Poppy, the richest girl in school, was social, a partier, and gave Lucas his nickname of Helpboy. Now, ten years later, Lucas's business is in trouble and Poppy's father has cut her off just before a photography conference that could allow her to finally focus on her art. When they run into each other at their ten-year reunion, Poppy gets an idea: to exploit the bylaw in their school's charter that states that the school will pay for any wedding and honeymoon between a head boy and girl from the same year. Poppy wants to use the honeymoon to go to Hawaii for the conference, and if Lucas goes along with it, she'll introduce him to people in her world, bringing clients to his business.
The Reunion is a really fun enemies-to-lovers fake relationship between two people from very different worlds.

This was a super quick & breezy read and I enjoyed it! There were some real issues addressed like emotional abuse and imbalances in families, and the real repercussions our “jokes” can have.

I will say that it took about half the book for me to like either of the main characters - they were both so naive to any other life but their own that they became almost caricatures of people. And this book made me glad I’m not rich because they all seem miserable!

It was a cute ending, and a light read that was fun and felt very low-stakes.

While I don't think this was a great book and probably won't purchase it for my library, I still really enjoyed it. I think that whole high schoolers meeting again years later trope is really my jam though.

Posy has been cut off by her father, but she’s desperate to get to Hawaii where she can show her photographs at an art event. Lukas has been dumped and his business is struggling. The two reunite at a school reunion. In school they hated each other and it’s clear they are still struggling to be civil, until Posy comes up with an idea to help them both.

This book was an interesting premise, but you definitely need suspension of disbelief. I really struggled to like the characters, especially Posy, and since the story was so far fetched, and the side characters were also unlikeable, I had a hard time being interested in this book, despite the story moving quickly. I wish there would’ve been more build up from not-friends to “in love” and more of a resolution with the side characters. I did like that the resolution was messy, with the characters not necessarily getting their way or what they wanted, since they were deceiving almost everyone. I also liked their ability to stand up for one another.

I don't think I have much else to say about this book other than the fact that, in 2022, I would have thought we had made it past the point of writing about drunk sex. I could not finish this book or review it with anything more than 1 star after reading that scene.

The publisher kindly provided ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Reunion follows Posy and Lucas, former high school classmates who desparately need money. Posy doesn't have her father's wealth to rely on to fund an important trip, and Lucas' business is about to go under. When they find an old bylaw from their high school that says the school will pay for wedding and honeymoon funds, Posy and Lucas decide to get married and use the money for their own use.

While I really liked the premise of the book, I was disappointed with the execution. I don't think I liked any of the characters in this book, especially considering the amount of fat & classist jokes that are never properly addressed. There's an underlying message of 'You need to marry to have any worth', which I hated. The characters didn't really have any tension or chemistry between them, and because I disliked them, I didn't even particularly care about their romance. I was also very tired of the word 'spreadsheet' after reading this, because that seems to be the default insult for Posy to use against Lucas.

1.5/5 stars.

It was a cute, fun, light hearted and very good enjoyable read for me. I would definitely recommend it.

This book has some of the best tropes! Rivals to lovers, fake dating and more! I thought it was cute and fun but I do wish we got to see the main characters more from their high school days so we could have seen their dynamic more and understood it.

I did not enjoy this book at all, the patriarchal control and pressure for Posy to find a man to marry her was very archaic and actually painful to read. The whole find a husband and a career before you’re 30 and the over the hill-spinster narrative is tired. It is 2022 - women have enough problems, we should not be telling women they have to ‘settle down’ and become responsible wives in chick lit novels. As for the fat jokes - very disappointing. Chick lit should be empowering, a safe space to explore sensitive and difficult themes with a happy, secure and safe resolution NOT shaming women’s bodies for cheap laughs. It’s not funny and we’re over it. Women can be any size, there’s no beauty code we have to conform too. Our bodies are not jokes or plot lines - they’re off limits. Gosh I can’t believe we’re having to cover this!

Don’t even start me on the characters! It was very Tory-esque. Given the current situation with Boris in the U.K. and the current economic climate, it was frustrating and almost angering to read these characters who are quite frankly idiots parading such frivolous wealth around. It really missed the mark if it was looking for empathy.

I do not recommend this book.

It was very fun and enjoyable read for me. I laughed out loud so many times and most importantly, things were felt amidst reading this. The MCs were so fun, adorable, engaging and witty. And, the ending was anything and everything one can want from a book. I loved it, it was a full 4 starts read for me.

This was a fun read but I felt like it could have had more depth. It was not a bad novel, but it just wasn't my favorite of this trope. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange.

This book was the definition of 3 stars and a half, for me. Not bad, not great.

In theory, I liked the characters - opposites attract is kind of my catnip - and the premise was funny, even if a little weird. Maybe it's the fact that I'm a product of public school, so I couldn't even begin to understand the school they went to - besides what I know from movies like Wild Child. I understood one thing, though, and this is what I liked the most: the different classes. Even if I think the trope of the wild, rich girl with no purpose is a bit overrused, I think class and wealth were written pretty well in this book. Lucas kept feeling left out, even when he was already in, and the rich kids kept thinking they were superior even when they weren't. Rich people entitlement was probably the biggest character in the book.
The book was super realistic in showing Lucas and Posy's development, even if it was a little slow. It HAD to be slow, though, because they are fundamentally different people. One good deed does not a friendship make. They HAD to show each other they existed outside their high school selves and that takes time. However, I just didn't like the timeline overall. I remember thinking it was going sooooo slow and checking my progress and was already halfway. I think the author spent too much time writing up to the actual reunion, and then had to rush a bit. Also, I just don't think one month and, like, ten encounters is enough to make them see each other in a different like. If the author had just written a different timeline and more scenes between them, I think I'd understand way better the way their emotions shifted. Because of course they did. It's a romance, so it was bound to happen. But just because it's a guaranteed thing does not mean that writers should have to write the build up. That's just lazy.

One thing I appreciated, though, was the avoindance of the usual 75% conflict. Posy runs away, yes, but Lucas catches up and they talk. That's literally all they needed to avoid a bigger conflict.

Either way, I actually liked the book. Not sure if I would recommend it, but I don't regret reading it. I liked the writing, so I wouldn't mind readind another book by this author if they write another one.

Also: the title? I mean, I know the reunion was the main point of the premise, but I just didn't like the title. I thought the reunion itself would have more impact than it does.

School reunion can't come at a worse time for Lucas and Posy. Lucas is about to lose his business unless he finds an investor fast, and Posy’s father has cut her off financially, just when she needs to get to Hawaii.
As tensions rise, Posy comes up with a plan to solve both their problems, all she needs to do is persuade Lucas to go along with it. Trouble is, how do you ask your high school enemy to pretend you’re madly in love when everyone knows you don’t get along? And what happens when that plan involves a wedding, honeymoon and an old school bylaw stating that the school will pay for the entire event…

A very funny enemies to friends to lovers story. Posy wasn't very likable in the beginning but she grows on you. Lucas comes across as hard working and more likable. It's a light and fast-paced rom com. Perfect for when you want something funny and romantic.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

The Reunion by Elizabeth Drummond

A fun enemies to lovers romance. This book was witty, charming and just an overall good romp. High school enemies reunited and a fake wedding ensues.
Great read will recommend!

This one was a cute a fun read. It read very fast and had the vibes of romcoms from the 2010s that I absolutely loved! It was a classic enemies to fake dating to lovers trope and that will just do it for me EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Posy and Lucas were head boy and head girl in high school, but they never got along. They rarely got anything done because they couldn't stop arguing long enough to move forward. 10 years later they reunite at their class reunion and find that they finally have something to agree on; a fake marriage. Their school has an outdated, nevertheless still standing, agreement to pay for the wedding of any head boy and head girl who go on to get married. But why do they need to get married you ask?!

Posy has recently been cut off from her father, despite finally feeling like she knows what she wants to do with her life; photography! She needs to get to Hawaii to start her career. Lucas' company that he loves and put so much work into is in danger of going under and he needs the rich clientele that Posy seems to breeze alongside easily. So they go for it!

While overall I thought this was a sweet read, it lacked the chemistry between Posy and Lucas that I was craving, and sometimes the characters were unlikable. However, I am so thankful I got to read this one!!

Thank you HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for the ARC!