This book follows a similar plot to the movie “Life as we know it” in the sense that two single adults have to become caregivers after their friends die in a car accident.

I feel like this book had amazing potential but it just fell a little flat. I didn’t have that desperation to pick the book back up after taking a break.

At the start, I felt like the MMC - Rip (I kept getting Glow flashbacks) - was unnecessarily harsh to the FMC - Colby - who has been pining after Rip since she was a teenager. As is expected, they finally get together and all the harsh words that were exchanged are suddenly forgotten. I needed more grovelling from Rip or more hesitation from Colby because it made her seem like a bit of a pushover - suddenly Rip is showing her affection and so she purposely forgets about the mean things he said (some of which were inexcusable).

I found the final third of the book particularly cringy. Some of the conversations just felt unnatural and they didn’t hit the intended mark.

Banks was a hilarious side character. He pretty much carried the whole book alongside the two kids (age 5 and age 3) who also said some of the funniest things.

I have no experience with kids and so I don’t know how realistic the story is, but I felt like it was very true to life. It didn’t blur over the struggles or bleakness of parenting children while in mourning, and so it was a very emotional read at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and ValentinePR for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

♡ Tropes ♡
Enemies-to-lovers
Grumpy/sunshine
Unrequited feelings

Content Warnings:
Death of a parent
Grief
ICU hospitalisation
Bullying

*5 Stars*

ARC kindly received for an honest review.

I loved this book! I sped through it so quickly, and it was just such a great read. Full of emotion, I couldn't put it down, and I was really hoping for Colby and Rip to come through things they way I wanted.

Thrown into an unthinkable situation, that no family/friends ever want to be placed in, these two are trying to navigate many new things along with their emotions and the journey was a great one to read. I loved these two and Ben and Viera, oh and Banks haha.

I was hooked from the start, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I was on the verge of tears a few times, but I was also laughing out loud at others. Highly recommend.

4.4 stars This is one slow burn, heartwarming story that brings to mind the film “Life As We Know It,” where two children are thrust into a new life after the death of their parents. Colby is a woman who comes across as a free spirit who goes where the wind takes her to help her write her travel blog. Rip is Colby’s polar opposite. He is steadfast, somewhat of a neat freak and an accountant who has his own business. These two are like oil and water and have acted as such for quite some time. However, underneath it all there is a glimmer of attraction and when they are given the responsibility to rear Ben and Viera, the children of Rip’s sister who is also Colby’s best friend, they come to some startling realizations. Overall, this is one endearing storyline and Ms. Van Dyken does an admirable job weaving the painful emotions and interjecting lighter moments which reflect real life situations. The banter between Colby and Rip will make you laugh. The secondary characters heighten the laughter and one will have you wanting to give her a stern tongue lashing. If you are looking for a quick beach read, then this is one for you. I read a copy of this book provided by Netgalley.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 ℝ𝔼𝕍𝕀𝔼𝕎 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

🔹𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽
🔹𝗕𝘆 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹 𝗩𝗮𝗻𝗗𝘆𝗸𝗲𝗻
🔹𝟯𝟱𝟮 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀
🔹𝗣𝘂𝗯: 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝘁𝗵

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫 • 3.5/5

⭐𝘛𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴:
⭐𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺
⭐𝘌𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴
⭐𝘎𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘺 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦
⭐𝘖𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵
⭐𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

Holy tropes, Batman! 😄

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕕 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

1) The whole premise was amazing!! Two childhood "frenemies" thrown together under the saddest, most unfortunate circumstances.

2) The forced proximity (my favorite trope)!

3) The spice! It was the perfect amount for my preferences. 💕

4) The kiddos and the references that most parents can relate to. I LOVE rom coms that include children! 🥰

5) The humor! There were some hilarious moments that made me laugh-out-loud!🤪

6) The growth!!! 🥺 Both personally and as a family. 🙌

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕀 𝕕𝕚𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

1) I didn't really understand the hate. 🤷‍♀️ The reasons these two didn't get along was kind of weak. They've known each other forever... they're practically family. It just didn't make sense that they had this much animosity over something so insignificant. I just wasn't sold. 😬

2) Unfortunately I became uninvested pretty early on when the integrity of the book / writing came into question. 😔 Rip is a health nut. A *gluten free* health nut. HOW DOES THIS MAN NOT KNOW WHAT A CHICKPEA IS?? Chickpeas are a very common ingredient in gluten-free foods. And he's an intelligent grown ass man. He *knows* what a chickpea is! The first time he made the chickpea comment, I let it slide as an oversight by the author. Maybe she forgot she made him gluten-free. 🤷‍♀️ But the second time around when he was complaining about not knowing what a chickpea was... well... there was no coming back from that.

3) Rip came off as a misogynist a-hole. Yes he grew and changed, but it was hard to move on from the way he treated Colby in the beginning. 😥

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the author for my eARC in exchange for my review 💕

Note: Posting to Goodreads tonight and posting to Bookstagram in the morning!

Wow I flew through this book! It was so easy to love Colby and the kiddos (even when Rip was being a total jerk)! I definitely laughed out loud in moments, and was in my feels in other moments!

This book handles some heavy topics, as Colby and Rip’s best friends/sister pass away, leaving behind two kids. I do think there were parts of this book that authentically portrayed grief and loss, though there also were moments that felt a little weird to me, as Colby and Rip made comments that their guardianship was really a ploy from their friends to get them together 🥴

I did root for Colby and Rip to be together, but I wish we would have seen more groveling from Rip because he was such a jerk to Colby for like the first half of the book! And the third act conflict felt like a little too much for me. All in all, this one was a 3.5/5 ⭐️ for me! I enjoyed it, but had some things I didn’t love!

Cute opposites attract romance.

Sad premise, but this is a light-hearted, entertaining story.

Of course. Colby and Rip are complete opposites and thinking they can navigate guardianship over their best friends' & Rip's sister's kids sets up for some hilarious scenes as well as heartfelt.

I wasn't a big fan of Rip as he could be quite cruel at times and I didn't fully buy his - I was hiding my feelings premise. But towards the end - the story pulled me in and the rightness of this pairing came through.

I voluntarily requested and read an uncorrected advance reader copy through the publisher via Net Galley.

I was really excited to read The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken. I love how versatile this author is in her writing and how she makes us feel with every book she writes. Here we have an emotional and fun grumpy/sunshine romance. Colby and Rip need to step in when their loved ones die leaving their two children behind. Now they are a family learning their new normal. Rip is organized and serious with a side of grump. Colby lives life as she pleases and is disorganized. They could not be more opposite.

I loved reading about their interactions and how realistically they dealt with their grief. They were not exactly friends prior to this and now must work together for the children they love. Though there is loss, there were also smiles and love. Such a sweet and charming read.

Happy reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I thought that The Godparent Trap was a very fresh and interesting take on a rom-com. I've read a decent amount of rom-coms to know that bringing two people together as a result of a very tragic accident is not the laugh-out-loud kind of meet-cute that you normally see on this side of the romance genre, so I thought this was interesting to read about. I liked how Rachel Van Dyken was able to show both the good and the bad when it comes to the grieving process- the hurt, confusion, and uncertainty that comes with losing a loved one, but also the memories that they left behind and that people will cherish when they're gone.

I love the little family that Colby and Rip create with Monica and Banks' children- the children were absolutely adorable and the struggles and mishaps that Colby and Rip had to learn about and overcome while raising them were very funny to read about.

The only things I didn't really like about the book were Rip's attitude for the majority of the story and how his romance with Colby developed. I understand that everyone has a different way of grieving and mourning, but for him to lash out at Colby for fainting from the amount of shock and grief she was in and accused her of trying to do it all for attention rubbed me the wrong way. Also, he got mad at her for literally crying upon hearing the news and the few days after and that made me mad at him. With that being said, the way that Colby forgave him and moved on so quickly from all the insults he threw at her like he didn't do anything wrong made no sense after the way he treated her, and as a result, I felt like their romance sort of came out of left field despite both of them admitting in their POVs that they found the other person attractive. Maybe it was because they were both trying to keep their heads up for their godchildren, but if that were me, I wouldn't have been so easy to forgive him.

4 stars ☆ This book was so freaking good !!

forced proximity ✔
opposites attract/ grumpy x sunshine ✔

The author did a great job writing a heavy topic in this book and how realistic it is, but she still made it in a way that was still a light read. It was a fast and easy to read. It's also entertaining because of the banter between Rip and Colby as they tackle parenting from the beginning and then their teasing with one another in the second half. The kids were also funny and made me love this book even more. Viera and Ben, my babies <3

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for the ARC !!

I’m a big fan of Rachel Van Dyken and a sucker for a cute illustrated cover so I knew that I had to read The Godparent Trap.

Y’ALL. I could not put this one down. I was hooked from the beginning and felt like Colby and Rip were just perfect for each other. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. His order to her mess; his structure to her go with the flow attitude; they just made sense.

I appreciated the authors note to clue me in on what to expect, as well as the care that Rachel took with the heavy topic of grief. My heart broke but was put back together.

This was an emotional read for me; full of laughs, tears, anger, and smiles. You don’t want to miss this one!

Thank you to Forever for the ARC and finished copy in exchange for an honest review.

I just loved this whole enemies to lovers in the weeds of parenting. Rip and Colby couldn't be more opposite. Hes a successful very put together accountant and she appears to be a flighty travel blogger. They've known each other since they were in high school. He's always been protective of his sister since they lost their parents at a young age and he became the father essentially.

In the wake of his sister and her college roomies death they are the ones that are legally there to care for these two adorable kids. But they are still kids and kids are small humans that take a lot of work. I have two I love so much but they scare me most days. I will say I'm not the alpha of the 3 of us girls. Its Lexi.

I felt the absolute grief when they got the call since they were together babysitting so the parents could go on vacation. Now I never want to go on vacation again. Eek will I die? Ok fine I think that everytime I walk outside or eat something that looks off.

I totally related to the argument over being able to keep the house clean, like what are you doing all day lol. On maternity leave with my 2nd my husband had the nerve to ask me this. I'm like wait till you go on paternity leave and you will see. He's like what it will be easy. Famous last words  The first day he's like "where do the days go!?"

Rip's colleague Banks is so amazing and I love his scheming also his coffee mug collection. Can someone sell them? I like to make my husband blush lol.

The epilogue was so sweet! I love where everyone landed. And found families are my favorite. They made quite a family out of the village around them. Just loved this.

My family has angel sightings too. My grandma comes to me as a hummingbird. On my wedding day I looked to the side during the ceremony and time slowed as I watched a hummingbird on a flower and I smiled. And my Dad communicates with 711s and music.

Thank you readforeverpub and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

Colby and I are alike in so many ways. I can be messy but also give the sunshine vibes.

Then you have my grumpy partner 😂 and, believe it or not - organized like hell. So this story hit home on different levels.

My favorite was how Rachel made each character grieve in their capacity and thus leading them to each other. The sexual tension and banter made it all the more fun.

Thanks, Forever, for the perfect book.

This book was wonderful. While it started with tragedy, two enemies are brought together to raise their best friend’s kids … in the same house. But Rip needs order and control, and Colby is a free-spirited chaotic mess – or so she seems to him.

I honestly loved this book – I loved the dry humor between Rip and Colby, and the fact that they couldn’t stand each other. I felt for them in their loss of friends and family. And I loved watching them figure things out together as time went on.

That said, I feel as though the ending was a bit rushed. At 352 pages, this book isn’t necessarily short, but it reads so quickly I questioned if it was a novella at one point. Part of this is due to how utterly fantastic it is – and another part, I believe, is due to how quickly the entire book wraps up. That said, the epilogue definitely put a smile on my face. I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing these two in another book in the future, but I’m not sure where their adventures would take them in that one.

If you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, overcoming tragedy, close proximity, fake dating, and opposites attract – then this is the absolute perfect book for you.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 STARS

The circumstances that bring Colby and Rip together are heartbreaking, but they make the best of the situation. It is such a sweet and entertaining read that you will not want to miss. I absolutely loved this book that I devoured the words in one sitting! The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken is an EPIC read that will join the ranks of the BIBLIO-ARISTOCRACY!!!

Colby has always enjoyed the freedom and experiences that her career as a food blogger have provided but her life is about to be turned upside down when her best friends pass away and she becomes co-guardian of their children. She is determined to give them the love and emotional support that they need to heal from the tragedy even if it means living with Rip.

Rip is a man who thrives on order and routine both when it comes to his life and his career as an accountant. He is not only trying to deal with the loss of his sister and best friend but give their children the stability they need even if Colby infuriates him like no other.

Personality wise Colby and Rip are like night and day, but they are draw to each other in spite of themselves. Witty banter, humorous situations and all the feels as these two opposites find a way to meet in the middle.

I couldn’t put this book down. RVD has gone and done it again, delivering a book that had me addicted. It doesn’t matter what trope she puts out there, she has never failed to have me captivated. Rip and Colby’s story had me all in my feels to the tenth power. I didn’t want it to end but couldn’t stop reading, the struggle was real. To read fast or slow down. This is one story not to be missed. It is heartfelt, sweet and just overall amazing.

The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken. The book is a fairly quick read. Two people are brought together for a united purpose. This story illustrates the many ways people deal with grief. So, I can't fault either of the MC for their reactions. The story is well laid out with moments of happiness, joy and laughter. I think the cover also looks like a children's book. I don't know if that was done on purpose, but, brilliant anyway.

I really enjoyed this book. It shows what really happens when you're a parent with little ones. Rip and Colby were such a great opposites attract couple. Banks was a great second best friend with how he assisted Rip. What really caught my heart was Viera saying she could see mommy. That's not something talked about much and who is to judge what a child can and cannot see. I'll definitely be buying a physical copy of the book to put on my shelf.

A warm-hearted read that's perfect for summer! Grumpy/Sunshine, with two complete opposites brought together by the loss of a sibling/best friend.

Colby and Rip find themselves as the guardians of two small children after their parents pass away. Constantly at each others throats, with one very serious character, and another one who lives life to the fullest.

Throw in some unrequited chemistry and you will find yourself enamored with this story. The side characters are everything, and I feel like they carry the story on their own.

If you enjoyed the movie Life As We Know It, then you'll adore this book, with a touch of emotions, but plenty of laughter.

Oh my gosh this book! Rip and Colby are polar opposites in every way imaginable except for their love of Ben and Viera and doing what's best for them. The loss of two people they love most has thrust them into a life together, one filled with grief and growth and laughter. The banter in this book is something only Rachel can master. I went from crying and being sad to crying from laughter all within a page. Once I started this book I couldn't put it down. I feel like as a hot mess mom a related to Colby on so many levels. The truth of parenthood in this book was perfection that made me fall in love over and over.