Member Reviews
I really enjoyed Too Good To Be Real so I was excited to read this one. However, it didn’t live up to Too Good To Be Real.
I really wanted to love the story, but it just missed for me. I really wanted Kate to open her eyes and accept how she felt about Mick earlier, regardless if she was “going for the opposite of what she normally went for.” I also really don’t like brothers almost being pitted against each other, especially with a past.
When the two main characters did get together, it went from zero to sixty to zero. And then zero stood for months. I’m all for a slow burn, but this didn’t hit for me.
I would give this author another try as I really enjoyed the first one.
Too Wrong to be Right by Melonie Johnson
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After her boyfriend dunps her and leaves her with an unexpected new pet, Kat is done with chasing after the wrong guys. She is determined to find Mr Right, which means finding someone she normally doesn’t look for.
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This one is a tough one for me to review. There were a lot of fun quirky things about this story: hedgehog, two fun grandmas who love romance novels, a funeral home, an unexpected trip to the urgent care, cup cozies crocheted to look like penises.
I think the main thing holding me back from loving this one was that I struggled to relate to,and like, Kat. There were a few things she did in this book that frustrated me and I wanted to throw my hands in the air towards the end.
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3⭐️⭐️⭐️ This one was good but not my favorite. I’m sure there are others who will enjoy it though.
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Griffin, and Melonie Johnson for the opportunity to do an ARC read for this title. My thoughts and opinions on this work are my own.
Poor Kat, the FMC, get dumped by her boyfriend and becomes the new owner of an adorable hedgehog. Jojo becomes her pet when said boyfriend flees to Canada for a reality show audition. She vows that she will never date anymore charismatic assholes. So she comes up with a list of attributes to find Mr. Right. She meets Mick at a funeral home while setting up florals for a funeral from the shop that she manages. He is everything that she thinks she does not want: handsome, snarky, and kind of just drifting through life at the moment. She also meets her Joe, Mick's older brother, and the funeral director. He checks all the boxes on her list, but doesn't give her that spark. Kat through a series of misadventures, including a bloody concussion for Mick (hilarious situation), finds that Mick just might be the person that she was looking for all along.
I absolutely loved this title. I knew this book was going to be a winner for me when I read the scene in the funeral home when Kat almost fell into a coffin with a cadaver and Mick pulled her out in time. I must have an absolutely morbid sense of humor, but I could not stop laughing. Kat and Mick's chemistry was on point. It almost ended up being a love triangle story, but thankfully did not go that route. I absolutely adored all the side characters. Jojo the hedgehog and Seamus the cockatoo get honorable mention as well for being so damn funny and adorable.
Kat, a florist, is determined to find her Mr. Right with a checklist after getting dumped by her ex-boyfriend. When delivering flower arrangements to a funeral home, she stumbles across Mick O’Sullivan at his family’s funeral home. There is such a strong chemistry between Kat and Mick, but Kat decided to follow her head this time by ticking off her perfect Mr. Right checklist, instead of following her heart. So, Kat and Mick become close friends instead. Would they be able to stay friends forever?
This is such a cute and humorous romance story. It is definitely not a meet-cute story, but such a good friends-to-lovers story. Each character has different personality and different backstories, and they just complete the story. It also makes the slow burn more interesting and fun to read. I like the dual POVs, but not really a big fan of writing in the third-person instead of first in each of those POVs.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, and would recommend this book to those who are looking for a rom-com or a friends-to-lovers romance.
𝑹𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was an entertaining, well-written book. It was cute, funny and sweet, though I wasn't a fan of some of the lack of communication and ridiculous expectations and assumptions shown by the main characters. I enjoyed this book and will continue to look out for books by this author.
I’ve been eagerly waiting for the audiobook version of this latest romcom from Melonie Johnson and it was the first thing I picked up today!!
Let me tell you, it did not disappoint!! You’re going to want to add this hilarious friends to lovers romance to your TBR if you enjoy any of the following:
🦜🦔Quirky animal side characters
🤣Meet-disasters
💞Love triangles done well
💬Great banter
🍿90s romcom vibes
🌶️Just a bit of spice
If any of this appeals, I highly recommend you pick up Too wrong to be right, especially for fans of books like The dead romantics by Ashley Poston!
Many thanks to Netgalley and St Martins Griffin for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you to @stmartinspress and @smpromance for an advance copy of Melonie Johnson's Too Wrong to Be Right.
This is an enjoyable and entertaining read. However, I didn't connect with the fmc and the mmc. I felt like Kat was taking advantage of the fact that Mick likes her and that he would do everything for her. It was a cute story, but the delivery felt flat.
When her boyfriend ditches her for a job in another country, florist Kat decides to stop dating until she meets a man who checks all her boxes. So no matter how swoony Mick makes her feel, she decides they're better as friends. But with so much chemistry between them, can they keep their relationship platonic?
This novel is a delight. It's light and fun with lovable characters, a heartwarming plot, and a cute hedgehog. It makes me want to give my e-reader a hug. No one does rom com better than Melonie Johnson.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Too Wrong to Be Right was just a little too wrong to be right for me, sadly..
Kat has just been dumped, again, by Mr. Wrong. Saddled now with her ex's hedgehog, Kat is rushing off to a funeral - her least favorite place to be - when she runs, literally, into Mick. The pair instantly hit it off, but Kat is determined not to fall for her typical type again, so she firmly puts Mick into the "friends only" category. But will she regret that decision when she realizes he might actually just be Mr. Right after all?
This was the first book of Melonie's that I read and I tried my best to get throgh it, but I just couldn't seem to get any traction in the reading. I ended up skipping around 70-80 pages and then started skimming as I hoped maybe I was just missing the flow and it would appear, but then the back half of the book became about Kat trying to date Mick's brother all while realizing Mick was the best man standing right in front of her. It felt like a lot of drama was added in towards the end to reach a certain page amount, and either that should have been addressed or the drama should have been more substantive than it was. Sadly, it was a miss for me.
This was a fun romance. I liked the funeral home aspect and really think it's an underrated setting. The friendships were the best part of the book and I really wish there was more with the different groups of friends. I was less impressed with the main characters and their (mainly Kat's) inability to get it together. Also, I could have done without hearing how skinny and blonde and beautiful and sexy she is all the freaking time. 3.5 stars.
**Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and Melonie Johnson for allowing me to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!**
This book has such a fun premise. I found myself reading this book so quickly because I really just fell in love with it. I felt so connected to the female protagonist and I had a great time empathizing with her series of crummy boyfriends. I always love books with dual POV’s and this was just a terrific read. I really enjoyed seeing the male perspective to the main relationship.
Too Wrong to Be Right is Melonie Johnson’s latest romantic comedy and the sequel to Too Good to Be Real. It can be read as a stand-alone but will be better enjoyed if read in sequence.
Florist Kat Kowalski is disillusioned with romance after her 6-month boyfriend dumps her to go onto Vancouver for a reality dating TV show and leaves her his pet hedgehog, JoJo. Kat feels lonely and left behind as her two best friends make plans to move in with their respective boyfriends and give up their weekly get-togethers. She realizes that she keeps dating Mr. Wrong’s and composes a list of qualities for Mr. Right.
Then Kat meets Mick O’Sullivan at his family's funeral home. Their immediate chemistry warns Kat to keep things platonic; after all, following her heart never worked out in the past, and this time she’s determined to listen to her head. Kat struggles to remain just friends with Mick, while he is interested in a relationship. However both Kat and Mick have a lot of emotional baggage to overcome, involving both family issues and their respective careers.
Too Wrong to Be Right is a hilarious slow-burn romance featuring memorable human characters and the greatest cockatoo and hedgehog in literature. Kat and Mick are realistic main characters, and the cast of helpful and interfering family and friends just add to the overall charm of the book. I highly recommend this book and hope that the author writes a sequel featuring Mick’s siblings.
I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Too Wrong to be Right
Author: Melonie Johnson @meloniejohnson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🔥🔥🔥
This was such a sweet and hilarious romcom 😍
After a breakup with her current boyfriend and becoming an adopted mom to a pet hedgehog 🦔, Kat realizes that she dates the wrong guys. Every guy she has dated has ended up being a big asshole. She wants change but she’ll have to figure that out for herself…
Kat and her best friends make a list of qualities her next boyfriend should have that will make him her Mr. Right. Oh shit….
Kat meets a man, Mick and his siblings, Joe and Mary-Kate who own a funeral home. Kat and Mick end up making a business deal with her flower shop and his funeral home. Throughout this process they become good friends, but we all know they both want to be more than friends, their just idiots that share one braincell.
This book was perfect and hilarious. Seamus, the no filter-cursing cockatoo 🦜 was it for me 😂🤣 This damn bird had me laughing so hard I might have woken up my children at one point 😂😂😂
And let’s not just forget the beautiful princess, Jojo the hedgehog 🦔, ladies and gentleman
Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this ARC for my honest review! I can’t wait to read more from @meloniejohnson
Don’t forget to pick up your copy or download it on 2/28/23 📖
A quirky romance with a lot of banter, likeable characters, and an unusual setting (I’m getting a bit of a “Dead Romantics” vibe!) will have any romcom reader laughing while they turn the pages.
Mick, the middle child of a very Irish family who owns a funeral home, is a charmer with a well-timed wink or smirk. He has a “deadly” meet-cute with Kat, a recently dumped florist who refuses to give any glances at any more Mr. Wrongs.
This “friends-to-lovers” trope is slow-burn- filled with witty dialogue between characters, and even Mick’s foul-mouthed bird, to help fill the void that some may feel is lacking. I enjoyed the book enough, but felt like I wanted more. Wanted something different. I can’t quite put my finger on what I feel was missing - but would recommend this for romcom exclusive readers, or someone who may want a bit of a cleanser after reading a heavier romance.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me access to a digital ARC for the book!
Too Wrong to Be Right is a charming friends to lovers contemporary romance. While it is technically a stand alone, a couple of the MCs friends make appearances in some of the author’s previous works. This book has a great mix of humorous banter and swoony moments.
Throughout the storyline Kat is worried about her future. She feels like everyone around her is moving on with their lives and she’s stuck in the same place. I appreciate the way the author discusses her anxieties and has her working through in a realistic manner. I like that there is not only growth in her romantic relationship but you also see a shift and strengthening in Kat’s female friendships.
This is the first book that I have read from author Melonie Johnson but I look forward to checking out more of her work in the future.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press (St. Martin’s Griffin)!
I loved this book, and it made me want to rip my hair out by the roots. This was another one where the first line left me gaping like a landed fish and knowing that my funny bone was about to get a workout. (After encountering some utterly brilliant opening lines, I judge all romantic comedies on this criteria now.) I adored Mick. From the moment we first met him to the point where I closed the covers on this book, he was one of my very favorite characters. And the only ones to beat him out for top spot were the pets. I liked Kat, but she had the ability to press all my wrong buttons which made it tougher for me to really connect with her. I’m so happy these two got the Happy Ever After they deserved, I just had my doubts they were going to get there. Now that we’ve met the O’Sullivan family, I want to see all of them get their Happy Endings too.
I received a complimentary advance copy of this book through NetGalley.
2.5 stars. I came for the romance between a florist and a funeral director and I only stayed as long as I did because of a talking bird and a hedgehog with a nocturnal exercise routine.
When I first read this synopsis, I was like, "sign me up!" A meet-cute disaster between a florist and a funeral director? Nothing sets the tone of a potential relationship like being saved by a cute funeral director from falling into an already occupied casket.
The humor and banter were alright at the beginning and I even thought Johnson's writing was *sort of* reminiscent of Emily Henry's style of writing at first––interspersing puns and jokes with more serious subject matter. (But I won't insult Ms. Henry, my romance queen, like that.) Relationships aside, Kat was a well-meaning and relatable character. She wanted to have her own floral shop and pursue her dreams without being confined to her current managerial role with a boss that overworks her; she's a new mom to a cute hedgehog that she acquired under much less cute circumstances. But most of all, she felt stuck in place. Her friends were moving in with their partners and into different stages of their lives while Kat was getting broken up with on repeat. Feeling like you're missing out and feeling "behind" everyone else life experience wise, especially your friends, can be really difficult. It's very relatable for everyone in their twenties right now––not having everything figured out is scary.
But once love was thrown into the mix, I honestly couldn't stand Kat as a character anymore. She wanted to swear off narcissists and the "wrong" men, yet, when Mick, the right guy, came along and helped her out of a literal casket catastrophe, she romantically avoided him. And convinced herself she didn't need to focus on love right now. And then tried her hardest to misinterpret normal conversations as flirtatiousness with his narcissistic brother. And then wanted to date him. Hello, WHAT? I only made it about 50-ish% into the book before I had to DNF because I was getting super frustrated. I almost wish these characters were real so I could yell "Mick, bestie, RUN." at him from the very beginning. When it came to romance, Kat was, to put it lightly, a nightmare who thought that men were the only problem when her relationships fell through. The call is coming from inside the house!
(Also, what's up with the crocheted penises?)
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to review this eARC!
Kat's life has just fallen apart. Her boyfriend just dumped her (not only leaving the country but asking her to adopt his hedgehog), her best friend's are moving in with their boyfriends and now she has to face her fear and go into a funeral home to deliver some flowers. There she somehow falls all over Mick. Mick is interested in Kat but Kat wants to be just friends. She thinks he is the perfect one to help her find "the one."
Opinion
This book is full of laughs. From crocheted phallus-es to ornery grandmothers, this book will keep you rolling. The situations that Kat finds herself in, while frustrating for her, offer a lot of comedic relief.
I think the thing I loved most about the book was the professions of Mick and Kat. Mick works in a family funeral home and Kat is a florist. It sounds like a perfect match from the get go, but of course they (she) can't see it.
Mick has two siblings, so there is hope for some more books. I cannot recommend this book enough. Run out and buy it to read today.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.
I absolutely adored this book! The FMC was so well written and had so many different facets to her personality which made her super relatable and really allowed me to connect with this entire book. I think it will resonate with a lot of readers!
This is a slow burn friends to lovers read that is absolutely worth all the tension and the wait! I adored the meet-cute disaster (which is easily becoming one of my new favorite rom-c0m tropes) and it has the added bonus of a pet hedgehog! What more could you ask for.
An easy read that is for sure going to be a hit!
A cute rom com with an interesting premise and cast of characters, but I wasn’t a fan of the miscommunication in this one.
A lot of the book’s problems could’ve been avoided if they just talked but, I guess that’s similar to life?
I will say it was interesting enough to keep me reading and didn’t want to DNF it.