5⭐️, 3🌶️
Pretty Woman but 2020’s -
Lottie needs a break, Huxley needs a fake fiancée who’s pregnant. You’d think them both needing each other would be perfect…except they hate each other. But you know how a hate filled romance ends. With some spice and so much swoon because MQ can write a damn romance. So cute, SO FUNNY, and just overall left me with heart eyes because i loved it so much! I desperately hope we get the siblings stories as well.

This review may contain some light spoilers.

3.5⭐ Not so Meet Cute tells the tale of lies and deception that bring together billionaire real-estate mogul Huxley and Lottie, who just so happened to have gotten fired by her ex“best-friend”/boss. When they both realize they could enter a mutually beneficial deal, they sing a contract and boom! They’re in business together. But just how does one go about the business of being each other’s fake fiancé?

This book has great tropes, like:

- Fake relationship.
- Forced proximity.
- Age gap (28F, 35M)
- Grumpy/Sunshine trope.
- Billionaire MMC.

Now, onto the review...

What I enjoyed:

👍 The FMC - Lottie is so much fun! She’s not afraid of being confrontational and refuses to take any shit from the MMC, even though she has a hard time setting boundaries with people that have been in her life for a long time (see Angela). I appreciate duality in characters, and I love that she’s learned from past experiences and now takes no shit from nobody.

👍 The awkwardly hilarious situations with Ellie and Dave – Honestly, I would have broken character and LMAO if I’d been in any of those classes, hands down.

👍 The MMC’s character development – Huxley was such an ass to Lottie for so long, that reading the chapters from his POV and seeing him rationalize treating her like mud at the bottom of his shoe was tough, even when he admitted to himself he was doing it to not be tempted into forgoing their “professional relationship”. He’s change by the end is a complete 180, and I loved it.

👍 The Cane brothers – Please, give me more of JP and Breaker. I love them so much! They’re hilarious and love to take the piss out of Hux, which is extremely entertaining to read!

👍 The blow-up – When you get into these fake-dating, fake-engagement-for-the-sake-of-a-business-deal type of books, you kind of know that at some point or another, the cat’s going to get out of the bag, regardless of whether the MCs want it or not. I think this was the most PG, light-hearted way the situation could’ve gone. It was heavily focused on the angsty feelings, not so much into making a big scandal for them both.

What I didn’t enjoy:

👎 The MMC robot personality - I had a couple of problems getting into this book, and they were mostly just the MMC. Huxley is a complete asshole to the FMC for what feels like half of the book. And don’t get me wrong, I love character development and seeing the arch in their personalities, the changes, all of it. But I legit couldn’t stomach him. He got angry at Lottie for not being prepared for situations where he had all the answers and the power, where he could have easily just communicated the details of the business transaction they would be going into as partners, but no. He kept withholding information from her, and when shit blew up in their faces, he immediate blamed her, instead of realizing how easy it would’ve been for him to prevent it all.

👎 The FMC’s sister – I think I just kind of hate Kelsey. She’s constantly dismissive of her sister’s concerns about this guy she just met and with whom she’s gotten into a weird contract, both things that her sister has no problem pointing out to the FMC. But when Lottie comes to her to complaint, or just outright say how she hates how she’s being treated by someone who is supposed to be her business partner, Kelsey just gets into a whole thing about how she should be grateful that she’s in that situation in the first place. Like, what? Can you imagine going to your sibling about some shady, entitled guy who you’re being kind of forced to live with - telling them that he keeps irl-ghosting you, dismissing you and then the few times he’s not ignoring your existence, he’s like an unfeeling robot with no humanity, and then they just tell you that you’re lucky and should be thanking him! Seriously, wtf. I get that she got things out of their agreement, but so did he! And even then, it would still be no excuse to treat someone like that!

👎 The ending – Everything was too rushed, in my opinion.

So, yeah. This book was ok. It didn't really bring any real spark, good or bad. It was just… fine. I liked most of it. There were some really cringe moments and sentences but overall, I guess it was alright.

3.5/5 ⭐

THIS REVIEW HAS ALREADY BEEN UPLOADED TO GOODREADS:)

If you're a sucker for fake dating or fake engagement trope with forced proximity, then this book is surely for you. Meghan Quinn's latest rom-com is a light-hearted, funny, adorable and entertaining book that had me burst out laughing at some particular scenarios! It was full of romance, witty banters, desperate touches, some steamy scenes and palpable chemistry.

"Business. Opportunity. Cane. That’s what I need to focus on, because Little Miss No-One-Calls-Me-Leiselotte might be just the woman I need. Smart. Quick on her feet."

Huxley Cane was just another billionaire who was looking forward to snag a deal with a delegate who didn't seem to be too impressed by his cold exterior. So in order to catch his interest, Huxley fakes about having a pregnant fiance but the problem is that he doesn't know how to find one in mere four days. That's when he meets Leiselotte (Lottie) Gardener, a beautiful stranger who seemed to be lost while casually strolling in his neighborhood and his whole world is suddenly turned upside down.

"She’s a spitfire. For a little package, she packs a powerful punch."

Lottie on the other hand, was as desperate as Huxley. She wanted to get a rich husband asap because she had been fired from the job where she worked for her arch nemesis and wanted to prove to her that she wasn't a total loser when they were about to face each other again in their highschool reunion. When she runs into Huxley in his neighborhood, they somehow manage to learn about each other's situations and come up with a fake engagement plan which works out in both their favors.

“I hope you have a sleepless night.”“Sweet nightmares,” he replies back with such a level of snark that I think I might have met my match.

I loved both Lottie & Huxley as individual characters as much as I loved them together. Lottie was a quirky spitfire and Huxley had so many shades to his character. One minute he could be all funny, playful and charming and the next minute he could totally appear closed off, grumpy, moody and curt. But Lottie managed to get under his skin by constantly ruffling his feathers. I loved that quality about her because she didn't back off whenever she felt that he was withdrawing away from her, she still coaxsed him out of his shell. She was sometimes impulsive, short tempered, clumsy and stubborn but when she started showing professionalism and maturity, I loved her quirks because they made her unique in her own way. I ended up loving the story and it's perfect flow by then, I just couldn't put it down!

***ARC received in exchange of an honest review***

I loved this book soooooo much!!! It was the first book that I read from this author and I couldn’t put it down! Even tho is kinda cliche it was still gripping! There’s banter, there’s spice, I laugh out loud so many times! And Huxley was kinda chefs kiss even tho if a bit irritating at times. This is definitely a book that’s imprinted on my memory!