Lynn Painter did it again with the rom com books!! I absolutely feel in love with Sophie! She is so hilarious, blunt, direct and is a girl that knows what she wants. I thought the whole story of "The Objector" was such a unique story line that I haven't heard before. I loved the banter between Max and Sophie!! It had me giggling and cackling so many times. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Larry, Rose and Sophie. I thought it was hilarious how dramatic Larry was and went to the hospital for a "heart attack" and then gave Sophie advice about her love life. When Larry said "Listen, I heard your fight last night, and you're acting like a child." I BUSTED out laughing!! His message of "you have to get hurt to get to the good stuff" was something I definitely needed to hear right now. I thought that in the last chapter when they "objected" at their wedding that was so hilarious. I do kind of wish that the smut scenes were a lil more "R" rated and went into detail more but I understand if Lynn Painter was not comfortable with going that far. "FUCKRAH" is going to be a new saying that I will forever think about it. The part where Max was having Sophie open up and let down her walls of how she truly felt about him had me weeping. We love an emotionally intelligent man lol. This book just continues to prove to me that Lynn Painter is one of my fav authors ever!! She is the rom-com queen!!

My true rating is 4.5 ⭐️

I am going to post tiktok reviews on release day. Tiktok @alyvia_elliott_reads

3.75 stars rounded up! Another super cute adult romcom from Lynn Painter. I loved Sophie and especially Max (Rose and Larry of course too!) - seriously this book was funny, had amazing banter & character chemistry plus a really fun plot line. It was light, fluffy, a bit spicy, and a good story. I think The Love Wager is still my favorite adult romance from LP, but this had a mix of both her YA/NA writing which made it enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Lynn Painter, you've done it again! There is not a book that Lynn has written, that I havn't loved! I always find them sweet, fun, endearing, comical and a true joy to read! She creates characters that I can easily root for, love stories that seem genuine and fun plots that keep me turning the pages. She truly never disappoints.

In this one, the main characters Sophie and Max don't really believe in love and together, they object at weddings in order to get people out of situations they no longer want to be in. But of course, real feelings start getting in the way and slowly but surely, things between them begin to change.

The humour and witty banter in this story is top notch - the kind of sarcastic humour that I really enjoy. The secondary characters, Larry and Rose are a delight! There was some sexy scenes and their chemistry was red hot, but be prepared for a bit of a slow burn here. I couldn't wait for them to finally get together - so much anticipation! It was a little bit friends to lovers, a little bit fake dating and a whole lot of fun! Highly recommend!

I absolutely loved the first two third of this book. I inhaled them in one night, snickering constantly, until the spouse was distracted from his endless news, after which I'd read aloud choice bits. (And I have to say he found the book more entertaining than the constant clown-car show of the daily news! But he's an addict.). Anyway, I adored the whip-smart writing, the hilarious situations, the very idea of a wedding objector, and the growing attraction between the two. However, when it came time for the Third Act Big Misunderstanding that sadly seems to be required these days, and the two suddenly lost about fifty emotional IQ points in order to make it happen, I laid the book aside and it was only with its pub date coming that I forced myself back to it.

The epilogue almost makes trudging through that last act worth it, but I gotta say, I hope that trend fades out soon.

After Max objects at her wedding, saving Sophie from marrying her cheating fiancé, she doesn’t expect to see him again, but when he asks her to help him out at another wedding, she gets hooked on the idea of saving people from bad marriages.

As they spend more and more time together, they discover that they can help each other out as well. What’s the harm in portraying a friendship with a wink-wink-nudge-nudge factor if it will help further her career and help his relationship with his family?

She doesn’t believe in love. He doesn’t want to be in love. When they partner together to object at weddings as a side gig, they discover that sometimes love happens—whether you want it to or not.

Read this one for the banter and the chemistry.

And for Max. Oh gosh, I really do love Max.

And for a strong, determined, Type A female lead.

And for her roommates.

And the cats.

And her car.

And for some seriously steamy kisses (& more 😏).

I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

I don’t think I have ever read a fake dating romance quite like this … and it was ~incredible~. Witty, hilarious, and PACKED with chemistry. This was my first time reading anything by Lynn Painter and I definitely was not disappointed!

I love Lynn Painter books! She is one of the author I discovered last year. Her books are funny and steamy. I had high expectations of this one. It has bit of a slow start and but after couple of chapters, it picked up! I loved it! Definite winner!

In Happily Never After by Lynn Painter, Sophie Steinbeck enlists the help of a professional objector, Max, to escape her own doomed wedding, leading them on a series of anti-wedding adventures where they work together to save others from unhappy marriages. As they navigate their unconventional partnership, Sophie and Max confront their own skepticism about love, only to find themselves unexpectedly falling for each other, especially when faced with a job that hits too close to home.

I loved the banter between Sophie and Max; their chemistry was off the charts. The evolution of their relationship from friends to lovers was sweet, yet when they finally came together, it turned spicy. Sophie's roommates were hilarious, adding even more fun to the story! The only aspect I found less appealing were some of the decisions Sophie and Max made individually, which irked me, but this didn't deter my overall enjoyment of the book. Overall, this is a fun, lighthearted romance that's perfect to pick up this spring!

in Happily Never After, Sophie and Max meet at Sophie’s wedding where she paid Max to object in order to get her out of marrying her philandering groom while not putting her father’s job working for Max’s dad at risk. And from there, they decided to be objectors together, helping people get out of almost marriages to the wrong person. This book was just so fun. The banter was hilarious, I guffawed so many times. Sophie and Max were what Romcom dreams are made of. It was romantic, steamy, silly, heartfelt and swoonworthy. And Sophie’s roommates may be my favorite supporting characters ever. All the warm fuzzies.

Holy sexy times, Batman!
Happily Never After is a friends-to-lovers romance with a spritz of fake dating. In this dual POV, Max is hired to "object" at Sophie's wedding so she doesn't have to marry her cheating fiance...cut to maybe a year later and Max reaches out to Sophie to help him with a wedding and become an "Objectress" to his "Objector" and hijinks ensue. It's a very easy read, though it took a few chapters to get into the dual POV because Max and Sophie have very similar vibes.
Normally, I love a fake-dating trope, but this one annoyed me because the only reason they did it was to show they're doing okay in life? Like, Max's parents weren't ready to move to Florida and retire until he was "taken care of" and had someone in his life, and Sophie wasn't going to get a promotion at work because her superiors thought she didn't have a good "work-life balance" and it was hard for me to not see both of those situations as super old-school and hetero. People can be successful and responsible and whole without another person, so that rubbed me the wrong way.
Outside of that, I really enjoyed the book. It was a quick read, and had some very funny moments as well as some incredibly spicy muscles.

I will read anything Lynn Painter writes, this one was no exception. This was a unique rom com storyline between two cynical characters who haven’t been successful in love.
Sophie is a bride to be feeling forced to marry a cheating fiancé to save her family’s job, and we have Max who swoops in and to save her from a loveless marriage.
This was cute and sweet, it had me laughing out loud. I am such a fan of Lynn Painter.

This is a romance you won’t be able to put down.

Am I picking up a copy for myself? Yes, and I’m also buying it for others and scoping out special editions (please exist). That’s how much I love this one!

Max objects at Sophie’s wedding — exactly as she’d asked. Because her ex cheated, and she needed to get out before they said “I do”.

Months later, Max needs a girl to object at a friend’s wedding, and they become objecting partners, getting couples out of what would be doomed marriages.

Sophie doesn’t believe in love, and Max is a cynic, although not quite as much as Sophie.

I love how they become unlikely friends and then start to feel for each other, and that it takes them by such surprise— just perfection.

These two are soulmates, and I couldn’t read enough about how they supported each other while also utterly giving one another crap constantly— they’re snarky and loveable and excellently written characters.

If you want to watch two heartbroken people who don’t want love find it, pick this up. This is the most unexpected, and rewarding, of romances.

And it’ll have you gasping and laughing the entire way!

Prepare to add Sophie and Max to your list of favorite couples - and characters!

I knew going into this it was going to be rom com vibes. With a premise of a MMC who has a side gig as someone who objects to weddings like okay we’re opening up for shenanigans. And we started off great! The set up for Max meeting Sophie after he objects her wedding as a favor connected through mutuals was super sweet and I was excited for the rest. This is my first book by Lynn Painter and I was excited because I’ve seen her lauded pretty much everywhere. And I will say she manages the humor of a rom com really well. I wasn’t eye rolling at any attempts at humor, I legitimately found certain joke setups to be actually funny and enjoyable to read. The way Sophie is at work and her roommates, etc (I don’t want to reveal too much).

My only issue with this book is that it’s relatively short and while I understand these love interests may not have a spark when they first meet under the circumstances (you know the whole her wedding just got broken up technically by him) but even when they reconnect months later when she’s in just the right place for something new I just didn’t see a romantic connection with them. I don’t really like getting 1/3 into a romance and not really seeing the couple together. They were kind to each other and friendly but just no real attraction.

Sophie the FMC also veers close to “not like other girls” territory with her anti-love and relationship feels when I desperately wanted her to mature and be open to a functioning relationship. It just was coming on a little strong.

At least the rom com shenanigans were fun and not contrived and I really loved the MMC as a person! Thank you to Berkley for the free book/ARC.

Thank you PRH Audio and Berkley Romance for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own. I alternated between the audiobook and the ebook. I loved the narration with Helen Laser and Sean Patrick Hopkins.

As far as I’m concerned, Lynn Painter can do no wrong! This was such a unique concept. Max is an objector and breaks up Sophie’s wedding since her ex was cheating. They end up hanging out after the wedding and get along well.

Later, Max reaches out when he needs a female objector to break up a wedding. They start hanging out and quickly become friends. In typical Lynn Painter fashion, Max and Sophie have great chemistry and their banter is hilarious. After her wedding broke up, Sophie is very anti-love and romance, but can’t seem to stay away from Max. They both decide to lean into their friendship to benefit Sophie’s career prospects and Max’s family relationship.

This was just delightful. It had me laughing and swooning. I just adore everything Lynn Painter writes and can’t wait for more books!

I loved this cute lil romance so dang much! This was my first book by this author and definitely won’t be my last! The witty banter had me hooked and the swoon made me stay!

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice level: 2.5 🌶️

Read if you like:
▫️strangers to friends to lovers
▫️dual POV
▫️opposites attract
▫️great banter

This premise was so fun! I’ve read books about runaway brides before, but never about a wedding objector. It was such a creative idea and it was completely adorable.

Sophie doesn’t believe in love, so when she and Max start to catch feelings, he is the one to recognize his feelings first, leading to the most delicious “he falls first” scenario ever. There’s also a “fake relationship” aspect which lends itself to a great slow burn. The buildup to them getting together was perfect.

My favorite part of the book was the banter. It was top tier stuff. There is a specific scene where they ride a bike together that had me kicking my feet and squealing like a teenager. I just love Max so much, and getting chapters full of his POV was a delight.

In summary, this book was so fun to read, and I devoured it. If you want a feel good book that will give you the warm fuzzies, pick this one up.

Thank you to Berkley, NetGalley, and Lynn Painter for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Apparently in the time between Lynn Painter reads, I forget how much I love Lynn Painter reads. There are no slow starts. They are immediately fun. And the banter?! The banter! I love it so much. I CRUSHED this. Sat down and busted this out in like two hours while smiling my goofy a$$ off. This is the fun, easy, good time read I hope for every time I pick up a rom com. The premise of this was new and fun as well. Wedding crashers that help members of the wedding break up the relationship without being part of the drama?! Hilarious. Plus a little toss in of fake dating and this was like my own personal kryptonite. I am blind to any flaws. I had a great time and that's that LOL

This was such a fast, fun read. It felt like a classic rom com movie. I read this in one sitting in close to 2 1/2 hours. It's definitely a book that you could pick up and binge cause you get sucked in and won't want to put it down.

Sophie and Max meet at her wedding where Max is hired to be an objector after Sophie finds out that her groom had cheated on her. They have a pretty instant connection and end up becoming objectors together. Spending more time together, they realize they have physical chemistry but since they both were burned in the past they don't want to get into a relationship. Especially Sophie since she says she doesn't believe in love.

I kinda struggled to determine topes on this one despite it feeling like a classic rom com. These two go from strangers to lovers and it was cute how he fell first. I liked Max a lot more than Sophie. She was really pushing the not believing in love thing and when it was pretty obvious she was in love with Max, she still was blatantly ignoring it. Meanwhile he was an absolute sweetie and knew he had feelings for her but was hesitant to say so given how against relationships she was. All of this caused some tension, which I like in a romance, yet this overall was pretty light and low stakes.

🤭 strangers to lovers
💕 he falls first

dual POV
4/5 stars ⭐️
1/5 spice level 🌶️

This was a really fun romcom. The fake dating trope can be so funny and this one made me laugh. Sophie and Max are professional wedding objectors! Doesn't that sound hilarious. Well it is!! And the banter between these two characters was fantastic. This was light hearted, and entertaining. The side characters are great too. I just really enjoyed this one. It was the perfect timing for me to read this and I'm happy I did. I'll definitely be picking up more by this author in the future. 

Out March 12.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads, and Amazon once it publishes.

Painter’s premise intrigued me from the back cover copy and the execution did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters and their love story was believable. A fun read as we lead into wedding season.