Lynn Painter is a wolf in sheep’s clothing
I expected a sweet, charming romance that would match the vibe of the cute, illustrated cover. Imagine my delightful surprise when “Happily Never After” started with an interrupted wedding, a fight, and a curse flying from the microphoned mouth of the preacher.

All hell broke loose as his groomsmen followed, though it was unclear if they were trying to hold him back or incite the forthcoming brawl. It was a cacophony of male yelling and gray tuxedos in motion. His mother yelled, “Stuart, no!” Just as Stuart punched the objector square in the face. “Oh my God,” I said to no one in particular, watching in disbelief as the objector took the punch without his body moving, as if he hadn’t even felt it. Stuart’s father looked right at me as he loudly muttered, “Jesus Christ.” And Pastor Pete apparently forgot that his lapel mic was on because he sighed and said, “Are you f*cking kidding me?”

Touche’, Lynn Painter. You got me good. I really wish I would have been invited to this wedding. It would have been the highlight of my year.

Unique Meet Cute

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
The Objector and the Jilted Bride. Amazing! Sophie and Max had me invested in a heartbeat. Their meet cute was so completely out of the box and unique, I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Of course, we go on to find out that the bride was in on it the whole time, and neither Max nor Sophie have any desire to be in a relationship, but I digress. It’s still an exceptional take on someone being left at the alter, and what’s more, it becomes the start of a beautiful friendship.

Sophie thinks the idea of The Objector is brilliant. There are so many people who would have benefitted from being able to cancel their weddings without the onus of being the one labeled the quitter. When Sophie finds out that Max needs a woman objector for an upcoming event, she delights in the opportunity. Naturally, attending the objector events together allows for Max and Sophie build their friendship and use it to mutual advantage. Feelings develop, much to everyone’s chagrin but mine. Nope, I was jubilant as I devoured every single page.


Final Thoughts
Max and Sophie are a delightful pair. Sassy, snarky, open to a challenge, these two characters are a breath of fresh air. Not to mention that Lynn Painter uses some of my most favorite tropes. Between the fierce independent woman, the wildly entertaining side characters, and the emphatic way that these two idiots vehemently deny they’re in love with each other, I was putty in Lynn Painter’s more than capable hands.

“Happily Never After” is waiting at the alter for you, and I promise I will not object if you decide that it’s one of your favorite romances of the year.

𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙇𝙮𝙣𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧
𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★★★★★

I absolutely LOVED every second of reading this sweet, sweet story! I truly could not get enough of Sophie and Max! From the moment we met Max as Sophie’s hero/wedding objector and he saved her from marrying her cheating ex, I knew they were destined to have some serious chemistry.

I adored all of the banter between the two of them and more than anything, I fell in love with how amazing Sophie was! From always speaking her mind without hesitation, to her humor, to how fun she was and her outlook on life, it was so inspiring and refreshing. It was nice to actually have characters in a book that didn’t hide everything and they actually had easy conversations!

Larry and Rose, Sophie’s roommates, have to be my absolute favorite side characters! I need a Larry in my everyday life. He was such a fun character and I adored his personality and his friendship with Sophie.

I loved that Max was a wedding objector to try and help people out of bad situations. Sophie going along and helping him out on some of his wedding jobs was a perfect match. The time the two characters spent together and developed their friendship was my favorite as their chemistry was palpable. When things started warming up and they became friends with benefits it was pure magic and I just couldn’t get enough!

Painter delivers another fun romcom that totally hits the spot!

Lynn Painter became a must-read author for me in 2023 after reading The Love Wager because I adored her writing, the story pacing and the chemistry of her characters. That’s why Happily Never After became one of my most anticipated new romance books of 2024 and its fun storyline did not disappoint.

What happens when one person who doesn’t believe in love and another person who hates love and relationships meet and fall for one another? Well, you get one fun story that has you hooked until the very end.

I absolutely loved how Sophie and Max meet. Max is hired to object at Sophie’s wedding because she finds out that her fiancé has cheated on her again and she can’t call off the wedding herself given that her father works for her fiance’s father.

So Max gets her out of her nuptials by objecting and that night they end up drinking together and Sophie notes that she could have a lot of fun objecting at weddings too. When Max gets another wedding gig that he could use her help on they reconnect and the rest is history.

The whole business about objecting at weddings was such a fun hook to the story and it was super cute to see them at work. Of course, the entire need for them to object only solidifies their respective attitudes toward love and marriage and yet hanging out together only fuels their attraction and chemistry together.

Turns out that they use this to their advantage – pretending to be more than just friends for her boss’s sake (as she wants a promotion and needs to demonstrate better work/life balance) and her his parent’s sake as his dad won’t retire and they won’t move to Florida until they think he’s “settled.”
So throw in some fake dating and some hot chemistry and a shared belief about love never being enough and you’ve got two people who are just really fun and easy to root for.

While their back stories aren’t long as to why they don’t believe in love, I didn’t need them to be. The focus was more on seeing how these two really fit one another and if they could just get over their “no-relationship” hang-ups they could really be happy together since they already are.

Throw in some geriatric roommates for some comic relief and a much-needed heart to heart and the novel was an easy read that I really enjoyed.
I think this would be a light, fun summer read since it has the focus on weddings but I recommend it for any time of year.


*Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

#HappilyNeverAfter: ⁣
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Thank you @berkleyromance and @librofm @prhaudio partner for my gifted copies. #BerkleyPartner #berkley ⁣
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“When you’re a baby, you don’t stop taking steps just because you’ve fallen once, or you’d never walk. The falls help you learn how to walk”⁣
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This was such a fun romcom with a great premise! I loved Sophie and Max’s relationship, all of the people (bye Stuart) in their lives. Of course, Larry & Rose stole the show.⁣
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The wedding scenes were tears in eyes from laughing funny. I think it showed different relationships and how there’s so much people don’t really know you’re going through. Helen Laser and Sean Patrick Hopkins were so good on dual POV. It paced well, they brought the banter and snark. Highly recommend. ⁣
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What I didn’t like was Max towards the end. I felt like there was really no backstory of his feelings to really justify why he did what he did, but I just know I was fuming for our girl Sophie. Add this to the list of “why are men like this” I liked the reconciliation and felt like he was genuinely sorry, so all is well that ends well! ⁣
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Out 3/19!⁣
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QOTD: Name a song that would be the soundtrack to your life.

A fun romance with a unique premise that delivers! You truly believe in and cheer for the romance between Sophie and Max, and watching it unfold on the backdrop of failed relationships and conflicted beliefs on love made the romance even sweeter. Lynn Painter once again delivered witty characters who you can't help but root for.

Stooopppppp this was so fun!! One of my favorite reads of 2024!

I adored both Sophie and Max! Their banter was incredible, and their chemistry was 🔥🔥. I loved how deep their connection was from the get go. Their back and forth had me in hysterics so many times!

Also… I NEED this to be a movie. It would be so cute and fun, and I’d take every friend I know to see it. :)

This author can never write a bad book! This was such a good story and I loved all of the characters that were apart of it. It was so unique and I loved how she portrayed the love story within this book.

I read almost 25% of this book and had to walk away. I think I'm just not the right demographic for this novel. If you love rom-coms and can really suspend your disbelief this will be fun for you.

I'm old and jaded and just could not deal with the absurdity that was the plot.

4.75 ⭐️ My favorite Lynn Painter story! I ATE this up!!


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ romantic comedy
✨ he runs his family construction business and a professional wedding objector
✨ she's an HR director who hires him to object at her wedding since her fiance cheated
✨ "let's be wedding objectors together"
✨ they are both cynics and very anti-relationship
✨ "we're just friends"
✨ idiots to lovers
✨ insane chemistry
✨ he falls first
✨ amazing banter
✨ calling each other by their last name
✨ open communication 👏
✨ 2/5 🌶️ (open door but not explicit)
✨ "good girl"
✨ hilarious, nosey geriatric roommates
✨ working with an ex
✨ dual pov
✨ adorable epilogue


My Thoughts:

Happily Never After is a wonderful low-stakes romantic comedy filled with laughter, love, and spice. The premise is incredibly original, the pacing is phenomenal, and the characters have depth and are extremely lovable. I was entertained every step of the way and never wanted this story to end.

Here are some of the highlights:

The very first few sentences. "The moment my dad raised my veil, kissed my cheek, and handed me off to Stuart, I wanted to throw up. No - first, I wanted to punch my groom right in his besotted smile. Then I wanted to vomit." Like, how can you not be instantly hooked by this???

Max and Sophie individually. I absolutely adore them. I love how Sophie is a strong independent woman with amazing aspirations who is also witty, fun, and generous. And I love how Max is passionate, charming, easy-going, thoughtful, family oriented, and kind. I found them to be incredibly relatable and was constantly rooting for them.

The 'idiots/friends-to-lovers romance. From the get-go, Max and Sophie instantly connect and have insane chemistry, explosive sexual tension, and witty banter. But what I love most is how they develop a friendship before things turn romantic. The 'just friends' trope can be hard to write convincingly but Lynn Painter did this perfectly. Since Max and Sophie both have an aversion to love, it makes sense why they would be comfortable being just friends. By focusing on the friendship aspect of things, they built a solid foundation for a relationship without even realizing it. It was beautiful seeing two people who have closed themselves off from love slowly fall for each other without even realizing it. Theirs is the best idiots-to-lovers story I've ever read.

Some other things I loved about their relationship:
- Their open communication. They both always say what they're thinking and are on the same page.
- Their banter was simply phenomenal. I laughed so hard.
- Max calls Sophie 'sunshine'
- Max and Sophie call each other by their last names: Steinbeck and Parks.
- They can be 100% themselves without judgment.
- They see the best in each other. 🫶
- Max is always hyping Sophie up and encouraging her in regards to her career.

Just FYI, there are a few non graphic, open-door sex scenes that will definitely leave you hot and bothered.

The wedding objection premise. I've never heard of a professional wedding objector but I think it's brilliant! There's a lot of pressure with weddings, so if you don't have the balls to call yours off, why not hire someone to object for you? It's brilliant. And I LOVED every single wedding objection scene. But my absolute favorite was the redneck wedding. 😂 I've reread it a few times because it was just so comical.

Sophie’s geriatric roommates, Larry and Rose. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't sure how these two would fit into this story when they were first introduced, but by the end I LOVED them. Larry are Rose are fucking hysterical (especially when they give Max shit) and their relationship with Sophie was sweet. I wish Lynn Painter would write an entire story about these two finding love because I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

The only reason this isn't getting a perfect 5-stars. . .

There was some ex drama I didn't love that was the main conflict at the end. HOWEVER, it does make sense with the story and was resolved quickly. This is a personal issue, but I just don't like when people still care about their ex and say they 'always will'. I just don't really understand this. It gives me the ick.

Just days before Sophie is set to marry Stuart she see's a provocative text from another woman on his phone, nude picture included. Devastated by her new knowledge she sets to right this wrong in spectacular fashion by having an Objector in the pews on the day of her wedding. When the time arrives and the priest asks if anyone knows of any reason why they shouldn't be married, Max, the Objector, will call Stuart out on his cheating in front of everyone thereby giving Sophie the out she desperately needs.

When Max arrives at the bridal suite to collect his fee's he finds Sophie and her best friend drunk as can be and decides to join them. Many drinks and many laughs later they finally depart ways.

Until months later when Max texts Sophie to see if she can help him with Objecting at the next wedding he has lined up. From here they become quite chummy with one another but as Sophie insists to everyone that will listen she does NOT believe in love and has no desire to be in a relationship with anyone, not even the hot as can be Max. Can he convince her otherwise? You'll have to read this to find out.

I've enjoyed previous books from Painter in the past so I was thrilled to get an arc approval for her latest. The banter, the chemistry, the humor is all here and I loved that. So much. One of my favorite parts of this novel - Sophie's septuagenarian roommates Larry and Rose. Those two were a hoot! I wish we could have an entire book about them and their shenanigan's in the future.

But, a couple of things didn't work out quite as well for me this time around.

First of all, the swearing. Listen, I drop f-bombs too and I'll never be accused of being a pearl clutcher in the face of, let's say, colorful language, but this was a little over the top. It started to ruin the banter I had been enjoying so much. Joking around together is one thing but when your having a deep conversation it just seems like maybe that isn't the time and place for multiple f-bombs.

Sophie's adversity to love started to become grating because it was all she ever talked about when it was quite obvious that she was in deep with her feelings for Max. I kind of wanted her to just shut up and grow up.

Four or five pages describing a kissing scene became redundant after four or five times of it and while the doors weren't left wide open they were open a little further than I prefer, but that is definitely a me thing.

My quibbles aside, there is plenty to love here and I think rom-com fans are going to devour this with a smile on their face. Painter is definitely proficient in giving a reader heart palpitations and isn't that why we all read this genre? 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for my complimentary copy.

I absolutely loved this book! I’ve always loved the witty banter between Lynn’s characters and this novel is the perfect example.

Sophie is marrying the love of her life when someone objects to her nuptials. This would ruin the wedding, right? Except Sophie and her bff hired Max to interrupt and force her fiance to admit he was cheating on her. Sophie dodges a bullet.

A few weeks later she runs into Max again and now she wants to join his operation as a professional objector. They go from wedding to wedding helping out people who don’t want to go through with the big day. They always have proof of infidelity so they can back up their claims. But going to so many romantic events helps bring the two MCs closer together. Especially having to pose as a couple so many times. What if they were friends with benefits? It couldn’t hurt.

Because of what they both went through and their current situation, both Max and Sophie are skeptical of true love. But maybe it’s just because they haven’t met the right person yet. I think this is my favorite of Lynn’s novels yet. It had such a funny premise and the characters were just so genuine.

The real stars of the show are Sophie’s hilarious septuagenarian roommates who are so nosy, but give great advice. I need Larry’s story next!

Thank you @berkleybooks and @lynnpainterbooks for my gifted ebook.

I’m a huge fan of this authors books, both adult and young adult. I’m always so excited when she comes out with a new one. I was enamored from the first chapter (it was a hooking one).

I enjoyed that it was written in dual perspective. Sophie and Max were both very lovable, relatable characters. I would definitely consider this a meet cute in the most unlikely of scenarios. The characters banter was wonderfully done and felt so real.

I love that this book had pretty short chapters, it always makes the time fly for me. Overall I’d call this another great read by Lynn Painter and I can’t wait to read more from her.

Sophie is about to say her vows…so where is he? At the last second, he objects and ends the wedding exactly like she planned. Just days before the wedding she found out her fiance cheated on her…again. Now on her own and living with two roommates because she can’t afford the apartment on her own, Sophie is hoping for a promotion she has worked her ass off for. Meanwhile Max has decided he needs her to join his team as an objector. When they realize pretending their friendship could be more could benefit them both, they start posting together more often. What happens when the feelings grow?

This book was just an absolute delight. I loved That Max was an objector and interrupted weddings for people once they found out something that meant they couldn’t get married but they were too far in to call it off without it causing a huge drama for themselves or their family. Both Sophie and Max were so cynical, and I kind of loved it to be honest. The witty banter was top notch, and Sophie’s roommates had me cracking up! I just adored every second of this one!

Honestly, I give this a grudging 4 stars because the first part of the book moved too damn slow. I liked the two leads (Sophie and Max) but with Sophie not believing in love and then the "objector" jobs they had, it felt like too much was happening at once. Big pluses though with the hot sex scenes and you could feel the sizzle and heat once that finally got started.

"Happily Never After" follows Sophie Steinbeck. Sophie finds out her fiancée is cheating on her and on her wedding day, hires a man who will "object" who will allow her to end the marriage without causing fallout with her father's job. Sophie celebrates later with the man she calls the objector who is Max.

Max finds himself intrigued by Sophie after the drunken night he spends with her and her maid of honor and then decides he needs Sophie's help with objecting. From there the two of them start a weird friendship which moves to something more.

The plot with the objecting started to wane after a while until a last minute one that I went...okay really at one point. It really slowed down the back and forth between Max and Sophie I thought. And honestly, reading about them thinking of kissing each other for pages and pages started to grate and made me go, my God just kiss or shut up. I don't want to read about it anymore. Yes, there's something to be said for the slow burn, but by the 60 percent point I was sick of them just kissing and talking about kissing. I checked to make sure I had not grabbed a Christian romance. But I know some modern romances like the fade to black sex scenes, and dear friends and followers, I DO NOT.

I did laugh out loud at times though because the dialogue Painter writes for Max and Sophie was hilarious to the point of tears here and there. They started to feel real to me, which is what I love in my romance reads.

The ending was great and also hilarious, we get a great happily ever after (HEA).

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really cute, fast read. The idea of there being objectors you can hire for weddings was a great storyline and there was a lot of fun scenes there.

I LOVED Max, though I was a little perturbed by a certain decision of his toward the end, so I would have to agree with Sophie on that a bit, but overall he was amazing.

I really liked Sophie to start but was having issues with her once she was obviously developing feelings but then just excused them away at every opportunity, and while I'm all for making sure you're taking care of yourself in a relationship and making sure your needs are being met, I think she kinda crossed the line into being actually selfish and had a total disregard to his feelings.

But I blew through this one and enjoyed it.

I didn’t love the plot of this one (it felt a little far fetched, to get paid that much for objecting weddings frequently??) but I loved Sophie’s roommates and Max’s ruggedness. Their relationship was adorable and the spice was top notch. It’s a fun weekend read that is easy and fast to read!

4★

This is the first Lynn Painter book I've ever read, and I think it was the perfect, short-and-sweet introduction to her writing!

The concept of this book is hilarious and very original. I was originally thinking I was going to rate it around 3.5★ because it wasn't *life changing* and there were 1 or 2 cringey moments (like him prefacing complimenting her by saying he's not trying to sound like an "a**hole misogynist"–what???!), but the 'love confession' at the end of the book bumped up my rating–IMO, that was perfect. 💕

Super cute, I'd definitely recommend.

Happily, Never After by Lynn Painter is a fantastic romantic comedy. Sophie Steinbeck finds out before she gets married that her fiancé has cheated on her again, and wants to break it off. Unfortunately, her future father-in-law is her dad’s boss. Her friend finds her a professional objector to show up and object to the marriage. Max is that objector and they become friends.

The premise of this story was so interesting. I was a big fan of #teamsophiemax with their chemistry, banter, and cynical attitudes. I enjoyed watching them transform, become less cynical, and enjoy each other’s company. There were so many laugh out loud scenes for me including wedding scenes,outings, and their interactions with friends and family. I had a wonderful time reading this story

Happily, Never After by Lynn Painter is a great romantic comedy with great banter, chemistry and laugh out loud moments. It was a quick entertaining read that I recommend!

CW: Open Door, language

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.

Happily Never After was a super fun, quick read but ultimately very shallow with one-dimensionsal characters. I recommend this if you just want a fun, low stakes palate cleanser.

This was so so good! I was laughing out loud throughout the story, and I really enjoyed it. The characters were amazing and very quirky, which was perfect. The ending had me swooning, and I loved how it got back at the rest of the story. Can highly recommend this!