Absolutely loved the banter!! This whole book was a shiny five stars and I adored the two MC’s so very much!

🌟🌟🌟🌟½

*Happily Never After* by Lynn Painter is a delightful rom-com that expertly blends humor, heart, and a bit of whimsy. Painter’s signature style shines through in this charming tale, where love is as unpredictable as the plot itself. The characters are wonderfully relatable, each grappling with their own insecurities and aspirations, making their journeys feel authentic and engaging.

The banter between the protagonists is sharp and entertaining, creating a chemistry that leaps off the page. Painter’s knack for witty dialogue adds a fun layer to the story, keeping the pacing lively. I found myself laughing out loud at several moments while also feeling deeply connected to the characters’ emotional arcs.

While the story is largely a feel-good romance, it also explores themes of self-discovery and the pressures of societal expectations. The balance between humor and more serious moments is executed beautifully, though I would have loved to see a bit more development in some secondary characters.

Overall, *Happily Never After* is a captivating read that left me smiling long after I finished it. It’s a perfect pick for anyone looking for a light-hearted yet meaningful escape. Highly recommended!

This book got me. I was kicking my feet while reading it. I loved the characters and enjoyed watching them change. It was a cute, fast read which was nice. I enjoyed the premise of the book and got through it quickly.

Happily Never After
Rating: 4/5
This book was super cute! I love Lynn Painter and her books give such a cozy feel. I really enjoyed the unique concepts of this book and look forward to reading more of her books. While I give this a 4/5, that has more to do with my enjoyment of the "friends to lovers" trope, rather than the quality or entertainment of the book. Definitely check this one out!

Tropes:
–Dual POV
- Friends to lovers
- Fake Dating
- He falls first

Happily Never After was a fun read. Sophie finds out her future husband is cheating on her, so she and her BFF hire a wedding interrupter. The wedding is called off and she is off the hook for causing the problem. When Max asks her to work with him, to help others expose their cheating partners, Sophie agrees. When they are hired to disrupt the wedding of the women who broke Max's heart, he has second thoughts.

I enjoyed this story and I liked both Max and Sophie. It is a slow burn romance, with Max and Sophie falling for one another eventually. Their chemistry was there from the start, so I was waiting for them to act on it. The banter is great and had me laughing out loud at times. I laughed a lot while reading this one, but I also felt for Sophie who was falling for Max, but he was dealing with feelings for his ex. This is a great job, one I haven't heard of, and don't know if there is such a person out there. There is some language and steamy scenes, but I was able to fast forward through them. This was a well written rom com that I enjoyed and recommend.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

***1/2

I’m pretty sure I’ve read at least one, and seen a few other, professional bridesmaid-themed romance novels, but a professional objector is a first. When Sophie discovers her fiancé has cheated (again), she hires a guy to make a scene and bring the nuptials to a halt by yelling “I object!” at the opportune moment. It’s a clever opportunity to save face and extricate herself and her family from the potential union of her dad’s boss. Max checks on to get his compensation after the wedding and enjoys a drink and a long anti-love rant with Sophie. When Sophie decides she wants to join him in this side gig, Max coaches her and hooks her up… and eventually, they start hooking up, and when Sophie’s job requires a partner for an event, it’s natural that Sophie asks Max to be her fake date. And then she gets a gig to break up the wedding of the ex that Max might still have feelings for, and it all goes to hell when he objects to breaking up this particular wedding.

There’s a mix of fun, sexy, teasing banter, but sometimes into downright cringey banter; I’m finding I’m not such a fan of love interests who speak disrespectfully in a bro-y way to each other, and it’s pervasive. It’s mostly balanced out a little by the sweet snarkiness of Sophie’s elderly roommates and the appearance of Chekov’s table: if a mid-century table appears in the narrative, someone is going to be ravished on it before the end of the story. Their experimentation with greedily taking instead of giving when it comes to kissing and sex is refreshing and pays off. Sophie’s desire for a promotion and struggles working with her ex are a subplot that offers an opportunity for her personal growth. The denouement is a little bit of a 10 Things I Hate About You moment, where instead of a poem, super-organized Sophie makes a presentation grid to detail all the ways she DOESN’T like Max and definitely isn’t in love with him, because, ew, gross.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #HappilyNeverAfter via #NetGalley, courtesy of #Berkley.

This is might be my favorite Lynn Painter book so far, I could NOT stop laughing the whole time I was listening to this book.
But mostly, I have no notes. Okay just one but really it’s tiny. I loved this couple, I love how they communicated and understood each other. The tension was SO THERE. I loved the humor. Rose and Larry were perfect. And all the cats, this was the perfect Rom Com.

2.5 stars. I usually love Lynn Painter’s work (not including Mr. Wrong Number) but this book felt like it was moving way too fast. It was like they were “in love” before they even knew each other’s last names. Also, while this was probably (hopefully) written before October, the near constant mention of Starbucks was just tacky. I already thought that reading about real life brands is never fun in books but this especially is just unnecessary. Not too late to take it out tho 🙈. That being said I did like the characters individually!

2.5 Stars.

I always get so drawn in by Lynn Painter’s premises and then end up being sorely disappointed because 100 pages are just sex. She’s only one step up from the 99cent reads on the Books app in terms of style, I would say.

Any book with more than two explicit sex scenes isn’t “romance”, it’s smut.

It was an easy overnight read because I skipped those 100 pages.

Don’t be fooled—this is NOT an innovative novel about objecting to weddings. It is a textbook fake-dating plot.

Why isn’t it lower than 2.5 stars? Idk I just felt like it. The banter, maybe. The comfort in friendship, maybe. Who knows?

This was such a pleasure to read. It’s filled with cute moments, but the characters weren't as well developed as they should be.

Lynn Painter knows how to write a fun YA romance - this was such a pleasure to read. It’s filled with cute moments but the characters aren’t as well developed as they should be.

I enjoyed the premise of this book. The fact that his job was actually an objector for weddings was a unique take on how to end a wedding when you feel like you have no other way out. But, I didn't feel that the characters were completely solid. It was an easy read so I didn't think this took away from the book too much.

Lynn Painter will never cease to amaze me. Everything she writes is hilarious and quirky and so real. Her characters feel like best friends, and this book was no different. I loved, loved, loved Sophie and Max and their BANTER. They had me giggling nonstop. I will never not recommend a Lynn book!!!

3.5 ⭐️

"Happily Never After" had some really fun and sweet moments, but there were also a few things that just didn’t land for me.

The ‘fake dating’ was really more like ‘friends-who-haven’t-realized-their-feelings-for-each-other let people assume they’re in a relationship’, which could be really fun in the right circumstances, but I just couldn’t get behind either of their motives. Sophie wanted a promotion at work, and her boss didn’t want to give it to her because she was too focused on work. This could have been a great set up for Sophie to realize that she really DOES need to make sure she’s taking some time off, but this never comes up again once she gets into a relationship with Max. It’s maybe implied that Sophie has stopped sending work related emails after hours and on weekends, but it’s never actually addressed. Max, on the other hand, just wants his parents to stop worrying about him settling down and get on with their retirement. While sweet, I think both of their characters and individual plots would have been a lot more meaningful if they could’ve been resolved without NEEDING to find a partner. Max easily could’ve shown his parents he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and if he happened to find someone he wanted to spend his life with, great!

I liked Sophie and Max, and I loved their fun competitive dynamic, but I started to dislike just how anti-love they were as I got further into the book. This is, after all, a romance novel, and by the end I really wasn’t convinced these people were ready to be in a relationship with each other.

Overall, "Happily Never After" had some cute moments, but the plot just wasn’t my favourite.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (4.5/5)

“Good morning,” I said loudly, still smiling, then added in a voice so low only he could hear, “you piece of s$!t.” 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

“Sex was sex, and sleep was sleep—the two didn’t need to intersect.” Agreed!!!!

“The truth is that who gives a flying f@&k if you’ve been hurt in the past? Who cares if you’ve been cheated on? You have to 𝙜𝙚𝙩 hurt to get to the good stuff, don’t you see?”

“I want to be with you because you’re my goddamn favorite person.”

This was my 1st book by Lynn Painter and I really enjoyed it. I did end up wanting a little more…POW out of the ending but I still loved it overall. Now listen to me gush about this one…

I loved the drama of these POS exes, loved seeing Max and Soph winning! I loved how unabashedly Maxxie and Sophie flirted and conveyed exactly what they wanted in certain aspects but at the same time it was like there was a boulder between them. I also loved how at ease the characters were when they were in each other’s company. The level of passion accompanied by deep level of respect in a particular laundry area was framed so perfectly. I loved the banter and text messages between Sophie and Max too.

I’ve never heard of “second sleep” until reading this book but I need more of it ASAP.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 "𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁", 𝘀𝗲𝘅𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂!

Lynn Painter delivers another heartfelt, hilarious romance! Painter can seriously do no wrong in my eyes. Her plots are always so unique, and I think wedding objecting is her best meet-cute yet!

The banter in this one was SO good! I did the entire book on audio, thanks to an ALC. And the two narrators (Helen Laser and Sean Patrick Hopkins) brought so much humor and emotion to the characters. I think picking up a physical copy would make a terrific comfort re-read.

This romcom would mostly fall under friends to lovers IMO, but it had bits of so many other tropes, which made it such a well-rounded romance. It was steamy, but not super spicy. I would have loved a little more since Sophie and Max’s chemistry was so 🔥🔥! 😉

The only thing I didn’t like about this one was Sophie’s job and workplace. Ugghhh I wanted more for Sophie and hated that she had to be the one to rise above and prove herself.

The wedding dramas throughout the book were so funny and had me giggling each time there were shenanigans. Such a sweet and funny book!

Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for my. It was my first time reading this author, and I'd certainly still be open to reading more of her work in the future.

I found Sophie abrasive and annoying. The conflict with Max's ex was poorly executed. Overall it was just a struggle to get through.

I feel a little conflicted about this one. I have loved Painter's YA books (and recommend them to teens and adults alike) and loved the premise of this one and the meet-cute at the beginning when Max is hired to save Sophie from her wedding and they go on a "I hate love" late night rant, but I did also have some issues with the lack of direction from there sometimes and the fact that Sophie had to "prove" at work that she was over her ex, who she worked with, to get a promotion? Ugh. Still mostly an enjoyable book. Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the early access in exchange for my honest opinion.

Can Lynn Painter ever do any wrong!? The answer is no.
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.