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🎧Song Pairing: You Set Me Free - Michelle Branch

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought assholes who hate seeing people happy coming together dating for a wedding or 2 for mutual destruction/emotional preservation

📖What actually happens:

Max is an objector. He stands at people’s weddings and objects to the marriage - every bride’s nightmare except for one Sophie…who hired Max to save her from a future divorce.

Max and Sophie form a connection and decide to partner up. Sophie could use the extra cash and has fun when she’s with him. Their working relationship soon becomes a friends with benefits situation. Nothing more nothing less.

🗯Thoughts/sassy musings:

I laughed out loud many MANY times. Bless Lynn P and her sense of humour ✌🏻make me chuckle Queen 😂

I was giving up on romances after a couple duds. This resurrected my faith in the genre. I didn’t want to quit you ❤️‍🩹🥹

I am certain people will enjoy this one a lot. The audiobook is superb 🤌🏽

🐈🐈‍⬛Check it out just for the cats Karen & Joanne. I peed a little 🤫

<b>"I can't imagine any two people more right for each other than us. I can't imagine any reason why we shouldn't be together when we both feel so much for each other. Shit." My voice cracked and I glanced around the kitchen, desperate to make a point. "See? No one is objecting, Soph."</b>

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER is funny as hell! cute *and* four-alarm fire! guaranteed to fall into a pit of feelings! do you need it? infinity times yes.

ps. can’t wait to get my physical copy so i can go HAM with my tabby tabs and annotations.

pps. let’s all send lynn a gift card to spaghetti works and/or starbucks. is there a rockstar store? a store that sells rockstar.

✨THINGS AND STUFF✨
-soph & maxxie
-dual pov
-PTL for the objector
-twinkies & tequila
-karen & joanne *meow*
-a flirt here and there
-BANTER
-chemistry gone wild
-“ha ha, sure, they’re just friends”
-powerpoint presentation
-pizza in bed
-#IsThisAKissingBook: open door. "I could kiss you forever," I said…"No, you couldn't," he whispered back, …"Because there's pizza in the entryway."

Thank you Berkley Romance for an advanced copy!

Thanks to Let’s Talk Books Promo and Berkley Romance for the copy of this ARC!

Lynn Painter’s romances are honestly just so perfect: they’re escapist and funny, swoony and feel-good. Literally everything I look for in a romance read.

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER has a great premise: the main characters meet at her wedding, where he’s hired to be an “objecter” and make sure the wedding doesn’t happen. Their friendship and fake dating is a really fun adventure, and the conflict in the relationship honestly made so much sense and worked really well. Sophie’s cats and roommates are also shining stars in this novel that deserve a mention, as they provided another level of humor. You will definitely want to pick up this book!!

I’m not sure how the author does it but she knocks it out of the park for me with every single book she releases. Her books are rom com perfection and not having her books adapted as movies is a crime, I swear they would be amazing on a big screen. The unique premise here was too good, professional wedding objectors is simultaneously horrifying and so interesting and combine that with the best banter I’ve ever read and this was absolutely perfect. I’ve always been a sucker for fake dating and Sophie and Max are both so cynical their pairing with this trope could not be more ideal. I always think people who don’t read romance should give her books a try, so freaking good and the humor alone is enough to make anyone swoon.

Sophie finds out right before her wedding that her fiance is cheating on her. What follows is an undeniably unique meet cute between Sophie and the guy who has been paid to stop her wedding. Wedding objector is just Max's side job, but based on this story there are a lot of people who are looking to get out of their weddings without being the one to call it off. When Max gets a job that requires a female objector, he thinks Sophie would be perfect. Surely she will want to help out someone who is in a similar situation to what she had been. As the two build a connection by attending weddings together to deliver the well timed objection, these two can not deny their chemistry.

The story of Max and Sophie touches on the lasting hurt and distrust caused by the end of relationships that end badly. Both are determined that they never want to be vulnerable in love again. Besides the chemistry in this steamy read, taking the relationship off the table allows them to open up to one another about what they want, personally and physically. When the two are first together, they are both still working through their past relationships. I liked that the author allowed these characters to grow throughout the story. I have read several of Lynn Painter's books and enjoy her style of writing as well as her creative stories.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest review.

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter is a rom-com about two people who have the side gig of breaking up weddings for people who otherwise can't cancel the wedding themselves. They are The Objectors. And they are freakin' adorable.

Max and Sophie meet when her best friend hires him to object to her wedding after she finds out her fiance had been cheating on her. Sparks fly, in a platonic way, and they soon become a team of objectors. They both have kind hearts and want to help people, and it's so very wholesome. Soon, they use their friendship in an almost fake-dating sort of way (I'm such a sucker for this trope) to help themselves in their professional lives. And of course, we romance readers know what happens next....

Sophie and Max's relationship is probably one of my favorite I've read in a long time in a rom-com. Their chemistry feels so natural, and fun. I genuinely had a smile on my face through their interactions. I fell in love with them as they fell in love with each other.

If you enjoy witty banter, fake-dating, and well-rounded characters, this book is definitely for you!

What to Expect:
💗he falls first
💗fake dating-ish
💗grumpy/quirky loveable seniors
💗tension & angst

🫶🏽What worked for me
This was a very unique storyline where Max and Sophie team up to object in weddings that a bride or groom is paying them to do, to avoid canceling the wedding themselves for various reasons. The idea seemed a bit far fetched but I had fun reading about their adventures! The camo wedding scene was priceless 😂 We get plenty of witty banter that Lynn excels at writing! And tender moments as Max and Sophie are both working towards mending their broken hearts. Sophie’s roommates are the best and I’m just going to leave it at that 😁

🤷🏻‍♀️What didn’t work for me
The third act break up-ish scene left me a bit confused. I thought both characters responded oddly, though the reasoning for both characters was later explained and kiiiinda made sense.

I’ll share an updated Instagram link after I post my official review

Title: Happily Never After by Lynn Painter
Publication Date- 03/12/24
Publisher- Berkley
Overall Rating- 5 out of 5 stars

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Wow I really enjoyed this. This was my first Lynn Painter novel and I will certainly be reading more. In Happily Ever After we get an interesting, engaging and often funny premise. Two people who object to Weddings together. Getting to know the two main characters was the highlight of the novel but I also enjoyed the other couples whose wedding day’s were about to be ruined. All of the ruined weddings had were doomed to fail and it honestly felt like they were doing the right thing. Another strong suit of Happily Never After are the side characters. Not only do we have strong main characters but the side characters are AMAZING.

I enjoyed the writing and the humor a lot. I’ve been talking a lot about recent romance novels feeling cringey but I’m happy to report this was not, in my opinion. I think a lot of my rating is due to, compared to other romances I’ve read recently this is above average. The characters are very likable, it’s not too steamy but still enough to keep you interested, there’s no instalove, it just really worked for me. Now, this won’t be in my favorites of the year or anything but I really enjoyed my time with it. Here’s to reading more from Lynn Painter in the future.

Happily Never After was such a fun, easy-to-read romance. I loved the friends-to-lovers/fake dating aspect and the banter between Sophie and Max.

Sophie and Max meet at Sophie’s wedding where he’s an objector. It’s a bit of a side job and much needed for Sophie. She’s so thankful for Max’s help and with time they become friends. Sophie wants in on the ‘objectors’ gig and they become a team. They also find hanging out beneficial for Sophie’s job and getting Max’s parents off his back.

With all this time they spend together, it’s normal that feelings start to happen. The problem is Sophie doesn’t believe in love. Can Max change her mind? This one had me chuckling and smiling more times than I can count. Max and Sophie had great chemistry and an even greater friendship. And her roommate/bestie Larry made the book for me. Such a fun read!

Okay this was one of the most adorable rom-com’s ever .

Sophie is about to go through with an unwanted wedding that she cannot call off without there being repercussions for her family, so her friend hires Max, an objector-for-hire, who saves the day by calling out her fiancé in the middle of the wedding so none of the blame falls on Sophie. Max and Sophie have an immediate rapport, and on a whim, Sophie helps Max "object" for some more weddings.
The premise is so fun and *queue the drama*.
As the story progresses they become business partners as "objectors" to help people around by saving them from their hopeless fates and eventually proceeds to become best of friends. I swear this storyline in itself was enough to pull me in.

I absolutely loved the friendship dynamics in this story.
You can definitely feel the chemistry between Sophie and Max.
I love how the foundation of their relationship is based on their strong friendship, it feels so natural when they finally realize they both fit like a puzzle.

Overall i had a blast reading this book and im looking forward to reading more of painters books.

I loved every little thing about this book! It was so cute and hilarious. Every scene at a wedding had me cracking up. I loved the relationship between Max and Sophie so much. This was a quick read that had me hooked the entire time.

Thanks to Berkeley, Lynn Painter, and NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was my first Lynn Painter book and it was just a blast. This is just two hot, smart, witty people who deadass cannot keep their hands off of each other. This didn’t reinvent the wheel or anything but it was perfectly fun. The way she describes KISSES had my heart fluttering?! 3.5 to 4ish stars and now I know when you’re in a slump, Lynn Painter is the gal to help.

Sophie meets Max after he’s hired as “an objector” for her wedding. Hurt by her cheating fiancé and interested in helping other people have an easy out before marriage, Sophie joins in on Max’s escapades. However, as these two friends go from wedding to wedding objecting, it becomes harder to deny their budding feelings… but they must stay in the friend zone to protect their bruised hearts.

This book reminded me of two of my favorite movies: No String Attached and Friends with Benefits. Sophie and Max were love cynics but the chemistry was undeniable, and they knew that. I loved their openness, especially with regard to their physical attraction, and all of the playful teasing and flirty texts. I can always count off Lynn Painter for making me laugh out loud, and the writing itself was a perfect winter escape. I listed to the first half on audio and the two narrators made the story easy to follow and feel like the book was right on film.

Read if you like:
-Friends with benefits
-Wedding shenanigans
-He falls first
-“Fake dating”
-Short chapters
-Open door

Sophie gets "introduced" to the objector, well when he objects to her marriage to her cheating fiancée. Now, Sophie wants in. Slowly she begins to build a relationship with Max, and finds out all the reasons why one would take a job like this. Now, as the two of them start to go to different weddings together, they realize that maybe there is something building between the two of them...something that Sophie wouldn't object to.

Not my favourite of Lynn’s books (The Love Wager still holds that spot) but this was a cute romcom, and had some delightful banter in it. not a lot of conflict or angst, which I do like in romance books from time to time, but a good read for some escapism.

I was only familiar with Lynn Paintier’s YA books, so it was fun to read a more adult title from her. I enjoyed the premise of the book and the characters but didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of conflict.

This was my first Lynn Painter book I’ve read, but I’ve heard nothing but the best about her books. I also met her a few months ago and she was the nicest person!

This book was a super quick read for me, once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. The way she set up her characters from chapter 1 and built them chapter by chapter made them feel like actual people.

Lynn Painter writes the best witty dialog! I was laughing out loud at the snarkiness between these two main characters. This was a sweet, empowering, steamy contemporary romance that definitely puts a new spin on the "met-at-a-wedding" trope. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to any contemporary romance reader.

I thought that it was a cute rom-com fic, and their banter was SO CUTE!! I did think that it was a nice read for some good escapism, and it checked all of the boxes for me.

Sophie Steinbeck needs to stop her wedding so her best friend hires the Objector, Max, a man who breaks up her wedding to reveal Stuart's cheating and cancel the wedding. So when Max reaches out months later asking for her to help with an objection, and soon enough they are partners in crime, breaking up weddings in precarious situations. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all. And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.

I enjoyed this book so much! It's a quick and easy read that will keep you turning the page. Max and Sophie's chemistry is so undeniable. I couldn't get enough. You see some fake dating/ friends to lovers romance tropes at play. I loved that you saw not just their romantic relationship blossom but a genuine friendship as well. I loved that both of them were willing to experiment with taking control of their romantic needs without it being judged or being seen as selfish. Max was a swoon-worthy and charming male hero and I really related to Sophie rationalizing her feelings and protecting herself from further hurt. Was this a revolutionary romance? No. Did I see the end coming? Yes, but it was still so good!

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 3/12!