Lynn Painter writes the most compulsively readable books and this was no exception! I loved the whole premise, I loved the friends to lovers trope, and I loved the tension between these two! This book was so fun and so easy to read, I gobbled it up!

Thank you to Berkley Romance, Lynn Painter, and NetGalley for a free copy of this book. I adored it. It is quirky, fun, FUNNY, sweet, and steamy. I cannot wait for everyone to meet Max and Sophie. #berkleypartner

Max has an unusual side gig - he helps brides and grooms get out of their weddings when there are too many complications to call it off. Max meets Sophie when he stands up and objects during her wedding ceremony - to her cheating groom. A few months later, Max has an objection gig that needs the female touch, and he reaches out to Sophie for help. Thus begins their objecting partnership, taking them from country-and-western-themed to black-tie weddings. They are perfect for the job because both are jaded about love. Along the way, they form a close friendship and realize that pretending they are more than friends could help them both. But when has fake dating ever been that simple?

The Love Wager was one of my favorite reads of 2023, and Mr. Wrong Number was a 2022 favorite, so I was incredibly excited for this one. It does everything you want a Lynn Painter book to do - you laugh (a lot), swoon (a lot), smile (a lot), and feel all the feels along the way. It is a smidge spicier than her other adult novels, which fits well with the storyline. The characters are goofy, wacky, fun, and charming. There was a great sense of found family. It is a perfect balance of heart and humor. I just really adored it.

Even if you’ve read some of Lynn Painter’s previous books, I don’t think you’ll have any idea what to expect from Happily Never After. The book begins with our main character, Sophie about to get married to her fiance who has been cheating but Max ends up objecting at her wedding.

Since the objection was orchestrated by Sophie’s best friend, Max goes up to Sophie’s room for payment and the three of them end up some time together which includes Max and Sophie exchanging numbers. While it doesn’t seem like anything at the time, Max ends up enlisting Sophie to help him object to a different wedding.

From there, the two quickly form a friendship but are both shy to call it anything but. It’s clear in the way they act that they’re incredibly attracted to each other. Of course, they end up spending more and more time together even if they aren’t objecting to a wedding together. It’s honestly a true win for friends-to-lovers.

Things come to a head as they always do and we end up learning more about Sophie and Max’s feelings on relationships and why they act the way they do. Honestly, I really enjoyed how the third-act conflict played out in this one as it was frankly refreshing. If you’ve read it, you’ll know what I mean as that usually doesn’t happen.

Regardless, Happily Never After felt like a huge rom-com which feels like it’s in short supply these days. This book was such a fun time and seems like the ideal read ahead of the next wedding you’re attending.

Max is a wedding objector, hired by brides, grooms, best friends, etc. to help stop weddings before they're past the point of no return. He's just the person Sophie needs to get out of her wedding with her fiancee, Stuart, a serial cheater and the son of her boss. After Max saves the day, he and Sophie find they have more in common than they expected. Soon enough the two are working together to save people from their impending nuptials. In the course of their duties, they become fast friends.

Spurred on by people talking about their relationship, they devise a plan: convince their family and coworkers that they are involved so they can move forward in their careers. So what if their chemistry is off the charts? So what if they have become the best part of each others' day? Love doesn't exist, right?

Lynn Painter scores again with this adorable and spicy rom-com. The writing is witty, light-hearted, steamy, and doesn't fall into the same, tired traps of a romance book. Max is the kind of guy anyone would fall for but Sophie is never a damsel; she has it together. Their personalities jump off the page. I loved the way their relationship developed over time; none of that instant love business. The banter is fun with an expert level of tongue in cheek and sarcasm.

If you're a fan of Emily Henry, Emma Lord, or Abby Jimenez, you'll probably love this book. If you've never read any of Lynn Painter's books, this is a great one to start your new obsession!

Lynn Painter's latest romantic comedy, "Happily Never After," takes readers on a delightful journey filled with love, laughter, and unexpected twists. Super fun! I had never read Lynn Painter before but this one makes me want to check her others out.

loved!!! I recently discovered lynn Painter and I'm slowly reading all her books. I absolutely loved Mr. Wrong Number and enjoyed this one just as much!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
- Strangers to lovers to friends
- A hint of fake dating
- Witty banter
- Off the charts chemistry

At this point I know I’ll just love anything that Lynn Painter writes. I devoured this in a single day because it was THAT GOOD. The chapters are short which kept me super interested and I had to see what was going to happen next.

Does anyone do wit and banter better than Lynn Painter? Cause oh wow this book was full of it and it had me laughing out loud. Sophie and Max were perfect for each other - the chemistry was off the charts and going from strangers to friends to eventually more made for the perfect rom com.

I absolutely loved this book!! Laughed out loud!!! The witty dialogue is just the best!! I loved this couple...... I mean "co-workers" LOL! Just a great rom-com!

Thank you for the ARC.

This book was so cute. A warm, fun, romantic hug. The characters were well written, the lines were funny and quick witted and I loved it all. I found myself smiling while reading. Reminded me of the movie 10 things I hate about you, but for all the right reasons!
I love Lynn Painters books!

Ok this was actually so cute??! Sophie and Max are ITTTT as far as I'm concerned.

I loved everything about the evolution of their relationship--he breaks up her wedding, they get drunk together, and several months later he texts her asking for help in objecting for another wedding. It's honestly the perfect friends-to-lovers formula and I genuinely believe they become best friends. The laughter they share, the banter, the CHEMISTRY good god--these two are soulmates even though it takes them a hot minute to realize what exactly they mean to one another--but you know they're meant to be.

I absolutely loved this book, and I will definitely be reading more Lynn Painter in the future! Can't recommend this enough if you're looking for a romcom with great banter, chemistry, and hilarious sweetness,

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the free book! #BerkleyPartner

This was a cute one and a very easy quick read. I enjoyed it because it was simple, fun, the characters were great, and the story was fun too!

Sophie is about to get married to a grade-a asshole but her dad works for HIS dad’s company and so she doesn’t want to call it off and rock the boat for her dad. But when her best friend hears about Max’s services they know it’s exactly what they need. He’s an objector — you pay him to come to your wedding and he objects so you don’t have to go through with it. It’s a fun plot but it gets a little lost towards the end of the book. Sophie, who doesn’t believe in love, decides she also wants in on this side gig and they start to object together. Then, you know how it goes in a romance.

I read some other reviews saying that it lacked substance but I didn’t mind that because it still kept my attention. I am always down for a fun and fluffy rom-com and this was great if you’re also looking for that. It did have some spice and it was what it was, I mean it was good but I skipped some of it. Towards the end, it feels like it wraps up too quickly but also too slowly if that makes any sense. I could have done with the last few chapters (save for the very last). I don’t always love when there are chapters at the end when they are already together. I’d prefer to have a small epilogue instead of chapters of them being together.

This book also had short chapters which I love! In my opinion, this was a fun one, it was written well and I enjoyed it!

I love Lynn Painter’s writing, and Happily Never After is such a fun addition to her books! Sophie Steinbeck needs to call off her wedding after she finds out her fiancé has cheated on her, only she needs help to do it. Max has made it a side hustle to be the objector at weddings and is happy to help. But once the wedding is called off, these two who don’t believe in love find themselves drawn to one another and even they can’t deny their chemistry, no matter how much they want to. Max and Sophie have such a great friendship. It’s playful and the banter is good and their chemistry is so good. They’re sexy and it’s just fun to read their interactions. Sophie is relatable and driven and just honest, and Max is so swoon-worthy. He’s gentle and kind and I love his relationship with his parents. I do think there’s was maybe a little something missing in terms of character depth, I wanted to know more about their motivations and it just took a while to uncover that. But still, I loved these characters and this steamy romance! The writing is witty and sharp and just a joy with just wonderful characters. It’s such a great romcom!

I had so much fun reading this one. The author's writing style was simple and easy to follow and there was a perfect mix of romance and humor. From the start, Max and Sophie's relationship is so playful and their banter was by far my favorite thing about this book. Their humor matched each other perfectly and I love how their relationship grew from strangers to best friends to lovers. It was so natural. I thought the communication between them was pretty good and despite the little conflict towards the end, they were so good at understanding each other and being transparent.

Max was a great mmc. He is so endearing and swoon worthy! Once he realized his feelings for Sophie, you can definitely tell he was in deep and it was so sweet to see how he approached his relationship with her. Sophie was a very fun character. I love that she was so sure of herself and even with Max, I love seeing how comfortable she was and how she was gradually falling for him, despite her stance on love. The side characters were also a great time. Larry and Rose were such an interesting duo and I had so much fun with their friendship with Sophie and Max. All the bickering and shenanigans in this book were amazing.

I would have liked to learn more about Max's past relationship and I was hoping we would get more details about it at the end but this didn't really bother me all that much. I appreciated how sure he was of his feelings for Sophie and they both handled the conflict in such a mature way. The plot was so fun and unique and I had such a great time. I will definitely be reading more of her books!

I found this one to be pretty mid. There's really nothing here that grabbed my attention. The story was a little bit boring. Not much really happens here. The characters have great chemistry......and that's about it. Other than being career minded I couldn't tell you much about the female main character and working in construction is about all we get for the male main character. Again, great chemistry but thin on the plot. I do like the general premise of having them team up to object at weddings, but there is so much more that could have been done with this.

cute little rom-com perfect to read before Valentine's. Some mildly spicy scenes towards the end, but overall it was fun & entertaining enough.

If there’s one thing you can count on Lynn Painter for its top notch banter. This book was so much fun and I had the best time reading it. Sophie and Max were absolutely hysterical individuals and their banter was top tier. I seriously lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud. The plot was also unique and fun, objecting at weddings with a pinch of fake dating.

I was also beyond obsessed with Larry and Rose, Sophie’s roommates. Such a fun and funny plot point but also how endearing 🥹

Had the best time reading this one and can’t wait for her next book!

What to expect:
Fake dating
Friends to lovers
Friends with benefits (kind of)
Cat parents
Anti-relationship MCs
Lol worthy banter

3⭐️ Thank you Berkeley Romance for the ARC!
I’ve enjoyed several of Lynn Painter’s books, but for some reason I didn’t love this one :(
It felt slow at some parts for me and I also didn’t feel super connected to the romance-I liked them together but I wasn’t obsessed.

This premise was interesting and if not for that I may have DNFed this, but I wanted to continue, especially since it was an ARC.

All in all, this sadly wasn’t my favorite but I’m glad I got to read early🫶🏻

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Romance for my digital ARC! I enjoyed this fun wedding-crusher rom com! I really liked Sophia and Max and how smooth Lynn Painter’s writing style is. There were a couple ‘icks’ that I couldn’t ignore, making it a lower rating. The nicknames the MMC and FMC used with each other were harsh swear words and I’m not a big fan of romanticizing those kind of nicknames. I also noticed how fast this storyline went, and almost wish it was 50 pages longer for more character development. It was fun, but I would maybe recommend it to the right reader!

What happens when two cynics with undeniable chemistry start a low-key side gig as wedding crashers, and also make a deal to pursue a friendship? Happily Never After explores exactly that — Sophie and Max first meet at Sophie’s wedding, where Max is hired to object her wedding. After a conversation, and a series of events, Sophie decides to join Max’s lowkey gig of being a wedding objector. Being able to help someone out is lovely, as is the added cash, but the best part of it is being able to show her coworkers that she’s moved on from her unfaithful ex-fiancé, who she happens to work with. And if Max and Sophie’s friendship happens to ease Max’s parents’ worries about him, a win is a win.

I adored Sophie. As our heroine, we get to watch her pick up the pieces from what she thought was going to be her life once married. I really liked how despite how cynical and practical Sophie always was, she still had to reimagine her life and recalibrate her expectations in the way that anyone has to after a breakup. And for Max, I totally felt for him — who hasn’t told a white lie here and there to get their parents to worry less?

Max and Sophie have a lot of chemistry, and I really appreciated that there was a distinction between instant attraction for both parties rather than instant love. I think their dynamic progressed well, and I loved their banter although I really wish that we got to see more of Max and Sophie’s relationship once they made sense of their feelings and got together. Especially with the way the epilogue is, I just wish we could’ve seen more of the in-between parts of their relationship.

Something I think Lynn Painter also does really well is balance the amount of wedding crashes, as we do Max and Sophie’s “friendship” develop. Each wedding crashed is a catalyst for a deeper step into the development of their dynamic, as well as their individual character growth. I was initially worried that this concept could get boring and repetitive, but luckily for me, Happily Never After felt that way. Another highlight of Happily Never After, for me, was Sophie’s 77 year old roommate, Larry. Truth be told, I loved all the side characters in the book; it’s just that we saw the most of him.

I really wish we’d seen more of Sophie and Max’s relationship once they got together, but I liked Lynn Painter’s twist on the wedding crasher trope. Overall, I’d recommend Happily Never After to anyone who is looking for a quick, fun, lighthearted read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this title.

This was so cute! While the ending was predictable, as most romances are, it was still very enjoyable. The main characters were great and the side characters were even better. I need a Larry and Rose story now! Highly recommended.