{Book Review} Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

Well, this is sad. I am so thankful for the review copy from @berkleyromance but I’ve gotta say, HAPPILY NEVER AFTER by Lynn Painter was a pretty big miss for me.

I have loved her previous adult romances as well as her YA novels and I am sad, y’all. This book started great, the banter between Sophie and Max was typical Painter style of quick-witted and clever. This was the best part of the book (even if I’m being really picky and say the banter was almost *too* clever).

The trope-y element of a heroine who doesn’t believe love literally can exist who finds herself having an incredible connection with a man and refuses to have a relationship and chooses to be ‘just friends’ who act like boyfriend and girlfriend is very tiring. Add to that, the emphasis on a physical connection and their bedroom antics being coined as ‘transcendent’ and (of course) like ‘nothing they’ve ever experienced before’ is just incredibly cringe.

I wanted to love this, was primed to love this, and sadly, the migraine I had hours after finishing this book was slightly more tolerable than the majority of this book. Highly recommend her other novels though, will still absolutely read her next book.

HAPPILY NEVER AFTER on sale March 12!

This book had me hooked for the first time. I think from the first line “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.
I love how it brings together two people that are against love and don’t believe in relationships but end up falling for each other.
The novel introduces us to Sophie Steinbeck, a bride-to-be faced with the ultimate dilemma: marrying a cheating fiancé to save her father's job or breaking free. Enter Max, a charming professional objector who comes and disrupts Sophie's wedding, saving her from a hapless fate. As the two love cynics navigate the aftermath, they embark on an unusual partnership as "objectors," saving other couples from the clutches of ill-fated marriages.

Lynn Painter has come up with a very fun premise for ‘Happily Never After’— Sophie and Max are wedding objectors for hire who met when she hired Max to object at Sophie’s own wedding (her fiancé cheated but she didn’t want to be the one to call it off because her fiancé’s dad was her dad’s boss). They bond during the non-reception celebration of her non-wedding that night and Sophie starts working with him as an objector. As you might expect, they become friends, realize their attraction, become friends with benefits united in their cynicism about love, etc. Things get complicated when Sophie is hired to object at Max’s ex’s wedding to object on the groom’s behalf. They hurt each other, but eventually come to terms with the fact they have fallen for each other. ‘Happily Never After’ is a fun and quick read, although both Sophie and Max were a little hard to relate to.

Lynn Painter should be teaching Rom-Com 101! She knows exactly what the readers love and keeps giving us the greatest laugh out loud stories. Lynn Painter is an auto buy author for me. I fell in love with her style from her very first book Mr. Wrong Number.

This book was a cute, quick read. Soohie and Max had great chemistry. I found a few places where I was killing but it picked back up! A great weekend read.

It's been decided: I love Lynn's adult books much more than her YA novels. I just really struggle with YA in general so please know this is a "me" thing.

Their name? The objectors. Their job? To break off weddings as hired. Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other.

As a fan of contemporary romance and lighthearted stories, I really enjoyed the humorous and playful tone of "Happily Never After". With its themes of fake dating, friends-to-lovers, and romance, this book gave me all the warm and fuzzies. Painter balances the rom with the com perfectly in this standalone novel.

This quote 🥹😭🥰🫠⬇️

“But Soph, I know that I like you more than anyone else in the world. And that’s it, isn’t it—the thing that matters?”

I always have such a good time reading Lynn Painter books and Happily Never After was no different. I liked this one- it was funny, cute, and at just under 300 pages, a fast read. My favorite parts were the objecting story-line, wedding shenanigans and Sophie’s roommates.

I do wish Sophie and Max had gotten over their exes a little bit sooner to further develop their romance being a shorter book. But, it was still a good time! I’d love to see this book made into a movie; Lynn’s books always read like a rom-com to me. Fingers crossed 🤞

💒THINGS 💒
✌️dual POV
🩷strangers to friends to lovers
✨fake dating
🏡unconventional & meddling roommates
🫠 last names as nicknames (Parks & Steinbeck)
❌ love cynics x2

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

In Happily Never After, the worst day of Sophie Steinbeck's life just turns out to be the start of her future. Discovering her fiancee has cheated on her, but if she broke off the engagement, she and her family would suffer, she hires a professional objector to ruin the wedding instead. And when Max pulls it off perfectly, she thinks he is her hero, but in fact he's so much more than that. Working together following the failed wedding to save more unhappy grooms or bride's, Max and Sophie's cynical thoughts on love all seem to change, and it's harder for them to ignore the chemistry developing between them. But the latest groom to hire Sophie happens to be marrying the woman who broke Max's heart, and he can't get involved in ruining her day. Will it lead to Max and Sophie having a happily never after?

I didn't really know what to expect with this book, and it was a sort of impulse request on NetGalley, but it was so good! Sophie's story about being trapped in an engagement and future marriage, otherwise her father would lose his job, and the family ruined, was heartbreaking, and it was amazing that someone like Max could come along and save the day. Them becoming pseudo colleagues to help others avoid being married to the wrong person was perfect, as was the way they spoke with each other, and were able to be real and honest. I will say that I did hate the story line with Max's ex, but in a way, it was so needed as it allowed him to get full closure and allow himself the chance at happiness with Sophie. This book was heartbreaking, and so happy at the same time that it's a bit of a contradiction, but I loved it even so. I can't wait to read my next book by this author.

This was a great "love skeptics to lovers" and I really loved it. the older friends/roommates really added to it and even though I saw the ending coming, I'm glad it ended the way I wanted it to with an HEA.

This book was a surprise hit for me! Funny and sweet, but lacking in tension. I always love a fake dating romance

Max runs a successful side gig as a professional objector. Surprisingly there are a lot of people that want to get out of a marriage without being the one to break things up. But they are more than willing to pay for someone else to ruin their wedding.

For instance, there’s Sophie, who’s sweating bullets. It’s moments before she is supposed to say I do, and she’s praying the man she paid to ruin her wedding pulls through. The pastor asks if there are any objections and when she hears, “I do,” she can finally breathe. Stuart is a cheater and the thought of spending the rest of her life with him was miserable, but now she's finally free and doesn't have to risk her job. Her almost wedding ends in shambles but that’s exactly what she was hoping for.

After Max saves the day, they go their separate ways and don’t run into each other again until much later. Another wedding brings our duo together only this time, Sophie ends up joining Max as a guest. And is fascinated by his job. She doesn’t believe in love anymore, and there’s something exhilarating about saving people from falling for the allure of it. So much so that she begs to play the role of Objectress. She’s a little bit jaded, and in a strange twist of fate the only one who might be able to change her mind about love is her partner in crime.

Max and Sophie were so fun together. It was clear from the start that these two complimented each other perfectly. Mix in a little fake dating, and a lot of steam I was hooked. Their banter was so easy, and they quickly fall into a friendship that becomes just a little bit more each day. They weren’t without flaws, and each had their hurdles to overcome, but it felt very realistic. Especially when they ended up standing in their own way. Despite the miscommunication, I could completely understand the headspace both Max and Sophie were in.

Watching these two slowly fall for each other despite their negative views of love was such a joy. They’ve seen the worst of love, and that’s become the blueprint for how NOT to be in a healthy relationship. I loved the way they stepped up by the end and did better. This book was so genuinely funny and sweet. And truly was a great experience to read.

I want to extend a huge thank you to NetGalley, Berkley, and Lynn Painter for the copy of this arc! I truly enjoyed it and will gladly pick up more books from this author.

Lynn can't write a bad book!! While I prefer her YA stories over her adult ones, they are all SO enjoyable and funny. They suck you right in, always move along a fast pace, and have really interesting plot points. The wedding objector plot was so engaging and hilarious. It was interesting all the different scenarios they found themselves in. I really loved Sophie and Max's characters and thoroughly enjoyed the whole book!

I am normally a HUGE!!!! fan of Lynn Painter, and this book did not do it for me. Sadly this was a DNF for me at about 30%. I really hope to give it another chance some day, but I really could not get into or connect to this story. I don't know if I was hyping it up too much or getting too excited before reading it or what, but when I got to reading it, it was just really not what I was hoping for. I think the insta-love was what really got me down on this one. For me, there was no tension between the two MCs, and it just unfortunately fell a little flat. I will give it a chance again someday.

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the finished copy.

2.5 stars

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter tells the story of Sophie Steinbeck, who finds out right before getting married that she’s been cheated on.
So instead of calling off the wedding she hires a stranger named Max to interrupt the ceremony and confront her fiancé. Max's side gig is that of an "objector" - someone hired to object at a wedding where one party feels like they can't call off the wedding for some reason or other. The two run into one another again and Max asks if she’ll work with him to help others expose their cheating partners and Sophie agrees.

Cute premise, right? Well. This book was just aggravating. The main characters were both so shallow and self-obsessed. Their relationship was "insta-love" even though Sophie states that she doesn't believe in love. So much of the plot was unbelievable. So much of the romance was cringey. So much of the banter was ... actually kind of cute, but not enough to redeem the book.

Now, I will 1000% read Ms. Painter's adorable YA novels, but her NA or Adult romance books don't seem to be for me.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was such a cute book! Max and Sophie were fun and funny and their dialogue was quippy, I loved them. Larry and Rose stole the show as roommates. The plot was different, which I really enjoyed. I loved the setting of all the weddings, I kind of wish there had been a few more because they were so fun to read about. It made me think a little bit of 27 Dresses. I love Lynn Painter's YA books, so I wasn't surprised when I loved this one too. Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

SUMMARY: Sophie Steinbeck needs to dump her cheating fiance at the altar, but she doesn’t want to look like the bad guy… enter: Max, a cynic who has turned objecting at weddings into a personal side hustle. After celebrating her derailed nuptials together, Sophie decides that she wants to help save people like herself by becoming Max’s objector-in-crime. But what happens when this “down with love” duo starts hanging out – and hooking up – every weekend?

This is another fun + funny romcom from my gal Lynn Painter that you should add to your TBR. Honestly, she just has the romcom equation down.

You know how people say ‘they don’t make good romcoms like they did in the 90s?’ Well, Lynn Painter is writing them. Hollywood, please take note.

While the characters are not as well developed as some of her other books, I’m not complaining. The third best Lynn Painter book is still more entertaining than the best book written by someone else.

Check it out if you like:

💖 Friends to lovers
💖 Quick-witted banter
💖 Smart, sexy characters

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lynn Painter is quickly becoming an auto buy author for me! I loved the humor sprinkled amongst the romance between the main characters. The set-up of exposing cheating partners is unique and not one I’d read of before. The chemistry between Max and Sophie is palpable, and I thoroughly enjoyed their love story!

Lynn Painter is the Queen of writing books that feel like early 2000s rom coms and I'm here for every second of it!!

While, I enjoyed different aspects of this including, the banter, plot and some of the side characters. However, I didn't love Max and the sex scenes that felt like they stopped the relationship growth the reader needed to see!

Beside that, I enjoyed this book for the ✨vibes✨

Thanks Berkley for the ARC! I love you guys <3

This is BY FAR my favorite Lynn Painter book! She ATE with this book! Honestly she should write spicy books from now on cuz it added the PERFECT element to this book! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Max and Sophie meet after he objects to her wedding, which gets Sophie out of a disastrous relationship with Stuart. Sophie and Max become fast friends, going to weddings together and posting lots of photos together to appease Max's parents and Sophie's boss. This fiery friendship turns into fierce feelings that neither of them were looking for, but they have already fallen into the fire...of FUCKRAH 🔥


This was a cute book. I do feel like there are two distinct halves that could've flowed together a bit better. The first half is Sophie and Max objecting at weddings and putting on a fake almost relationship for everyone else. Some supporting characters, like Sophie's best friend and Max's parents get dropped from the story. This didn't bother me enough not to enjoy Max and Sophie's chemistry in the second half. I loved how they confessed their feelings for each other by the end. An enjoyable read ❤️