Lynn Painter has done it again!

Sophie Steinbeck is about to marry her cheating fiancé, until Max Parks comes in and objects to their marriage. Now free from a doomed marriage, the two navigate the single life. The two, now friends, decide to embark on a new business, professional "objectors" saving other couples from their own doomed marriages.

Sophie and Max, two people who have sworn off love, slowly start to deal with the challenges of the no feelings, no love pact they have in place. The chemistry between these two is just *chefs kiss*. I loved this new take on the rom-com drama. All the characters in this book are well developed and there was a great balance between the humor and romantic moment. I highly recommend that all romance lovers give this book a read!

Huge thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC of this book!

There wasn't anything special about this romance for me. I didn't hate but I wouldn't seek the author out in the future.

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter is a hilarious romantic comedy featuring a friends to lovers story. While I absolutely loved this rom-com I would warn there’s some language and a bit of spice that may not be everyone’s cup of tea though.

Sophie Steinbeck was so looking forward to her wedding day but when she finds out some things about her groom to be she begins looking forward to ending the relationship instead. Sophie finds herself caught between a rock and a hard place though when it comes to ending things with her would’ve been future father in law employing her own father making his job in jeopardy if Sophie walks out.

On the wedding day Sophie’s friend hires Max whose sole job is to object to the nuptials and derail the wedding train. When everything goes wonderfully Sophie still couldn’t help but wonder how Max ended up in such a weird position. A few months pass when Sophie and Max cross paths again and Sophie finds herself fascinated with learning to be an objector herself.

Happily Never After is the third book I’ve read by author Lynn Painter and it’s the third absolutely loved it story too. First, of course it’s great that I constantly found myself laughing while reading this rom com but I also found myself rooting along for the characters quickly and finding myself enjoying such a unique setting and circumstance for those characters. With the exact opposite of the three strikes your out saying with finding three gems from Lynn Painter she will definitely be welcome into my TBR again in the future!!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Ugh. Another AHHHHH-MAZING novel by the one and only Lynn Painter. I am a HUGE fan of hers and cannot not read her books.

Someone grab Hulu (because that's my streaming service) and get them to make this book into a movie.

This isn't a Hallmark-y kind of book, it is an adorable rom-com/chick lit, that starts off in a way you wouldn't expect it.

Just grab the book, get lost in it, it'll take you a couple hours, you'll thank me later.

Thank you NetGalley for my E-ARC (is it still an ARC if it is out? I guess it is since I can't get this at my library still) in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to Net Galley and Berkley Publishing Group for the copy of Lynn Painter’s newest. Although I received it after publication, I still wanted to give it a review.

Lynn Painter always gets me, there’s some reads that are fabulous and others that are meh. This one is in the fabulous category. I read it in one sitting. I did predict the wedding that would cause turmoil, but that’s okay! I love a successful, smart woman and I love a man that is working on himself. This story includes both of those types of characters in Sophie and Max. PS - Max is a literal 10/10 and I love him.

Every time there was a wedding objection all I could picture was Shrek screaming “I OBJECT”.

Lynn - I need a prequel of Stuart and Sophie and Max and Lillibeth.

This was so fun! This is the story of how Max, the Objector, rescues Sophia by answering the question, "Does anyone know why these 2 should not be wed?" yes. Max has a side gig to provide this service and give a way for the wedding to be cancelled in a very public way that place the blame on the person that actually is responsible. What Max doesn't expect is that he will find friendship and a partner in his side gig in Sophie. Sophie has decided she does not believe in love so when she begins spending time with Max it is for the side gig and friendship. But the more time they spend together, the more time they want to spend together. They agreed to not catch feelings but why can't they keep their hands and lips off of each other? A fun story of learning to trust and to take a risk at feeling something.

When i pik up a book by Lynn Painter, i know that i am going to be entertained. I expect to laugh, emotionally connect to the characters, and enjoy a love story. This gave me all of that and a fun plot. Have you ever been to a wedding where someone objected? I haven't. But imagine if you really wanted out of your wedding and didn't know how- wouldn't it be neat if there was someone you could ask to "object"for you? That's how these two main characters meet. Max is an objector at Sophie's wedding. Sophie then ends up working with Max as an objector because she believes in helping others who experienced what she did. While neither Max nor Sophie are interested in a relationship, they do develop a strong friendship that seems to be sliding down a slippery slope to more (it's a rom com, right?). I loved their banter and escapades. I also loved the dual point of view and hearing each of their perspective.

I really enjoyed this one!

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thanks to the publisher for sharing a copy. All opinions are my own.

Welcome to all those gathered here today for the celebration of Lynn’s newest book, Happily Never After.

You are all invited to say “I do” to reading this book, and any objectors, while entitled to their opinion, can keep it to themselves because I freakin’ LOVE this book.

I received an early copy from @berkleyromance @berkleypub but all opinions are my own.

I can fully imagine Lynn sitting at her desk, fingers tapping away at the keyboard and just cackling to herself as she puts Maxxie and Sophie into this ridiculous situations and drafts their banter. I can imagine this because I definitely laughed and cackled a lot while reading.

The premise is ridiculous but welcome to the romance genre in which hundreds of books are written on ridiculous premises and we, the readers, LIVE for them. Sophie is getting married. Finds out her fiancé is a scuzzbucket and wants to cancel the wedding without negative implications for her family. So she hires “the Objector” aka, Max, to intervene, which he does, to great success. A few months later, and Max reaches out to Sophie, and thus begins a beautiful friendship that is, from the get-go, meant to be something more.

Joining in on the fun are Sophie’s two roommates who are an absolute delight and I would watch a reality tv show based on them. Max’s dad also provided some laughs as he’s determined that, with Max’s help, he will finally get to retire to Florida and spend his days golfing and boating.

What I really enjoyed about this book is that as Max and Sophie were growing closer together, they were also helping each other to heal and grow from their past, and to figure out how to take the next steps forward, individually and together.

In my opinion, another hit from Lynn Painter.

Lynn Painter books are always guaranteed to make me laugh, swoon and sweat. She writes the most amazing banter between her characters and Happily Never After was just right. In saying that, it won't be my favourite of hers and there was a little something I can't put my finger on that's holding me back from 5 stars, but this book was still a wonderful, funny and cute read.

The plot was very original and very entertaining. The chemistry between the characters can be felt through the pages. Overall, it's a perfect palate cleanser and a book that's sure to warm you up from the inside out.

Thanks for the free book @berkleyromance, @prhaudio, & @librofm!

This was my first read by Lynn Painter, but it definitely won’t be my last!

My only regret is that I binged it in one sitting, and coming back a week later to write this review it’s all a bit blurry.

I fell in love with the romcom genre as a teen watching movies, and this gives book gives those golden age of rom com movie vibes - the kind of feel good movie you can watch over and over again. I can see myself pulling this book back out as a comfort read just like those movies became comfort watches!

🎧 Both narrators were so well suited to their characters and really brought the story to life!

A fun, quick, relaxing read! Perfect for in between heavier books when you wants something fun and entertaining. The audio of this was great. I really enjoyed the premise and it made me laugh several times.

This was cute as always! Lynn Painter always writes such cute and endearing characters that you can’t help but root for! The whole plot with them being hired objectors for weddings was so fun because they were so cheesy about it. The side characters were also such a blast. Faithfully a Lynn Painter stan for life 🫡

I absolutely LOVED this books. Reminded me of a 2000s rom com. I was not expecting it to be this funny! I was laughing out loud while reading this! Possibly, my favorite rom com I have ever read! I can not recommend this enough.

I absolutely loved Sophie. Empower females in books are always welcome. I love how she never filtered herself for anyone. She put herself out there exactly how she was and people accepted her or not . Sophie and Max made a genuine friendship before things turned romantic. The elderly roommates were another welcome and funny addition. I really like that message that you can be friend with any despite their age. This was also the perfect amount of spice. The spice added to the plot and didn't feel forced at all.

This book was an absolute joy to read — the best thing I’ve read this year. The on page chemistry between the characters was red hot and the premise of breaking up weddings together was adorable and hilarious. Cannot recommend it enough.

Lynn Painter is FLIPPING HILARIOUS and she might be the best writer of romantic banter publishing today. Yes, facts. Happily Never After is an absolutely delightful read and super steamy to boot. While our couple Sophie and Max definitely need to get out of their own ways, their love story was entertaining and sweet. Painter's best yet.

I'm not going to lie--I was a little creeped out at how many times Max thinks of Sophie as "young looking." Is that supposed to...be hot?? In all honesty, it was probably only like 2-3 times that this happened, but it was still a bit alarming to me.
Otherwise, this was a decent romance novel. To be honest, there are romance authors I'll read and feel the need to read all their books immediately (Tessa Bailey, Emily Henry, Ali Hazelwood, etc.), but I didn't feel that way after reading this one. It was cute and definitely had an interesting hook (I never thought about wedding objecting could be something you could hire someone for), but to be honest, it was just that. Cute.
All in all, if I'm ever in the mood to read romance and have exhausted all other options, I may pick up another Lynn Painter. I am certainly not objecting to reading her body of work, but I will say that I didn't feel compelled to immediately pick up another one.

What if you really needed to get out of marrying your fiance!? Who would you call to come object at your wedding. Well Max ends up as an objector who helps women get out of saying I do with out them calling off the wedding immediately.

Sophie Steinbeck cannot believe she is in this situation. But she can’t anger her future father in law, by calling off the wedding even though her fiance cheated on her again!

She ends up helping Max object to a wedding later, and then they realize how much fun it is to object together. As they do this, the two are very opposed to relationships and struggle with their developing feelings for each other.

This is an amazing premise! So creative in could objecting at weddings be a lucrative side gig. It is a fun read with like able characters, that you are rooting for the whole time.

The objectors...two friends who break off weddings by standing and saying "I object!" during the ceremony nuptials. As Max and Sophie work more weddings together, the closer they get and the more Sophie tries to believe in her anti-love beliefs.

Oh goodness this book had so many LOL moments I didn't want it to end.. When Sophie sits in the front basket of the bicycle so max can drive her home so her feet wont hurt.
There were so many good quotes I highlighted that I cant begin to type them all but here's one of my fav's:

"She was like a stubborn puzzle who didn’t want to be solved, which made me want to toss all the pieces into the air. And then solve it anyway, just to piss her off."

A few other's I like are:
"There are 7.8 billion people in the world, how can you ever be sure you've found the one true love of your life if you havnt even met 1 percent of the people on earth?"

"In my opinion, an adult couple needs a king-size bed so they could each sleep without having to touch eachother. sex was sex and sleep was sleep"

i wasn’t as much as a fan of this book. it just lacked something. the concept was really cool and reminded me a lot like the wedding crashes but i think the two main characters were kinda annoying? idk, it just felt off for me and i usually love lynn’s book!! she is one of my auto buyers but a little gutted that this book didn’t land for me!!

📚ARC Review📚

Hey Chaotic Lovelies!

First, thank you @berkleyromance for my free copy of Happily Never After! #berkleypartner

I wanted to share my thoughts on this cute romcom!

Pub date: March 12, 2024

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

⭐️ 3.5
🌶️ 2

I liked this story! It was a very quick read which surprised me because I wanted more.

I really liked the idea behind “the objector’s job” and thought Sophie helping on some of them was really cute. Both Sophie and Max are easy characters to like but I just didn’t feel the need to be fake dating.

I felt like the side characters were not easily likable and it was hard to really enjoy the story because of that but overall it was good!

Tags 🏷️

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