Lynn Painter

Happily Never After // Book Review

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About The Book
Sophie wants to call off her wedding after discovering her fiancé’s infidelity but fears repercussions from her father-in-law. Enter Max, a wedding objector for hire who prevents doomed marriages. They develop a fun partnership, and despite their cynicism about love, their chemistry grows undeniable. When Sophie is hired to object to the wedding of Max’s ex, they must confront their true feelings.
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/4bp0NDg

My Rating

The synopsis had me thinking I’d really enjoy this book, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That said, it’s not a bad book at all—just not particularly special or entertaining. The story is quite original, but also fairly predictable. Normally, that’s not a deal-breaker, but I wasn’t a fan of the characters’ outlook on love.

The story follows Sophie and Max. They meet when Max is hired to object to Sophie’s wedding. Max is a semi-professional objector, saving people from disastrous marriages. Sophie and Max soon form an objector partnership and a friendship. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the objector aspect of the book as much as I thought I would. As a romantic at heart, it pains me to think people need to hire someone to get out of their wedding.

Sophie is a workaholic with strong opinions on love. I didn’t love her negative views on relationships, but they did make sense for her character. Max, on the other hand, was fantastic. Although he shared some of Sophie’s skepticism about true love, he was much less cynical. They balanced each other well, and it’s very much a “he falls first” type of romance.

“How can you ever be sure you’ve found the one ‘true love’ of your life when you haven’t even met one percent of the people on the earth?”

This is a relatively clean romance, though not entirely closed-door. The steamy scenes are not super descriptive, so I’d call it slightly open-door. If you’re not into a lot of explicit scenes, you’re safe with this one. However, infidelity is mentioned throughout, so keep that in mind if it’s a sensitive topic for you.

The writing style wasn’t my favorite. This surprised me because Lynn Painter has written one of my all-time favorite YA books. Yet, this one felt a bit slow. The chapters are short, but it had a Netflix romcom vibe that didn’t quite resonate with me. However, the author did a good job balancing character and plot development.

Overall, this book didn’t stand out for me, but I’d still recommend it for a quick read. It’s a good pick for those reading slump days. Maybe my hopeless romantic heart influenced my feelings about this book, so take this review, like all my reviews, with a grain of salt.

Let me know in the comments if you plan to read this book. Don’t forget to like and share this post if you enjoyed it. For more bookish content, hit the follow button so you never miss a new post.

Until the next chapter,
Bunny

By The Cover // March 2024

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FHi Friends,
Today, I’m going to be doing something a little different. It’s a new post series that I want to start doing each month, where I judge some of the current month’s book releases by their covers. This idea was completely taken from Shannon or epeolatrys on TikTok. She does cover reviews each month, so I definitely recommend you checking out her page.

The Summer She Went Missing by Chelsea Ichaso (March 5, 2024)
Nothing about this cover stands out to me. The title is obviously the focal point of the cover, yet I don’t care for how the font changes on the word missing. However, I do like the shatter on the sunglasses. Although, for what I assume is a summer thriller, the colors are a bit muted, and too dark for my liking

 

 

 

Murder Road by Simone ST. James (March 5, 2024)
I love this cover because it is so simple, yet still eye catching. Personally, I would instantly be drawn to this at a book store, and definitely want to read it. Although, I don’t find that the words ‘a novel’ are really needed. It just takes away from rest of the cover design. The only sort of negative thing I will say is that it does give major mass market paperback vibes. But, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 

 

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge (March 5, 2024)
At first glance, I thought that this cover was very well done. The placing of the title is great and the characters are drawn beautifully. However, the monster hand seems out of place, and so do the flowers. And, I’m not fan of the effect. My biggest issue, and this could just be a me thing, but the characters are giving me Star Wars vibes. Still, it is a strong cover as a whole.

 

 

The Other Lola by Ripley Jones (March 12, 2024)
This cover is stunning in my opinion. I am loving the 3D effect that the flower and paper are giving. The colors work well together, and the lighter background helps the black flower pop more. Again, not sure we need ‘a novel’ on the cover, but I do like how this cover includes a little blurb about the book.

 

 

 

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter (March 12, 2024)
This cover is so cute! You can tell that the story has to do with weddings. I love the confetti and font style. However, it’s a little too pink. As a pink lover this might be strange for me to say, but I feel like the background elements blend together a little too much. It would be nice if there was a bit more detail to the background, or maybe a splash more white added to break up the colors.

 

 

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle (March 19, 2024)
This cover isn’t captivating at all, but it is similar in color scheme and style to the author’s other books. I guess they should get points for consistency. For the life of me, I can’t tell why a book with this title doesn’t have some sort of calendar design, but maybe that would be too on the nose. I am just not into this watercolor, more artsy style of book cover. It just isn’t something that stands out to me.

 

 

In the comments, let me know what you think about these book covers. Just like always, remember to like and share this post. If you’re a fan of bookish content, then please show your support by following the blog.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny

The Do-Over // Book Review

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About The Book
In this riotous young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine’s Day ever—only to relive it over and over again. How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?
Buy The Book: https://amzn.to/3xeOYNy

My Rating

This was one of my highly anticipated releases of 2022, because my love for Lynn Painter’s ‘Better Than The Movies’ book is very strong. In this book, we follow Emilie, who lives the worst Valentine’s Day ever. Well, worst according to a teenage girl. But, in a strange turn of events, she gets stuck in a loop of repeating that terrible Valentine’s Day.

Yes, this is one of those classic ‘Groundhog Day’ retellings. Although, the plot of this book is super predictable, I still found it to be a cute read. And, the writing was, once again, superb.

I had a love/hate relationship with Emilie. There were times that I found her likable and other times I didn’t care much for her character. However, the love interest in the story was great, but I have a thing for the brooding, outcast, sort of bad boy.

The best part of the story was how the relationship between the MC and love interest developed so naturally. You could see their connection growing and them fall for each other. It was very relatable and adorable.

“I fell in love with you on Valentine’s Day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.”

For me, the outcome of the story was good, and once Emilie started facing things head on, her life changed for the better. Also, I like the addition of Taylor Swift, and I need to get a tattoo that says ‘I had a marvelous time ruining everything!’

However, the thing that hindered my enjoyment of the book was the fact that it gave me tremendous anxiety. Somewhere around the halfway point I dreaded picking the book up, because my anxiety was so high. I have no idea what caused this, but I don’t think it’s an issue that most other readers will have to worry about.

Overall, Lynn Painter has once again released a adorable YA contemporary. Although, it’s not exactly on the same level as ‘Better Than The Movies’. Maybe I’m just not a lover of time loop plots. But, I did love how she didn’t leave the readers hanging, and kind of has an explanation for Emilie’s time loop.

In the comments, tell me if you like the ‘Groundhog Day’ trope in books. And, if you like book reviews, be sure to give the blog a follow.

Until The Next Chapter,
Bunny