Author: Sarah Hogle
Narrator: Taylor Meskimen
Publisher: Penguin Group - Putnam
Publication Date: April 2020
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.
Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They're preparing for their lavish wedding that's three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.
Naomi wants out, but there's a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.
But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they're finally being themselves--and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.
My Thoughts: This book was an absolute hoot! Imagine being engaged, the wedding is only a few months away and you are miserable and completely sick of them. Call off the wedding, right? Unfortunately, neither Naomi nor Nicholas wants to do that because the one who calls it off gets stuck with the bill. I know, it’s absurd. Who in their right mind would agree to that stipulation in the first place? Of course, neither Naomi nor Nicholas request a cease fire to talk about what’s happening.
As the acts of intentional sabotage are perpetrated against each other, I kept wondering if this was going to break out in an all-out war with one or both ending up dead. I also kept thinking all of this could have been avoided if they had just talked to one another and shared their feelings. Finding out Nicholas felt the same way about many of the things Naomi did regarding his mother and the way she took over the entire planning of the wedding gave me hope that they could get on the same page.
In addition to the numerous acts of sabotage that had my eyes almost bugging out of my head, there were several moments of eyes tearing up with laughter. This was my first experience reading this author and am looking forward to reading more of her work. I thoroughly enjoyed the crafting of the story and the snarky behavior of the characters. The audio narration performed by Taylor Meskimen added to the overall enjoyment.
My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to readers who love contemporary romance, chick-lit and stories with characters who have no problem showing the world the worst version of themselves and are willing to risk it all for their happily ever after.
Thank you to the publisher, Penguin Group - Putnam, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
