Author: Meghan Quinn
Narrator: Samantha Brentmoor and Alastair Haynesbridge
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: October 2022
Genre: Chick-Lit / Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: From USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a heartfelt romantic comedy about new beginnings and finding the romanticized happily ever after in the most unlikely of places.
Hollywood screenwriter Sawyer Walsh knows a good love story when he sees it. But when it comes to real life romance, he’s a mess. That’s how he finds himself standing at the altar…as his ex-girlfriend ties the knot with his very famous best friend. The pressure, the resentment, the media coverage―it’s all too much―and before he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s making a run for it, leaving a shocked congregation and flashing cameras in his wake.
Needing to lie low amid the media fallout, Sawyer lands in the charming town of Canoodle, California, where he crosses paths with Fallon Long, who runs the Canoodle Cove Cabins, a family-owned business and Sawyer’s new short-term residence. Overwhelmed with renovations and her long list of responsibilities, Fallon is struggling to make ends meet while attempting to bring the cabins back to their original glory. So when Sawyer arrives, she is grateful for the income but immediately writes him off as just another vapid Hollywood hack, until he begins to prove her wrong at every turn.
As Fallon comes closer to saving the family business, an undeniable bond forms between her and the handsome screenwriter. But the pressures of her family obligations and Sawyer’s notoriety might prove to be too much for anyone to handle. Could Canoodle be the setting for a new romance―or is true love just a Hollywood cliché?
My Thoughts: This book was absolutely adorable but also sad and sentimental. The story pulled me in immediately and the characters were memorable. I even loved that the town this story is set in is called Canoodle. We first meet Sawyer Walsh at the wedding of his ex-girlfriend. She’s the ex because she cheated on Sawyer with his best friend and somehow he has been encouraged by the movie studio he works for to be a groomsman. It doesn’t go well and his middle finger salute is captured on camera and goes viral.
He ends up in Canoodle where he is recognized by Fallon, a woman he went on a blind date with several months ago. He has no recollection of her or the date but she remembers him and doesn’t think very highly of him based on that date. He decides to stay on while trying to come up with another screenplay pitch for the studio.
I loved these characters. Though Fallon and Sawyer’s first meeting was less than memorable, she doesn’t hold it against him too long and their chemistry is blatantly obvious. Of course, they are going to end up together but the getting there was so much fun to watch. The supporting characters were just as engaging and interesting. My favorite was Fallon’s grandfather, Sully, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. The author did a wonderful job illustrating the frustration and sorrow this awful disease carries and I felt so much empathy for Fallon who gave up her nursing career in Palm Springs to move in with her grandfather and help him run his vacation cabin campground. I also loved Fallon’s Dad’s and her best friend, Jaz.
I paired the reading of this book with the audiobook narrated by Samantha Brentmoor and Alastair Haynesbridge. Their performance was perfect, they brought the personalities of all the characters to life which gave me a sense of knowing them. The more audiobooks I listen to, the more I really like multiple narrators. The story flowed smoothly and I loved having the chapters alternating between the points of view of Fallon and Sawyer.
My Final Verdict: Readers who look for romance novels that bring tears through laughter and deliver warm fuzzies will enjoy this story. I haven’t read many of this author’s books but she is an author to be on the lookout for.
Thank you to the publisher, Montlake, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.
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