Someone get me out of here
I fell for the cover and the premise of this book, a sort of Made of Honor meets My Best Friend’s Wedding, and I went for it even if it’s the last book in the series. But that really wasn’t the problem here since it does work as a standalone. I started it all happily anticipating the forbiddenness of developing feelings for your engaged bestie and giggling at the funny parts, encouraged that this could potentially be at least a 4 star book.
Then I don’t know where it all went wrong. Actually no, I do. Lia is the Amy Dunne definition of a “cool girl”, the glasses wearing nerd with non mainstream tastes and a boy best friend. Oh, and she doesn’t wear dresses and hates romcoms. Stop it Lia, we get it, you’re “not like other girls”, no need to wallop us over the head with it. What she is is a self centered, manipulative manic pixie dream girl who got on my last nerve. I’d give her some grace but then she goes and judges another woman for being girly and that was my last straw. I know she was jealous and confused, but her cluelessness does not add to her charm either.
Breaker is the type of guy I would never let go if he were my best friend, he’s that perfect, but he also gets annoying with his constant reiteration that he’s a “good guy”, we don’t have to hear it every other page my dude, it only makes me believe you less. And for a man who does not like to throw around his billionaire status, he brings it up unbelievably often. Also, judging your date’s food order is a heck no bro, even if it is about her eating less or healthier. We know they’re not all like your cool best friend, chill 🙄
Which brings me to the sheer stupidity of their denial that they were into each other. I know this can be a pitfall of friends to lovers romance but this was another level. They’re codependent to an unhealthy amount, they spend so much time together their partners should absolutely take exception to it, everyone in their life is even telling them they’re into each other, but these two idiots are the last ones to get there, and Ms Smartypants Lia even slower at that. And of course he realizes it in a big dress moment. Maybe some 90s cliches do need to retire. The inevitability of it all was a big yawn. We know she doesn’t want to go through with the wedding, why prolong the torture? I know they had to find a way to keep them apart for plot, but at what cost? The reader’s sanity?
Speaking of which, why on earth was this book so long? So many words? So many pages! I get why it was a slow burn, but there was no reason for it to be as long as it was. Someone badly needed to take a red pen to swathes of this book; the repetitive writing, the several brain numbing pre-wedding meetings when we know the wedding will not be happening, at one point we get to suffer through an entire day of a Disneyland date, heck we get to see them brush their teeth, go pee pee, and get ready for bed god knows how many times in the book. And so much incessant talking! Not the dirty talk that was good. Consent and communication is great, but it can be done so effectively without making the reader want to pull their hair out. Show not tell my friends. I would’ve rated it higher if it was shorter probably. I was literally going to dnf halfway but finished on principle to be able to write a fair review. I know, petty but I had to.
Because it was not all bad. There were funny moments, parts of their friendship were cute (when they weren’t being dunderheads), Breaker’s dirty talk was on point, and the sex scenes were pretty hot, technically. Pity I couldn’t feel an ounce of tension between them. Even the forbidden aspect was lost because there’s really no edge to them. I liked his dynamic with the brothers and their wives, and I love a Bromance, but after a point even that got excessive and awkward. A lot of it was just awkward. Her initiation into the wives’ group felt totally forced and out of the blue. The cheesiness of it all has likely given me lactose intolerance. And I appreciate well done cheese usually.
This all sounds harsh, but no one is sadder than I am to not like a book. Especially this one coz I wanted to love it. But hey, I dislike a friends to lovers book again (I don’t care enough to use the word hate), maybe all is right with the world after all.