This book is getting some mixed reviews, so let me see if I can help some folks decide if it’s for them. Are you looking for a gender-swapped retelling (almost beat for beat) of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but where the first time we see our biracial heroine she is flipping the bird and is described by the hero as looking like a “sexy rabid raccoon”?
While the book absolutely follows the plot of How to Lose a Guy, the tone isn’t the same at all—to the point where I might hesitate to recommend this book to my mother (who loves Hallmark-esque movies and 90’s rom-coms), but would absolutely give it to my fellow city-dwelling 30-something friends. Yes, it’s more blunt, or crass, or whatever other words reviewers are using. But it still feels authentic to some people’s non-PG13-movie experiences to me. More importantly, I appreciated that the book spends a LOT of time and energy showing our leads dealing with the emotional baggage they bring into this maybe-relationship, and how hard it is to not apply your past to someone new. Here, love doesn’t magically happen in a scene or two, as it would in the movie. It takes work and it takes communication.
Finally, I’ll add that if you liked The Proposal and The Wedding Party from Jasmine Guillory, I think you’ll dig this too. I would definitely put them in the same care package for a friend

Thank you to Berkley via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

There’s an old saying that “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince/princess.” That has certainly been true for Hannah Mayfield and Jack Nolan from Not the Girl You Marry. For them, love is a battlefield, and they are battle scarred and combat fatigued and neither of them wants to date again. Ever. But when they meet, they suddenly wonder if maybe love deserves one last chance.

Hannah’s never had trouble attracting men. She’s beautiful, has a bawdy sense of humor, and is a considerate and adventurous lover. She’s every man’s dream hookup. But the latest loser she was with told her she’s simply “not the girl you marry”. She takes his words deeply to heart, accepting that there is something so broken about her raunchy personality and “ethnically ambiguous looks” that she simply isn’t “keeper” material. She puts up walls, and gives any guy who tries to breach them her best full on bitch treatment.

Jack is the perfect boyfriend, who rearranges his life to accommodate the woman in it. He’s had three long term relationships which have all resulted in him being dumped for a far less nice guy. So he’s taking a break from dating. Naturally, his friends think this is a problem and drag him to a bar to help him get back in the game. When he sees Hannah, he figures his pals might just be right. He charms his way past her defenses and gets her number. Now he just has to move himself from friend to boyfriend by proving what a great guy he is.

Hannah doesn’t care how great a guy Jack is, she’s not trusting any man again. She has bigger things to worry about than her love life anyway. Her job as an event planner has stalled. She plans bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, and sports themed events but her boss keeps her far from the most prestigious celebrations they do, weddings. Her supervisor fears romance deriding Hannah lacks the proper attitude to plan the kind of charming, sentimental nuptials their clients are looking for. When it looks like a newcomer to the firm will be promoted to a plum matrimonial assignment over Hannah because of this imagined deficit, Hannah knows it’s time to act. She needs to prove she can make a relationship last, and she has a ready-made opportunity to do just that with Jack. She decides to give him a chance.

Jack just needs a chance. His popular how-to videos for the online magazine he’s working for are a hit but he wants to do political reporting. When he finds a juicy lead, he asks his editor for the chance to investigate it and write it up. His boss is reluctant to pull Jack off his current fluff pieces but agrees – if Jack will do a vlog on how modern men are doing all the wrong things while playing the dating game. The catch? He has to show himself behaving badly with a girl he actually likes to prove that even true love can be derailed by stupid behavior. He hates to do this to Hannah – but he really wants to write political columns. I think we all know what he decides.

I had all kinds of problems with the set up for this tale. A boss who treats you the way Hannah and Jack’s bosses treated them is probably sending a message about your prospects at that firm. There was no sense of either supervisor helping the hero or heroine succeed and it was clear the two were not being seriously considered for the promotions they were angling for. Since this is a novel, this simply meant the premise for the story was handled a bit clumsily. Fortunately, once we were past that hurdle the plot ran more smoothly and we settled into a delightful contemporary romance in which two people fall in love with some stumbles along the way to the HEA.

I’m not going to detail the antics the two get up to as they try to accomplish their dubious ends because what shone for me was how the author managed to keep them likable, sympathetic people in the midst of their doing and thinking some rather ridiculous things. A lot of that has to do with their backstories. Jack has rearranged his life for women in the past and his career has suffered for it. His vlog is the most popular feature the magazine has but his salary certainly doesn’t reflect that since he’s barely surviving on what he’s making. His chances of getting another, better position elsewhere are slim in the current job market, so he feels (very reluctantly) trapped into doing what his editor requests. His naturally thoughtful, attentive nature makes it almost impossible for him to comfortably take advantage of Hannah and consequently, he turns out to be quite bad at doing it with some hilarious results.

I really felt for Hannah. As a biracial woman, she’s had a hard time finding a place where she feels she truly fits in. She explains it this way:

When asked about her racial identity she always told people that she was biracial. This tended to bother black people because they thought she was trying to deny or downplay her blackness. White people tended to be curious about her race and then ignore the fact that she was half-black until it became inconvenient for them. For the white guys she had dated, it usually became inconvenient around the time it seemed natural to date exclusively or introduce her to their parents.

The problem goes beyond race, though. At work, her ability to blend with the less straight-laced customers and to mingle with clients with working class backgrounds has had her stuffed into the “party girl” category. That, along with her ex-boyfriend’s endless put downs, has her thinking she lacked – not just class and elegance, which was what was said – but that she herself is somehow simply lacking. When he told her that she wasn’t the type of girl one married, the subtle ostracizing that had been the hallmark of her whole life caused her to accept that as fact.

Things start to change as she finds herself able to fit in with diverse friends and family, who come from all different walks of life. She realizes that her ability to mingle across class lines is an asset and begins to see the full value of the spectrum of who she is. Jack sees that his image of himself as “the perfect boyfriend” is part of what makes him not one and begins to relax and enjoy being himself around Hannah. Their love story is sweet, humorous and tender because in spite of trying to use each other for employment gain, they are kind to each other, bring out the best in each other, and are actually perfect together.

Not the Girl You Marry is a delightful modern take on How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days that’s not only for fans of that movie. If you like contemporary romantic comedies at all, give this one a try. You’ll find a lot to enjoy here.

3.5 stars
I don't know about anyone else but I loved the movie this book was referencing... Had very cute moments and carried the theme to a happy ending.

Andie J. Christopher has written a fun retelling of one of my all-time favorite movies How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. The book put a bit of a twist on it, this time it is the guy that is trying to lose the girl and it is the girl trying to prove that she can be in a relationship. This was just a Playful light hearted story Full of sass, Snark, steam, and four letter words. Jack and Hannah meet one night at a bar, there is instant chemistry, but neither of them are looking for a relationship. The night they meet they share an amazing kiss, exchange numbers, yet still they resist. Then Jack’s boss gives him and opportunity. If he can write an article on how to lose a girl in two weeks, then he will be given the opportunity to write a political column. Similarly Hannah who is an event planner is wanting to start planning weddings. When her boss implies that she’s not the right girl to plan weddings, because she’s not even in a relationship, Hannah lets it slip that she in fact is now in a relationship. SO now both Jack and Hannah are using one another to bolster their careers. The problem is they both start to catch real feelings for one another.

Told from both Jack and Hannah‘s perspectives, I really got invested in this seemingly doomed romance. Hannah was strong, smart, kind of a bitch on wheels, but she definitely had a sweet vulnerable side. Jack was such a good guy, A little clueless, but so authentic. If I had any complaint about this book it would be that Jack doing this was really out of character for him, but I guess it needed to happen for the book to work. Loved all the secondary characters in the story. Jack had the most amazing family even his mom who left him when he was younger was a great character. Hannah‘s BFF Sasha was amazing, I’d love to see a story where she gets her HEA! This book just made me smile and feel all warm and gooey inside. There is some definite sizzle in the story and these characters do like to throw around those for letter words, so if that’s not your thing this might not work for you.

This book in emojis: 🌮 🐶 🍻 📰 💅🏻 💏

*** Big thanks to Berkley for my copy of this book ***

Set in Chicago this book is loosely based off of the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with a gender-role swap. The two leading characters in this romantic comedy are Jack and Hannah. Jack is a journalist and Hannah is an event planner who are trying to move up in their careers. They have been out of a relationship for a long-time since they haven’t met someone good until they meet each other. They immediately hit things off and start dating with a catch. Hannah needs this relationship to work to get a promotion and Jack is working on a story of how to lose a girl in order to write the big name political pieces he aspires to. Can they keep up the charade?

I love romantic comedy books and I was excited to read about this book as soon as I heard the synopsis. While the novel is mostly lighthearted it also tackles issues such as careers, relationships, dating apps, and racial identity. Hannah has struggled with previous relationships because her exes try to put her in box or label her as exotic. She is comfortable with her identity, but wants someone to see her as her for who she really is. Jack has been struggling with his career for some years and wants to be independent. He doesn’t want to fall back in his family’s business and knows that he’s worth more than the fluff pieces his family gives him.

I love these two together! The cheeky banter, humor, and they way they really connect with one another is so genuine. You can see that they truly care for one another and their feeling run deep. They make such a good couple and reading the hilarious antics of their dates made me enjoy the book even more. It’s also full of many steamy moments. Its a well-balanced romance novel and it’s full of good characters, an exciting setting, and a fun plot. I want to read more books by Christopher and I'm going to check out her other romance reads.

I'm not sure what it was about this book, but I just couldn't finish it. I'm a fan of romances like these, and as someone who's been in many interracial relationships, I was excited to read it, but I just couldn't finish it. I think I didn't expect everything to be so on the nose. He's using her, she's using him, but they both like each other. It's a common theme in romances, but this one didn't work for me.

3.5 stars

Fans of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days will certainly appreciate the storyline of Not the Girl You Marry - although at times it might feel a bit like - "haven't I watched this movie before" - but still totally enjoyable. I enjoyed Hannah and Jack's relationship and progression and would have loved it more to see them in a more unique story. Christopher is definitely a sharp writer and I'll be interested to check her out again in the future.

This was cute, it's my first from this author and I loved the writing!I enjoyed both Jack and Hannah and their story was fun!If you've seen How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days then you are definitely going to love this one!

I loved how the story goes and I find both characters well developed! Jack and Hannah have great chemistry.Hannah is biracial and has had issues in past relationships.She has given up on love and sworn off men.I liked her a lot!

It was a great read and I'm waiting to see more from this author.

Not the Girl You Marry is a book I picked up to review based strictly on the blurb as the author is new to me.

The premise of the book puts a spin on the “fake relationship with a purpose” trope that was unique and had me curious about who these people would be.



The author included a note at the beginning of the book about how some of her personal experiences influenced the heroine’s attitudes. Having that information was helpful - knowing that Hannah’s experiences and her resulting thought process was even somewhat based real experiences made me more open to seeing where she was coming from and how she responded to some of Jack’s behaviors.



Overall, I liked Jack and Hannah. Both characters were interesting and a bit different than those I’ve seen before. I appreciated the emotional growth that both experienced, I could especially (and I think most woman can) relate to Hannah’s experience and how history influences how she responds.



The plot and pacing of the story was entertaining, but I felt like there were places were the cross purposes being worked on could have been explored a bit more for the humor aspect. There were times the story felt a bit heavy. My other concern/ complaint was some of the language used - and I don’t mean the f bomb, etc- I mean some of the “headline” words that I’m not sure are mainstream yet. (I had to google a couple of things).



This is a book that I liked and I will definitely be exploring more by this author, there are just a few small things that fall under the “ maybe think about this” list.

This slightly updated homage to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days was a very fun rom-com. It's got as many frustrating moments as its predecessor- problems that could be solved or avoided with better communication, but since the point is that they are trying their hardest to avoid genuine connection so that they will be able to drop the other, it makes sense. It was entertaining and solid.

Not the Girl You Marry is basically a gender swap of How to Lose a Guy in ten days.  This means a woman had to have a boyfriend to get promoted and a Guy had to be a bad boyfriend.  Neither of which I particularly liked as a plot.

Jack is apparently the perfect guy, but he keeps getting dumped, so I was a little unclear why he had to try to lose a girl in two weeks.  Hannah wants to start planning weddings at the events company she works for, but her boss thinks she doesn’t believe in love so of course, she has to find a boyfriend to prove it.  Both characters are using the other one, and both actually like the other one, and I have to say I never got why. Though Jack really didn’t do anything too terrible, the mansplaining was a lot I will grant you, but every time he did something bad he would make up for it ten-fold.

In all honesty, I just didn’t care about these characters, I wasn’t drawn to either of them.   And I was indifferent to whether they ended up together or not. This book was not bad, and I think a lot of people would actually like it, it just wasn’t for me.

3.5 STARS! ~

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher was a retelling of the classic romantic comedy movie from the 2000s: How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Only, Andie puts a unique spin into play as well as reversing the roles of the characters.

We first meet Jack Nolan. He's the kind of man who thrives in relationships. He's been in three so far but now that's he's single he wants to try the casual dating thing. That is until he meets Hannah and feels an instant attraction.

Hannah is a strong, intelligent and independent woman but she, unlike Jack, struggles with relationships. She believes men don't see her as the serious type of girl. You know, the girl you take home to met the parents. She's dated guys; however, it seems once they have sex and are together for a little while, the guy soon realizes that he doesn't want to go any deeper. This has made Hannah feel a disdain towards men.

Due to their demanding jobs they each must lie to the other to further their careers. Everything becomes a mess of epic proportions when these two begin to develop feelings for one another.

I struggled with moments of repetiton and when Hannah would constantly bring herself down, coming off as a character who self-loathes. Battling her own inner demons of self-love and accepting herself, Hannah knows who she is and she is in fact fierce but she didn't believe anyone could love her. The fact that Jack goes out of his way to prove her wrong in that aspect is something I found I rather loved.

Overall, Not the Girl You Marry is a sweet romance full of wit with bits of angst thrown in. I really enjoyed the relationships between the characters. I'm looking forward to Jack's sister, Bridget's book next 😏


*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Berkley through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

So cute! Being in an interracial relationship as well I completely connected with this book! I love a cute contemporary romance novel to take me out of a slump and this did it for me. This was my first time reading anything by Andie J. Christopher, and it was not a let down! Thank you so much Netgalley for the opportunity!

When Hannah and Jack meet at a bar, they both convince themselves that despite their initial attraction, nothing will happen. Jack starts to pursue Hannah with all intentions of getting inside her head and using her for an article on How to Lose a Girl. Hannah’s focus is to make sure Jack doesn’t go anywhere since she needs to clean up her image and show she has a romantic side.

So I admit I really wanted to read this to do a comparison for the movie, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I love that movie and to see a book with some of the same premise but with gender reversal sounds exciting. However, the execution is slightly off and it may be due to the fact the readers are inside the mind of the main characters.

Hannah has a lot of issues. Her previous relationship really damaged her. I also believe that her own views of being biracial really started the issues she continues to face as an adult in relationships. Let’s break some of this down. Hannah use to date a guy name Noah who wanted her to embrace her “black” side and since she went to a primarily white school and have mostly white friends, she struggled with being the girlfriend he wanted. He ended things and told her that she is not the girl you marry. I say good riddance but of course, this messed Hannah up and she believes no one will ever marry her.

I liked Jack but for the life of me I couldn’t understand why he continued the charade with the article. Every chapter that had his POV, he spoke about loving Hannah and how great she is. So did he think this would end up working out and he gets the girl? Maybe if he wasn’t so into her and slowly realized how great she is, I could have stayed with the silly idea of the article.

The chemistry between Jack and Hannah kept me going. I love all the silly banter and sexy times with them. Hannah’s conversation with her best friend really reminded me of some of my own conversations with my friends. They were spot on.

Overall, this is a cute and funny romance that I would recommend.

~ Samantha

I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review. Not the Girl You Marry is a contemporary interracial romance. I loved the idea of an interracial couple as I feel there are more pairings beyond staying within one's race. And to have a strong bi-racial heroine is even more bonus. There are some fun moments, witty exchanges between Hannah and Jack. However, sometimes I felt the dialogue was forced and the exchanges and inner dialogue a bit over the top. I wanted to love this book because the premise is so good. I feel the book needed a bit more editing to tone down the dialogue and help develop the character arcs more completely and with finesse. Also, I didn't really feel the chemistry between Hannah and Jack. I usually get gooseys on my arms when characters have amazing chemistry. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. I think there's great potential, but it needed more polish and editing.

Not the Girl You Marry was described as a modern/updated version of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and honestly, at its very base, this is the most accurate description out there. For that, I IMMEDIATELY knew I needed to read this book. I cannot count how many times I watched that movie.

On the flip side, while I knew I would enjoy this book, I knew I wouldn’t fall in love with it for the premise. It is merely a cute and fun book that you read and go about your life at its base. What kept me riveted was the role reversal (the male was columnist) and the unique biracial perspective. I am not a WOC myself, but I love to read them in my stories in any capacity. I feel like this gave a fresh, but educational twist for me. Her struggles are a conflict/issue I never would know otherwise, and I am forever grateful to have gained the knowledge of a fellow female’s struggles.

This book was mostly light and fun, with a bit of drama and intriguing perspective.

I wanted to like this. A biracial romance with a mixed girl at the forefront? Sign me up. We needed this in the world. However, this was just not good. The writing isn't great, but it's not a deal breaker. However, the premise of How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days but gender-bent is a wonderful one, but the characters just suck. They are terrible, annoying and mean; I wasn't rooting for them to figure it out. I just didn't care.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this title. Unfortunately, it was not for me. I was expecting more of a romantic comedy chick lit type read, but this was a little too raunchy for me. I know that there is an audience that will love this title, therefore I will not be sharing a review on Goodreads, in order not to skew the rating.

Andie Christopher’s Not the Girl You Marry is a smart, sexy, sassy and laugh-out-loud funny romance that will leave you with a huge smile on your face. Jack and Hannah are utterly adorable as they argue, flirt and banter their way into love. He is the ultimate nice guy, who makes an epically poor decision while romancing Hannah, but he’s aware enough to realize and acknowledge his mistakes. While their romance is fun and lighthearted, it is also complex and emotional as Christopher presents Hannah’s experience of being biracial, and I truly enjoyed everything about Not the Girl You Marry.

I couldn't get into these characters at all. They were talking about falling in love and getting dogs a half an hour after meeting, and brought up his dick far too many times.