Cover Image: Not the Girl You Marry

Not the Girl You Marry

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This millennial twist on the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days features Hannah, an aspiring wedding event planner, and Jack, a Buzzfeed-like reporter, as they navigate the shark-infested waters of modern dating. Jack is a cinnamon roll wearing the false exterior of an alphahole for an article about “How to Lose a Girl.” The girl is Hannah, a “sexy rabid raccoon” who wears “lipstick as red as the blood of her enemies.” The writing is witty and fun, as is the banter between the two. The story feels centered on the internal journey of the two characters who must learn to outgrow the false beliefs they’ve adopted from former partners before they can grow into the couple they are meant to become. Also, Best Epilogue Ever.

Was this review helpful?

I have tried to read this book multiple times over the past few months but unfortunately I just don't think this book is for me. I struggled to get into the flow of the writing style and I wasn't a huge fan of the characters. I appreciate being given an opportunity to read this one early but I will not be posting a review of this one publicly as I don't want to negatively affect a book I did not finish prior to its release. Thank you for allowing me access and I apologize that it was not a better fit for me!

Was this review helpful?

Not the Girl You Marry is basically a gender swap of the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”. So if you’ve seen the movie, you kind of know what you’re getting here.

The trope of “unnecessary miscommunication” is usually my least favourite trope, but seeing that it’s basically the premise of the plot, it works well here.

What I loved most about this book was that it brings to light what past relationships can do to one’s mentality. Sometimes the things others have said to you can haunt you, and that it’s always a beautiful thing when you can find that one person to help prove all of that wrong. You can start to love yourself again and be the real you.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you so much Berkley Romance for the ARC of this book. Not the Girl You Marry was a great romantic comedy! Full review to come.

Was this review helpful?

I *loved* the gender role reversal in this book: Jack is a serial monogamist and Hannah isn't interested in finding "the one," she wants to get ahead in her career while she still can. When Jack's boss tells him to write an article on "how to lose a girl" and Hannah's boss challenges her to bring a boyfriend to a big work event, well, you've seen "How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days," so you can guess the rest. This book was progressive, funny and adorable -- I finished it in a day!

Was this review helpful?

This book was a delight. Neither Hannah or Jack is being themselves in their relationships, and when life throws them together for underhanded reasons they try their best to make it work. This is the perfect gender-bent version of How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days (which is one of the best rom-coms ever) and the nuance Christopher brings to this story is brilliant. Full of fun and adventure Hannah and Jack's stories, both together and separate, are worth the dive in.

Was this review helpful?

This is a sharp and funny contemporary romance with two very engaging protagonists. It’s absolutely a straight up gender-reversed remake of How to lose a guy in 10 days, but I found it much more engaging than I remember that story being. Both Hannah and Jack have had difficult romantic histories (Jack because he always wants to please his partners so much that he loses himself and Hannah because partners don’t see her as a serious option for a long term relationship), and they are both struggling with their professional identities as well. I particularly appreciated the author’s willingness to address racism and privilege in a frank and effective way that still flowed well as part of the narrative. There are some fairly steamy sex scenes, so I would put this squarely in the contemporary romance category.

Was this review helpful?

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher felt fresh and modern, with such charming main characters. Enjoyable read!

Was this review helpful?

A crushingly accurate examination of modern dating and a glorious role-swapped sendup of seminal romcom HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN TEN DAYS, Andie J. Christopher's NOT THE GIRL YOU MARRY is a compelling read from start to finish. From the biracial female lead's struggles in the dating scene to the male lead's serial monogamy, there's a lot of thoughtful and frank looks at today's world of modern relationships and how past experiences shape our interactions with new potential partners. I particularly love Hannah Mayfield, a gloriously spiky, hyper-competent person with a few miles of bad dating road behind her and realistic (and realistically cynical) glasses tinting her view of potential partner and consummate sweetheart Jack Nolan. An exquisitely angsty and heartfelt must-read contemporary romance from a rising voice in the genre.

Was this review helpful?

#NotTheGirlYouMarry took me a few extra days to read and I couldn’t figure out why because I loved the story and the characters. Then I realized that I was trying to prolong the reading experience because I loved the book so much!! I encourage everyone to put a hold on this book or pre-order it now.
How often do you get a smart, humorous, contemporary story with just enough spicy sex thrown in? Not very! Hannah and Jack meet when they are definitely not at their best. Each has an agenda for dating the other. Predictably their schemes backfire, but the hilarity that ensues is original, real, and fresh. I love that just enough diversity was thrown in to make it realistic, but without making it a PSA.
Extra points for the author by including an epilogue. I love closure and getting things wrapped up neatly. However, since there are some extra characters in the book, will we see future books with their stories and Hannah and Jack in the background?
Thank you to Berkley Publishing and #NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

An absolutely wonderful read, this author did an amazing job of balancing out the serious undertones and themes running throughout, while also making sure that the romance sizzled and the characters were all fully formed people. A really interesting twist on a classic story line!

Was this review helpful?

I didn't make it all the way through. The characters were so mean to each other and neither one showed any sort of spark or caring for the other, so I didn't believe it was going to blossom into a believable romance.

Was this review helpful?

It was an ok read. I did enjoy the humor and the plot. I am a sucker for the fake date trope so I did enjoy that. I LOVE the cover. And the dog is so cute!!! I like that Hannah was a biracial heroine and she was just very cool. The the writing style wasn't my favorite, but overall I liked it.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Was this review helpful?

Smart, sexy, and fun! This is a date night in the form of a book; treat yourself to a bottle of wine and spend the night in with NOT THE GIRL YOU MARRY!

Was this review helpful?

This book was smart and witty but also sweet and steamy. I adored Jack and Hannah together so much. The exploration of identity that was an undertone throughout the whole book was also a great touch. Jasmine Guillory recommended this book at an event I attended and she was not wrong! Not the Girl You Marry is such a fun read.

Was this review helpful?

Not The Girl You Marry was a fun romance and one that I think would make a brilliant rom-com movie. (Hollywood, you really need to start hiring romance authors for your scripts. But I digress.)


However, as much as I enjoyed it, there were a lot of moments when I was a bit, well, bored. And I think this has to do with Christopher's writing style not matching up with my reading style, if you will. She tends to write scenes that start off with Catchy Thing A but then digress into exposition about other things for paragraphs, if not pages, before finally meandering back to wrap up Catchy Thing A. I often found myself flipping pages, not really invested in what was on the pages.


When it was good, it was good. But when it was meh, well, it was meh.


Still, the good was enough to pull the overall rating up for me. I can't wait to read book 2.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to the publisher for sending this to me in exchange for my honest review!

This was incredibly sweet! And how cute it that COVER?! I just love it! As a big fan of the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, I was very very excited to read this gender flip!

The beginning had me falling in love with the story immediately. Hannah and Jack meet and there’s an INSTANT connection; but due to Hannah’s reluctance, the two part ways until circumstances lead them back into each other’s lives. There’s some twist and turns with a sizzling and sweet romance!

I will say that towards the middle half Hannah started to frustrate me a bit. I just wanted these two to be honest with each other and give into their connection!! It felt like it was this consistency of misleading each other on while actually falling in love. It was cute in the beginning but it dragged on for a really long time. That being said, I was happy when these two finally TALKED and became official! It wrapped up sweetly and I’m interested to see what’s next for Andie J. Christopher!

Was this review helpful?

I couldn't make it fast the first chapter. It was just so negative and mean spirited. There was no way I could go further and I don't see many of my library readers wanting to go further, either. Perhaps the author could have introduced the main protagonists in a way that where you wouldn't want to take an immediate dislike to them. I"m sure there are motivating factors as to why the characters are so jaded, but I didn't care to stick around and find out.

Was this review helpful?

Fun! Its amazing how one line from a love interest can derail even the most confident woman. Would have liked a little more character development for some of the supporting characters. on the whole, a good book.

Was this review helpful?

How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days, take two. Cute novel that is a total re-write of said movie. Girl wants a more serious job in an event planning business. She currently plans for sports events where her excels, but Hannah wants to plan weddings (I would think it would be the other way around, but I'm not an event planner). Enter Jack who wants to write news rather than the "how to" he's now known for in the city.
You get the jist. Still, a fun read.

Was this review helpful?