This was a welcome modern romance - a self-aware woman, healthy boundaries and consent culture, and a hero who respects women and their contributions. I really liked that Bridget was older than Matt, but it wasn't the entire focus of the romance.

Not That Kind of Guy follows Bridget Nolan, Jack’s sister from Not The Girl You Marry. Bridget is successful state attorney who sees herself as a failure when it comes to relationships. (Make that relationship, singular). After her brother sets the date for his wedding, the purposefully single Bridget must find someone to go with her. Enter summer intern Matt Kido, a pretty rich boy who falls for Bridget at first sight. The end of Matt’s internship finds them both in Vegas where an out-of-control bachelorette party leads to a more permanent surprise.

I felt like Bridget’s inner conflict constantly vacillated between her insecurity at not being good enough for her douche of an ex-boyfriend or for Matt. I had trouble reconciling this seemingly smart, tough perfectionist’s need to define her success and self-worth through either relationship. The character motivation for both Matt (pissing off the parents, hiding from a jealous ex) and Bridget (a belief in traditional marriage, also pissing off a parent) felt a bit petty, though maybe that was the intent since this is the “lie” that keeps them together through most of the book.

There’s definitely wit and humor in this rom com, and fans of the fake-relationship trope will find their catnip here. I think this book will appeal more to a millennial audience, as well as fans of Not the Girl You Marry.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute story. Tough lawyer and rich boy intern, both unlucky in love and completely crushing on each other. But neither of them want an office romance to happen at all. Then they end up in Vegas, end up black out drunk, and wake up married.

What follows is a figuring out of a romance that hadn't started until the wedding bells rang with vastly different families, ex's poking their heads into things, and a wedding (that isn't theirs).

While this isn't the greatest romance book that I have ever read it is a cute story that was fun. I wasn't a huge fan of the writing as I found that it was more telling than showing, but I did enjoy both Bridget and Matt.

Overall this was a cute book and great for the isolation life, but there are better out there.

Included as my pick in SBTB's April New Releases roundup, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2020/04/aprils-new-releases-part-one/

Funny and sexy, I had a lot of fun and enjoyment reading this book. It reminded me so much of the wittiness and yummyness of The Hateful Game and the movie What Happens in Vegas. It is predictable and very much like the aforementioned film, but it's still original in it's characters and character development. There isn't a lot of depth and seriousness to the book, but it's not it's intention. I liked Bridget and the minor characters are so much fun in reading.

I absolutely loved this romance! The polar opposite backgrounds were done really well in this novel. I loved them fighting off their attraction to each other and the forbidden romance aspect. Bridget was such a strong and inspiring woman. I loved watching Matt realize his privilege and become a better person, both for himself and Bridget. The romance was swoon-worthy and tense in all the best ways. The characterization on these two was stunning and all of the secondary characters were their own people, not just there as placeholders. They both propelled the story forward and stood on their own. This romance is a must-read.

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

In Not That Kind of Guy, state attorney Bridget is serious. She's serious about her job, she's serious about her family, and she's seriously bad at love. After her childhood sweetheart turned dead-end relationship comes to an end she figures she'll spend the rest of her life alone, but safe. Then super rich, younger, not at all serious Matt gets assigned as her summer intern. Sure they have an instant attraction, but Bridget would never cross that line - until she does and they end up drunk and married in Vegas.

Not That Kind of Guy is a fun read, sweet, sexy read that will keep you entertained in quarantine.

I received an Egalley from Berkley Romance in exchange for a honest review.

I'm going to be honest and let everyone know that I didn't have high hopes for this book after reading Andie's first novel, Not the Girl You Marry. I listened to the audiobook of that one and enjoyed it fairly enough despite the poor reviews on the writing and the characters. Maybe it was because I had someone reading enthusiastically to me instead of me reading it in the same monotone inner voice I have?

This one was a tough one to drag through. While the writing wasn't bad to the point that I couldn't finish, I had difficulty falling into the story because it was just large passages of descriptions and a lot of telling not showing. I could not connect with the characters and as a result, the romance seemed fake and not plausible.

This book follows the trope of fake marriage, rushed marriage, and fake relationship. Bridget is Matt's mentor at a law firm they both work at. Bridget agrees to be his mentor in hopes of getting on the good side of his family so that she can get the grant they sponsor. Matt is working there because he needed to avoid his cheating ex. They both accidentally get married in Las Vegas and agree to stay in the relationship because he wants to get back at his family and Bridget thinks it's easier to stay married than to divorce and start an actual relationship???? Does this sound weak to you or is it just me? I thought the character motivations were so wild that I couldn't believe this was an actual book. Aside from the characters being super messy, the book just bored me since I didn't believe in the romance.

Such a fun read, love the continuation of characters from Not the Girl you Marry! The tension is palpable throughout the book, love the distinct change in female character writing!

Not That Kind of Guy by Andie J. Christopher is a romance standalone novel, though it seems like a series, as the lead characters were part of an earlier story. I was not sure what to expect, as this was my first novel by Christopher, and I was pleasantly surprised as I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and sexy romance.

We meet our heroine, Bridget Nolan, a tough, smart, beautiful and successful state attorney, who loves putting bad guys (rapists) behind bars; but she is unlucky in love. After a breakup with her childhood sweetheart, Bridget has no intention getting into another relationship, and just wants to do her job. Her brother & future sister in law (previous book heroes) are getting married, and her family is pressuring her to bring a date.
Matt Kido, our hero, applies for a summer internship for the state, and is assigned, much to her dismay, to Bridget. Matt Kido comes from a very wealthy family, who also controls a fellowship that Bridget was hoping to get. He is also coming off a relationship with someone who cheated on him, and despite his ex-trying to win him back, he has sworn off any of her attempts. Matt is immediately attracted to his new boss, a beautiful hot redhead, who is also a bad ass attorney that always wins her cases. The attraction is immediate, though Bridget is determined to make sure she doesn’t become involved, especially since she is his boss, though in a short time working together, they do become friends.

When Bridget is desperate to get a date for the wedding, Matt volunteers to be her date, only as friends to meet the family in Las Vegas for the weekend. With her ex also attending the get together, he angers Bridget, and she plays up to Matt; after drinking all night, they both wake up married.

What follows is a fun sweet romance between two unlikely people, who have so much chemistry between them, we knew it would not take long for them to succumb to their feelings. I loved Bridget’s brother Jack, and Hannah (she was even more bad-assed); as it was fun to see them with Bridget and Matt. I did not like Chris, the ex; nor Matt’s mother, who tried to break them up; I did like when the mother discovers what Matt’s ex did, and she changes her tune. Lol

Because of their lust for each other, they decide to stay married until after the wedding, once his internship is done, and he no longer works for Bridget, Matt will do all he can to win her over. Will Matt succeed?
Not That Kind of Guy was fun, enjoyable, sexy romance, with a wonderful couple, and great secondary characters. I wholly suggest you read this book, as it was so well written by Andi J. Christopher.

I felt like the first half of this book was written by someone else than the second half. The way chapters seemed to end mid-scene threw me off. The characterizations were not consistent, in my opinion. Not a lot to keep going on after I genuinely liked the first 40 percent. I wish I liked it more than I did!

Not That Kind of Guy is a light rom com that was easy to fall into and read quickly.

Bridget is our main character and she's been burned by love, so she's sworn off all relationships. Instead, she's focused on her career as a state attorney. 

She ends up getting an intern, Matt, who is a rich boy (for lack of a better term) and whose successful family runs the foundation that can save Bridget from drowning in debt. She had applied to the foundation before and was denied, so if she takes on this intern, it may put her in good standing to get it this time.

I actually really found myself liking Matt for the most part. He's totally head over heels for Bridget from the get go, and I liked that we get to see things from his side a lot throughout this story. He's definitely more of a sensitive kind of guy and he has a lot of feelings we get to read about.

I liked Bridget too and I can see why she'd swear off relationships after Chris. He's an entitled jerk who we unfortunately get to meet more than once in this story. 

This is also a story of an older woman and younger guy (by 5 years) and I don't read many of those, so I also liked it for that reason. Also, this probably stuck out to me more because I'm 3 years older than my husband so I can personally relate to this aspect of the story.

I think where this story fell short for me was the parental involvement in the lives of two capable adults. And while I really want to explain more of why this bothered me, I realized that I was giving spoilers which I definitely don't want to do.

If you like office romance reads, definitely give this one a read because it was pretty enjoyable!

I really loved her first novel, but I did not click well with this one. I have been in a rom-com rut lately and it might be the reason why or every rom-com has an attorney as the main character. I really loved the description and thought I would fall in love with this story. I do love her writing style.

I've been stuck in a rom-com rut recently, reading too many romances that were inconsistent or just plain bad. What's a girl gotta do to get a cute and slightly implausible storyline with actualized characters who attack each other's faces with their own faces?

Andie J. Christopher's delightful Not That Kind of Guy broke that curse. I needed a fun, charming novel that had a little bit of (albeit repetitive) family drama and some steam, and this book gave that to me in spades. Once again, I'm cursing the Goodreads gods for the lack of half stars. This one's 3.5 for me.

What I really need to know, though, is if Andie J. Christopher is going to go full-on Fleabag for a book in this series and write about Father Patrick. I WOULD KNEEL, GIRL.

I really enjoyed this as a follow-up to NTGYM; it's safe to say that Christopher's humor and writing style just really work for me on a lot of levels, and I know if I need an entertaining contemporary that will offer a lot of laughs and moments that feel genuine I'll be able to turn to this series. I did love the "oh sh*t we got drunk-married in Vegas" conceit, as well as Bridget and Matt's choice to stay kinda fake married through the rest of the book, but I think I could've done with less time spent on both of their exes (especially since they were both verifiably terrible?). But overall this was a great sequel and I am very much looking forward to Father Patrick's book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Bridget Nolan is a successful, driven state’s attorney who gets rich boy “American royalty” Matt Kido (whose parents just so happen to fund a coveted fellowship she’s been after for a while) as her legal intern for the summer. Bridget is coming off a breakup with her one-and-only boyfriend, who happens to be one of her brother’s best friends and is also in her brother’s upcoming wedding. Matt has been ridiculously attracted to Bridget since day 1 of his internship, which ends riiiight before a bachelor/bachelorette weekend in Vegas. Matt ends up coming along to Vegas. With some Nolan family drama, ex-boyfriend drama, and lots of booze, some things happen that can’t really stay in Vegas. Should they stay married once they get back to Chicago? What will get in the way of their happiness?

Dang, I love me a drunken-Vegas-wedding trope.

I didn’t read the first book in the series, Not the Girl You Marry, but I was able to follow along just fine. Bridget seems like a real woman with real problems, and Matt is super sweet who doesn’t care about some things that might stand in the way of a relationship between the two of them. Matt’s family seemed a little cartooney, with his mother portrayed as an overprotective woman who believes that she knows best for her son’s happiness, so nothing new there. The spice level isn’t super high, but it’s a cute read!

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't connect Bridget's character to Jack from "Not The Kind You Marry," which was another book where the style of writing just didn't connect with me. Same here. The writing's kinda clunky--we have several opening pages explaining Bridget Nolan's plan to marry (her eventual ex) Chris Dooley since she was four, and I'm like "Are we going somewhere with this?" I felt like there was a lot of telling and no showing, a lot of exposition. It would've worked better if we had to guess what was in a character's headspace observing them through the other's eyes--like we're trying to piece together who Matt is through Bridget's observations and vice versa. Make things a little more mysterious.But the expositions meant by the first 15% of the book I still hadn't connected with the characters, despite the info dumps. Describing the "insta-lust/love" and then having everyone observe and comment on it didn't make me buy it better. Then I skimmed the rest, which I feel bad about, since Netgalley gave me this ARC. Wherever you stood on the first book in the series, this might just reinforce it.

I… honestly don’t know what to say about this book. It’s smart and it tackles VERY important issues. It’s sexy. But…did I like it? I don’t know. I think so?

Are you confused? Yes? Me too. I think…this may have been a character thing for me?

I know this makes me a hypocrite because I don’t have this issue with spoiled 19th century British lord heroes… but I just REALLY struggled with a 2020 ‘Trust Fund Kid’ hero. I can’t help it. It is what it is.

The particular “class” and money conversations at play in this story push personally sensitive buttons for me. There. I think I’ve explained my feelings to myself now.

How do you rate books that you KNOW are good but that you didn’t particularly connect with? If it’s well done on a craft level then I round up.

Thank you Netgalley and Berkley for the chance to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**

Title Not That Kind of Guy

Author Andie J. Christopher

Description from Amazon

State attorney Bridget Nolan is successful in all aspects of her life—except romance. After breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she’s been slow to reenter the dating scene. To be honest, she has more important things to do like putting bad guys behind bars. But with her brother’s wedding right around the corner, she suddenly needs a date and fast. Lucky for Bridget, the legal intern is almost done with his program.

Matt Kido is dumbstruck by Bridget—total love at first sight—but there’s one problem. She’s totally off-limits while she’s his boss. But the moment he no longer reports to her, Matt decides to take a chance. An impulsive decision takes them to Las Vegas where, as the saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Unless you put a ring on it.

Release Date April 14, 2020

Initial Thoughts

I was excited to have been approved for this title. I actually have several other books that I’m supposed to be reading right now (but I started this one instead). I haven’t read Not the Girl You Marry but I’ve heard great things.

Some Things I Liked

The side characters – especially Hannah. I just loved them. They were a great community and were so real. They all had flaws but I loved seeing them rally around Bridget.
Bridget as a relatable character. I totally got her. She had all kinds of issues but she made me root for her and I felt like I understood her. I like to see stories with characters that I can make a personal connection with.
Witty banter. A staple of all good rom-coms. This book did not fall short in the banter department. I loved the dialogue and that made me love the characters even more.

Series Value

I really liked the side characters in this book and I would love to revisit their lives in the from of a spin off. Similarly, I’d like to see more of Matt and Bridget’s story. The conclusion of Not That Kind of Guy was satisfying but I would be happy to see more of the story.

Final Thoughts

I really liked this book. It was a lot more than just a “waking up in Vegas” story and the side characters were phenomenal. This book was a roller coaster of emotions and I really enjoyed it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher – if you liked the writing style of this book, definitely try Andie J. Christopher’s first rom-com.
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – if you liked the surprise marriage as well as the banter but were looking for a fantasy setting, try this book by Shelby Mahurin.

Okay this one kind of upset me. I love Berkley books they hardly disappoint but I think me and this author just aren’t clicking like I’d want to. I think her stories are good but they aren’t really original. I kind of feel like when things go wrong between characters in her stories it goes really really wrong, like so dramatically wrong it doesn’t fall in line with the rest of the story.! Did I think Matt and Bridgette had that connection yes. But when things got tough later on in the book it was very very difficult to finish and I ended up DNFing.