Member Reviews
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ follows the aftermath of two deaths, of Colby's bestfriend and Rip's sister and her husband. They're grappling with grief and at the same time making sure the two kids they're godparents to are safe but what's worse? They can't stand each other and there's no way either of them is giving up custody. They're determined to raise the children together, now come what may hell or high water.
- ~ -
Colby and Rip were cute together. They had a rough start but by the end I liked them.
Although, if initial impressions are anything to go by, Rip was well a prick. He was way too harsh on Colby and without any reason. And the way he pulled a 180 on his feelings towards Colby at the end (you'll understand better, what I mean if you read the book) yeah I'm not sure I fall for that. In that account, it might even be a bit of insta-love.
The moments they did share, however, were enough to satisfy me. The jealousy? Tension? Sparks? Denial? I ate that up.
And the kids always add to the plot. Here they added truckloads of humor.
- ~ -
3.87 / 5โฉ
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ (๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ) ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐จ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ & ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ.
The emotions that this one book brings about is astounding. The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken is heartbreaking, funny, dramatic and spell bounding. Pulling myself away from reading to try to get anything done was nearly impossible. I loved the characters and the setting and basically everything about the story. The slow burn that Van Dyken is known for is front and center with Rip and Colby and they have the perfect love/hate relationship along with the perfect ready-made family. I have truly loved every single book that Rachel Van Dyken has written, but The Godparent Trap has got to be at the top of my list of favorites. Rip and Colby play off each other perfectly and their banter and text messages are off the charts. One supporting character, Banks, is the best friend that everyone would want to have and yet are never available in real life, so his existence on the pages is priceless. There are only two things that I would have modified, first being the names. Every author tries to outdo each other on the names. How many men in their thirties are named Rip? Rip who has two best friends named Brooks and Banks? Then there is Colby, I love unusual names especially for females, but this group of names seemed almost for shock and awe. The second thing is the book is awesome, incredible, and enthralling but then it just ends. There is this slow buildup of fighting and sexual tension and drama then it just ends. Within five chapters there is the climax of the story then itโs over. I was sad to see it end so abruptly. Rachel Van Dyken is such an amazing author that she can take any type of story plot and make it into a bestseller. 5-stars for the amazing, incredible unforgettable book known as The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken.
I honestly couldnโt stop laughing or even wanted to put it down!
I really loved the method behind Maxโs madness and the way Ivy and Jackโs love grew from when they were kids.
It was honestly a brilliant page-turner
A tragic accident leaves two godparents caring for their best friend / sisters children. Me straight laced Rip and perpetually messy Casey are complete opposites and canโt get through a conversation without fighting. This is a story of love, family and compromise. Such a fun book. I liked the premise and the roller coaster that it was. I wanted to punch Rip at the beginning.. also I canโt stand this name . I kept reading it as R-I-p. It was distracting . But the book was fun and I read it in a day. Recommend
I was a little nervous reading this book at first because it reminded me a bit of the movie โLife as we know itโ. I realized the more I read the more I saw the differences. Ben and Viera were adorable and seeing how both Rip and Colby were with both of the kids was amazing. They both brought something to the kids that the other was not so good with. I loved seeing how the family dynamics shifted as they both grew into their rolls and sudden parents was heart warming. The history between Rip and Colby was interesting and seeing how they both had different takes on what went wrong in the past was interesting.
The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken
โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
Start date: June 3, 2022
Finish date: June 4, 2022
Pub date: July 19, 2022
Thank you Netgalley and Forever Publishing for a digital copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was a short & sweet romcom! Very similar to the movie โLife as We Know Itโ but still a really enjoyable read. This would be perfect to get you out of a reading slump. Enemies-to-lovers, dual POV, forced proximity, best friends brotherโฆ this book has all of the above!
TW: grief, death of siblings/friends/parents
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing the ARC.
This book was a good, easy book to read. I feel very weird calling it a romcom, just because the subject matter surrounding how these two characters came together is very heavy. But the book had its cute moments and both Colby and Rip were really great characters.
I know that the point of this book was two people coming together to raise kids in the wake of tragedy, but I was still surprised by how gutted I felt when Colby and Rip received the news. To me, it almost would have been better if the author has picked up the story in the wake of the tragedy as opposed to before. It made it hard to read some of the happier bits because it seemed too soon to be happy, if that makes any sense.
Additionally, Rip was the absolute worst in the beginning. There were moments where I was unsure why Colby wanted to be around him at all, let alone in a relationship with him, because he was so mean to her. And I get that he was grieving in his own way, but he said some truly horrible things to her.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but there were a few facets that I had trouble with. It's a perfectly acceptable story with some truly amazing characters.
I loved this book! While the premise was familiar - it reminded me of the movie Life as We Know it - everything else took me completely by surprise. This novel was adorable and funny but also touching and sad. The inciting incident was tragic but handled so well. The author skillfully showed the progression of Colby and Rip's relationship while continuing to demonstrate the entire family's grief. The kids were so well fleshed out and there were moments I laughed out loud moments before choking up with tears. The banter was delightful, the pining between Colby and RIP was hot and I truly enjoyed every word. I can't believe it's my first book by this author. It will not be my last!
My favorite romance troupe is from hate to love.
This story is the perfect example. A bad date, unfortunate circumstances put this novel into play.
When Rip's sister and brother in law pass away unexpectedly, he is now responsible for their children with his sisters best friend Colby who he doesn't like at all. A bad date left their fragile relationship in trouble and now they are expected to grieve, take care of the children and learn to coexist.
Rip and Colby both learn their new role and fall deeply in love. One of the better romance stories I've read this year.
Rachel is my absolute #1 goto mafia queen but yโall she can write the heck out of rom-coms too. The Godparent Trap is a quick read that will have you laughing, crying, believing in the afterlife and hoping to see blue butterflies ๐ฆ.
Colby & Rip are thrust into a life that neither had planned for themselves. Both have secretly had feelings for each other but never truly acted on itโฆuntil life happened. Now they are learning to raise a family & live a new life with each other without any clues on how to do either. They are each otherโs opposite in every way but they complement each other. Rip makes Colby want to be a bit better organized and Colby brings out a side to Rip that he buried long ago.
The kiddos truly have my heart because you know ๐ญ Iโm sure the next time I see a blue butterfly I will think of Monica๐ข
Fave quotes:
Good-looking men shouldnโt be allowed to do things like hold babies or smile at kids, it just makes a womanโs ovaries go, Itโs time! Pick us!โ๐ฏagree๐
โThat little shit!โ โSwear jar!โ Viera sang. โSwearing doesnโt count in sports,โ Colby said. โGo, little shit!โ Viera yelled. Colby slapped a hand over Vieraโs mouth as we earned several stares, then used her other hand to squeeze my thigh. โLetโs go, Ben!โโTHIS yโall I was laughing out loud because you know kids cussing is funnyโฆunless itโs your kid cussing๐๐
Never thought Iโd see the dayโor the nightโthat Iโd hijack a story about a frog, make it about me, and use it as a way to get a woman into bed. But here we were.โ-you have to start somewhere buddy ๐
I have been wanting to read a book with this trope that I have only seen in movies. Were the friends of the couple who can't stand each other end up with joint custody. I love that it also gives me hate to love. Which is another trope that I love. This one ended up being more sweeter than I thought it would. I didn't want it to end, but I also couldn't wait to finish it either. Which in my book is the sign of good book. I look forward to more books by this author.
Iโm a marketing and publicity intern at Forever Publishing, so I am reading this for work. May post full review later.
I expected this book to be a lot like a movie I have seen with the same basic idea of two people that dislike each other that become godparent. I was pleasantly incorrect with that assumption and found this book hooked me right from the very beginning. I loved the writing style and dual perspective, allowing the reader to really experience what the characters were going through. I found it to be a gut wrenching story that represents what it is like to be dealing with grief and loss while having to be strong for young children. Itโs also an enemies to lovers, so the chemistry and buildup was very entertaining.
I will definitely be recommending this to my friends going forward.
I hate the cover of the book, but I enjoyed the story a lot. This story reminds me a little of the movie "Life As We Know It" but with that being said, I liked the story and the characters a lot. I enjoyed the Colby's character and all that she brought to the story. I loved that she was chaotic, messy, funny, sweet, loving and had a lot of patience. I also enjoyed Rip, but I enjoyed him even more after he let his guard down and his feelings show. There were times I wanted to throat punch him. Ben, Viera, and even Stu the cat, had me laughing at their antics and it made me love them even more. This story deals with friendships, loss, moving on, love, and making lemonade out of lemons the best way you know how, even when things are chaotic and messy. Opposite attracts in the best possible ways in this story and for me, it is a story worth reading. This is the type of story that I can and eventually will read again.
Momma said if I don't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything, so I'll write this: this was certainly a book. There were characters, pages, and dialogue.
Poignant and heartbreaking, this book deals with some difficult issues, especially for parents. In this book, Colby and Rip lose the two people closest to them: Rip's sister and his best friend who are Colby's best friends. They are godparents to this couple's two children. Learning to navigate parenthood while also dealing with another person you find difficult to understand, this enemies to lovers romance was heavy during much of the story. There were, however, instances of humor and adorableness, not to mention parts of the book where I was nodding vigorously in agreement (or empathy?), as a parent of young children.
While I overall liked the characters, I have to say that Rip and Colby both wore on me a few times. Written as total opposites, Rip was a little too judgmental. Colby was a little too flighty. And their exactly opposite personalities in this story felt forced in order to exacerbate the conflict that will eventually get resolved with a HEA. Overall though, I was completely invested in the story and there were a few tears shed for this beautifully poignant book about finding love in a time of loss.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an early read.
This book had a relatively different starting point than your average rom-com, & it was this starting point that piqued my interest. Colby & Rip are thrown together when Monica (Rip's sister and Colby's best friend) & her husband Brooks are killed in a car accident, leaving behind two young children under six. Colby & Rip are the designated caregivers, so they both move into Monica's house to raise the children. Of course, the two main characters hate each other, making this a bona fide enemies-to-lovers romance. The story takes the reader on the journey of Colby & Rip navigating grief, loss, & change, all while parenting two small children who are navigating the same things.
Here's what I liked: As I said at the top, the premise of the book was intriguing to me, as not many rom-coms start off on such a heavy note. I appreciated the author's ability to show joy & sadness simultaneously in all the main characters. People, even fictional ones, contain multitudes. While I am not a parent, I am one of the oldest in my extended family & have spent many hours watching younger cousins. Obviously this is not the same as parenting, but being in charge for an evening is exhausting, never mind it becoming a parent while grieving a lifelong friend. Van Dyken, in my opinion, did an excellent job showing the good, bad, & ugly about parenting, & I appreciated that it was not all sunshine & roses. As someone who does not laugh a lot while reading, the dialogue in this book was witty & got a few laughs out of me. The texting conversations were my favourite part of the MCs interactions. Colby & Rip certainly did not lack chemistry, & the progression of their relationship was reasonably believable. Ben & Viera were excellently written side characters & they came out with some gems throughout the book.
Here's what I didn't like: I felt like Rip could have been more fleshed out as a character. We know he raised Monica after their parents' untimely death when Monica was in 8th grade, we know he's an accountant with a fancy car, & we know he likes rules & regulations. Personally I got a much better sense of Colby's character throughout the book than I did Rip's. If there's a man version of the Bechtel test, I do not think this book would pass. He's not a complete cardboard cutout but it did feel like his main purpose was to be uptight, hot, & rich. It also would have been nice to see Rip grieve more. I realize that might sound silly, & of course everyone processes things differently, but Rip's grief felt a lot more shallow & flimsy to me.
Overall this book was a quick read that tackled some pretty heavy topics without feeling like a drag & did very well in the comedy department. Some more solid character development would have been nice, but otherwise I enjoyed the time I spent in Colby & Rip's chaotic world.
The Godparent Trap is a rom-com that definitely packs an emotional punch. The story is about Rip and Colby, having to become sudden parents of two kids after their parents die. Rip is a strict, buttoned up guy, while Colby is a flexible, creative; they both need to come together to parent these two kids that are grieving. Of course there is also a bit of history here.
This is a grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, forced proximity romance that was just what my heart needed. Rachel Van Dyken explores grief, and the many natural ways that people go through grief, in such a gentle way.
The author also does a great job of writing realistic characters. I find that often, when writing opposites attract, and author exaggerates both characters too far on the opposite ends of the spectrum. Van Dyken didn't do this. Both Rip and Colby were believable in their personas and it turns out that both characters had a lot of beliefs about the other that changed throughout the book.
I really liked the side characters in this book. Whether it is the two sweet kids, Ben and Viera or Rip's coworker, Banks, they really added to the story. I also really liked the dialogue and banter in this book, both characters interactions and inner monologues.
The one thing that I didn't like in the book was near the end there is an event that happened that I just didn't like. I donโt think it was necessary, and seemed to add a bit of drama for the sake of drama.
This book made me laugh, this book made me cry. It was a beautiful story of love and loss, but not super heavy. Thank you to NetGalley and Forever publishing for a copy of this book. All opinions are 100% mine.
This book is essentially the rom-com "Life as You Know It" in book form. I love that movie so I was completely here for it. Colby and Rex are opposites and it is a struggle for them to work together to raise the kids. Chaos follows for a lot of the book. The third act drama really felt like too much for me and at that point I was kinda over it.
CW: parental death, car accident
Do not let the cute title and cover fool you. This book definitely packs an emotional punch.
Rip and Colby have a lot of history together and when unfortunate circumstances force time to act as team, there is a lot to unpack. This is your warning that Rip is an alphahole in the beginning of this book, but he definitely redeems himself IMO.
I really enjoyed the romance between Rip and Colby, and all of the interaction with the kids, felt very real. Being a SAHM I definitely related to that aspect of the book and was happy to it is portrayed. Also the loss it deals with is very raw and real which is something else I can relate too and felt it was well done.
Overall I really enjoyed this one!
Melliโs Book Breakdown
๐คenemies to lovers
๐คBest Friendโs Brother
๐คGrumpy/sunshine
๐คJ/P Hero
๐คSlow Burn
๐คlittle spicy ๐ถ๐ถ
Thank you netgalley and forever publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.