"Joy can follow sorrow."

The Godparent Trap follows Colby and Rip, two longtime enemies who must put aside their differences to raise the young children of their close friends after a tragic accident leaves them orphaned.

While I initially went into this story expecting it to focus on the grieving process that follows an untimely death, I was pleasantly surprised how Rachel Van Dyken was able to create a romantic comedy in what might normally be considered a drama. The laugh-out-loud moments certainly rivaled the heavier aspects of the novel and it served as a great balancing factor, making The Godparent Trap somewhat of a still light read.

One of my favorite themes of the book highlights the idea that beauty can still be found within the darkest of times. It is a beautiful message and applies to individuals in all seasons of their life, not just those facing the loss of a loved one. The central concept that life is fragile and so the special moments should be held onto really resounded with me, and I think it will with so many others. This quote especially brought tears to my eyes.

"One thing I had already learned was that you had to hold on to the moments - even the ones that drove you crazy. Because you never knew how long you had to enjoy them."

Anyone who has watched and loved Life as We Know It will find a similarly enjoyable type of reading experience in The Godparent Trap.

Thank you to HBG, Forever, and Estelle Hallick for the advance copy.

**I will be posting on my blog and instagram in the next few weeks. I'll send links for that once I have them :) **

Colby and Rip have been in each other's lives for years. She is best friends with his sister and they went on one disasterous date. They are also Godparents to his sister and her husband's two young kids, Viera and Ben. When tragedy occurs they have to step in and raise the kids together.

The two of them had wonderful chemistry and banter. It was fun seeing the push and pull between them, especially as they tried to figure out the parenting thing. My favorite parts, though, were when they were vulnerable with each other about their grief, pain, and the past they shared. There are emotional and heartbreaking moments, but also lots of humor and sweet moments too.

The kids were great characters and were written realistically for their ages. I loved the bonds they formed with Colby and Rip and how they became their own family unit, figuring things out as they went.

This was a really great read and I flew through it in a day. I have read a number of Rachel's books but I think this is my favorite!

I absolutely loved this book! It reminded me of the movie, Life As You Know It. It really took me through all the emotions from happiness, laughter, sadness, love, heartbreak. I absolutely loved it!!

I loved the enemies to lovers trope and loved that it was two POV's. This book really had me rooting for the main characters and I'm so glad how it ended. I really enjoyed the side characters too!

All in all - this is a super cute book that is worth re-reading again!

This was a fun and quick read, I wanted to read it mostly bc the synopsis reminded me so much of one of my favorite movies “Life as we know it”.
The book was funny and I liked some characters but the characters and dialogues felt flat and weak. The protagonists go from hate to love all of sudden, the way Rip treated Colby at the beginning was really harsh and suddenly he realizes he likes her they forget everything he said… yeah that not convinced me at all.
Overall, It was fun and page turner but it was shallow and it lacked development.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

rating: 2.5

The Godparent Trap was so easy to read, so if you're looking for something fast paced and easy, this is the book for you. The bad thing is the characters lack depth, they read more like a caricature of tropes or an archetype badly done, and there was no chemistry at all between Colby and Rip. The book's premise had so much potential, it could've been a great found family!

4.5 ⭐️
1🌶

T R O P E S
- Opposite Attracts
- Grumpy Sunshine
- Found Family
- Forced Proximity
- Best friend's Older Brother

C W
- Loss of family members
- Grief

T H O U G H T S
I was hooked right from the first chapter. I don't know what the author put in it, because hell... All I wanted to do was read it. The characters, the storyline, the writing, the tropes... all mixed together makes it a really great book. At first, I thought that Rip wasn't going to be redeemable... but damn. That man... that man WITH KIDS. I honestly wish to all of you to find your Rip.The reason why I didn't give it a 5 stars is because sometimes the dialogue was really cheesy AND I wish grief was handled a bit differently. I'm 100% that kids this young would need help dealing with the loss of their parents. Even if the Colby and Rip make it work... It's unrealistic to believe they wouldn't need psychological help.

Rip and Colby are perfectly opposite and yet they complete each other so well. Rip is methodological, a rule follower, everything has to be a certain way... While Colby is a free spirit and a bit of a mess. He's the strict uncle, she's the fun aunt and together, they make a perfectly blended family.

Alright friends, log off your work computers, order dinner in, and kick your feet up, because I've found your new weekend read. The Godparent Trap is a breezy, lighthearted book perfect for fans of Sarah Adams and Sariah Wilson. This book has it all: enemies to lovers, fun banter, and a hot leading man who wears backwards baseball caps. Basically, it checks all the boxes needed to make it the perfect one-sitting, smile-from-page-one read. It reminded me a lot of the movie "Life As We Know It" (not a bad thing, very cute movie!), and is the perfect book to pick up if you're looking for not a lot of deep themes but the the exact right amount of cheesiness.

Colby and Rip are exhausted new parents, just trying to keep everyone healthy and fed and clean. Only they're not really parents--they are the new guardians of their late friends' young children. And they are going to have to learn to work together to survive. They've got years of emotional baggage between them to sort through, not to mention one awkward date that did not end well.

I really liked some parts of this book, but I could not get past how terrible Rip was to Colby for the first half of the story. Yes, they were both grieving, but he expected her to take care of the kids all day, and also clean the house, and cook for him when he got home from work, and she needed to look more put together while doing it? He keeps telling her she has to "do better", but never once offers to order groceries or do some chores himself.

Rip has some character growth (thank goodness, or I might've been forced to actually murder a fictional man), but it's not enough to redeem his initial awfulness. He even criticizes what Colby is wearing at their friends' funeral, and gets mad that she fails to put away all the leftovers after the wake--while he presumably went up to bed and left her with the entire mess? Colby is amazing and strong and deserves better than an emotionally abusive narcissist. At least the kids are cute.

There are also some odd side plots here that don't really serve the story, especially the arc of Rip's receptionist.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This is a very quick and entertaining read. I read it in two hours. It is basically a written Life As We Know It movie.
However, despite the quickness and enjoyability of the book, its very surface level. The characters were weak, the conflict was weak, and overall it just was blah. Like again, still fun, and a page-turner, but nothing new or super engaging.

After Colby's best friend and Rip's sister and brother in law pass away in a car accident, they are left to raise two children. Rip is the seemingly perfect person as an accountant with everything together. Colby is a travel/food blogger who travels the world writing for her blog. When Rip and Colby collide in parenting and living together, all their past history comes crashing back. Rip and Colby had a date that ended horribly. Rip doesn't understand Colby's "go-with-the-flow" attitude and Colby thinks Rip is too stuck-up for his own good. As they start to see the other side of one another, is there an attraction there? Why does Colby flirting with Rip's co-worker bother her? Why does Rip's assistant dropping by bother Colby so much? In the end, these two realize they have always liked each other, but didn't think the other person returned those feelings. I really enjoyed this book and love reading books by the author. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun read! The Godparent Trap was exactly what I needed for a fun weekend read – heartwarming, hilarious, and downright sweet. If you’ve seen the movie, Life As We Know It, you know the plot. Tragedy strikes two people who seem to hate each other, and they gain custody of two children while grieving their friends. Chaos and swoony moments ensue. Even though this was a predictable read, I really loved it. The characters were so loveable, the kids were adorable, and it didn’t shy away from the fact that this family had been thrown together through heartbreak. If you’re looking for a fast, cute read, this one fits the bill. It will be released on July 19th! Perfect for a summer vacation read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Colby and Rip could not be more opposite people. The only thing they have in common is their desire to be the best guardians possible for the orphaned children of their best friends after a tragic accident. After all, there’s nothing awkward at all about living and raising kids with someone that you went on a bad date with once, right?

I loved this book so much! This was an absolute tear jerker but it was also so cute. Despite my extreme hatred for Rip at the beginning of the book, I feel like he experienced a lot of growth and was redeemed in my eyes by the end of the story. The relationships between Rip, Colby, and Banks had me laughing out loud at times. I would highly recommend this book to any fans of cute romances with a sad element!

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the advanced reading copy!

Growing up, The Parent Trap was one of my favorite movies, so I was so excited to get this arc!! It has all the best tropes and swoon-worthy characters. Defiantly a feel good, heartfelt read.

This is probably one of my favorite books by RVD.

I will admit it was really hard to picture Rip because i could picture was Rip from Yellowstone and it just didn't really work (if you watched Yellowstone you know what i mean.

Once i got past that little hiccup i loved both of these characters they are both so relatable.
RVD really captures "it takes a village"

This book sounded so cute and I loved the cover, so I was a little disappointed with the execution of the book. For one thing, I think that a lot of the time, I was being hit over the head with tragedy, and the grief and loss was never really handled very well by the characters. Rip was absolutely awful to Colby about the way she grieved, and although he definitely apologized, I feel like he never really changed, and the way he treated Colby at the beginning of the book was just not something that I could get over. I never really warmed to him as a character because of how horribly he treated Colby both as someone who was grieving and as someone who was learning to take care of children, so I never liked the two of them as a couple.

I also found the children's dialogue to be poorly written - although children tend to mix up grammar a lot, the way that especially Viera spoke sounded like it was written by someone who doesn't really know a lot about the development of children.

I also found that half of the conflicts in this book were just resolved in a single line - especially with Banks and Heather. There was a build up only for it to be dissipated as though it were nothing. That mixed in with the random "tragedy" at the end with Colby made me not really enjoy this book at all.

This book had me in an absolute chokehold. I read it in one sitting which I haven't done in a while. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and everything in between.

This book was told from dual pov and I was so happy it was! I got to see everything happening in Rip and Colby's minds and it was so great. I was able to understand Colby's mess, why Rip was so emotionally detached, and I was able to see their days at the office vs with the kids. The dual pov really elevated this book.

Also, this book was very well balanced. I felt like the pacing was perfect for this plot as Colby and Rip tried to find their footing raising two young kids and figured out how they felt about each other. Also, this book deals with the death of two loved ones so the themes of healing and remembrance were prominent. Van Dyken did a fabulous job of balancing out the darker, grief-filled moments of Colby and Rip's lives with the fun and funny moments with the kids.

I loved the characters in this book. God bless Banks and his shenanigans. He's the only reason the story ended where it did. And Ben and Viera were so perfect. Van Dyken did a great job of capturing the joy and stress of raising a five and three-year-old. And seeing Colby and Rip interact with them melted my heart.

Also, this semi slow-burn romance was it! I wanted to shake Rip to get him to wake up and see what was in front of him. Luckily, Banks did that for me. And when I tell you, seeing this beautiful family come together made me cry so hard. Colby and Rip were just so perfect together and I loved their relationship.

Overall, I would read this book 10x over. The reality, the romance, and the healing were immaculately written and I couldn't have asked for more from this book. This opposites-attract is one you can't miss!

Thank you, Forever. for allowing me to read The Godparent Trap early!

The Read Now button strikes again. I requested this title mostly because I didn't have to wait for an approval and I wish I didn't. I sadly found it boring.

I wanted to like this one so badly but it just fell flat for me. It really did not read like Rachel’s other books! The storyline was interesting and I was so excited to read it but the execution was not good. The characters did not seem developed (we never really got to see their background and what little we did it was all about Rip and not about Colby). I also felt like the plot was all over the place and changing without any buildup or really any explanations. They go from literally hating each other and wanting to kill each other and Rip berating Colby to all of a sudden they’ve been in love for years. This one left me disappointed.

I was giddy with joy when I saw the cover of this book and completely devoured it in a day when I got my hands on it. It is so much more than a romance book. It deals with complex emotions that are told beautifully through two characters that feel authentic and genuine. Their sadness and grieving was perfectly balanced and flowed well with the natural progression of Rip and Colby’s relationships. The topics of grief and love never overshadowed one another nor did it feel like the author lightly touched on either topic.

This was my first book by this author and it definitely will not be my last. From the snarky banter to the emotional story, this book was captivating from start to finish. It’s the kind of book you get lost in and miss the feel once the last page is read. Trust me when I say this book is a must read! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Pub for this ARC.

“…my heart was trying to protect me while my brain was trying to be logical…”

This book was heartbreaking beautiful. There were times I had tears streaming down my face and other moments I was physically laughing out loud.

“…it was like he’d reached into my soul and pulled out every single insecurity I’ve ever had and voiced it out loud.”

You could feel all the emotions that were pouring off the pages. The gut wrenching pain, loss, heartache, humor, sadness, friendship, healing, chemistry, self doubt, survival mode and so much more!

“I was a fixer. But I couldn’t fix this. I couldn’t fix any of it.”