Colby is enjoying her life as a food blogger and free lifestyle and was thrown when the passing of her best friends leaves her with their children. Rip is brother to the couple that passed and is also now guardian to the two children and he's as straight laced as they come. Both can't help but seem to clash but will do everything they can for the children.

If you enjoy the frenemies to lovers trope you'll like this one. Both are so different with what they do and lifestyle choices and now they are through grief learning to be good parents and working together to set aside differences to do what they can for the children. I liked seeing how quirky the characters were, they were by no means perfect but they were trying as best they would with what they were forced into. Then there was the romance brewing between the two which I enjoyed watching as well. It was just such a overall fun read and I recommend any readers to check out this book.

I really enjoyed this story but the first half felt like it was the exact same thing as the movie 'Life as we know it." Obviously there were differences, but it felt so similar, I had a hard time distinguishing between the book and the movie.

That being said, by the second half, I felt like I was able to let it go more because I was interested in the characters and story.

This book was cute! Worth a quick cute read. It was relatable

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review

⭐️ Book Review ⭐️

Book: The Godparent Trap
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️TW: Death of loved ones

This was a quick and easy read that I finished it in one day! I didn't like how insensitive Rip was towards Colby in the beginning when she was grieving the loss of her best friend who was also his sister. I didn't like Rip at first because of this, however, he started to grow on me when we found out that he was having a hard time grieving the loss of his sister and his best friend. I also love how he was such an amazing uncle and cared so much about the kids.

This copy was kindly given to me by the publisher and netgalley for review. all opinions are my own.

I was rocking it with the reading game when I flew through this book. It was such a fast read, the romance was fun while still hitting the harshness of loss and learning to pick up the pieces. I wish there was a little more growth in the romance, it felt a little rushed but I did absolutely love their banter.

There was pining on both sides and the dual pov made that fun to see, I loved the kids and the dynamic they played and even the geriatric cat.

This book had opposites attract, enemies to lovers, and so many different emotions. Colby is a hot mess and Rip is the rule follower so when they have to live in the same house, it makes for some entertainment. Throw in two adorable kids and one hysterical secondary character, you get all types of emotions from this book. Highly recommend!

As I've seen other reviews and the description say, it definitely gives, "Life As We Know It" movie vibes. But, I think the story fell flat for me in a lot of ways. The way Colby and Rip grieved was understandable, but I felt like Rip was way too harsh towards Colby in the beginning, especially because the original reason why they disliked each other didn't really warrant the type of reaction. The kids stole the book for me because it was realistic chaotic energy!

The way they came together just didn't click well enough for me. I couldn't exactly tell what their attraction is to each other and if it's more about them just wanting to create a new family for the kids.

Thanks to Forever Pub and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my review.

TW: death, grief

I didn't expect to enjoy this book but I ended up loving it! The cover made it seem like it would be cheesy or possibly immature, but I think the characters showed a lot of strength, maturity, and ability to adapt to a situation. I really was rooting for the characters by the end of the book and I'm glad I read it!

It was a cute story. The beginning threw me off a little as it sort of jumped right into the thick of things. There was a enemies to lovers trope that didn't quite hit the spot but was ok. As per usual in audiobooks, the child voices were like nails on a chalkboard for me. I wish there was a different way to represent those characters without silly high pitched baby talk from the narrator.

All in all, an ok read that I was expecting a bit more from.

Cute in theory - the premise is what drew me in and the idea that it would be like Life as we Know It. However, this book fell a bit flat for me. Also, not a criticism of the book itself, but the cover just isn’t doing it for me. It falls flat and doesn’t interest or draw me in.

As has been mentioned by several other reviewers, this book very much reminded me of the movie, Life As We Know It, with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Only in this book, the main guy, Rip, is the overly serious one, and the woman, Colby, seems to be the less reliable one. I loved the movie, so I had high hopes I was going to love this book just as much.

It is a very endearing story. It’s heartbreaking, as Rip and Colby lose two people who are so near and dear to their hearts, so not only are they mourning this loss, but they are now thrust into an entirely new world of being guardians to two precious children. And they must try and find a way to co-parent these two children while dealing with the complicated relationship they have with each other.

I really didn’t warm up to Rip all that much. He was a jerk to Colby way too often. It would be one thing if he just picked on her and teased her a bit, but he took things too far and so I just didn’t like him. I kind of wondered if Rachel modeled this Rip after the broody ranch hand Rip on Yellowstone, but THAT broody guy really works for me, whereas this broody Rip, not so much. Luckily Colby worked her magic on him.

I loved the kids so much, and I loved the heartfelt message. I know a lot of people aren’t religious, but there were some really good messages throughout that I think are wonderful. It may have a heavy theme attached with death and grief, but in the end, it was truly a feel good story. I’m so happy I read it.

This was my first Rachel Van Dyken book and I really liked her writing style. Even though she’s a new to me author, I liked that she didn’t jump around in her writing, but kept the story focused and as such I will definitely be reading more of her work.

Colby was an independent travelling FMC and her food blog was such a fun job, making her a unique character. Rip, being Colby’s complete opposite required structure and planning for everything in life. Obviously this led to tons of tension between the two when it came to raising their God children.

As a mom, kids are always at the forefront of my mind when a storyline deals with children. I loved that even though Colby and Rip have completely different outlooks on how they should be raised, they came together to provide an environment full of love and support. I also liked how Colby helped Rip loosen up and grow throughout the book.

If you’re looking for a lot of smut, this book is definitely character and story driven, so while the sex scenes were good, they are not the focal point. This was a great book and I definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a forced proximity, opposites attract, emotional love story. Not only will you get a love story between the main characters, but you’ll get a beautiful love story of a blended family just trying to find their way out of the darkness.

This was fun! Overall I enjoyed the characters and their interactions; seeing Colby and Rip slowly come to tolerate and then love each other was funny and heartwarming. I think the premise of two parents dying in a car crash and then needing someone to take care of their children was interesting and a nice change of pace in a romance book. It added a unique twist on the book that I think ultimately helped it.

When your life can’t get any harder and you now have to do life with someone who is your complete opposite. Rip is a straight laced Account who doesn’t break many rules. Colby is a travel blogger with no rules and loves her crazy life. When her best friend and husband die she is now in charge of 2 kids and a house. The best/worst part is her best friends brother is doing this with her. Can they stop fighting long enough to make sure the kids are ok? Between the constant bickering, other people interfering and them not truly knowing each other this a great read. The parenting moments were laugh out funny and the emotional baggage that they both had to unpack was heart wrenching. In all this was a great story with amazing characters and I can’t wait to read more books by this author.

This was reminiscent of the romantic dramedy life as we know it with Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl, but in book form which I rather enjoyed. The process of grief is seen as we read and get to know this grumpy/sunshine duo while tension builds until it finally has to break. I felt that rip was a bit mean and unredeemable at times which is why I removed a star from my rating

Colby, a popular food blogger, and type-A accountant Rip have never seen eye-to-eye but when they lose their best friends in a tragic accident, they become co-guardians to their two children. It surprised me that even though the story is rooted in tragedy and processing grief is a huge element, overall the book still managed to come across light and heartwarming as they were all figuring out this new chapter in their lives. What didn't work for me though was Rip. I love a good hate-to-love relationship but it took too long for Rip to evolve from being antagonistic and his behavior was downright hurtful and disrespectful. So when he finally switched to the "love" stage I had a hard time buying it and ultimately it was difficult for me to root for this couple that's supposed to be the center of this book.

When I read the synopsis for The Godparent Trap, it reminded of the movie "Life as We Know It" with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. The way I could not contain my excitement when I got approved for this book...and it did not disappoint!
The dual perspective of Colby and Rip is just perfect and I love being able to see into their minds as the story unravels. I'm not typically a fan of miscommunication in stories but this was very well done.
A great balance of heavy emotions and romance and cuteness, I loved this story!

This book had the potential for something real special. But I feel like that specialness was lost in this book. If you've seen the move Life As We Know It with Katherine Heigl, then you already know the plot of this story. It was very similar, though it's been awhile since I've seen the movie and I don't remember all the details. However, in this story, I couldn't find myself jiving with some of the writing, and I really didn't care too much for the main characters. This just wasn't the beautifully heartbreaking story I was expecting to find,

This story had me in tears so many times, but it also had me laughing out loud throughout the entire book? my emotions need a checkup after finishing this! The Godparent Trap is pretty much the movie Life as We Know It but in a book. 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, easy to read and page turner but it was shallow and it lacked development.

I frantically flipped the pages of this book over the course of one day, so it was highly readable & I definitely fell hard for the plot but overall it was extremely predictable even though it was very emotional at times. The children were adorable and I loved that storyline as much as it broke my heart for them to be without their parents. I don't read fiction in order for it to be realistic, so I didn't mind that, overall, things seemed to be much easier for Rip and Colby than I think they'd be in real life if a situation like this were to occur, but I did find the pacing to be a bit too quick for them to go from enemies to lovers in that kind of time frame while supposedly grieving.

A cute story with a mostly happy ending & definitely a great escapist read. TW for loss of siblings/parents unexpectedly.