I absolutely loved this book- it was funny, fast and kept the pages flying. The tension between the main characters was palpable, and the trope of on again off again took a back seat- this one felt fresh and different from a genre that is known for the same formulaic style, and I was here for it! The right amount of steam in all the right places (didn't have to wait until the last chapter). This felt timely, relatable and not too set up. Characters were likable throughout. I was a big fan of The Love Wager, and this novel did not disappoint. Lynn Painter is quickly becoming an auto-read for me. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this book, with my honest review below.

If you’re looking for a read that is a fun adventure with off the charts chemistry, then Happily Never After by Lynn Painter is the one for you! I was drawn in by the book description, which sounded so promising, and this story delivered.

We join Sophie and Max, both of whom were excellent MCs you can root for, as they join together to become the ‘Objectors’, Surrounded by the cutest supporting cast in roommates Larry and Rose (and cats Karen and Joanne, whose names have a great origin story) we follow these two objectors as they help wronged grooms and brides get out of weddings and fall in love.

I loved the story and giggled enough times to raise some eyebrows, but it was well worth it as this story leads you on a merry chase from the start. Recommended for any readers of romances that are just a touch out of the ordinary, in the best way.

While the premise is wild, and a little hard to believe, I still really enjoyed this crazy ride. The humor, chemistry, and banter kept me engaged, and the spicy bits were just right.
I love this author, her books are great for young adult readers who love a fun romance and she carries that into her adult titles with a little something extra ;)

4.5 stars!

thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the arc!!

Just like every other Lynn Painter book, this was hilarious, fun, and so good.

Happily Never After follows Sophie and Max through their newfound friendship, wedding objector-hood, and love.

Sophie was relatable, funny, determined, and honest. She said what she wanted to say, worked hard for the things she wanted, and believed what she wanted to believe. She’s a love-denier, someone who thinks “true love” is a sham, and I loved getting to see the way this aspect of her character played out (especially in her relationship with Max). Her kind, snarky, and witty nature her made her so enjoyable to read, get to know, and easy to love.

Max was such a swoon-worthy man!! He was kind, relatable, genuine, and so funny. I loved his character, the way his personality balanced out Sophie’s, and how truly real he felt. He cares strongly about those he loves. He’s understanding, gentle, and ugh, i just loved him. His relationship with his mom & dad was so cute too, I wish we got to see more of them all together.

From the moment they met, Sophie & Max’s relationship was FILLED with banter, chemistry, and so much tension. They each cared so strongly about each other, let their flaws be known, but also worked to grow through their differences. The honesty, vulnerability, and just overall dynamic between these two was so great. I loved them together!!

Truly just a fun, easy to read, feel good book!!

Thank you again to NetGalley & Berkley for the arc!!

Lynn Painter always seems to dish up a fun, steamy romp! This was no exception. A quick read that I ifnished in one sitting with a plot a la wedding crashers, and a delightful, friends-coworkers-lovers storyline1

“You’re like the damn language police tonight. Maybe talk to me when you haven’t been out playing ‘taste the tonsil’ with Julian the Hot”.

This line (a quirky, better version of saying make out!) and this whole book was brilliant! Events were too “ordinary” for this couple, which is why all the hoops they went through together made this book extraordinary.

I loved how Sophie lived with two elderly people, Larry and Rose. They added a little extra spice to the story, especially when Julian the Hot came over to visit. I loved how down to earth Max’s parents were and how his dad told him to “milk the relationship”.

My absolute favorite quote was, “No, not events. Events were too… ordinary. Kisses with Max were like holidays. Like birthdays. Like monumental, butterfly-inducing extravaganzas”.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙟𝙤𝙗? 𝙏𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙬𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙢𝙖? 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧.

📍 Read if you like:
• Strangers To Lovers
• Amazing Banter
• He Falls First
• Classic Romcoms

Lynn Painter can do no wrong, I absolutely love her writing and storytelling. She has managed to write a story that completely captivated and delighted me in the best way possible.

The characters in this, Sophie and Max, become wedding objectors and oh my goodness, the banter between the two is top-notch. This was the perfect example of a romcom with all the giggles and emotions this book left me with.

Max was honestly the sweetest person ever, I loved his character and the way he treated Sophie. Also, the way Max is the objector at Sophie’s wedding was brilliant… talk about an adorable strangers-to-lovers trope.

Somehow this author managed to take me on a journey full of delightful laughs. I also loved the friend group in this with Sophie’s friends, Rose and Larry. The chapters in this also are quite short and quick to read, which I’m always a fan of.

I was swooning the whole time with these characters, and I loved seeing their chemistry evolve over time. The narrator was woven so well and the character depth was well written.

Overall, Happily Never After was an entertaining, captivating, heartwarming, lighthearted, and touching story - with the perfect blend of romance and comedy. I absolutely loved every moment of this book and the writing was exceptional. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley for the review copy in exchange for my honest review!

•𝗧𝗪/𝗖𝗪: Infidelity

Sophie has a problem. Her fiancé Stuart isn’t the love of her life but Sophie doesn’t really believe in love. Stuart is familiar and they’ve lived together for a while and it’s been fine. Stuart cheated once but swore he’d never do that again…it was a drunk mistake. Now, so close to her wedding day, Sophie sees Stuart’s phone and knows he’s cheating again. She’s afraid to call off the wedding so close to the day because her dad works for Stuart’s dad and he’ll get fired if Sophie embarrasses Stuart’s family. Sophie’s bestie and maid of honor knows a guy who will stand up in church and object to the marriage. They hire the guy and Stuart is publically outed as a cheater….no marriage. It works so well that Sophie, her maid of honor and the objector, Max party together and get drunk in the honeymoon suite. When Sophie wakes up the next morning, Max is gone and she has a really bad hangover. Fast forward a few months and Max calls to see if Sophie will object at a wedding of Max’s friend who’s in a similar bind as Sophie was. Sophie has forgotten how hot and nice and easy to talk to Max is and he’s forgotten the same about her. Neither believes in long lasting love but physical chemistry is different. Thus begins their objector/objectress partnership and friendship. What could go wrong???

Happily Never After follows Sophie Steinbeck and Max, the man who she hires to call off her wedding. Sophie teams with with Max to become a wedding objector duo to save people from entering ill fated marriages by saying “I object” at just the right moment.

I loved the premise of this book and felt like it was perfectly rom-com-esque. Starting right at the scene of Sophie’s doomed wedding was such a strong place to begin and the chemistry between Sophie and Max was delicious and carried super well throughout the entire story. In true Lynn Painter fashion, there was no shortage of cute banter and moments to make you blush. I loved how quick this book read and how dynamic the pacing was.

It did start to lose me a little bit when the plot diverged from being wedding objectors to almost a fake dating trope, I didn’t feel like that was the strong suit of this book and it left me feeling like that aspect of the book was a little lackluster. The first half and conclusion were both great for me, but I wasn’t crazy about the post-half way buildup. I never felt exceptionally connected to either of the main characters, but I think they did their job to make this an enjoyable read. Not my favorite romance ever, but I would recommend for something short and sweet! Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC!

Happily Never After is hands down, without a doubt one of the cutest rom-coms I’ve come across!

When Sophie finds out that her fiancee has cheated on her yet again, she’s desperate to call off her wedding. That’s where professional objector, Max comes into play. Max objects to her wedding and takes the pressure off of Sophie. Later that night, during anti-wedding festivities, Sophie learns more about Max and his unique job. To Sophie, Max is a modern-day hero and she decides she wants to help too…

I adored Happily Never After! From the moment I met Sophie and Max, I knew their story was going to be a ton of fun. I mean, imagine your “meet cute” is objecting to a wedding! It doesn’t get better than that. From that crazy moment, you get to see Sophie and Max’s relationship grow.

Sophie is the perfect partner in crime for Max and I loved all the shenanigans they got into helping people call off their weddings. The tension between Sophie and Max is palpable and intense. Despite neither one of them wanting to have feelings or fall in love, they can’t fight the pull they feel for each other.

All in all, I had the best time getting swept up in Max and Sophie’s story. Happily Never After has a great storyline with relatable characters and has just the right amount of steam and swoon. If you’re looking for an entertaining rom-com with a unique and refreshing plot, you won’t want to miss Happily Never After!

Cute quick romance read where the main characters have a meet cute and then go on trying to only be friends but fail and end up failing for each other?? Then one of them messes it all up and it appears all hope is lost but a tragedy brings them back together?

Yep this is the book for you. Nothing too fancy or extra with this book. But it’s cute and a fast read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

First of all, thank you Berkley for allowing me to read and review this book early!

Overall, this was a very solid romcom and it had all of the iconic Lynn Painter humor and banter that we all love. Max and Sophie were so fun together and I think their mutual distaste for relationships added to that because we got all of the mutual pining with some very delusional lovesick characters.

This book immediately jumps into the action which I loved so I wasn't dragging myself through the beginning of the book. The pacing throughout the entire book was good as well, and is definitely the kind of read I could see many finishing in the span of a couple hours.

Now, the ONLYYY thing that I have to critique about this one is that I finished this book feeling kind of unfulfilled? if that's the right word. Something felt missing, and I think it was just me wanting to see more of these character in a setting other than work or objecting. The plot was so cute but I do wish that there were more scenes that take place with the characters that didn't involve some sort of job they were doing at that moment.

All in all, I really liked this book and everyone should be marking their calendars for MARCH 12!!

Sophie and Max have the absolute best banter. I lost count of how many times I laughed.

I wasn’t sure I would love the Objector aspect of the book, but it was so well done. They both have their own reasons for being anti-relationship but it was fun to see their love blossom on the page while neither is willing to admit it.

Larry and Rose also stole the show- hilarious!

3.75/5
This was the perfect cheesy romcom and lynn painter as usual delivered on characters with banter and chemistry.

The start of this book was amazing, the setup and the idea of crashing weddings together was so much fun and it’s very easy to see these characters have chemistry.

The story reads very quickly, I couldn’t put it down. I will say that I lost steam at one point towards the end when I felt the story kind of lost the plot for a minute.

I did enjoy the ending, it felt so quickly resolved and almost a bit rushed, but this came with the plus of being such a digestible easy read, and hello the chemistry these two characters had?? Loved it.

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the arc.

Fun and quick read by Lynn Painter. I think the idea of wedding objectors is a good one. Lol. Main characters were fun and loved the "older" supporting ones too. Thanks for the advanced copy NetGalley. #NetGalley #HappilyNeverAfter

I'm a fan of the author and really was looking for a nice easy going fun read and this book was mostly that. However, at times the characters really didn't pull it in for me and the storyline was fine and kind of fun, but it wasn't one that I'll go back to. Usually I just fly through these books and can't wait to read more, but this one just seemed to drag for me. The main characters were nice, but to be honest, sometimes the perfectness of the characters is unrelatable and that their "flaws" are them just being so amazing just doesn't make them likable. The side characters were enjoyable, the plot was there, but overall it was just an ok read for me. Still a fan of the author, but this one didn't land for me.

Thanks to NetGalley & Edelweiss for the ARCs!

This was such a cute, fun read. It was also quick. I loved the banter and slow friendship buildup over the course of the book.

I will say I wish there had been more weddings sprinkled into the story. There were chuncks of time that felt drawn out without it.

Best of all, there was no BIG third act breakup. The conflict was resolved pretty quickly.

Larry and Rose were the best side characters. They kept me highly entertained. They need their own book of shenanigans. I would definitely read that.

4 🌟 stars.

Super cute read about finding true love in the most unexpected places. This one grabbed me from page one and held on until the end. I loved the characters and plot progression. Nothing felt forced. Predictable? Yes. Enjoyable? Most definitely!

Quick and predictable romance between two non-committal characters both burned by previous heartbreak. The wedding objector stints and Sophie’s room mates, Larry and Rose, added depth and comedy to the story. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lynn Painter's sexy, hilarious banter always makes for a too-quick read! I wish I could slow down and take in very detail, but her dialogue is so funny and her characters so compelling, I can't help but swallow scenes whole. I loved how refreshingly professional Sophie was - we love a corporate baddie - and how easily she matched Max at everything: in work, in life...in bed. And the wedding vow objector "hook" was a delightful romp through the insanity of the wedding industry while also being a strategic and charming way to explore the characters’ feelings—past, present, and future!