This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Published by Gallery Books
Released on May 14, 2019
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
The Delight
This author duo rarely, if ever, disappoints me, so of course, I snatched this one up on Net Galley as soon as it showed up. And I wasn’t disappointed not even the littlest bit. Enemies to lovers? If you like those kinds of books, you won’t be disappointed either. When her twin sister, Ami’s, wedding ends up a fiasco, Olive is on the receiving end of a free trip to Maui. Problem? Her nemesis, in the form of the brother of the groom, Ethen, gets the other half of the trip. The other half of the hotel room as well. And the kicker is, they have to pretend to be married. What could possibly go wrong?
Review
Olive has been out of work for a couple of months and has put off her almost desperate search for a job to do all the myriad of things that a maid of honor must do for a sister that is pretty much a bridezilla. Her family is huge, Mexican-American, and very loving. Well, except for her parents that haven’t spoken in years, but are still married. Ethan is handsome and almost stoic in his quest to ignore/use sarcasm against Olive. Olive is just as snarky right back at him. For her part, Olive just thinks that he’s disgusted with her curvy figure and the fact she sometimes indulges in snack food. Never mind that she’s not fat or disgusting. That’s her theory and she’s sticking to it. As readers, we don’t find out if she’s right until much later. When no one can go on the wedding trip, she is forced by her sister to take it so all is not lost since it’s non-refundable. When Ethan goes as well, things do get interesting. And at times so outright funny that I was laughing out loud.
I really enjoyed the characters, not only the two main ones, but also several of the others as well. Olive’s family has members that are memorable, her cousin Diego in particular, he’s gay and more a best friend than anything to her. Ami and her new husband Dane, have big parts to play in addition to other various family members and even some people met in Hawaii. The authors take peripheral characters and flesh them out amazingly well. There is of course a villain in this story and I am going to leave it at that!
This could have been just a rom-com, but I felt it was a bit deeper than that. There are problems with some characters and some heartache and that just made the story more. Even the interactions of all of Olive’s wonderful family members added a lot to the story. I could see some of them getting their own story at some point. Here’s hoping anyway.
These writers are quite the rom-com/contemporary author genius’s for sure. I see their names on a book and I want to read it. I’m still working my way through their body of work, but I will get through them all someday. And that’s because they are such good writers. They may be a duo, but their work is seamless. No way to tell who wrote what scene and that’s important. I think anyway.
Bottom line? If you haven’t started reading books by these authors, I think you are missing out. Was this my favorite of all their stories? Not necessarily, but it left me with a smile and I enjoyed the whole thing. And that’s all one can hope for in a romantic comedy, isn’t it? Highly recommended to adult romance readers-especially those that enjoy a fun read.
Preview
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I agree this offered more depth than a typical rom-com . Like you, I liked the side stories and characters.
I really enjoyed the read as I do most of their books.
I had a really fun time with this one
It was fun wasn’t it?
Another pretty good review. Mhmmm
This does look like a fun one especially with the way things get going. Some day I will read this author/s, Lorna. 🙂
I think you would enjoy them!
I’ve heard of the author(s) but I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by them. And I know what you mean about the book being deeper than it’s genre tag. I once asked my librarian friend about that and she said that it’s a nightmare trying to put a label on some books but the publisher’s do what they can. This sounds really good Lorna it’s going on my list!
I bet it is a nightmare at times. I wonder the same thing about some of Colleen Hoover’s books. Some of them are really not romances but that’s where they are put.
I will read anything this duo offers. They know how to write a great rom-com with depth. It’s funny, but also really touching and heartwarming, because of that extra dimension they add to all their stories. Loved Olive, loved Ethan, loved the set up. I was all in on this one.
Yes, I was all in as well. There’s only one that I wasn’t in by them.
I have just GOT to get my hands on this, it seems like everyone loves it!
It was really good!
I feel that these authors do go that little bit deeper with their reads, although I do love the comedy side of their romances. I tend to grab their books where I can too. Love the review, I’ll be getting this one soon!
I couldn’t believe I got the arc on Net Galley. Recently I got the arc for their new one that doesn’t release until October. And thanks!