Lynn Painter

Lynn comes straight out the gate swinging with this absolutely hilarious tale of two people whose paths cross in the most unexpected of ways. Brimming with the heart, wit, and snappy banter that is Lynn’s signature, “Happily Never After” will take your ideas of love on a ride that you will never forget.

To have and to hold, through sickness and health – yeah it sounds promising until you find out the person in front of you has been lying, cheating, and for some crazy reason – is show more still determined to marry you! That’s the unfortunate situation Sophie Steinbeck finds herself in. If not for her best bud Ara’s timely intervention, Sophie could have been trapped in the shackles of matrimony, holding onto a hope of annulment or divorce as her ticket to freedom. But a hero lurks among the crowd, ready to utter the sweetest of objections just as the officiant reaches the pivotal “If anyone here knows of a reason…”

“I do.” Those two simple words have been Max’s saving grace time and again, rescuing friends, family, and acquaintances from the brink of wedded disaster. What starts as a favor for a coworker becomes his brand, and once again, word of mouth has Max standing in a church, stopping a union from being built on lies and deceit. Typically, he’d take his payment, cut ties, and move on. However, Sophie isn’t your average bride. Amid the aftermath of separation, Max finds himself drawing closer to Sophie as they unpack the essence—and in her view, the nonexistence—of love. Fast forward a few months, and Max is the one in a pickle, turning to the person who’s as cynical about love as him. A favor thought to be a one-off snowballs into several more weddings and evolves into an unexpected friendship with a feigned romance twist. As they spend time together, they realize their outings are mutually advantageous—Sophie’s promotion hinges on her demonstrating she understands work/life balance and has moved on from Stuart while Max’s parents are eager to hand off the family business to a “well-settled” Max. Seems pretty straightforward, as long as they can fight their growing chemistry. But for two people who view love with so much skepticism, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Unlike the other delightful books I have had the pleasure reading by Lynn Painter, this one was more of a thinker than a gut buster of laughter. Don’t get me wrong, the chuckles were there and the banter was solid but the deeper meaning of the story was more appealing than the humor. Getting to know Max and Sophie is a journey into complexity. She was organized and disciplined, yet with the spirit of a more relaxed personality. She sought a life of equilibrium and structure but yearned for unpredictability, and that’s where Max came in as her perfect counterpart. Describing Max is challenging – he knew what he wanted out of life but something always seemed to be in the way. He was definitely a man that mastered obstacles. Max’s appeal came from his easygoing nature, but the true magic was in what he and Sophie unearthed in each other.

A moment of recognition for the secondary characters of this book – Larry and Rose were a hoot! It was so sweet to realize that while her roommates drove her crazy, they had essentially became Sophie’s family and best friends. They truly contributed to the story in their own unique way, adding wisdom and guidance that only the older generation can.

While there is absolutely nothing I disliked about this book, it does take some time to build up momentum, picking up steam about a quarter of the way in (so be patient!). Once it finds its footing, it’s nearly impossible to put down. The chemistry between the characters is one of the primary hooks drawing in the reader. Lynn has a tendency to not focus on the spice but more of the intimacy and connections of her characters. Does that mean the steamy moments, weren’t hot – absolutely not – they were fire but it was the looks, the caresses, the description of how they saw each other, inside and out, that made those intimacy scenes deeper and satisfying.

Philosophically, the book delves into the essentials of what love is, how we define it, what it symbolizes, and the consequences/impact of it. Through it all, we are continuously forced to remove the “term” love and start to witness a foundation built on friendship, chemistry, bond, mutual respect, adulation, and happiness. We are reintroduced to the misnomers of love that are actually lust, desire, fear of being alone, familiarity, contempt, or just situationally beneficial. Overall, the reader finds their beliefs, definitions, and perspectives challenged – begging the question, if we removed the term “love” and just placed the characteristics described by Sophie, how many us would still claim to be in love?

Happily Never After makes you laugh, makes you think, and most of all makes you realized that certain ideals are not black and white. We are allowed to live, love, and lose but by our own definitions not those placed upon us. Sophie’s acronym has found a special place in my heart and I would be interested to know what impact Lynn’s words will have on her readers. show less

This novel brought me great joy during a time when I needed some cheering up.

Liz lives in a world she believes her mother would want. Her mother passed away several years ago, and Liz has a perfectly good step-mother. Liz feels getting close to Helena would be replacing her mother, so she keeps distant. Liz tries to be her mom in some ways. She watches the rom-coms that her mom loved, and Liz loves them in return. She wears vintage clothing that sets her apart. She constantly thinks of music show more as a score to life as it is in a movie. Sounds fine, except it's now her senior year when major life events happen. Liz puts everything off because her mom isn't there to be a part of them. I'm making it sound like a depressing, realistic, serious novel. It is not. It's actually rather funny.

Liz crushed on Michael when he lived in town. She thinks she'll probably never see him, but he's back! She sees their romance as a rom-com and even begins a movie score to follow their relationship. The problem is that he sees her as Little Liz, as she was when she was young. Her next door neighbor agrees to help her get Michael. Wes, to Liz, is her nemesis. He continually annoys her on purpose. They argue over the parking spot in front of their houses. She finally has a plan. He can have the parking spot if he agrees to help her. They pretend to date to show Michael she is dating material. Wes even takes her shopping and offers suggestions to be a little "less Liz."

Fate obviously doesn't not want Liz and Michael to get together. The disasters that ensue make the reader laugh aloud. Liz handles these missteps well and even has a sense of humor about them. Wes seems to understand Liz and can help her adjust with the changes by giving suggestions that show he understands how to help her. Liz eventually has to face reality about college, her step-mother, and her love life. My only real criticism are the occasional cuss words. These would be suddenly thrown in and jar me from the story. They didn't fit her character or the rest of the writing style. Ultimately, the novel was a joy to read. show less

“Besides, what’s more fun than a story that starts with a fake relationship?”

The audible evil laugh that left my body when I read this line….

This has been in my ‘to be read’ pile for a while now and I am so happy I decided to finally pick it up and read it.

It is so cliche in the best way. The type of way that makes you want to scream and kick your feet like a teenager and I am not embarrassed to admit that I love those types of stories.

I think we have all had that crush on show more someone who has felt so attainable yet unattainable at the same time. This really brought me back to those feelings before I discovered what love actually felt like and it made me feel giddy in a nostalgic way.

“You look best when you’re you.”

If someone ever said this to me I swear that I would just melt. This is the sweetest sentence that could ever be said to someone.

I am a sucker for male protagonists who are just complete himbos in the best ways and I am so happy I got that in Wes. He instantly became a favourite for me, definitely a comfort character. I can’t get over how beautifully written he was, he definitely made this story ten times better for me.

Is it silly that I fell more in love with this book purely because they mentioned another one of my favourites (Gone Girl)? The minute Liz and Wes brought it up I started beaming.

“Please don’t ever become a stranger
Whose laugh I could recognize anywhere—”

These lyrics always make me want to crawl into a ball and sob so to have them featured in this book ruined my life in the best way possible (and worst way).

“Nah—I didn’t like you until recently.”
“Enemies-to-lovers—it’s our trope, Buxbaum.”

This book actually had me laughing out loud and that’s why it gets such a high rating from me. You know I really enjoyed a book when my review is just me making no sense but this book just made me feel something and that’s why it got 5 stars which is rare as hell for me.

I will definitely be rereading this in the future. show less

I knew I was in for a treat when I found myself laughing at the dedication page. Lynn Painter is a wordsmith and a banter extraordinaire. I fell in love with her writing with Mr. Wrong Number and was so happy to rekindle that feeling with her follow-up: The Love Wager. To be transparent, I had no idea this was a sequel as it is presented as its own story. While it is a stand-alone about Olivia’s brother, Jack – it does continue the story from Mr. Wrong Number so unless you are a fan of show more spoilers, I would read that one first!

“Hot Mess”. Not the words Hallie Piper would use to describe herself but after running into an old high school friend while bartending a wedding reception, those words keep echoing in her mind. It didn’t help that she was still recovering from being dumped by the man she thought she would marry, still lived with a roommate, and worked two part time jobs along with her full time to save money. This was her winter and she had a plan. What that plan didn’t include was getting sloppy drunk and hooking up with one of the groomsman at said wedding! Belly crawling out of the hotel room the next morning, Hallie decided her spring needed to start now (or she would die trying!) New haircut, new wardrobe, an apartment search later – Hallie felt like she was finally getting her life in order. Now she just needed to find that special someone to spend it with. At her good friend’s (who happens to be her second cousin) encouragement, Hallie signs up for a dating app. Playing the swipe game, Hallie can’t believe her eyes when she stumbles upon her hotel hook-up. Deciding she had nothing to lose, she sends him a message just to get a rise out of him. That quick poke of fun turns into a friendly competition of who can find love first. Fast forward through speed dates, first date disasters, and lots of tacos and Jack and Hallie find they are becoming the best of friends. The friendship is put to the ultimate challenge when Hallie needs a last minute date to her sister’s wedding. Having just told her family she had a boyfriend, Jack comes to her rescue as the fake boyfriend of her dreams. As the weekend progresses, Hallie is finding it harder and harder to not want that dream to become a reality.

While my reviews have a tendency to have spoilers, I try to refrain from quoting directly from the book; HOWEVER, there is one line in this book that caught me off guard and I laughed so hard, I couldn’t keep reading. I still find myself laughing when I think about it. It just goes to show how talented Lynn is and the quick wit and delivery she bestows on her characters. Moving on, this book was a trope buffet! I even love how they make fun that their situation was something out of a romance book.

I thought I loved Olivia and Colin together but Jack and Hallie are my new favorite duo. The way they playoff each other, one up each other, challenge each other – it is constant fun. I also love how quickly they have each other’s back and look out for one another.

The almost moments – you could feel that chemistry coming off the pages! Lynn is more humor than heat so the super spicy, steamy scenes are glossed over but those almost moments, the close proximity, the possibilities – those are so good you don’t care about anything else!

I wanted to read The Love Wager from the moment I heard about it and I can definitely say it lived up to the hype. Lynn is in true form – keeping the smile on your face, the burn from laughing too hard in your belly, and a great big dose of the feels in your heart. show less