Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

 

Happily Never After

by Lynn Painter

I hit the download button on the Happily Never After audiobook by Lynn Painter from the LibroFM catalog without even sparking a glance at the synopsis. For the three entertaining days, this rom-com gem was my commuting companion, making me laugh out loud and squeal with delight. Listening to the narration felt like watching a ridiculously fun romantic comedy movie. I was hooked from the first minute and didn't want it to end!

The premise of Happily Never After is a lot of fun. Sophie Steinbeck teams up with Max, a professional "objector" who is hired to break up weddings, after her own wedding is called off. They work together crashing ceremonies to save unsuspecting couples, and along the way, the two cynics about love develop an undeniable physical chemistry. However, their casual fling is complicated when they are hired to object at the wedding of Max's heartbreaking ex-fiancée, forcing them to confront their growing feelings for each other.

Sophie and Max instantly clicked for me as both characters and a potential couple. Their chemistry-laced banter had me kicking my feet and giggling from the very beginning - they perfectly captured the flirty rom-com vibe that Painter leaned heavily into. Max does that thing that rom-com leads do where he calls Sophie by her last name. The sparks were flying all over the place in this relationship! And wow, did these two know how to turn up the heat. The physical chemistry was sweltering whenever they gave in to temptation - this girl was SWEATING. Even their kisses were scorching!

While characters vehemently opposed to love can sometimes be grating to me as a reader, both Sophie and Max were valid in their cynicism toward romance. I thought that it made it even more deliciously fun to watch their walls start crumbling as their feelings blossomed, leaving them in utterly confused territories. Lynn Painter milked maximum enjoyment from their resistance gradually melting away and she's an evil genius for it. 

The wedding crashing antics were also an absolute riot - every scene brought so much humor to the page. But as hilarious as those disastrous nuptials were, they may have been topped by Sophie's elderly roommates. Their saucy shenanigans had me choking on my laughs on the bus. I would totally read an entire novella dedicated to their hijinks in a heartbeat! 

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter delivered constant laughs an excellent chemistry. This was an utterly buoyant, thoroughly entertaining light-hearted romantic romp!