Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Happily Never After

I would say I have a love-hate relationship with Sophie and Max. While I dislike the miscommunication trope, I understand their inner turmoil. I can see myself having such doubts. I am a sucker for he-falls-first, so that balances out the former, haha. As we are reaching a pinnacle point in the plot (which happened way later than I anticipated), I felt that there is an imbalance between how much of Sophie's thoughts and feelings we get compared to Max's. I can definite relate to Max and see what is going on in his head. With Sophie, however, I would like a bit more. There's a bit of a disconnect there. I didn't count the chapters/sections for each pov, and I don't know if it's cause I feel more closely connected to Max's stream of thought, so those may be factors.

Overall, may read her other books, too!

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k8lynn's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

devoured in one day. Lynn Painter does not miss!

ALSO: fake dating, kind of "forced proximity", and friends to lovers tropes🥰

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annadelreads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

“I can't imagine any two people more right for each other than us. I can't imagine any reason why we shouldn't be together when we both feel so much for each other.”

A quick and easy read about two people who objects in weddings. I think that's basically what you need to know to grab and read this book. Tropes included are fake dating, friends to lovers and he fell first (plus points to short chapters)! Oh did you know this is a Lyn Painter book? Now you know.

Kidding aside, what I love about this book is how it shows how one person can be strong and brave after a wedding wasn't pushed through because their partner cheated on them. Sophie showed that throughout the book especially how she became the objector because she was in that position - someone who can't back out of a wedding due to a personal reason (even though it was her partner that cheated). The roommates are an amazing addition to bring out other personalities in the story. The book is so cute and you can definitely see the chemistry between Sophie and Max. Unfortunately, this book like the usual romantic comedy that has only scratched the surface. I probably won't be thinking about this in the future but for the time that I have read and was reading this, I can say that I was happy and swooning.

Recommend if you want a fast and cute read!

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maddireads13's review against another edition

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funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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courtnetto's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is the first Lynn Painter book that I have ever read. In this book we have Sophie, who was about to marry Stuart when it was revealed that someone objected to their marriage. We soon find out that Max is the person who objected to the marriage as he was asked by Sophie to come and object to them getting married as we learn that Stuart isn’t the most trustworthy person and may actually be cheating on Sophie! After this, Max is offered another job being an objector, but this time asks Sophie to go with him so she can be an “objectress”.
Both Max and Sophie believe that true love isn’t a thing, Sophie believing that you can’t possibly know when there’s 8 billion people in the world. Sophie ended up keeping the apartment she shared with Stuart after she forced him to leave due to his cheating. She then finds 2 roommates, Rose and Larry who are two elderly people, as she is unable to afford the apartment alone on her wage. Soon after, Max and Sophie are offered another job at a redneck wedding. They successfully break it off but not without fights! The bride ends up going for Sophie, but Sophie then manages to put her into a headlock. As the book progresses between these scenes, you can see the relationship between Max and Sophie developing more and more.
They are then asked to do another wedding, which wasn’t within driving distance so the couple (yes, they both wanted their help as neither of them wanted to get married anyway) said they would pay for their travel and their accommodation. This wedding goes without mishap and the couple are happy that it worked well, the groom even trying to give them more cash which Sophie told him to keep because they were kind enough to pay for their travel and accommodation.
In between these weddings, they start to realise that they have a bit of sexual chemistry and end up doing something about this. Soon after, Larry gives Sophie another job that Sophie wants to take. This is to be the objector at Lilibeth’s wedding which Max tells her not to take, but she doesn’t understand why and says that she’ll do it alone if she has to but she is still pleading with him and he keeps telling her no. Sophie only finds out about this job through Larry, her roommate as it’s his best friends sisters niece. Eventually, Max tells Sophie she can’t do this job because Lilibeth is his ex. However, Sophie still decides that she wants to go ahead, much to Max’s dismay. This is when Max takes matters into his own hands and tells Lilibeth about the plans to object at her wedding.
Soon after, Max arrives at Sophie’s apartment and Rose says to him that she doesn’t want to talk to him, but Sophie ends up listening to Max as he declares his love for her (but remember it’s not love because they don’t believe in it) and Sophie freaks, kicking him out of the apartment. While at work the next day, Sophie receives a call saying Larry is on his way to the hospital, so she asks questions, except it’s a neighbour ringing so he keeps telling her he doesn’t know. At the point, she has also texted Max saying Larry was going to the hospital and Max tells her he will meet her there, which he tries to. But by the time he arrives, Sophie has already left. While at the hospital, Larry tells Sophie that she is stupid for not thinking about her feelings in this situation and to think about how she feels now and how she would feel if he was to cheat on her 2 years from now. Which changed something in Sophie and she decided she owed Max an apology.
Sophie and Max then meet up and Sophie apologises, firstly for going ahead and wanting to object at Lilibeth’s wedding and then secondly she wanted to address her feelings for him. Only Sophie typed what she wanted to say on a PowerPoint so that she remembered everything, but Max preferred for it to come straight from the heart.
At the end, there’s a year jump and this is where Sophie and Max get their own wedding!! When it’s asked if anyone objects, Larry and Rose decide it would be funny so they pretend that they’re objecting.
This was a lovely read and it really demonstrated how people show their feelings. It just felt like there was something missing for me, hence the 4 star rating.

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