A review by mardell
Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

4.0

Watching the hero of this book navigate his gender-flipped Kate Hudson rom-com* role is a bit like watching a gymnast do their balance beam routine. All the bro-tastic doucheness is clearly very hard work for good boy Jack and he looks like he's going to fall off the entire time. It's not always fun to watch. But I stayed glued to the screen/page, willing him not to fall off. And it wasn't cause I was a massive fan of Jack. Nope, it was because I'm Team Hannah and I wanted him to come through for her. I always love a self-proclaimed Bitch on Wheels heroine and Andie J. Christopher delivers just the type of hard on the outside, secretly soft on the inside type I want more of on page. I didn't ultimately matter much to me that Jack's pursuit of his story was wildly out of character (he's gone for her from the start and just wouldn't do it) because he does stick the landing. A great example of how grovelling can happen without a grand gesture.

* I've recently rewatched 'How to Lose of Guy in 10 Days' and beneath Kate's bravura comedic performance is a real bad case of the aughts Cool Girl. Would love to see this one updated without a gender flip.