A review by jurassicreads
Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

3.0

I only recently discovered the enormous library of published works by Helena Hunting, so when I heard aboutMeet Cute, I was chomping at the bit waiting for it to be released!

When Kailyn is almost trampled by a gorgeous coed on the first day of classes as a law student, she had no idea it was the Daxton Hughes. Kailyn grew up binge-watching It’s My Life, the TV for which Dax is famous, but she had no idea she would someday meet the boy she drooled over. But her fantasy is far more impressive than reality.

Fast forward 8 years and Kailyn is an accomplished trust lawyer. Just when she feels like she has life figured out, the still impressively handsome Dax walks back into her life. Dax is now a successful entertainment lawyer, hoping to represent stars like his childhood self. But Kailyn isn’t impressed by Dax anymore, not since he robbed her of the #1 spot in their graduating class at law school.

When Dax comes to Kailyn for legal advice, she comes to the realization that more is at stake than her own pride. Dax has become the legal guardian of his 13-year-old sister, Emme, and he needs help in the battle to keep hisfamily together. Kailyn understands the importance of unusual familial bonds and puts her personal disputes aside in order to help Dax and Emme. And maybe, just maybe, Dax’s caring, gentle side with Emme starts to interest Kailyn after all.

“You know, generally when a man is close enough that I feel his breath on my face, he’s looking to rip my clothes off, not my head.”

I knew before going into this one that there was going to be A LOT of family stuff, i.e. children, parenting, etc. Although I’m relatively new to reading contemporary fiction and adult romance, I’ve come to understand that reading about such topics is a big turn off for me in books. I don’t plan on having children, however, sometimes I can enjoy reading about them. But other times it feels similar to being forced into an uncomfortable discussion with your parents about ‘where are my grandchildren?’ (not that my family talks like this). That being said, I was prepared to hear about Dax and his younger sister, Emme, and their journey. It was a little off-putting for me when all I wanted was for Dax and Kailyn’s relationship to blossom, but I understand that without Emme there would literally be zero plot.

Aside from my own personal qualms, I feel like Helene Hunting put a lot of consideration into Dax and Kailyn’s work lives and how it impacted their personal lives. Sometimes I feel like work is completely written out of contemporary books in favor of raunchy sex scenes, but Meet Cute had a better motive: make you love the main characters and their problems (solving them, of course).

Kailyn is written as a very strong character. She is very confident at work in trust law, but still maintains cases that keep her feeling fulfilled in family law. I do wish there were more chapters from Dax's point of view so it wouldn't feel so much like Kailyn was THE main character. I feel like I grew to love him over time due to this commitment to making Emme's life better, but I wish I could have bonded with him from the start like I did with Kailyn.

I'm pumped knowing that Helena Hunting has even more new novels on the horizon. I feel like I originally became a fan for her super juicy sex scenes I read in the Hooking Up series, but I’ve stayed for the character development and really entertaining dialogue between her realistic characters.

My Rating: ★★★

Content Trigger Warnings: loss of loved ones, details of custody litigations (of a child), talk of adoption and birth parents.