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A review by poisonivy70
The Hookup Hoax by Heather Thurmeier
3.0
Sawyer’s been focused almost exclusively on the family business, deciding that he doesn’t do relationships. Of course. Except his grandparents are getting ready to deed the family’s lakefront home, and the choice is between bachelor Sawyer, and his married cousin Tyler. He’s despairing he’ll never get the house….but then Olivia presents the perfect solution.
Olivia’s been traveling the world for several years after a failed engagement. When she gets home, her brother Aidan’s best friend Sawyer proposes that she pretend to be his girlfriend AND come work for him. She gets to have some professional experience and save money to get her own apartment (since she’ll live with Sawyer for a while) and Sawyer can prove that he’s the settling down type.
So what happens next? Yeah….romance, of course.
The Good, The Bad and Everything In Between
-Good Chemistry: When the story focuses on Sawyer and Olivia, there’s definite heat and chemistry. Their banter was good and I would have liked to see more of it.
-Sweet story: In general, the angst is pretty low and mostly generated by their own self-doubt.
-But would have liked more depth: While it’s a fairly simple fake relationship plotline, so much wasn’t explored. For example, these are two allegedly intelligent people, yet neither one of them ever thought about of the most basic things such as needing to touch and kiss to convince others of their relationship. Also she's barely concerned about living with her boss and yet she hasn't even thought of the ramifications of being involved with him and how it will affect her relationship with her co-workers. So much could have been established, a strong foundation for what angst there is, if they had spent some time just discussing the plan and getting to know each other, and less time spent in their own heads bemoaning the other’s alleged lack of attraction (? seriously didn’t get why either would think that). Which leads me to….
-Suffers from the repeats: The one thing I would have liked less of was the constant “I can’t be with him/her, he/she doesn’t me” refrain that Sawyer and Olivia sang in their heads. The story needed more of a balance between their actual connection and their denial of their feelings. Alot of their romance was on a fast track to justify their constant woe of being together.
The Bottom Line
I liked it, even if I had some issues with it.
**ARC provided by publisher via netgalley for review**
Olivia’s been traveling the world for several years after a failed engagement. When she gets home, her brother Aidan’s best friend Sawyer proposes that she pretend to be his girlfriend AND come work for him. She gets to have some professional experience and save money to get her own apartment (since she’ll live with Sawyer for a while) and Sawyer can prove that he’s the settling down type.
So what happens next? Yeah….romance, of course.
The Good, The Bad and Everything In Between
-Good Chemistry: When the story focuses on Sawyer and Olivia, there’s definite heat and chemistry. Their banter was good and I would have liked to see more of it.
-Sweet story: In general, the angst is pretty low and mostly generated by their own self-doubt.
-But would have liked more depth: While it’s a fairly simple fake relationship plotline, so much wasn’t explored. For example, these are two allegedly intelligent people, yet neither one of them ever thought about of the most basic things such as needing to touch and kiss to convince others of their relationship. Also she's barely concerned about living with her boss and yet she hasn't even thought of the ramifications of being involved with him and how it will affect her relationship with her co-workers. So much could have been established, a strong foundation for what angst there is, if they had spent some time just discussing the plan and getting to know each other, and less time spent in their own heads bemoaning the other’s alleged lack of attraction (? seriously didn’t get why either would think that). Which leads me to….
-Suffers from the repeats: The one thing I would have liked less of was the constant “I can’t be with him/her, he/she doesn’t me” refrain that Sawyer and Olivia sang in their heads. The story needed more of a balance between their actual connection and their denial of their feelings. Alot of their romance was on a fast track to justify their constant woe of being together.
The Bottom Line
I liked it, even if I had some issues with it.
**ARC provided by publisher via netgalley for review**