About The Book
When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!” During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in.
The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all. And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.
Review At A Glance
⭐ Rating: 3/5
🔥 Spice: 2/5 (open-door, tame)
❤️ Romance: Friends-to-lovers, fake dating
📚 Genre: Contemporary Romance
🎧 Format: Audiobook
📄 Length: 7 hours and 39 minutes
“How can you ever be sure you’ve found the one ‘true love’ of your life when you haven’t even met one percent of the people on the earth?”
My Thoughts
The synopsis had me thinking I’d really enjoy this book, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That said, it’s not a bad book at all—just not particularly special or entertaining. The story is quite original, but also fairly predictable. Normally, that’s not a deal-breaker, but I wasn’t a fan of the characters’ outlook on love.
The story follows Sophie and Max. They meet when Max is hired to object to Sophie’s wedding. Max is a semi-professional objector, saving people from disastrous marriages. Sophie and Max soon form an objector partnership and a friendship. Unfortunately, I didn’t love the objector aspect of the book as much as I thought I would. As a romantic at heart, it pains me to think people need to hire someone to get out of their wedding.
Sophie is a workaholic with strong opinions on love. I didn’t love her negative views on relationships, but they did make sense for her character. Max, on the other hand, was fantastic. Although he shared some of Sophie’s skepticism about true love, he was much less cynical. They balanced each other well, and it’s very much a “he falls first” type of romance.
This is an open-door romance, but there isn’t a ton of spice. I’d say if you don’t mind open-door romance that isn’t super explicit, then you’re safe with this one. However, infidelity is mentioned throughout, so keep that in mind if it’s a sensitive topic for you.
The writing style wasn’t my favorite. This surprised me because Lynn Painter has written one of my all-time favorite YA books. Yet, this one felt a bit slow. The chapters are short, but it had a Netflix romcom vibe that didn’t quite resonate with me. However, the author did a good job balancing character and plot development.
Overall, this book didn’t stand out for me, but I’d still recommend it for a quick read. It’s a good pick for those reading slump days. Maybe my hopeless romantic heart influenced my feelings about this book, so take this review, like all my reviews, with a grain of salt.
📚 Where to Read or Buy
Amazon
Audible
Everand
Kobo
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Until The Next Chapter.
Bunny
All book synopses are sourced from Amazon or Goodreads.
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