This is the latest novel from Lynn Painter, a bestselling author who writes romantic comedies for both teens and adults.
Just before her wedding, Sophie Steinbeck discovers her fiancé has cheated on her again and wants to call it off. It’s a tricky situation, as her future father-in-law is her dad’s boss. Her friend intervenes and hires a professional objector named Max, who announces his objections during the wedding ceremonies and exposes her fiancé.
Afterwards, Sophie learns more about Max and his objector occupation and is more than intrigued. The two love cynics then start working together as objectors at several weddings and become closer. Soon, the physical chemistry between Sophie and Max is off the charts, leading them to hook up. Afterwards, they both insist they don’t have feelings for each other and don’t want relationships.
When a groom-to-be hires them to object to his wedding, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart, a conflict develops between Sophie and Max on whether to pursue the job. As both struggle with admitting their true feelings for each other and letting go of their exes, this heated feud looks to be the end of their relationship.
The story is a light-hearted romantic comedy. Anyone who’s been burned in love can relate to Sophie’s cynicism about relationships and love, but her character also displays a sheer stubbornness of changing her ways for much of the book. Max also has his flaws, but he is mostly presented as an almost too-perfect man, which is rather unrealistic. The real beauty of the story is the wonderful friendship that these characters develop and all the fun they experience along the way—the true heart of any real relationship. The plot is rather predictable but filled with sarcasm, humour, and tender moments.
Narrator Helen Laser provides an upbeat, sarcastic performance of Sophie that is fully entertaining and very easy to listen to. Sean Patrick Hopkins is a great choice for portraying likeable Max, delivering the narration with a smooth, confident tone that will have listeners engrossed in the story. Overall, the storyline is quite original but doesn’t have any exceptional plot points to make it award-worthy. If you’re looking for a fun, sarcastic romantic comedy with some great characters and excellent narration, give this one a listen!
