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I do what any jilted bride would do in my situation—escape to Hawaii with my best friend for my nonrefundable honeymoon…and pretend we’re married.
My happily ever after takes a nosedive when my fiance dumps me at the altar for his ex. So instead of toasting to marital bliss, I plan on drowning my sorrows in tequila. And instead of promising forever, he’s promising I’ll never have to see him again if I hand over the tickets to Hawaii. I can’t believe my ears at first when he tells me he wants to whisk his girlfriend away on what was supposed to be our romantic getaway. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound!
But when life hands you a lime, you put it in a coconut.
Licking my wounds in paradise was the last thing I wanted to think about in my dispirited condition, but now I have a perfectly good reason to go—so he can’t.
Enter Holden Santos, the guy who’s seen me through braces, bad haircuts and questionable fashion choices and miraculously stuck around. Now we’re rocking wedding rings, snuggling in a king-sized bed at a luxury resort and playing doting newlyweds as we sip cocktails by the pool. Piece of cake, right?
Until we share a kiss for appearances, that’s so explosive, it reignites feelings I thought were long buried. The butterflies that once fluttered in my stomach during algebra class awaken with a vengeance.
Now I’m at a crossroads. Do I lock away my feelings like the letters I never sent him one year at summer camp? Or do I take the leap, risking it all to lay my heart bare, knowing the consequence could be losing him—the man who’s become my everything, my confidant, my anchor—forever?
I really enjoyed reading Maddie and Holden’s story, and their relationship progressed while they were pretending to be newlyweds while on her honeymoon in Hawaii. They have been best friends since they were babies — they even share a birthday! — and grew up next door to each other. Their lives are so intertwined (her aunt is his stepmom) but Maddie and Holden have always just been strictly friends. I really bought into their closeness, and how they were such an important part of one another’s lives.
Holden’s feelings for her kind of sneak up on him when he accompanies Maddie to Hawaii after she’s dumped at the altar… and what turns out to be the most humiliating day of her life leads Maddie to finding a love she never imagined with her best friend. It’s easy and effortless while they are in Hawaii, but once they are out of that tropical bubble and back to their real lives, will they be able to go the distance?
This book was charming. Sexy and sweet, and hit all the right notes!
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.
Hannah Blowers lives in Michigan with her husband and their two cats. She loves coffee, graphic design and writing heartwarming books with happy endings when she’s not concocting stories in her head at her customer service job. Writing and laughing are her best forms of therapy.
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