My Thoughts: The star of this book is the the banter which was ah-mazing and had me repeatedly giggling to myself. I also loved Anna and how she owns her quirky, pink-haired, poor-as-a-church-mouse self. Her vibrant personality stands out amongst the Weston clan - the snooty, mega-rich, very dysfunctional family who own a food store conglomerate. [As a Canadian, I couldn't help but make a comparison to the Canadian owned, ultra greedy Galen Weston who owns Loblaws, a massive food store chain. Coincidence? Hmm.]
Filled with pop culture references, fantastic banter and more spice than I was expecting, this was a fun, swoony and bingeable escapist read that benefits from dual POVs, several tropes (fake dating, opposites attract, rich vs poor, fake marriage ...) and some heartfelt scenes as Liam struggles under the weight of his highly toxic family. I thought the first half was a bit stronger (it had more swoon and banter) with the second half still good but taking on a more serious tone as we get a lot of dysfunctional family drama.
The Unhoneymooners remains my favourite CL read but Paradise Problem, with its Unhoneymooner vibe, is a close second!
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Author: Christina Lauren
Genre: Romance
Type and Source: Trade Paperback, personal copy
Publisher: Gallery Books
First Published: May 14, 2024
Read: Aug 1-6, 2024
Book Description from GoodReads: Christina Lauren, returns with a delicious new romance between the buttoned-up heir of a grocery chain and his free-spirited artist ex as they fake their relationship in order to receive a massive inheritance.
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West” Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.
Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.
But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.
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