Daphne gets dumped by her fiancé for the childhood best friend he promised was never a romantic interest. She moves in with Miles, the other jilted party in the love square. I’ll admit there’s nothing overly new or surprising in the book, but the character banter is so engaging, it pulls you through. Daphne has to work through abandonment issues and forge a life on her own instead of as a “we.” She loves her job as a children’s librarian, but she originally moved to the town to be with her now ex, and she doesn’t have much of a life without him. Miles listens to sad songs even when he’s happy. Living together is awkward but relatively harmonious. When Daphne runs into her condescending ex, she panics and pretends she’s dating Miles. He goes along with it, and after a passionate kiss, the lines between truth and play-acting get blurred. AKA classic fake-dating troupe. Daphne has a quiet fierceness that I liked. Really, it’s just the writing. The story is pleasant enough but the word choices and dialogue are a joy to read. I don’t think the title is trying to promise the reader that the book is actually funny (although there are some humorous moments, it’s not really a comedy). It’s simply a reference to the answer of the standard new-couple question, “How did you meet?” (9)
Jennifer and Scott are work rivals at a publishing company. He scoffs at her favorite fantasy series, so she’s shocked to see him at a week-long fantasy immersion vacation. Enemies to lovers, always fun. I love this duo’s writing style, like the line about Princess Bride-ing it down a hill and other clever turns of phrases. I’ll read whatever they write just for that. I liked how they incorporated the fantasy world, Elytheum, into the story, even if it was a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. I’m not a big fantasy reader, and I wasn’t sure what a fae is (Google confirms my thought that it’s like a fairy), but I could appreciate how ingrained the series is into Jennifer’s life. I liked Jennifer and Scott’s interactions, for the most part. I think the biggest flaw is that the only thing really keeping the characters apart is their suspicion and fear. Which got a little repetitive. And Jennifer’s self reflections got a bit tedious for me. All in all it was a cute read. I liked t...
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