December 4, 2021
This was cute. The plot was super contrived, but that's part of the fun. I don't think it's an "enemy to lovers" book like it was billed (they never seemed to genuinely dislike each other), but it was a fun fake dating trope. The lead up to the characters getting together was enjoyable, and I liked how the couple actually sat and talked things through when issues came up. Some of it you really had to suspend your disbelief for: Why is everyone in the state ending up at the same hotel in Maui at the exact same time? How did Hamiltons just happen to show up to the restaurant at the end? I also didn't care that much for the Dane/Ami subplot. Still it was a fun easy read and the main couple was cute.
As a sidebar, the setting was just really weird! I didn't know Minnesota would come up and so at first was pleasantly surprised at the Minnesota references. (Like other Minnesotans, I love when Minnesota is mentioned in anything!). But then it got weird and the Minnesota references just kept coming - and it was all a little off. It just seemed like the authors googled things and threw them in there without knowing the area well. Like why would a grown adult with a job in bioscience or whatever be living in Dinkytown? And if she lived in Dinkytown why would she shop at the Cub Foods on University (and she would not call it that if she's talking about the midway one)? After, I looked and it doesn't seem like either of the authors live here, and I guess I just don't get that creative choice! But that's neither here nor there, and doesn't add or take away from the story.