A writer for a popular website, Julia has to come up with a perfect pitch when impending layoffs threaten her job security. Racing the clock that’s ticking closer to unemployment, Julia stumbles upon a resort that offers its guests a chance to live out their rom-com dreams. For Julia, who might write fun, flippy articles about love but kind of has been dealt some shitty cards when it comes to her own romantic life, this sounds like the perfect idea—spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with her best friends, write the article of a lifetime, and secure her future. When a not-so-cute meet cute with Luke, who’s also at the resort, turns Julia’s love life upside down, Julia will have to ask herself if a fantasy romcom experience could turn into a real-life happily ever after.
Too Good to Be Real has all the classic rom-com tropes that readers will rejoice over—an awkward yet kind of hilarious meet-cute, hidden identities, swoony kisses in the rain, and lots of puns that lead to happily ever after.
Julia as a character will appeal to anyone who’s ever been cynic about love, had to come up with out-of-this-world ideas, or anyone who loved Andie in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Julia is a charming and snarky protagonist who has been burned by love so often she’s about to give up on it entirely—until she meets Luke. Luke is an absolute control freak, hot and nerdy, and thus the perfect counterpart to Julia. I really liked their awkward first encounter (seagulls truly can be the worst) and though I thought the fact that both of them kept their identities secret for work reasons was a bit flimsy, I really enjoyed the near-misses and gasp moments when you were sure they’d totally blurt out who they really were during every meeting. Their romance developed quickly and they had some cute moments, but I kind of was missing something when it came to the characters on their own—Luke and Julia are both really defined through their work and sometimes, I would have wished for a bit more flavour to their characterisation.
This story also reminded me a lot of Sex and the City in the way that I enjoyed the moments between the trio of friends more than the actual romance?! The trio’s conversations and banter was just so immersive and made me miss my own friends (you know, those times before COVID where you actually got to see people in person) in the best kind of way. Kat and Andie and Julia just had that chemistry that I was lacking a bit between Julia and Luke and I loved how they all bounced off each other with crazy ideas, but were always supportive and generous no matter what happened.
Despite the somewhat rocky dimensionality of the two protagonists, I enjoyed the banter, the clever back-and-forth of the dialogue and I was so here for all the romcom references—diehard fans will devour this book for sure! It was so meta reading a romcom about a place that lets you live out your romcom and if something like that resort in Wisconsin ever opens in real life, you know I’m there!
Fierce, supportive female friendships and a good old-fashioned romance meet in Too Good To Be Real—a fun romp that’s perfect for summer!
Too Good To Be Real is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 6th 2021.
Will you be picking up Too Good To Be Real? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
She plans to prove there’s a dozen reasons why life isn’t like a romantic comedy, only to discover the one reason it is…
While her friends wish for meet cutes worthy of their favorite rom-coms, Julia is ready to give up on love. Swiping right has replaced getting swept off your feet and good old-fashioned romance has become, well, old-fashioned.
A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. Real life dating is so bleak, who wouldn’t want to spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with your best friends?
At the resort, Julia literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Among further encounters with thieving seagulls, a gaggle of corgis, kisses in the rain, and even a karaoke serenade, their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven’t been honest about their true identities? Once the fantasy is over, can they have a relationship in the real world?
