When to make a point at your sister’s wedding and you bring your ex…

Synopsis

Don’t get mad, get Ethan!

Lana has had enough. Her ‘perfect’ sister is getting married. In Australia. On Lana’s 30th birthday and no one seems to have noticed. To make matters worse, she’s been given a list of rules she must follow so she doesn’t upstage the bride. Well, rules are meant to be bent right?

She’s found a killer dress, now she just needs the most inappropriate wedding date she can find. But where to start? All her attempts at online dating are simply disasters, and not in the right way! Too boring/married/easily intimidated! But then her drop dead gorgeous ex Ethan suddenly reappears in her life. With the power to make her dizzy with excitement she reminds herself why they broke up. Together they literally attracted chaos until their relationship imploded. They couldn’t make it work. But could Lana make this work in her favour… just for the wedding?

However, when they arrive in Australia Ethan seems to have forgotten he’s only there to help cause bedlam. Instead he’s off the charts charming, nothing like she remembers and not playing by her rules. She’s here for revenge, not a rekindled holiday romance…but Ethan has other ideas!

A laugh-out-loud, fake dating romantic comedy from million-copy bestseller Portia MacIntosh

My review

Between siblings, there is always a bit of rivalry, between the love. But for Lana and her half – sister Persephone it’s different… Ever since her father married Seph’s mother, Lana never felt more disconnected from her own family. Things aren’t made any easier as Seph has decided to get married on Lana’s thirtieth birthday, of all days. And when Lana is being summoned for an intervention from her father, stepmother and Seph, she decides she had enough. So the with her new determination to bend the strict rules, she finds a killer dress, and now she needs to find the perfect date. Or rather, the most imperfect date, as that is what everyone expects from her. But finding someone (im)perfect is easier said than done, until her ex Ethan shows up again. Whenever Lana and Ethan were together, it was a recipe for chaos and disaster. And the perfect plan comes up, because that is exactly what Lana needs, to bring a little bit of chaos (without disrupting the actual wedding of course). However, once in Australia, everyone is besotted with Ethan, and Ethan himself is on his best behaviour, having Lana’s back and being the best boyfriend she could imagine. But it’s all pretend, isn’t it?

Starting a book of this author, is always preparing myself also for a trip filled a lot of fun! And with a setting like Australia, it felt like an extra cherry on top of the cake!

Lana is right from the start a very likable woman, even if there are several aspects of her life that i felt sorry for.

In several aspects of her life, things aren’t going that greatly, and it’s not that she can rely on that many friends. Also at work it seemed to me she is being taking for granted, even in a way taken advantage of, and she is not always being appreciated. Normally there are always some colleagues that turn into friends, but even there Lana feels rather lonely. And then I am not talking abut how she is being ridiculed when she brings up an idea that doesn’t sound so silly to me!

So when at the start of the story, when she first meets Ethan, she playing pretend, I saw it more from the funny side, like intended, and not in a more “evil” way.

And I for sure found it funny to read about that encounter with Ethan, and how things turn in utter chaos, on top of the sparks that fly around between the pair.

Of course it’s clear that after that first encounter, things aren’t going to last, so while that made me sad, as they for sure were amazing together, I also wanted to know what separated them and what would bring them back together.

But like I said, there were several aspects that saddened me, and even angered me. What angered me the most was the relationship with her father, her stepmother and her half-sister. I can understand that things cannot be easy when there are ‘step’ and ‘half’ family members involved. But just wow, Lana for sure hit the jackpot…

I cannot understand how dismissive her stepmother could be, how easy it was for her to paint Lana as the black sheep of the family, and not taking Lana’s feelings in account at all.

And how so is someone selfish about a milestone birthday? Becoming thirty is not nothing… I rather found Speh rather selfish, planning a wedding on your sister’s birthday? Even if there isn’t a close bond between them, there should be at least some sense?

Perhaps it isn’t the best idea Lana has, but I for sure couldn’t blame her. When someone thinks the worst of you, don’t you just sometimes want to show the real worst of yourself? Yet I was happy that Lana wasn’t a total cow and wanted to actually ruin Seph’s wedding, as that would be too much and would in fact also ruin the story.

Trying to find the best worst date was so hilarious to read! From trying to be bad, to be just a scumbag, Lana sees them all. And while there are several red flags (pun intended, and you’ll get it when you read the book 😊) I somehow also admired Lana in a way of not running away screaming… Although there was also a dodged bullet…

It was like serendipity that it’s then that Ethan appears back in her life… And despite everything, despite all the chaos, sparks starts to fly once again!

I loved to see how Ethan is not only acing at being the pretend boyfriend, but he is also the best ally Lana could have in Australia. He sees her for who she is, appreciates her just the way she is, and does not want to change one bit of her. He is her accomplice all the time, showing her family that Lana is an amazing person, and not the black sheep or the ‘just plebs’…

Perhaps Lana’s behaviour could be seen as childish, but after being seen for so long as the ‘bad person’, can you blame her? I cannot guarantee that I wouldn’t act the same way!

What we see in this book is a story about acceptance, being you is more than enough. And if there is someone who doesn’t appreciate it, it’s their loss. But it’s also a story about accepting the chaos of life and love. It’s also about new chances, understanding and courage.

Portia MacIntosh managed to put all this in a hilarious, warm, lovely story. A story for which I had high expectations, and it didn’t disappoint one bit! 😊