Every single character in this book annoyed me (except Rosie). 

 

Georgie was such an unrealistic (and slightly annoying) protagonist. She’s a perfect example of the manic pixie dream girl trope — she’s had a ridiculous job (children’s birthday party clown) yet somehow manages to afford a house, groceries for two, and a boutique wardrobe despite the fact that she seemingly works maybe two days a week for the entirety of the book. Way too much of her mental real estate is dedicated to thinking about her vibrator (which she named, and she thinks about at least once per chapter). Georgie is unable say no to anyone (or even just remove herself from situations that she doesn’t want to be in). 

 

Travis annoyed me so much. He spent the whole book thinking about one of three things: how hard his dick is, how he used to be cool but now he’s a loser burnout, or how it’s crazy that he’s attracted to a single adult woman who he also happened to know when she was a teenager. He spent the entire first half of the book alternating between rationalizing why he can’t be friends with Georgie and putting himself in inappropriate situations with Georgie. I spent the entire first half of the book wishing Travis would just MAKE UP HIS MIND ALREADY. 

 

By the time Georgie and Travis actually started to fake date, I was already so fed up with both of them that I was really to DNF the book. The fact that Georgie used to be obsessed with Travis while he barely cared about her at all kind of turned me away from their romance. My favorite trope is MMC falls first/falls harder and while Travis is definitely into Georgie at the beginning of the book, for most of the book Georgie is way more into Travis than Travis is into her. Plus it takes Travis so long to realize his feelings for her that he comes across as being kind of douchey for getting physical with her before he acknowledges that he likes her for her.  

 

The ending was just awful. The third act breakup was completed contrived, and it was resolved — not by communication or compromise — but by a surprise proposal on live TV. Never mind the fact that Travis didn’t want kids for 90% of the book, and we never actually see him change his mind about that. I can't quite figure out the timing of this book, but I'm pretty sure that when Georgie reunites with Travis at the beginning of the book, it's been at least ten years since they last talked. In the span of a month, they go from basically stranger to engaged. Travis is Georgie's first everything: first boyfriend, first kiss, and he takes her virginity. They fake date for about two-three weeks, and real date for less than one week. Then they break up, and a week later Travis proposes to her. So, at the age of twenty-three, Georgie ends up engaged to the first man she ever dated, a man who was basically a stranger to her a month ago. That's insane.

 

Now here’s my actual issue with the book: I could not stand Georgie’s horrible misogynistic family. Her brother Stephen (who is described as “traditional”) is so obsessive and controlling over his wife, Kristen, that he tracks her periods to know when she’s fertile (despite the fact that Stephen acknowledges that Kristen hasn’t agreed to have children yet). On multiple occasions, when Kristen is casually hanging out with friends, Stephen shows up and physically removes her from that location to have sex with her. Overall, I hate Georgie’s horrible misogynistic family with a burning passion. Every single page that Stephen appears on was a pain to get through, and Georgie’s parents are just as bad for supporting him. 

 

Furthermore, there’s this attitude throughout the novel that when faced with misogynistic men, women should focus on empowering themselves, rather than holding men accountable and expecting them to change. For example: Bethany’s misogynistic brother, Stephen, refuses to let her participate in the home building aspect of the family business, and expects her to only work as an interior decorator. Despite the fact that Stephen and Bethany should have equal say in this business, Stephen’s word is law. Stephen is also described as “traditional” (this is the word the author uses, but I think that “misogynistic” is more accurate). This is framed as bad, but no one in the book expects Stephen to change, not even Georgie and Bethany. Instead, Bethany has to start her own company just to get an equal say. Obviously, women’s empowerment is a good thing, but men should also be held to a higher standard. I liked the Just Us Club plot line (partly because Rosie is my favorite character) because it was fun to see Georgie interact with her friends. However, I still have the same issue where empowerment is coming at the cost of actually holding people accountable for their actions, which I think sends a bad message. 
 
I know I’m probably reading too far into the misogynistic undertones. This is a romance novel, not a feminist manifesto. Obviously, Georgie’s family isn’t going to be perfect (if they were perfect, there would be no plot of the story). But still, the casual misogyny really turned me away from the story.