Sybil is a free-spirited, fun, and exuberant individual, devoted to her friends and family, but struggling to ground herself in work and standard adulthood. Kiran, on the other hand, is serious to a fault, having left medical school to come run the family donut shop after his grandfather falls ill. Sybil and Kiran have undeniable chemistry, and when a sudden hook-up results in Sybil losing her winning lotto ticket at the shop, Kiran's plea to find her goes viral and drums up business for the shop. The pair decide that a fake relationship will solve two problems: save Kiran's failing business, and make Sybil appear more grounded to her family.

I love a good opposites attract/fake dating trope, so I was primed to love this. I enjoyed Sybil as a character, and I appreciated how well-developed her family dynamic was because it explained her thought process that led to entering the relationship with Kiran. I had her pegged as

ADHD coded

, so I was very glad that issue was discussed toward the end of the book.

I'm always on board with a moody, broody male lead, and Kiran did not disappoint in that regard. His love for his family was obvious, and his clear indecision about his future was well-established. I understood why he would want to put off the harder decisions and stay at the shop. I never questioned whether his character would make those choices.

My issues with the book are twofold. First, the amount of money that Sybil wins was laughably absurd. And I get it; Megabucks and Powerball jackpots can become huge. But it detracted from her family's concerns about her squandering the money when it was in the 9-digit range. It may have been more effective to have a smaller jackpot that helped illustrate the problem her mom and sister identified. It would have been more realistic, so to speak.

Second, the issue leading to the third-act break-up...I can't. That was close to unforgiveable.

Regardless of his ambivalence about returning, I couldn't suspend disbelief about Kiran forgiving Sybil for completely wrecking his medical school career.

It was a really hard pill to swallow, and one that made it hard to root for them in the end. 

Overall, despite my misgivings, I still liked Sybil and Kiran, I liked the other characters, and I wanted them to succeed. But it was a rough go for a few chapters.