Of course I always love all Meghan Quinn books. I mean she has me rolling with laughter from page one, if not paragraph or sentence one, every time! This follows characters who were siblings of the couple in the book A Not So Meet Cute. But J.P. and Kelsey were so hilarious! Oh my gosh, the two of them and their enemies-to-lovers story was just the best!

Their “enemy” status was more of the irritating each other type of relationship as opposed to hatred really. The ridiculousness of some of their little interactions is really what I’ve come to love and expect from Quinn’s writings. I look forward to seeing just how crazy things can get, and they’re so original, things I haven’t read before, or things that I could never have thought up. And they’re also side-splitting hilarious, like I can’t stop laughing at things and go back and reread to laugh again before I even get much farther into the story.

I was reading this at the same time I got my copy of the illustrated version of A Not So Meet Cute, and as I paged through the illustrations in that book, I was thinking of which scenes/moments in So Not Meant To Be I’m hoping could be immortalized in illustrations. And I’ve ordered my copy of it, so I can’t wait to see if any of the moments below are there.

First was the blind date. Oh my gosh, when JP did a Meg Ryan type of scene by faking something. I love that the date is the same place and type of situation as the very first book I read by Meghan Quinn, Three Blind Dates. Not to mention the name calling between the two.

The two end up being sent to San Francisco to work on a project together. And they are staying in a fancy loft. When Kelsey accidentally de-pants JP, and he falls on top of her with his junk in her face. The things she says, the “tea-bag” reference. I was dying with laughter. Later there was a nipple poking scene that was like a brother-sister type of fight with its annoying way they were treating each other, but might have gotten a little off track with physical feelings, I mean, yeah, having a hot guy poking you there?

Of course it makes sense that her older sister Lottie would think it would be neat for her own fiancee’s brother to end up with her sister. But the way she explained it, “brother-brother, sister-sister couples” was little off, and I love how Kelsey called her on it. Kelsey also had so many guess for what JP stood for, my favorite being Junior Pooper. And also it was so true how they went to restaurants she remembered loving as a kid, and they weren’t quite as good, or good at all, as an adult.

But this book was so much more than the humor that I’ve been talking about. Meghan Quinn also knows how to write completely three-dimensional characters, with real emotions and personal issues. JP’s moodiness was like whiplash for Kelsey, and me as I was reading. I got so frustrated with how he would turn from friendly to cold based on little things she might say or do without realizing what it would make her feel like. But I also understood a bit how he would feel when he did go that way. And I liked that he was that emotional really. However, while I totally understood and got Kelsey’s insecurities, I feel the same way, I got really frustrated with how she refused to not see that JP wasn’t the playboy type of guy she assumed he was. And honestly, we really never got a peek into him being like that in this book, so it was hard for me to understand why she only saw him that way.

Finally, what was so unexpected, yet such a creative and wonderful idea, was the podcast interviews that Kelsey did throughout the book. Because they were interviews with couples we knew from other books by Meghan Quinn! I mean, my favorite Jason with his Best Butt in Baseball salad, lol. It was so great having all these little reminders of favorite books, and what a way for the author to even get new readers to have to know what books they needed to go read now! And I think we got a little preview of a couple coming up in one of Quinn’s books later this year, Runaway Groomsman.

Also, I’m excited for Breaker’s story, and learning about his name too!

Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.