*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

Cecily Jane lives a quiet life as a happily single passionate librarian, and it seems all her dreams are coming true when she's accepted into a grad program for Creative Writing. Suddenly, her childhood wish of becoming a published author doesn't seem so far fetched. Determined to keep her head down and put in the work, Cecily is determined to create her own happily ever after (no marriage or children required). However, in a bizarre turn of events involving karaoke, a kazoo, and a nationally broadcasted kiss, Cecily finds herself married to the famous professor at her MFA program in a bid to save his job (and reputation). As sparks fly between the married (but not together) couple, Cecily and Nate may just find what they were looking for in each other.

I guess I’m the only one who found Cecily incredibly judgy? It was almost unbearable to listen to, her “pick me” girl attitude and blatant snap judgements of people while trying to hide her horrible behavior under the classic “I’m not like other girls so everyone must hate me” excuse. She was also incredibly cringey– like a person who is not a millennial was trying to write some caricature of the generation. Are we honestly expected to believe a 29-year old woman is so out of touch with pop culture she thinks One Direction is still a thing?

Over the course of the book, Cecily did improve as a character (and person) which made the story enjoyable at times-- the handling of her sister's marriage/book plot was thoughtfully handled and I loved the overall plotline. However, especially at the end of the story, it felt like Cecily had two personalities; she started off strong with her "pick me" attitude, and then after the marriage, she suddenly became a much more family-oriented and ambitious person.

Oof, and some of the humorous 'one liners' were pretty rough-- especially during the spicy scenes. The offending statements were (surprise surprise) usually from Cecily's point of view. It gave me the impression that it was supposed to remind readers that Cecily was fun and quirky, but they usually fell flat and made me physically cringe.

Spoiler

Like the phrase, as one other reviewer mentioned, "his full length springs forward like a clock on daylight savings time"... what are we supposed to do with that?

The true saving grace of this story were the dual narrators, Kelli Tager and Nick Mondelli. They each did a wonderful job of breathing life into the characters and story, and their dedication to voice inflections (especially on Tager's part) was wonderful and super engaging.

Overall, not my favorite romance book I've read, but also not the worst. It'd be a good choice for fans of marriage-of-convenience, forced proximity, and friends-to-lovers or someone looking for a quick summer read.