Livy Hart - Some Kind of Blunderful

If you ask Mia Madden, the road to dating hell is paved with suspiciously hot online profiles. Take tonight’s date, for example. Alex Conroy’s whole “boardroom in the streets, lumberjack in the sheets” thing totally works for her, but his profile did not convey that he represents everything she loathes about corporate hustle culture. He’s not even worth her bottle of purse wine.
Imagine her horror when it turns out that Alex is also the hot-shot new boss her dad can’t stop complaining about—the Forbes 30-under-30 company fixer of his nightmares. Worse, their respective best friends are dating. Mia and Alex are constantly thrown together, whether it’s for corporate volunteer hours at the animal rescue, squaring off at the company picnic, or literally trapped in an escape room. It’s one nightmare after another... no matter how sexy the company is.
Mia’s life is now a romantic-comedy of errors, complete with her kinda, sorta, accidentally sleeping with the enemy. And she’s not sure which is worse: that Alex could ruin her dad’s career, or that she might actually like him.

Comment: I got this book after seeing some positive reviews about the main couple having a sort of enemies to lovers relationship. Since this trope does appeal to me, I decided to give it a go.

Mia and Alex set up a date after finding one another on a dating app but after half an hour, Mia thinks Alex won't show up and leaves. While complaining to her best friend, though, she notices someone listening in to her conversation, and that person is Alex. After all, they were waiting for one another in different spots, so they go along with the date, but the first impression isn't positive and they agree to not have another date. However, somehow, they find each other again again, which can be tricky because Alex is Mia's father new boss and their interactions haven't been great. Is there any hope for Mia and Alex, fate does seem to bring them together very easily...

Based on the cover, I assumed this would be a cute and light romance, perhaps with some interesting characters who would have strong personalities, and funny scenes to carry the plot along. In a way, this did happen but I didn't find the main characters' interactions after they become a couple as engaging as when they weren't.

The story started off quite well for me, to be fair. Alex and Mia seemed to be easy characters to read and I was interested in seeing how their personalities would mesh and how the little things they had in common would make for a solid relationship. I also liked the tactic of having them wary after the first date but then, there are constant situations in which they find themselves together again, and it felt that the longer they would interact, the easier it would be to see they could work out as a couple.

For the first half of the book, more or less, things were super engaging and I didn't mind the coincidences that allowed them to be in each other's orbit, even when some things seemed rather contrived. I also liked it that as we get to see them together and interacting with others, their personalities became more obvious and I started to have an idea of who they were. Some details weren't as captivating to me, namely the whole mess about her father working for Alex and so on, although that situation did seem realistic.

The writing was fluid and attractive but I will say that I struggled a little to see the chemistry between Mia and Alex. I liked them as individuals, I liked them as a potential couple, but they weren't always characters I wish I could meet in person, for instance. Thus, around half way, they finally admit their attraction and become intimate, after we, the reader, having watched them deal with suggestive meetings and possibilities. I've skipped the sex scenes for they didn't seem to add layers to who they were, so no real point in reading the details.

From then on, it seemed the focus would be on them dealing with the repercussions of being together although her father would not approve, and of them admitting they were in love. I confess I've struggled, I could not feel as attentive to what was happening as I had been before this moment of the plot. A story that felt like a good one was now sounding less and less engaging and the elements related to their personal lives and jobs also lacked interested for me. Yes, what was to come would likely be predictable but more than that, it seemed it would be boring. Which it was, for me.

As one can imagine, there's an HEA, there is conversations that were necessary between characters, and not just the main couple, but my focus was lost. I've finished, but it wasn't as fun to finish the book as it had been to start. There were also a few details that I don't think had enough closure, and I didn't finish thinking Alex and Mia were the best couple they could be.

All in all, easy to read, had some good elements, but as a whole did not convince me.

Grade: 6/10