Two Wrongs Make A Right

This book was exquisite! I love Chloe Liese’s writing and am so excited to see her  success in traditional publishing. I really do want to bend James Benedick Westenberg. Or have him bend me ….I won’t be picky. Over a chair or any flat surface would be great ;)Jamie and Bea’s story is full of beautiful moments of tension wound so tight you could bounce a quarter off them, true to life representations of anxiety and experiencing the world when you are part of the spectrum, and heartfelt conversations that dive beneath the veneer we present to the world.Their friends are convinced they are perfect for each other and orchestrate a meet cute that ends in disaster- including 3 wardrobe changes and an initial conversation loaded with sarcasm and derision that they fling at each other like projectiles.But their friends aren’t daunted by the disaster. They are convinced that more forced proximity encounters will make these two stubborn soloists see the light and realize that their couplehood is inevitable. A very deliberate attempt caps the night of their meeting when they end up stuck in a closet together. The pressure of the evening finally gets under Bea’s skin and when she lets go of her emotions, he comforts her. And they become acutely aware of how delectable the other one smells, and how right it feels to be in their arms. They’re on the verge of a kiss when they’re hiding place is discovered. Jamie is embarrassed by his reaction to Bea, and flees the scene. Bea is embarrassed and humiliated by his flight response to their almost intimacy.You’d think their friends would realize their union is a doomed effort. But no. They secretly set them up on a blind date prefaced by an anonymous exchange of phone numbers. The anonymity of the screen gives them the freedom to get to know one another on a visceral level and they look forward to every message with giddy anticipation. When the blind date on the bench turns out to be a reveal neither was expecting, they hatch a plan for revenge. They don’t appreciate being manipulated and they agree to construct a fake relationship that will result in a melodramatic staged breakup that will definitively end everyone’s determination to meddle in their lives.As the reader you’re cackling at how obtuse this plan is. Everyone knows that terrible ruses like that always result in inescapable love.There were so many things I loved about this book, but here are some key takeaways:1. You are enough, unfiltered and unmasked, for the right person. That person will appreciate your fallibility and idiosyncrasies and cherish them because they are intrinsically a part of who you are.2. When you kiss the right person, everything and everyone around you ceases to matter. Because the feel of their lips, and the soft sounds they make that let you know you are irresistible, and the way their embrace feels like a cradle against the intrusion of the world is everything you didn’t know you needed.3. Even when life throws messy curveballs your way and  it’s the bottom of the ninth, and you’re the worst at swinging a bat, there’s hope for healing and an HEA.Tropes: fake dating, enemies to lovers vibes, forced proximity, opposites attractInclusion: bi, pan and queer rep; spectrum and social anxietySpice: SOOOOOOOO STEAMY!!!!! 4 Chili Peppers