Stupid Prizes: A Romantic Comedy

by Alice Duke

PLAY STUPID GAMES, WIN STUPID PRIZES

Gracie's always been her daddy's girl and when your daddy is Big Daddy Boom, popular vlogger in the hopped-up world of off-road wheeling, that comes with a lot of visibility. Gracies' dad has high expectations, even now when she's twenty-two, freshly graduated, and running his biggest marketing campaign ever.

But when Gracie's dad tells the world in a live video that she's single and he's going to pick her next boyfriend ... and hopefully the heir to his profitable online empire, all hell breaks loose, all of rural America shows up at their door, and Gracie is starting to think that not only will this be the end of her family, it might be the end of her freedom forever.

Jasper has been secretly in love with Gracie since they were kids. But with Gracie in the crosshairs of every redneck, gearhead, and rebel in the lower forty-eight, the job of winning her heart becomes a lot more difficult. Especially when Gracie comes to him with a proposal: pretend to be her husband to drive her suitors away and she'll set him up with his own online empire to rival her father's.

Jasper doesn't care about fame and fortune. He's not here to play stupid games. But he does want the ultimate prize -- Gracie's heart -- and he'll do anything to get it.

This adorable romantic comedy is perfect for lovers of steamy second-chance romance, fake marriage tropes, and for fans of Emily Henry, Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood!

Genres: Romance, Rom Com, Friends To Lovers, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Second Chance

340 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2023

Reviews

[RateTheRomance]

TRIGGER WARNING: Joke about current war in Ukraine

When I read this attempt at a joke in an early chapter I was completely shocked.

But that was before his dimple became a more dangerous weapon than anything Putin is flashing around in Russia.

I won't continue reading a book that uses war/people being killed as a punchline. Especially if that war is still currently happening.

Weapons of war and the senseless killing of innocent people isn't a punchline for a Rom Com.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Tangled Mess . . .

Gracie's dad is a well-known and popular vlogger. In a moment of insanity, he announces in a live video that he will select a boyfriend for her to perhaps become his heir! Everyone goes crazy, mobs their home, and it has Gracie a bit nervous about her future!

As a way to perhaps stop the insanity, Gracie wants her old buddy Jasper to pretend to be in a fake relationship with her so all the others will back off and leave her in peace. Actually Jasper has always cared for Gracie since they were kids together. Jasper doesn't want the financial part of the deal. But to win Gracie’s love, he will do whatever it takes. Will she fall in love with Jasper for real? Or will this be an uphill battle to convince her that he is serious about her?

[Megan Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute book that was written really well. The author does an amazing job of evoking emotions through her characters. The premise as a whole was a cute idea, I just think it got a little dragged out. It was easy to root for the characters in the beginning, but as the story moved along there was more and more miscommunication that could have easily been avoided if the characters just voiced what they were feeling instead of bottling up their emotions. It caused unnecessary drama and I felt like the story could have benefitted from more external conflict instead of the conflict the miscommunication trope brought on.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Elisa ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i saw this title and all i could think was ''miss Americana and the heartbreak prince'', so i had to read this. sadly, these characters couldn't just say that they liked each other!

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish men like this existed

[ChristiPanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.45 not rounded up*

*Disclaimer: This review isn’t to tell an author they are bad or not. This review is based off my own opinions about THE BOOK and what I liked and disliked about a book. I suggest you always read a book before deciding if you like it or not. *

* I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. *

Spice rating: 🌶🌶

Summary: In this Contemporary Romance, Gracie is in for a surprise when her old flame, Jasper, comes back to work for her father, Adam aka Big Daddy Boom, a social media influencer. She’s in for a bigger surprise when her dad sets up a huge online competition to win her hand in marriage, and the ownership to his massive online community.

Jasper has loved Gracie ever since they were children. After disappearing for several years after his mother’s passing, he’s back working for Gracie’s father. Will he be able to compete with everyone else for a chance to win Gracie’s heart? Or will their old flame burn out?
----------
Thoughts: Some things that I enjoyed about this book was that the story line was pretty unique. Yes, it has some common tropes; however, a grown man running a social media competition to have a chance to win his daughter’s hand in marriage isn’t something I have read before. I like that it has a modern twist to it. This book also did make me chuckle quite a bit. There were some witty comebacks, one liners, and inside jokes between the characters that made me giggle. I also liked that the love interest in this wasn’t a “player”. Sometimes in friends to lovers, the male friend is a majority of the time a “player” (secretly, I love it), but I enjoyed that this guy was sweet and empathetic. Also, let’s talk about spice. Honestly, the spice was well written for a very sweet book. It would seem out of place, if it was raunchier. I think the way these scenes were written, were written properly for the book. The spice is traditional, but again, it fits with how the characters are in the book.

Some things I particularly disliked about this book was I felt a lack of connection to the characters. I feel like their traumas were just thrown out so early it was hard to empathize with them. Also, the main character was honestly the least lovable character I have ever met, which made it so hard to empathize with her later on in the book. She is pretty selfish and is holding a grudge on poor Jasper just because he handles grief differently than she does. Jasper is spending the entire book apologizing, while she spends it criminalizing him as if she’s the only one who’s suffered loss. Secondly, they spend most of the time getting to know each other through text because apparently just talking face to face is so dang hard. I get it’s supposed to be their quirk, but this isn’t a good foundation to have for a relationship. Especially when most of the issues involving these two could’ve been solved with COMMUNICATION. You would figure with how much texting they do, they’d communicate better. Lastly, I also did not like the pacing of this as well. About 70% of this is the whole “I am scared he doesn’t want me,” “I am scared she doesn’t want me,” said/shown in 50 different ways before ANY development in their relationship happens. Then with the other remaining 30% it just flies through. In order to avoid spoilers, I will be very vague in that there is a specific thing in this book that is important to the plot and it just disappears without any explanation. You'll know what I am talking about if you read the book.
----------
Overall, I particularly didn’t like this book as a whole. HOWEVER, I can see other people liking this. Again, I always encourage people to just read the book to find out if they like it or not. My dislikes are someone else’s likes and vice versa. I can see people enjoying this book.

Tropes used:
-Friends to lovers
-Second chance romance
-Only one bed
-Fake marriage
-Slow burn

[Johanna Atman · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a pleasant afternoon to read a romance novel that takes your mind off the crazy world, Stupid Prizes will fit the bill. It’s well written in the classic romance novel style, penned by a skilled and talented author. It’s a sweet childhood friends-to-lovers story with the hook (my personal favorite) of a fake marriage that brings them together. I have a soft spot for love stories that start from arranged marriages or confined living arrangements. It delivers all the romantic novel staples of boy meets girl, boy loses girl and then gets her in the end. The cover art is gorgeous. I couldn’t stop staring at it before I read the book. The prose is airy and light when it needs to be, then profoundly tragic and sad when the characters go through tough times. This book is perfect at following all the staples of childhood sweetheart romance novels.

Yet. I can’t help but want to seriously rock this boat and shake Jasper and Gracie a little to snap them out of the mental fog that keeps them so in the dark about their own love story. Their text conversations are wonderful, funny, playful, and flirty. I’d love to see them speak to each other that way and add a hair toss and giggle just for kicks.

I hope you don’t mind if I offer my two cents to a very imaginative and lovely writer who has many good books in her future.

I have a dream that my top three tropes in romance novels will disappear in the wind, never to be heard from again. Reality tells me I’m not getting that wish. But I can still put it out into the world and see if it grows. Here are the tropes that need to go bye-bye:

(1) Down with the trope of child-like naiveté of grown adults who are competent, intelligent, and attractive but still manage to possess a complete lack of instincts to surmise the feelings and desires of others. As early as grade school, most people can sense when someone is attracted to them. As 80% of communication is body language and only 20% is language uttered, continuing a 50-year-old tradition of forcing our main characters to have to utter ‘I love you’ (sometimes many times) just so that the object of their affection can finally grasp that it’s really happening can seem demeaning the character’s intelligence and make it difficult for the reader to trust their judgment.

(2) Down with the stubborn practice of the main characters not talking to each other. If the plot doesn’t need them to lie or hide the truth, then a simple 10-minute conversation to clear up misunderstandings, state hints of feelings, or just come clean would be refreshing. If it’s a contemporary novel, I’d love us all to cease writing characters in their twenties like they’re being courted in a Jane Austin novel where gentile people don’t say much. Today’s dating involves a lot of texts. They’re pretty frank in person about their intentions, wants, and needs. The initial introduction posts on dating apps alone can share more personal information than most of our characters do in an entire novel.

(3) And down with virgins who are magically great at sex. Wouldn’t it be more endearing and bonding for the couple to be terrible at their first time and then practice often to achieve greatness? The characters could actually figure out what their loved one likes, and do that. It’s an important message that all readers need. Plus, it’s more love scenes packed in a book, and I’d buy that.

Thank you for letting me ramble. And in conclusion, for the readers out there, read this book. The characters are a lovely couple who are made for each other. We authors will attempt to reinvent the wheel on future excursions.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise seems a bit far fetched but fresh and unique, giving way to several more common tropes. Grace's father is heading a popular show producing offroading and vehicle content. He may or may not be very ill and blindsides his daughter with the idea about a contest in which the winner would get to marry Grace and be groomed to be the heir of his empire. (Grace is not interested in being the figurehead.) This seems like a bad idea to Grace but he has a larger than life personality and she can't bear to disappoint him due her belief it's his last wish. So she asks if she could fake marry Jasper, an old friend of hers, leading to fake relationship, accidental marriage and just one bed tropes as well as a second chance romance. I liked the writing style, there are some funny bits, clever imagery and some moving moments.

It started out really great but gets a bit bogged down because all the conflict is due to the lack of communication and misunderstandings between Jasper and Grace. Their mothers died in the same accident and after the funeral Jasper ran away. Grace is still mad at him because he left just when she needed him the most but doesn't really take into account that he suffered a loss too and handled his grief differently. Now he's back, having realized that he still loves Grace. She realizes that she still loves him. But does either of them say, "I love you, can we work things out and try a real commitment?" Oh yikes, what are you thinking? Of course not, because that would be communication. Instead they text snark at each other while sitting next to each other and both feel rejected by the other. And when one of them takes a step toward the other the other takes two steps back, or runs away altogether. There's so much insecurity, so many mind-reading attempts that go awry, so many times one of them is trying to let the other go... It gets a little frustrating and at some point you just want to zip tie them both to the same tree until they talk.

They are dealing with past trauma from their mothers' deaths and current pressure from the father's manipulation and have to decide what they want for themselves. The book ended on a good note and I would consider reading something else from this author. There is some sexual content.

I received a booksprout copy and this is a voluntary review.

[Ulrika Gustafsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the premises of this book and the fake marriage trope, but I failed to understand that another trope is misunderstandings.

Even if the overall story is good I almost lost my mind (and the will to keep reading) over the neverending misunderstandings and preconcieved notions about each other between two people who are supposed to have grown up together.

This won’t give away any real spoilers of the story, but read with care if you don’t want to get affected by my interpretations.

Jasper describes himself as an introvert and that fits how his character is depicted, but he also comes across as quite dense about how to interpret other people. And he keeps pushing himself down

Gracie’s larger than life father could explain some of her lousy self esteem I guess, but she questions ev-er-y-thing and bends it back to shoot herself down. Everything. I wanted to cry several times during my reading.

I guess the shared trauma in their backstory is supposed to be an obvious obstacle in the relationship.

I thought this was an easy romance, that was my mistake, and I think there are readers out there who will appreciate this book even if I didn’t. It’s not bad, just not light hearted which the blurb led me to believe.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Jasper and Gracie's story for the most part. The plot had promise, but I think it dragged on too long and had too many missed opportunities to wrap it up sooner. I liked Jasper's personality. He tried to do right by Gracie at every turn, but the lack of communication on both of their parts really made want to throw up my hands and be done with it already. Gracie's personality was a definite people pleaser for everyone else except Jasper. I do understand her reasoning for being angry, but give him some grace as they both went through a traumatic experience at a young age.

After everything came to light and all the manipulations and secrets were laid bared, I thought finally we'd get a happily ever after. And they do, but it wasn't the ending I was hoping for. I expected that they would ties with their manipulators, at least temporarily, and would carve out their own path going forward. But nope!! Right back together and into the manipulations. I have no hope for Gracie not falling victim to them again. I did find some solace in the fact the Jasper would be more mindful of it and don't allow their abusers to manipulate as much or fully run over Gracie.

This was my first book by this author so I'm willing to read a few of her other books to give me a more detailed look at her writing style. I hope they give me a satisfying conclusion.

[tawny•dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I loved this book. Based on the cover and blurb I guessed it would be a cute, quick romcom with a unique plot- her dad is a social media mega star trying to marry her off 👀- you know- fluff…..
BUT I had no idea that the book would be an emotional journey. If you like Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words, or similar books, you will love this too! We have a quirky heroine, whose POV inner-dialogue had me cackling, and a hero who gives golden-retriever but with a touch of bad boy and absolutely must g r o v e l multiple times throughout the book- but don’t worry, the reasons are not off-putting, I just don’t want to spoil anything. Together they must fool everyone into thinking they are married in order to stave off a slew of less than desirable bachelors competing for her hand in marriage. That’s right- if you didn’t catch when I said it earlier, her dad is actually trying to marry her off. Anything for the gram, am I right?! 😏

The story is dual pov AND dual timeline which makes this a……drumroll please…… ✨ second-chance romance ✨ (one of THE best tropes ever imo).
So, of course sparks fly and old wounds must be mended. 4 ⭐️

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[J.M. Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC so I got to read this one early. 100% recommend. It's absolutely charming and had me grinning at several points. The writing is wry, humorous, sweet, and fun all at once. The tension between the characters along with some of the down home country wisdom woven in made it feel even more real.

Gracie and Jasper are flawed but believable. Their chemistry creates lots of sparks, and they both handle things in conflicting ways. This does create tension between them, but it's exactly what I want in a secondchance romance. The miscommunication trope is handled well here as the characters' reasons do make sense.

Also the entire premise is such a fun one. I haven't read a lot of contemporary romances with this particular setup (fake marriage, father trying to marry her off, social media competitions that involve marriage), but I would love to read more after this. The banter is also quite delightful. Especially from Gracie.

A fast fun read with plenty of heart from an author whose future works I intend to read as well. The perfect break from all the doom and gloom I've been inflicting on myself from the dark fantasy world, LOL.

[Jackie Uhrmacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stupid Prizes by Alice Duke is a hilarious and heartwarming story with a dash of spice and a lot of steam. Two life-long friends, Grace and Jasper, experience a horrible tragedy that sends Jasper running off to Canada to escape the pain. Five years later, he's back and willing to do anything to make it up to Grace - including pretend to be her husband to help her avoid her father's most recent marketing ploy.

There was so much to love about this book. Grace and Jasper were relatable narrators, and I loved the different games they played via text. The flashbacks to their childhood were well-done and tugged at your heartstrings, and the will-they-or-won't-they pull will have you reading through the night.

My one complaint is with the last maybe 10% of the book. There were several miscommunications throughout the book which I don't mind. It adds to the suspense and allows the characters to grow. In this last portion of the book, though, they got out of control. It's almost as if they were included only to extend the book, and they're why I'm giving the book 4 stars rather than 5.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[RedReviews4You Susan-Dara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a great premise and the author has a good writing style; however, I was not able to connect with the characters and this book felt more like a ‘women’s fiction’ novel than the romantic comedy that I was expecting based on the categorization. Although starting strong and with a very original concept and voice, the book soon dragged and spent too much time dealing with how stymied these childhood friends were by their very interconnected stories as “princess” and “prince” of an Auto Social Media Mogul and his estranged best friend. It is understandable how the loss of both their mothers in the same crash would leave these two families wounded, however the unending angst between these two inevitable lovers kept me distanced from them. With an ongoing string of miscommunications and misunderstandings the comedy aspect that had such potential at the beginning of the novel was lost. I really wanted to like this book and I did read the entire book, but it was a frustrating book.

I received a this as an ARC from Book Sirens for an honest review.

[Sophie]

This arc was provided by the author, I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

I hate to do this since the premise is so unique and the cover is absolutely gorgeous but I had to DNF this book at 30 percent. Sadly, the writing style is not something I that I can vibe with and that is the most important thing to me. I’m not saying that the story is bad in anyway, I can’t really judge on that. It just wasn’t for me.

The way of storytelling relies heavily on stream of consciousness for the characters’ narration. Personally, it causes me to lose interest and focus.

Also, since the author focuses so much on stream of consciousness, she does not focus on the description of the scene or communication. Since the topic of trucks is likely unfamiliar to many of us readers, a bit of context is necessary.
As a reader you are very aware of the characters’ experience during a certain moment but not what the scene looks like. I had to reread certain passages constantly because I could not figure out where they were, what they were doing or what it meant.

[Marielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Indie Author Alert!! I absolutely loved Stupid Prizes with all my heart. This is how you do 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 with a twist of 𝒇𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒈𝒆.

I am not usually a fan of pining, but here it was JUST SO GOOD. The dual POV of Jasper & Gracie was perfection. The characters were so well developed from the get-go that I could 𝑭𝑬𝑬𝑳 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎.

Gracie's soft yet strong, anxious yet caretaking energy. Her hurt and vulnerability and walls she puts up to protect her from Jasper. Jasper's regret and desires and difficulty to correctly express his feelings which kept landing him in hot water. Every time he thought he got it right but he didn't, my heart broke for him but I loved him even more.

This one was 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩. I don't usually 𝒄𝒓𝒚 at romance books, but the 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 in this one just got to me and tore me to shreds.

There was a lot shoved into the end, but 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. What a beautiful and heartwarming read. 4.5 stars bumped up to a 5.

[Gwen|| Bookish Blondie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some thoughts on this one so let's start with what I liked:

I liked Jasper and Gracie. I loved their dynamic and I loved the slow burn from friends to lovers. There are a lot of tropes going on in this one.

It starts childhood friends to lovers to enemies to fake married back to friends to lovers. It's also forced proximity, second chance romance. They mostly work, but some of the plotline is convoluted with all the tropes intermingled.

Now for what I didn't like:

I really can't stand Gracie's dad. He's pretty rotten from start to finish with his manipulations, egotism, and the fact that the author thinks it's funny?? It's seriously problematic and I wasn't a fan at all of how that storyline played out, which is why I can't rate this novel higher than a 3.

Also, I'm not a fan of the cover. It just seems cartoonish and YA to be an adult romcom.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kirsten | Bookish.kir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Gracie and Jasper had been friends since they were kids, but Jasper ran the night Gracie need him the most. Now, five years later, he’s back, just in time for Gracie’s father to announce an online competition for his daughter’s hand in marriage and a first class ticket to taking over his enterprise. Gracie isn’t too thrilled with the idea, but agrees to appease her father anyway. Shortly after agreeing, Gracie decides that since Jasper hurt her in the past he should have to help her out by fake marrying her for the time being, only things don’t always work out the way we plan.

I personally didn’t find any of the characters to be super lovable. Both were just super oblivious to all the signs of how the other person felt and it made the story drag. The miscommunication trope was hit too hard here. Overall the story had so much potential had there been more external drama rather than so much internal drama.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🔥🔥

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect lighthearted, yet emotional rom-com! The book follows Gracie and Jasper through their fake-marriage adventure, all out in the open because of Gracie's dad's social media presence. The emotional pull our main characters have on the reader is real. The frustration I felt when they would refuse to talk to one another, the laughter when they finally did talk to one another and had great banter, and the tears whenever one of them ultimately let their self-doubts take hold.

Though Gracie and Jasper's connection was evident through the flashbacks and their present journey. There's nothing like a second-chance romance! This rom-com was a rollercoaster, but Daddy BOOM wouldn't have it any other way!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Molly Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4.2/5 ⭐️

❗️Disclaimer: This review is completely based on my own opinions and preferences about the book, not the author. Everyone should give a book a chance before deciding if they like it or not. ❗️


Stupid prizes by Alice Duke is an amazing debut and romantic comedy. I went into the book thinking it would be a cute, kinda cozy, quick read with a little bit of spice. And it was but it also had a lot of emotional moments that made me feel everything from anger, sadness, confusion, happiness and love for all of this amazing characters. It has one of the most amazing tropes like second chance romance, one bed trope and marriage of convenience. It also has dual POV’s and get to see in the minds of Jasper and Grace as they see each other again after 5 years and also see what happened 5 years ago from their points of view.


What I didn’t like was the amount of miscommunication this book had, I just felt that at times it seemed unnecessary and like the problem would be completely avoided if they just talked to each other instead of convincing themselves that the other person was thinking this or that. But that is just my opinion, I don’t hate nor live the miscommunication trope but did find it to be a bit to much for me, but if you like it then this book is perfect for you.


Overall this book was a quick, easy to read, fun and cute book. Congratulations to the author for this amazing book. I can’t wait to read the next book she releases!

[Holly Dimitrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a cute idea for a book with a good theme I think, but the way it played out was not so good.
And that made me super sad.
so many pent-up emotions and miscommunication, to the point it was annoying
I didn't feel like the main characters (Grace and Jasper)
the whole storyline with Adam aka Big Daddy aka Grace's dad was a bit odd also
So many things didn't feel like they fit together
There were a few parts which made me laugh
I am not giving up on this author just yet, will see what else they come up with
But this book was just not for me

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise of the book, it felt current and modern.

I just wished there wasn't so much miscommunication between the two main characters and more focus on the way their overbearing dads' tried to take control of their lives.

I enjoyed hearing about their shared past and how their shared trauma both tore them apart and brought them back together.

I did enjoy this book overall, I think it could use some editing. One big thing I noticed was Jasper's mom's name was spelled both Alicia and Alisha throughout the book which made things confusing at times.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would recommend Stupid Prizes to those who like the miscommunications (or lack of communications) that go along with second chance stories. It had more of a second chance feel than a fake marriage feel. The characters both had feeling for each other from the past.

I gave the book 4 stars because the writing was easy to read. I really liked the product sponsorship suggestions that went along with a contest for a bride. The author did well describing the scenes in a way that I could picture them. I might try something else by the author where the characters don't know each other from the past.

I received a copy of the book at my request (and read it in KU), and the opinions here are my own.

[Coffeenbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love the friends to lovers trope, so I was excited to pick up this story.

This is a very original story that I enjoyed very much. The book starts out in the future and backtracks to tell the story.

Gracie and Jasper were childhood friends who lost their mothers at the same time. This loss drove them apart as each had to work through it in their own way. But when Gracie needs help, Jasper is right there for her!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[J.A. Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has everything I love. Great romance, humor, and heart.

Characters who I adored: Both Jasper and Gracie were fantastic, fleshed out, likable characters and I loved following both of them.

Banter: I LOVE stories with humor, and this one had so many funny quips between the two of them. I loved it.

The backdrop of the social media campaign was really fantastic, and I loved getting immersed in the world of racing!

I can not wait to see what else Alice Duke comes out with!

[Alexandra Torres · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty cute. Personally, I found the characters to be kind of unlikable though especially her dad, Adam. I really was not a fan of him. There were a couple of typos I came across, and the writing itself could’ve been a little smoother. I ended up tabbing & adding my own edits in there to help the flow a little bit. It sounds nit picky but I really do keep track of stuff like that, my brain cannot skip it. But Alice, if you need an editor any time soon, hit me up. Overall though, I enjoyed this book!

[CristoC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a mess. I was bored to death the first chapters, kind of disgusted when the plot became clear to me, started to care for the characters when the story started and then disgusted again by those same characters for the way they thought and behaved. Basically, this book made me angry for the wasted potential and problematic behaviours that could have easily been avoided; if it weren’t for some behaviours, the characters would have been good, since they have the chemistry to make the sex scenes make sense, but are so dumb and petty that they’re frustrating to read about. And I’m talking about the two main characters…the secondary ones are something else…

I can only attribute this rollercoaster of emotions to character inconsistencies and badly managed plot. As I said I found the main characters to have pretty good chemistry that made me somewhat care for them; however, this chemistry only kicked in about 35% in the book, and before that they felt really empty, with their only trait being “enslaved by her father’s whims” or “enslaved by his own ‘guilt’” for doing what’s best for him. What divided the two main characters and what is presented as the initial conflict between the two is Jasper’s ‘escape’, but what the issue really is, is Gracie’s pettiness in blaming Jasper for dealing with his grief in a different way than she does, and him thinking that he owes her an explanation or apology for that. And Gracie’s irrationality is what makes her such an unlikable character throughout the entire book: she can’t say no or speak plainly to her father, and makes constant excuses for his manipulative behaviours, she interprets ‘signs’ as clear declarations, like the whole thing of her father ‘dying’, which is obviously not true and the reader is bound to know that because of how clear it is; but the thing that bothered me the most has to be her behaviour after Jasper tells her he won’t have sex with her because there’s no love in their fake relationship (or so he thinks): she treats him like shit, and uses the excuse of finding out their marriage is actually real for doing so. And Jasper, the dumb idiot he is, feels guilty for it because he feels like he ‘trapped’ her in a loveless marriage and she can’t ‘enjoy the benefits’ of it, while she was the one that asked for the marriage and has no right whatsoever to be mad about it. Exchange Gracie’s character for a man’s and Jasper’s for a woman’s and this would be considered borderline sexual harassment. Bot no, not in this case, because they actually love each other, even if they don’t know! I won’t even dwell on the miscommunication because others have talked about it, and rightly so: it was frustrating to read how stupid Grace and Jasper were. What’s surprising is that an attempt at character growth was made: Grace acknowledges her need for helping everyone and that the only one she should have really helped was Jasper; this is however so bland and not supported by real actions that feels like a little empty treat us readers are supposed to interpret at actual character growth.

The secondary characters are even worse. The fathers, oh boy. They are the most manipulative bastards…And I almost thought they were going to be treated accordingly by the main characters once they discovered everything they had actually done behind their backs, since what they did right in front of their faces would not stir them to make them accountable for them; Jasper actually gets mad and tells them off, even if briefly, but those characters never face any consequences nor learn anything, but instead get to keep doing what they’ve always been doing: manipulating everyone’s lives just because they can, and thinking they’re not only doing it for their own good, but thinking they’re entitled to do so. And what makes me mad is that the fact that they’re horrible human beings is actually acknowledged by the main characters, who feel like their mothers’ lives were as miserable as theirs because of them, but this is never fully explored, while it could have been an interesting plot point; surely much better than the dumb competition that never got a conclusion. What happened to the contestants? Who won? Who knows, the main plot was apparently not important enough to get a conclusion.

What pains me is that the author’s writing style is really good, and if the story and characters were handled better it could have been a much nicer book; I trust the next books will have more human characters a more engaging plot.

I received an eARC of the book by the author and this represents my honest opinion.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like the premise and this story had a good jumpstart. Jasper is great and reflects some maturity as well as emotional balance. Gracie is his opposite, which definitely attract them to one another for the second time. Although the parental interference is over the top, I would've like their second chance relationship to have been more stable. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Inês · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️/5

I was in need of an easy breezy quick read and I saw this book being mentioned on social media, so I decided to give it a try!

This book is about a childhood friendship that gets broken apart after a terrible accident, and after 5 years the MMC decides to return to their hometown to apologise and possibly win back the girl.

As romance goes, this is an easy read standard contemporary cute small town plot. However this book relies a lot on one of my most hated tropes - miscommunication.

I was’t aware of this when I started the book, and that heavily spoiled my experience.

If I think this book is going to rock your world? No.
But if you are looking for a standard friends to lovers small town romance, and you aren’t bothered by miscommunication, give it a try!