Book Review: Too Good to Be Real by Melonie Johnson

"The perfect combination of sweet, sexy, and make-you-grin moments." - Lyssa Kay Adams, author of The Bromance Book Club

"An ode to everything we love about rom-coms." - Alexis Daria, author of You Had Me at Hola

In her trade paperback debut, Melonie Johnson brings her signature humor, sexy romance, and strong female friendships in this hilarious romantic comedy about finding perfectly imperfect love, Too Good to Be Real.

She plans to prove there's a dozen reasons why life isn't like a romantic comedy, only to discover the one reason it is…

While her friends wish for meet cutes worthy of their favorite rom-coms, Julia is ready to give up on love. Swiping right has replaced getting swept off your feet and good old-fashioned romance has become, well, old-fashioned.

A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. Real life dating is so bleak, who wouldn't want to spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with your best friends?

At the resort, Julia literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Among further encounters with thieving seagulls, a gaggle of corgis, kisses in the rain, and even a karaoke serenade, their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven't been honest about their true identities? Once the fantasy is over, can they have a relationship in the real world?

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My Review: This book hooked me from the first sentence. I already knew that the author’s sense of humor was a match to my own quirky, off-beat snarkiness, but that opening line was kind of the equivalent of the redneck telling his buddies “here, hold my beer.” It set the stage for everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that follows it. This book was funny and sweet and angsty and steamy, and all the ingredients I look for in the best books. The characters were real and relatable… well, most of them anyways. I felt like it wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to bump into them on the street. Julia and Luke have strengths and flaws. And while they occasionally frustrated me, I was always cheering for them to get their happily ever after. The secondary characters, whether human, canine, or avian absolutely ran away with the show. In fact, I would just about kill for a follow-up book so we can learn what some of them get up to next. There are so many wonderful gems tucked away in the text of this story, you really need to read this to find them for yourself.

I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.