The Love Plot by Samantha Young

The Love Plot by Samantha Young -- 352 pages

Star Shine Meadows is all about freedom, thanks to the hippie parents who raised her. Juggling her jobs as a professional costume character actor and a line sitter, she believes in no expectations, no stressful ambitions, and no-strings-attached relationships. So when she meets a birthday girl's grumpy uncle while working a princess party, she can't help but needle him. She'll never see him again, and honestly, he's pretty hot.

Rafe Whitman may be a veterinarian with a great bedside manner, but that doesn't mean his patience extends to anyone with opposable thumbs. His family will not stop nagging him about finding "the one," so when he runs into obnoxiously cheery Star again, he makes her an offer: He'll pay her more than she would make doing her odd jobs if she'll pretend to be his girlfriend at family gatherings. She can stop sitting in line waiting for someone else's new phone, and he'll get his family off his back.

When the tension between them heats to a breaking point, Star's desire for "no strings" is tested against Rafe's staunch stability. They say opposites attract, after all....

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

 The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

400 pages

★★★★

When Olive’s twin sister’s wedding gets ruined by food poisoning, she is forced to go on her sister’s honeymoon because it was a nonrefundable honeymoon to Hawaii. But the groom’s brother, Ethan, was also told he should take advantage of the free trip, and it just so happens that Olive and Ethan hate each other. Deciding to go together but spend the whole time apart, they begin their 10 day fake honeymoon. Spending so much time near each other makes them realize the reasons they hated each other weren’t what they thought they were.

This was another cozy romance that I enjoyed, but there was a lot of focus on the main character’s weight that wasn’t necessary so I didn’t appreciate that aspect of it.