Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams

Published: March 14, 2023

St. Martin’s Griffin

Genre: Women’s Humor

Pages: 384

KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Luci Adams (she/her) started out working in tax before moving into copywriting, creating social posts for Apple Music, and assisting with Amazon and BBC productions at Working Title Television. She now works as an analyst at The Guardian by day and writes uproariously funny and inventive rom-coms by night. Not That Kind of Ever After is her debut novel.

Bella Marble’s life isn’t what she imagined. Instead of an author, she’s receptionist at a small press. Instead of happily married, she’s single, and her lovey-dovey parents are divorcing. And to top it off, her best friend of twenty-nine years, Ellie Mathews, is moving out and marrying the heinously boring Mark. (He’s not worthy of her. No one could be). Bella feels rudderless, only slightly soothed by time spent with Ellie’s (not hot) brother, (he’s not hot) Marty (okay, he’s hot. But he’s also the aggravating brother she never had—right)?

When Marty recommends Bella stop looking for “the one” and just have fun, Bella finds a new, empowered side of herself. But when she posts a fairy-tale retelling of a disastrous one night stand on a storytelling app, all of a sudden, Bella has become @B.Enchanted. And she’s gone viral.

Now, Bella’s in a fight with Ellie, her new roommates are so, deeply, weird, and the pressure is mounting to find new fairy tales to write about—but she’s got to live them first.

“With every hit of that space bar I’m back to feeling more myself than ever.”

Bella has always wanted the big, white, fairytale wedding. She has been obsessed with finding her Prince, and growing up has only sharpened that desire.

This was such a perfect book. I loved the story arc and the character development. The emotions were spot on, and the delivery was fantastic.

Bella was such a lovely character. I was a tad worried she wouldn’t have any growth- but boy, was I wrong. I loved watching her start as an overly ambitious person yearning for her one, to finding herself and what mattered.

I loved how this was written; it was so smooth. The storytelling was engaging, and these characters were so charming. I found the balance perfect.

The use of humor was well-placed and well-played as well. We get just enough emotion, and the delivery was always on par.

This was the cutest adult romance, filled with the earnestness of fantasy. This would be such a cute movie or mini-series. I am happy to announce this book is #KatyApproved!

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