Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️
My favorite part of any love story is the ‘meet-cute’ – the moment when the hero and heroine meet and begin their journey into love. It’s not surprising that Meghan Quinn would upend that moment, taking all of the joy out of it just to infuse it later in her characters, Lottie and Huxley, in her newest story, A Not So Meet Cute.
Lottie unceremoniously has lost her job. Her best frenemy and boss, a vapid human being, fires her to avoid paying Lottie more. Without a job and having promised her mother that she would be moving out, she finds herself in a “situation.” Living on the fringe of Beverly Hills, she decides to take a walk one day to find a “rich husband.” This is meant to be in jest, but she runs into Huxley. Huxley is a real estate developer, and he is wealthy. He has made the unfortunate mistake of lying to a potential business prospect. Wanting to make a connection with this man, he tells him that he’s engaged to his pregnant fiancee, even though he has no interest or time for relationships. On meeting Huxley, Lottie spills her brief misfortunes to Huxley, and Huxley decides to ask Lottie to pretend to be his fake pregnant fiancee. When Lottie finally agrees to it after Huxley’s cajoling, she finds the pleasant man at their meeting to be gone, and A Not So Meet Cute switches form and embraces the enemies-to-lovers trope. Huxley has changed, but he’s done so to protect himself and his business. Unfortunately, as his business prospect and fiancee put Huxley and Lottie through their friendship paces, they begin to fall in love and Huxley’s fight to stay professional becomes undermined by his growing feelings.
A Not So Meet Cute is a typical Meghan Quinn romp into frivolity. Lottie and Huxley’s arranged relationship coupled with the various activities they accompany Dave and Ellie on are over-the-top fun. Yes, there are serious moments in Quinn’s newest book, but ANSMC is meant to make you laugh out loud. Lottie and Huxley’s journey is fraught with the tension of their physical interest in the other and their growing feelings. But that tension is ameliorated by the humor of Quinn’s romance.
Yes, there is steam. Yes, there is a solid story here. And yes, Lottie and Huxley find their happy ending. Meghan Quinn’s A Not So Meet Cute exists to bring a bit of fun and happiness into your day. You simply need to download it to your favorite e-reader or buy its physical rendering for insta-cute.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 