This was an unplanned “heart eyes-sending so much love-squee!” books by Pippa Grant post. This was especially fun with quirky characters and unexpected crushes (on my part…hahaha). If you’re looking for rom-coms with ridiculousness-infused plots that will make people stare at you for laughing a tad too loudly, Pippa Grant novels should be on your list. While these can be read as stand-alone, which is how I read them, you will see recurring characters here and there.

One liner: Woman asks ex-fiance’s friend to teach her how to not fall in love but things backfire.

This is my first book by Pippa Grant, and I did not know what I was getting myself into. It is ridiculously funny! I had to reread the beginning just to make sure I didn’t accidentally skip a few pages because I had to ask myself a few times “did this really just happen?” I liked Henri a lot because she is a book geek and in love with being in love. She is quirky and full of heart. Luca is prickly at first but when Henri starts breaking through his exterior, you get to learn a lot about why he hates love. It’s an opposites attract, fake dating novel that had my heart fluttering at the end. Unfortunately, I think this also set the bar and I couldn’t help comparing the subsequent books I ready by Grant.

One liner: A misogynistic tweet to the wrong person leads to fake dating but real falling in love.

What can I say? I couldn’t help searching for more by Pippa Grant. The book is almost as entertaining as Real Fake Love but I found it slower-paced. The breakout character for me here is Beck Ryder who falls pretty quickly for Sarah Dempsey, our geeky environmental engineer. If I could choose a character who would be my best friend to fall in love with, I would choose him. We’d obviously already be best friends already because he is goofy. We would have so much fun together. More importantly, he’d love me for me because that’s how he loved Sarah…except it would be me. (Yup, he was my unexpected crush. Yup, I know this was supposed to be a review but I couldn’t help turn it into how he and I would be great together. Hahaha.) I cannot gush about this book without also mentioning how I also loved the references to Firefly and Serenity. This is another opposites attract, fake dating novel and my eyes couldn’t keep from shooting hearts at Beck. Sarah is great but read this one for Beck.

One liner: Game developer returns home to give her sister a much needed break and meets the boy–now a firefighter–who broke her heart in high school.

I never could have imagined I would be reading about dildo football and arson at a sex toy company. This wasn’t as fun to read as Real Fake Love (and at this point, what book will be?) but the romance is nearly as sizzling and Ryan the firefighter is right up there with the rest of Grant’s male leads in his swooniness. Cassie is nerdy and just a bit awkward–I liked her.

One liner: Rockstar kidnaps bride of the person who stole his money but gets more than he bargained for when she takes him hostage instead.

Growing up poor and raised by a single mother, Willow always ensures her mother doesn’t worry about her, choosing to live against her more daring nature. It takes Dax kidnapping her, if you could really even call it that after their roles somewhat quickly switch, to push her to embrace her true nature. I liked Willow. She was funny and genuinely kind but by no means a prude. It’s clear that she cares about the people around her. Willow’s journey resonated with me–I was even teary at a few points–because it’s about living life the way you want to, embracing who you are rather than hiding from it, and not letting people–even those you love and love you–hold you back from who are…or maybe in this case not holding yourself back for them. Also, I was wrong earlier. I think this one rivals my love for Real Fake Love, except for the ending being a bit drawn out. I laughed a lot, almost as much as with Real Fake Love.