I am such a huge fan of Chloe Liese and this premise hooked me! I love a good fake friendship meets friends to lovers. Keep reading this book review of Happy Ending for my full thoughts.
Summary
Thea and Alex have three things in common—they love food, they hate where they live, and they’re both divorced. Otherwise, they couldn’t be more different.
Thea’s never cooked a day in her life. Alex is a world-class chef. Alex resents feeling stuck in his hometown. Thea resents the town for not feeling more like home. Thea and her ex are in a contentious custody battle for their dog. Alex and his ex amicably coparent their daughter. Beyond a few friends in common, a couple small-world connections (welcome to life in a mid-size city), their lives look nothing alike. Fast forward two years, and they’re truly the best of friends. No one would ever know their friendship began as a lie…
Two years ago, their exes got together immediately following their divorces, and somehow, Thea and Alex found themselves spinning a spite-fueled story about being old friends and first loves. Two years later, what began as a ruse has grown into real friendship—just friendship, despite what friends and family seem to think. But when their exes invite them on a two-week, “two family” beach vacation—daughter and dog included—Alex and Thea start to wonder if this story they’ve spun might have gotten away from them, and if it’s led them to the last place they ever thought it could: a happy ending.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Happy Ending is a heartfelt story about love and risk. So often the boundary from friends to lovers exists because we are so scared of risking it. So scared of losing what we have for the possibility of rejection, yes, but also that we will never get back what we have now. This friendship born from lies and circumstances that create stories, captivated me. I loved the way Liese uses this dual timeline to establish their friendship and their feelings. We see their current feelings coming to a head and we also witness how they came together. Except for the hasty wrap up, I loved every part of Happy Ending.
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Considering the lead up and the brilliant character work to really bring these characters into our heart, the actual wrap up felt so hasty. It was like reading waiting for THE moment and then you blink and it’s over. I just wish it had the same emotional depth as the rest of the story. That being said, I adored Happy Ending. With snippets of fake books because Thea is writing her life like a book sometimes all the way to how she feels stuck and not sure if she can brave breaking out. When we tell ourselves our life has to be a certain way and we stop imagining it full of possiblities. We can never wait until we have the perfect ending, or perfection, before we start living.
Find Happy Ending on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.