From the publisher:
Don’t drink and text.
Even on the cusp of forty, I had to learn that the hard way. After discovering my best friend, who I was supposed to grow old and single with, got engaged, I drowned my loneliness in one too many Old Fashioneds and woke up with thirty-nine responses from every available man in my phone. Yup, I even texted my plumber…and he turned me down.
Apparently, my liquor-infused text said that while I don’t need a man, maybe I’d be down for a constant sidekick for movies, plus-one invites, and dinner on the table after my grueling shifts as a concierge doctor―till death do us part…and was anyone in?
Through the absolute mortification of thirty-seven rejections, shockingly, I realize two men have said yes. Behind Bachelor Door #1 is Rob, my old high school crush: the comfortable, dependable boy-next-door. Behind Bachelor Door #2 is Darius, the exciting, flashy news reporter about to hit it big. Does this mean I’ll have to get out of my yoga pants and actually go on dates now?
Dax, the local bartender who got me into this disaster in the first place―remember the Old Fashioneds?―can’t believe I’ve given up on finding true love. What does a tattooed, broody twentysomething know about carving out a future for yourself, anyway?
Too bad the further into this hot mess I get, the less I know about who I am. And I’m going to have to figure out exactly what I need if I ever want to find a true happily ever after.
Adorable title, cute cover, I was in. And according to Amazon’s “about the author”, Hammerle, who is new to me, is a “USA Today bestselling, RITA (R) nominated author (who) writes romantic comedies focused on women over forty.” Our protagonist is just under at 39, but that 40th birthday is definitely looming.
Annie has two best friends, one of whom, Yessi, is married and has a child, and the other, Kelly, single and living in her basement apartment. Kelly and Annie are focused on their careers. Kelly sells real estate and Annie is a concierge doctor who recently took over a very successful practice. But she’s on her own and on call to her patients 24/7, and they take full advantage of that. So when Kelly announces she’s engaged to a man that Annie hasn’t met or even heard of, things become strained between the two friends. Then Kelly moves across the state to be with her fiancé.
After that announcement, Annie stays at the bar where they had been playing trivia and gets hammered. The bartender, Dax, is a hot young 27-year-old but he ends up taken the very drunk Annie home. She wakes up with an awful hangover and the young man sleeping on her couch. She also wakes up to the fact that she drunk-texted every man she knows and basically proposed to them. Shockingly, two men said yes.
Even though Annie is pushing 40 and knows she is way too old for Dax, they definitely have chemistry. But Annie is looking to settle down, so she is going to marry for companionship and just has to choose between the two men who said yes.
I really enjoyed this romance because the characters were so believable. I couldn’t help but root for Annie to find her happily ever after. Like Dax, I don’t believe marrying for companionship is ever a good idea, but Annie had to figure that out for herself, as well as mend fences with the friends she brushed off for her patients. This was a fast, fun read and I highly recommend!
7/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
IT’S RAINING MEN by Julie Hammerle. Entangled: Amara (July 27, 2021). ISBN: 978-1649370280. 400 pages.
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