I have tendency to forget character names rather quickly, even if I mostly retain plot. As a result, I kept wondering if this novel was going to be a sequel to When Javi Dumped Mari. After all, the cover art had the same feel and style, and even though The Worst Best Man and The Wedding Crasher are in the same universe, they aren’t listed as a series. Vanessa absolutely could have been one of Mari’s friends whose name I had forgotten.
Turns out, unless I am missing something obvious, these are completely unrelated novels. I guess you could make the argument that this takes some inspiration from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and that both novels are nods to famous rom-coms. But honestly, even that might be me reaching, I don’t know if it was meant to be viewed as an inspiration or if this is her unofficial “riff on classic romcoms” series.
Vanessa has moved back to NYC after years in Chicago, pursuing her finance career. Some things went wrong in Chicago so she has been transferred to NY against her wishes. Vanessa has been avoiding home for a while because of something she did during college that strained the relationship. But, since she is back, she might as well take the opportunity to repair those bridges and try to get close to her sister again. As a result, Vanessa finds herself agreeing to a scheme. By accident, Lisa finds out that Vanessa used to get paid to date guys with the intention of behaving so badly, they will flee and happily commit to the next woman they date who will be so much better. Lisa wants to be that woman with her best friend’s big brother, Jason, and Vanessa is desperate enough for her sister’s affection to go along with it. That, plus he irritates her the first time they meet so she decides he needs a lesson.
Jason, meanwhile, does not believe in relationships. He does not trust people. His dad scared him, his last ex added salt to the wound, and he is that age where his mom wants him with someone. So when Vanessa starts behaving horribly after an initial spark and fun date, he decides to stick it out because maybe an inappropriate girlfriend will get his mom to stop trying to set him up for a while.
I actually preferred this one to When Javi Dumped Mari. The set up just creates more opportunities for comedy, they don’t come with all this baggage when it relates to each other, even if they obviously have their own. There also is a spark there, and the characters care so deeply about their families and communities, even if Vanessa has long labeled herself as the bad and uncaring one. Definitely had a fun time with this and its appreciation of bodegas.
