"I'm fake dating my ex fiancé's new fiancée's ex" is a mouthful to wrap your mind around...and is exactly the premise of FUNNY STORY by Emily Henry.
Daphne has the picture perfect life: her dream job as a children's librarian in a small, picturesque town, a beautiful home, and a perfect fiancé. Peter is the whole package. He's intelligent and kind, athletic and health-conscious, and comes from a stable (and wealthy) family. Nothing can bring Daphne down from the high of wedding (and life!) planning.
That is, until Peter returns from his bachelor party trip to tell her that he's realized he's in love with his life-long best friend, Petra. Peter graciously gives Daphne a week to vacate the home they've shared--the home that is conveniently only in his name--while he and Petra GO ON A ROMANTIC GETAWAY.
Daphne, knowing no one in this tiny town she's moved to, goes the only place she can think of: to Miles, Petra's (now ex) longtime boyfriend. Miles is just as devastated as Daphne, and thankfully, he's a gem of a human being, so when Daphne suggest that they be roommates, Miles agrees to let her move into the spare room in his apartment. They're mostly ships passing in the night, exchanging pleasantries but not much more...until the wedding invitations come.
You read that right. Peter and Petra, the most delusional and self-centered people on earth, INVITE THE EXES THAT THEY CHEATED ON TOGETHER, TO THEIR WEDDING. Miles and Daphne need an escape from life and reality, so they go to a bar and get blackout drunk and subsequently RSVP to the wedding. When Peter calls to assure Daphne that she, "really doesn't have to come to the wedding," she maybe drunkenly tells Peter that she and Miles are dating.
Fake dating and romance things follow, because of course they do.
This book was so much fun! No one does witty banter and subtle pop culture references quite like Emily Henry. She had me laughing out loud, choking on my shock (seriously the audacity that Peter and Petra have!), and silently weeping, all in a matter of hours as I listened to the audiobook while painting my bedroom. It also has that signature Emily Henry kinda-slow burn steam that we know and love.
I adored the town of Waning Bay, Michigan, and all of its people--all of the quirky farmers and merchants that Miles introduces Daphne to through the course of their "friendship," Ashley, Daphne's tough but secret cinnamon roll coworker-turned-bestie, the library kids...this book made me want desperately to visit this perfect little fictional town...but in the summer. When it's not 50 degrees in Michigan.
Both of the main characters are so much more complex than they believe that they are, and one of Daphne's sources of anxiety and trauma is incredibly relatable to me, which made me feel a kinship to her that I don't always feel with fictional characters. It's like I knew her, like I saw her, and I knew that she would see me, too. The emotional roller coaster she puts herself on in that particular area of her entire life is one I know well, and it was cathartic to see it play out on the page, and to see Daphne standing up for herself was a major "atta girl!" moment.
I'm screaming my thanks to my besties over at Libro.fm for the ALC of this book! (Oh and btw, Julia Whelan was the perfect narrator.)
We know by now that if Emily Henry writes it, I'm going to love it, and FUNNY STORY is no different. Preorder your copy here or here before it releases April 23.
Love and food sounds,
Mandy
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from Libro.fm and have voluntarily written this review with my honest feedback. You can (and should!!) create your own Libro.fm account here, where you can support your local bookstore (like Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA!) while enjoying audiobooks either through a monthly membership, or by purchasing audiobooks a la carte. If you purchase a copy using my Bookshop.org affiliate link above, I will receive a small commission and you'll support local indies! If you purchase a copy using my Amazon affiliate link above, I will receive a small commission which I will use to justify my literary addictions and to spoil my dogs (probably).
