Sutton knows she needs therapy. After all, she’s managing her newly opened restaurant remotely while taking care of her ungrateful sick mother. Plus, her boyfriend of two years just dumped her over the phone. But does therapy with a handsome stranger, who she has to pretend to be engaged to, in order to help her friend’s struggling relationship count? Probably not. Then why did she just agree to go? Because she’s had a few too many drinks? Because this stranger, Elijah, is smug and annoying and really, really handsome? Because she feels guilty that she abandoned her best friend, Tara, after high school and this might just make up for it? Whatever the reason, she has committed to this unhinged plan.
In the ever-growing collection of fake-dating romance books, the reasons for the fake dating have become more creative and outlandish as the genre evolves. In Stranger Things Have Happened, we meet Sutton, who is a successful restaurateur in her late 20s that has temporarily moved home to take care of her mom. She runs into her high school best friend, Tara, and finds herself as a pawn between Tara and her fiancé.
Tara wants to start pre-martial counseling, he doesn’t. They agree to send Sutton and his brother, Elijah, to pose as an engaged couple with a relationship therapist. If the therapist determines they’re strangers before they’ve finished 4 sessions, Tara’s fiancé will start therapy with her. If not, it proves that he was right and most therapists just spout off the same general advice with no true connection. And so Sutton and Elijah meet once a week, pretending to be engaged while just getting to know each other.
This book was short & sweet, with some deeper emotional depth that I was expecting. Sutton and Elijah were well-written main characters, with complexity and fully developed identities. Tara and her fiancé were a little more two-dimensional, but the overall plot was still compelling & romantic.
If you’re looking for a romance that includes characters going through difficult times of transition while trying to hold everything together, this is a great pick for you! Truly the only reason I’d say to avoid this book is if you, like Tara’s fiancé, have a big avoidance of therapy in your life. Obviously this book heavily features different areas of therapy, so if you have an issue with it, this would not be the book for you! Otherwise, this is a quick read with some emotional heft that’s a perfect summer pick!
Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the free advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review!
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