ARC Review: It Happened One Midnight by Saranna DeWylde

“It had a fun, whimsical, light-hearted feeling that made it an easy, quick read.”
~ Under the Covers

Modern day life meets fairy tale land with fake dating = a whimsical tale that I really enjoyed.

Juniper Blossom is a best-selling romance novelist who definitely believes in happily ever after. But her meddling grandmothers think that she needs a man ASAP. When she’s planning to visit them in Ever After, with all the pressure they’re giving her about her love life, she ends up telling her grandmothers that her best friend Tomas is her fiancé. But after being a successful divorce lawyer, he doesn’t believe in romantic love. A fake engagement might help him make partner at work though. With this major difference in philosophy standing in their way, can they have a fairy tale ending?

First off, fake dating is one of my favorite tropes so I was instantly excited about this book. Juniper and Tomas have great energy as best friends and definitely some chemistry as they start to pretend to date. They also have a pact to always talk everything out, which I think was really healthy for their relationship and nice to see. Ever After is a great setting for this story. We see so many people who seem to be straight out of a fairy tale. And there are cute animals frolicking everywhere who appear to understand everything that’s happening around them.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of this book, though, was the grandmothers. They were every adorable, meddling old lady trope ever in the best possible way. They caused so many shenanigans to make sure that Juniper and Tomas were forced together in romantic situations. It’s very clear that they want what’s best for Juniper and they’re confident that they know what that is.

On the downside, I think there were some pacing issues. I can’t really explain what wasn’t perfect, but it was a bit easier to set down the book than I would have liked. I also sometimes felt confused about what was going on in the story’s world. It wasn’t marketed as a third book in a series, but looking at the author’s backlist, there are clearly a couple of books that would have made everything make more sense earlier on in the book. That might have also helped with the pacing problems I felt.

Overall, I did enjoy this story. It had a fun, whimsical, light-hearted feeling that made it an easy, quick read. If you love fairy tales, I definitely recommend you check it out. There are so many references to classic stories. If you love fake dating, this is also great choice!

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[about-author author=”Saranna DeWylde”]