Book review: You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle

Published April 7th 2020 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Annotation:

When your nemesis also happens to be your fiancé, happily ever after becomes a lot more complicated in this wickedly funny, lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy debut.

Naomi Westfield has the perfect fiancé: Nicholas Rose holds doors open for her, remembers her restaurant orders, and comes from the kind of upstanding society family any bride would love to be a part of. They never fight. They’re preparing for their lavish wedding that’s three months away. And she is miserably and utterly sick of him.

Naomi wants out, but there’s a catch: whoever ends the engagement will have to foot the nonrefundable wedding bill. When Naomi discovers that Nicholas, too, has been feigning contentment, the two of them go head-to-head in a battle of pranks, sabotage, and all-out emotional warfare.

But with the countdown looming to the wedding that may or may not come to pass, Naomi finds her resolve slipping. Because now that they have nothing to lose, they’re finally being themselves–and having fun with the last person they expect: each other.

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My rating: ⭐⭐

I’m a miserable cynic (a newer development) and a dreamy romantic (always have been), and it’s such a terrible combination that I don’t know how to tolerate myself.

You Deserve Each Other is one of those books I eyed suspiciously for a long time before the mood hit and I finally picked it up.

Did it meet my expectations?
No.

Do I find this book bad?
No.

My problem with this book is that the conflict between our love-bird Nicholas and Naomi is far-fetched. The only thing they needed to do from the start is to talk. How can you live with a person for 11 months and do not talk or discuss anything at all? I mean, come on, even the smallest things that annoy you in a person you live with side by side should at least give that person a vibe that something is wrong. And as we know, Nicholas felt that but didn’t say a word for 11 months until Naomi turned on her bitch regime and the War of Roses began.

Yes, I can see the sly move from Sarah Hogle to tag along with the infamous movie but honestly, it felt like a more cheaper and boring comparison to the original. The whole war business was dull and silly. The jokes were unhumorous. The fights watered down.

I quite liked Nicholas. He is a kind of mommy’s boy with tender heart and puppy eyes. I liked that he was a cliche with his dentist profession and mommy’s issues. Usually, dentists in books are very boring and even evil sometimes! I believe people of this honorable profession did not deserve all the nasty things they get for fixing other people’s mouths. Imagine if a – let’s say – Rhys from A Court of Thorns and Roses did not have such a dazzling smile and diamond-strong teeth? Feyre would not date him and there would not be any mountain shaking. A tragedy! Getting back to Nicholas, I liked he was a cliche but as usual, he turned to be a highly misunderstood pal *eye rolling* which killed my sympathy a little bit but not completely.

Naomi, on the other hand, is a total hypocrite. She was bitching Nicolas the whole time, practically blaming him for her failures. And honestly, she stayed a failure until the very end. Most of the transformation we can see from Nicholas’s side; Naomi is just hanging there as a beauty accessory for Nicholas to fight for its shine. Well, if I were Nicholas, I would dump that bitch at the nearest grocery store and leave the town!

Though I have to admit I liked the companionship Naomi and Nicholas shared when they moved into their new house. I am a big fan of country life and outdoor activities and it is a kind of my sweet dream to have my own house. With a pond, mind you! And canoe! And a dog! And cute overalls! But rather than this sweet period in the book, I did not feel any chemistry between the characters. Honestly, I’d prefer them as friends, not a couple.

Overall, an average contemporary romance that aims at funny and angsty but hits only at angsty part, which was totally far-fetched and could’ve been resolved in two pages if they just opened their mouths and talked. But again, if you are in the mood, you might enjoy this drama more than I did.

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