Chloe Sanderson is an optimist, and not because her life is easy. As the sole caregiver for her father, who has early onset Alzheimer’s, she’s pretty much responsible for everything. She has no time—or interest—in getting swept up in some dazzling romance. Not like her best friend Annie, who literally wrote a rom-com that’s about to premiere in theaters across America…and happens to be inspired by Chloe and Nick Velez, Chloe’s cute but no-nonsense boss.

As the buzz for the movie grows, Chloe reads one too many listicles about why Nick is the perfect man, and now she can’t see him as anything but Reason #2: The Scruffy-Bearded Hunk Who’s Always There When You Need Him. But unlike the romance Annie has written for them, Chloe isn’t so sure her own story will end in a Happily Ever After.

Chloe Sanderson’s life is a rom-com movie, sort of. Her best friend, Annie, wrote a movie based off of the supposed romantic tension between Chloe and her boss, Nick, that everyone but them seems to be aware of at Nick’s coffee shop. Now that the movie is being hyped up, Chloe and Nick are getting a lot more public attention than either of them wanted.

But Chloe is happy for Annie, really.

Still, it gets annoying to have to tell people over and over again that no, there isn’t anything going on between her and Nick. Besides, she doesn’t have time for a relationship; not with her business classes and checking in on her father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s. But when the two share a special moment one night when the power goes out at the coffee shop, things start to change.

While I enjoyed Waiting For Tom Hanks, I have to say that I think I enjoyed this book even more. Granted, I did like Chloe a lot as a supporting character in the first book, so I knew I’d love seeing her as the main character, and I was not wrong. I loved seeing more of her background, including how she became the caretaker of her father and twin brother at a young age when her mother abandoned the family. It gave another level as to why Chloe is so adamant on taking care of herself and not letting people in to help her when she needs it.

Nick was a great character as well. His general demeanor overall was definitely attractive. In fact, I have to liken him a lot to Luke from Gilmore Girls. He’s definitely more serious compared to Chloe; or as Chloe says, is an “actual adult.” As the book goes on, you see how much he really cares for Chloe, despite how she tries to push him away, and he even tries to fight the feelings he has for her at first because he feels it wouldn’t be right. Though he eventually gives in and puts his heart out there, only to have Chloe pull a moronic move that nearly jeopardizes the entire thing.

Overall, it was a fun, sweet read that had me swooning at parts and laughing at others. The characters of this book are all fun – well, except Mikey Danger – and fit well together in this book. I want some of them to pop out of the book and be in my own life, to be completely honest (though I kind of want Nick for myself).

So if you like romantic comedies in book form, I highly recommend this one!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars