3.5 stars
Official book description:
Jack Nolan is a gentleman, a journalist, and unlucky in love. His viral success has pigeon-holed him as the how-to guy for a buzzy, internet media company instead of covering hard-hitting politics. Fed up with his fluffy articles and the app-based dating scene as well, he strikes a deal with his boss to write a final piece de resistance: How to Lose a Girl. Easier said than done when the girl he meets is Hannah Mayfield, and he’s not sure he wants her to dump him.
Hannah is an extremely successful event planner who’s focused on climbing the career ladder. Her firm is one of the most prestigious in the city, and she’s determined to secure her next promotion. But Hannah has a bit of an image problem. She needs to show her boss that she has range, including planning dreaded, romantic weddings. Enter Jack. He’s the perfect man to date for a couple weeks to prove to her boss that she’s not scared of feelings.
Before Jack and Hannah know it, their fake relationship starts to feel all too real—and neither of them can stand to lose each other.
Remember back in the early 2000s (soo long ago now), when both Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey were big names in romantic comedies, and then they did one together – How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days? Hudson is the bored women’s magazine writer having to write “How to” pieces and desperately wanting more serious jobs. She needs a guy she can date and drive away using all the classic mistakes women tend to make in the dating world and will write an article at the end of it all. McConaughey’s character is an ad exec who wants a particular job and needs to convince his boss he can make any woman fall in love with him. His work rivals set him up to ask Hudson’s character out. He needs a woman to stay with him for at least two weeks, she needs a guy she can drive away. Lots of hijinks ensue and of course, they fall in love over the course of the movie.
Andie J. Christopher takes the nearly 17 year old rom com and gender-swaps it. Jack is the guy who has to write one last “How to” website article, while Hannah needs to prove to her boss that she’s in a serious, going places relationship, so she can prove she knows romance and can be trusted to plan weddings. Hannah has had a number of unsuccessful dating experiences in her past, with her last long-term boyfriend burning her deeply by saying she’s “not the girl you marry”. She has a deeply cynical view of men and dating. Jack, on the other hand, is a bit of a serial monogamist. He falls deeply and tries to be the ultimate partner for any woman he’s with. Unfortunately, sooner or later, the women he’s dated in the past get bored and move on. He’s instantly smitten with Hannah when they meet at a bar, especially because she’s so determined to be unimpressed by his good looks and charm.
Full review on my blog.