TOO GOOD TO BE REAL is an adorable rom com set with the characters interacting at a resort hotel hosting a rom com interactive live action role play week. The main character Julia is tasked with writing a review of the resort to keep her job at an online website and takes her two best friends along for the ride. Luke with his sister and his best friend are the trio running the event at the hotel.
The book starts off with a meet-cute between Luke and Julia on the beach involving a mischief-making seagull who we will see throughout the book. The group pair up as the story evolves with plenty of funny quips and full of amazing references to 80s movies, music and video games. Luke and Julia are both flawed and nerdy which result in delightful chemistry. As the book comes to a close, some but not all of the main group find their happily ever after which is a nice switch from the usual perfect wrap up.
I would have loved an epilogue with a 'what happened next' but maybe Ms. Johnson will revisit the characters in another book to help the remaining characters find their soul mates?
She plans to prove there's a dozen reasons why life isn't like a romantic comedy, only to discover the one reason it is…
While her friends wish for meet cutes worthy of their favorite rom-coms, Julia is ready to give up on love. Swiping right has replaced getting swept off your feet and good old-fashioned romance has become, well, old-fashioned.
A writer for a popular website, love becomes the last thing on her mind when impending layoffs threaten her job. As Julia searches for the ultimate pitch to impress her boss, she stumbles upon a resort offering guests a chance to live out their romantic comedy dreams. Real life dating is so bleak, who wouldn't want to spend a week in a fantasy rom-com world with your best friends?
At the resort, Julia literally falls into a not-quite-meet-cute involving an aggressive seagull and an adorably awkward guy named Luke who is also participating in the rom-com experience. Julia hides the fact she is there to do a story, but Luke harbors a few secrets of his own. Among further encounters with thieving seagulls, a gaggle of corgis, kisses in the rain, and even a karaoke serenade, their feelings deepen quickly. But could their love be real when they haven't been honest about their true identities? Once the fantasy is over, can they have a relationship in the real world?
In her trade paperback debut, Melonie Johnson brings her signature humor, sexy romance, and strong female friendships in this hilarious romantic comedy about finding perfectly imperfect love, Too Good to Be Real.